Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger accused the National Rifle Association (NRA) of being a “grifting scam” following the organization’s conference in Texas just days after a mass shooting at an elementary school in that state.
Kinzinger, a military veteran who once held an A-rating from the NRA, shared the fiery comments during an interview on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
“It’s a journey of, you know, getting sick of seeing the mass shootings. I’m a strong defender of the Second Amendment. And one of the things I believe that for some reason is a very rare thing is that as a person who appreciates and believes in the Second Amendment, we have to be the ones putting forth reasonable solutions to gun violence,” Kinzinger argued.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who once had an A-rating from the NRA, tells @jonkarl that the organization has “gone from defending rights of gun owners” to “a grifting scam.”
“The only thing the NRA cares about is raising money on your back.” https://t.co/u5VDjCkDR9 pic.twitter.com/DtYs5fc2x9
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 29, 2022
The GOP congressman also spoke out against the NRA’s focus on raising money instead of offering answers to gun violence.
“For me, I woke up the morning after the Vegas shooting. I had shot a bump stock before. I heard the audio from that shooting. I knew that was a bump stock and I called for banning bump stocks, which by the way, was ultimately done, and because of that the NRA basically said Kinzinger is a RINO or whatever their language was, and I realized especially then, the only thing the NRA cares about is raising money on your back,” he claimed.
“It has become a grifting scam,” he later added.
Kinzinger has also advocated for raising the minimum age for gun purchases to 21 years old, a move Democrats have supported.
Others have pushed back against the option, arguing that an 18-year-old can join the military and give his or her life for the nation.