- NEW: NRA Executive VP Wayne LaPierre wants armed personnel at schools
- He says policies banning weapons at schools create risks
- The Obama administration has started debate on gun control
(CNN) -- The most effective way to protect our children from horrors like last week's school shooting in Connecticut is to provide armed security personnel at all schools, the National Rifle Association's executive vice president said Friday.
Wayne LaPierre spoke to reporters in an appearance that was interrupted twice by protesters shouting anti-NRA slogans and bearing banners in front of his podium, including one that said "NRA killing our kids."
"We need to have every single school in America immediately deploy a protection program proven to work -- and by that I mean armed security," LaPierre said, reading from a prepared statement.
It was the prominent gun rights organization's entrance into the gun control debate that erupted after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman shot 20 children and six adults before taking his own life.
Adam Lanza had killed his mother before arriving at the school.
Family members depart the Trinity Episcopal Church in Newtown, Connecticut, following a funeral for Benjamin Wheeler, 6, on December 20.
Mourners, including Boy Scout and Tiger Scout members, depart the funeral on December 20, 2012. Wheeler was a member of Tiger Scout Den 6.
Boy scouts salute as a funeral procession for Benjamin Wheeler enters the Trinity Episcopal Church on December 20, in Newtown, Connecticut.
Firefighters salute as the casket of Daniel Barden, 7, a victim of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, is removed from St. Rose of Lima Church on Wednesday, December 19, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut.
Police escort the hearse bearing the casket of Daniel Barden from St. Rose of Lima Church on December 19.
Mourners enter St. Rose of Lima Church for the funeral of Charlotte Bacon, 6, on December 19, in Newtown.
A police officer directs traffic as mourners enter the church for Charlotte Bacon's funeral on December 19.
A procession arrives for the funeral of Victoria Soto, 27, at Lordship Community Church in Stratford, Connecticut, on December 19. Soto was a first-grade teacher being hailed as a hero for protecting the children in her class during last week's school massacre in Newtown.
A woman carries a program with Soto's photo after attending a funeral for the slain teacher in Stratford on December 19.
Bagpipers play at funeral services for Soto on December 19 in Stratford.
Richard and Krista Rekos leave after a funeral service for their 6-year-old daughter, Jessica, at Saint Rose of Lima Church on Tuesday, December 18, in Newtown. Jessica was one of 20 children killed in last week's school shooting.
Family and friends depart Jessica's funeral on December 18 in Newtown.
A child stands next to a makeshift memorial for Jessica Rekos following her funeral on December 18.
Pallbearers carry out James Mattioli's casket at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church after a funeral Mass on December 18 in Newtown. James, 6, was one of the 26 victims in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
Mourners console each other after the funeral for James Mattioli on December 18.
People arrive for the funeral of Jessica Rekos, 6, at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown on December 18.
Jessica Rekos' casket arrives at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church as mourners gather December 18.
Mourners console each other after attending the funeral for Jack Pinto, 6, on December 17.
Mourners grieve the death of Jack Pinto, 6, on December 17.
A mother and two children attend the funeral for Jack Pinto on December 17. Children are among those crowding the funeral for the 6-year-old boy.
A man comforts a young mourner at Honan Funeral Home while attending the funeral for Jack Pinto, 6, on December 17.
Boys enter Honan Funeral Home before Jack Pinto's funeral on December 17 in Newtown.
Veronika Pozner, mother of Noah Pozner, arrives for her son's funeral on Monday, December 17, at the Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home in Fairfield, Connecticut. Monday is the first day of funerals for the 20 children and seven adults who were killed by 20-year-old Adam Lanza on December 14.
Three women embrace as they arrive for the funeral services for Noah Pozner on December 17.
Mourners arrive at Noah Pozner's service in Fairfield on December 17.
Mourners leave Noah Pozner's service on December 17 in Fairfield.
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Newtown funerals: A community says goodbye
Funerals: A community says goodbye
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Aware that most of the discussion in the days since the shooting have revolved around calls for tighter controls on weapons, LaPierre challenged his critics: What if, he asked, Lanza had been confronted by an armed, trained security officer?
"Will you at least admit it's possible that 26 innocent lives might have been spared?" he asked.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, he said.
To that end, the NRA will fund an initiative to develop a "National School Shield Emergency Response Program" for schools that want it, LaPierre said.
The NRA envisions a program where qualified police, military, security personnel and others organize to protect schools.
Schools remain a target for criminal gunmen because they are not protected by armed security the way other important institutions are, he said.
Policies banning guns at schools create a place that "insane killers" consider "the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk," LaPierre said.
Such policies leave schoolchildren "utterly defenseless, and the monsters and the predators of the world know it," he said.
The nation's most prominent gun rights lobby joins "the nation in horror, outrage and earnest prayer for the families" who "suffered such an incomprehensible loss," LaPierre added.
Friday's event was billed as a news conference, but LaPierre only read a statement; he took no questions.
Former congressman Asa Hutchinson will lead the school security project.
Armed personnel will be part of the security model but not the only component, Hutchinson said.
"School safety is a complex issue with no simple, single solution," he said. "But I believe trained, qualified, armed security is one key component among many that can provide the first line of deterrence as well as the last line of defense."
Across the nation Friday morning, church bells rang in remembrance of the victims. The NRA was among those groups that observed a moment of silence at 9:30 a.m., the same time as last week's massacre.
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Obama starts gun control debate
This week, the Obama administration put into motion an effort to change U.S. gun laws.
Vice President Joe Biden met with Cabinet members and law enforcement leaders at the White House to start formulating what Obama called "real reforms right now."
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More than 195,000 people have signed an online White House petition supporting new gun control legislation.
A slight majority of Americans favor major restrictions on guns: 52%, up 5 points from a survey taken in August after the July shooting inside a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, where 12 people died, according to a CNN/ORC International poll released Wednesday.
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Biden will lead a White House effort to craft proposals aimed at preventing another tragedy such as the Newtown shootings. The recommendations are due sometime in January.
That same month, several lawmakers have promised to introduce or reintroduce gun control legislation, ranging from a reinstatement of a federal ban on assault weapons to banning the sale of high-capacity magazines.
Since the shootings, a number of conservative Democrats and some Republicans who have supported gun rights have said they are open to discussing the issue.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said she will introduce legislation to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. The White House has said that the president supports that effort.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi took her own step toward reform Wednesday by announcing a task force on preventing gun violence.
Pelosi said the task force will work toward restoring the assault weapons ban, strengthening the background check system and addressing mental health and violence issues.
The NRA, with its roughly 4.3 million members, is the standard-bearer for protecting the Second Amendment. It is also the source of hefty campaign donations.
During the 2012 election cycle, the NRA donated $719,596 to candidates. Republicans received $634,146 of that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' analysis of federal campaign data.
Some $85,450 went to Democrats, many of them in states that are considered more conservative when it comes to gun control laws.
Gun owners fear new legislation could tread on their rights
Tributes ongoing for victims
Carloads of teenagers from a Minnesota school that suffered a mass shooting in 2005 headed toward Newtown on Thursday to offer their support.
Also Thursday, burials were held for three children and two teachers.
More than 2,200 miles west of Newtown, Ogden, Utah, the hometown of shooting victim Emilie Parker, was festooned with pink ribbons as her parents brought her body back for burial.
"This sucks. There's no reason for us to be here tonight," her father, Robbie Parker, told friends and well-wishers at a memorial service Thursday night. "And I'm so thankful for everybody that's here."
His voice trailed off as he struggled for composure. Seeing the pink -- his slain daughter's favorite color -- made him and his wife, Alissa, "feel like we were getting a big hug from everybody."
Also buried Thursday, at an undisclosed location, was Nancy Lanza, the shooter's mother, whom he killed before the school rampage, said Donald Briggs, a friend of the family who grew up with her in Kingston, New Hampshire.
Plans had not been finalized for the burial of the gunman, her son Adam.
Three 6-year-olds were among those buried Thursday: Allison Wyatt, who loved to draw and wanted to be an artist; Benjamin Wheeler, who loved the Beatles; and red-haired Catherine Hubbard, who loved animals.
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