Sarah Palin Praises NRA For 'Not Giving Up'

Sarah Palin has urged America's National Rifle Association not to back down in the face of pressure.

Thousands of gun fans have been listening to speakers addressing the NRA's annual convention in Houston, Texas, at which the former vice presidential candidate praised members for 'not giving up'.

Mrs Palin said: "The Washington establishment sneers at you, and you don't give up.

"The lamestream media just plain doesn't get you, and you don't give up, you don't retreat."

The convention was the first since the start of a national debate over gun control following December's mass shooting of teachers and school children in Newtown, Connecticut.

Mrs Palin said recent mass shootings had prompted leaders in Washington DC to exploit tragedy in order to limit the freedoms of law-abiding people.

While she and others were saddened and angered by the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, she added, the emotions that resulted from it would not make anybody safer and would not "protect the good guys' rights".

The former Governor of Alaska asked those at the convention to "keep the faith" and "stand up and fight for our freedoms".

Last month a US Senate bill aimed at forcing restrictions on who could own guns was thrown out.

More than 70,000 NRA members were expected to attend the three-day convention.

The Sandy Hook shooting has prompted further debate on gun control

Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre said his organisation would not stop defending the rights of gun owners.

He told the convention: "We will never back away from our resolve to defend our rights and the rights of all law-abiding American gun owners."

US President Barack Obama, who has pushed for gun control measures, was a prime target for criticism.

Gary DuBois, a member of the NRA, claimed gun control pushes crime up.

He told a film crew: "I hate to sound like I'm paranoid or something, but the deal is, any thinking person, you can look at Britain, Australia, any place where they put gun control in effect, crime goes up.

"They can say that they are doing it for public safety, but it's just not right, they are doing it for another reason. I think it's for control."

Across the street from the conference hall, America's campaign against gun violence - called No More Names - was protesting by reading out the names of all those shot dead since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

The campaign was trying to remind NRA members that 30,000 Americans die every year from gun violence.

Erica Lafferty, whose mother, Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, was killed in the elementary school shooting, said: "The most recent polling that I've seen was that 74 per cent of NRA members do support the universal background check.

"It seems like it's their leadership that's kind of way more right than that and is really giving a lot of push back against it."

Recent national polls have indicated that a majority of US citizens are in favour of expanding background checks.

But many convention attendees said on Friday that they were not in favour of such efforts.

Politicians have said they intend to continue pressing for restrictions to be brought in at the federal level.

Senator Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, has said he will re-introduce the bill to require criminal and mental health background checks for gun buyers.

Some states have taken matters into their own hands and introduced gun controls without the need for national legislation.

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