Pence vows that school safety will be “top national priority”

OXON HILL, Md. — Vice President Mike Pence told a national gathering of conservatives Thursday that the Trump administration will “make the safety of our nation’s schools and students our top national priority.”

Pence addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, as America’s debate on gun violence continued to roil Washington after last week’s high school shooting in Florida that left 17 dead. For their part, attendees were jubilant and hopeful one year into President Donald Trump’s tenure.

The vice president also addressed the split in America over gun issues, saying this is “a time of too much division and anger in America.”

Pence, who spoke the day after Trump held a listening session with survivors and parents of gun victims, said people are “too often unable or unwilling to meet our fellow citizens where they are, (and) do what the president did yesterday, just to listen with one another in a spirit of humility and respect.”

Pence’s address followed remarks by National Rifle Association head Wayne LaPierre and an appearance by NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch. Like Pence, both received multiple standing ovations. And both were highly critical of the FBI and other law enforcement officials for failing to stop felons and people with mental health issues from buying guns.

“The government can’t keep you safe,” Loesch warned the crowd.

LaPierre said that while the FBI has many great agents, he remained baffled that none spoke up to protest the politicization of the agency under President Barack Obama.

“You should be anxious. And you should be frightened,” LaPierre warned the room about the prospect of Democrats returning to power.

Both NRA leaders framed the school safety issue as a problem that could be solved with more armed professionals on campus.

“Don’t you think that our kids deserve the same protection as our athletes?” Loesch asked, noting that sports figures, celebrities and even banks have armed security.

At the White House Thursday, Trump convened a school safety roundtable with state and local leaders, where he said, “I think the NRA wants to do the right thing.”

In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., disagreed and called out the NRA for “once again spewing pathetic, out of touch ideas, blaming everything but guns.”

LaPierre has addressed CPAC many times before, but the crowd was definitively more vocal in response to remarks from the new rock stars of the right, like Loesch.

Loesch, who also serves as a TV endorser of the energy drink SuperBeets, jazzed up the room when she pointed to TV cameras taping her talk and charged, “Many in legacy media love mass shootings.”

Another new right rock star was the Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, who filled the room for the closing session. Shapiro, who arrived with his own personal security crew, said that the best part of a Trump presidency is “Hillary Clinton is not and will never be president of the United States.”

The crowd erupted with boisterous chants of “Lock her up.”

“Why bother?” Shapiro shrugged. “She’s already in a jail of her own making.”

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.