Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, said Sunday that, even though the Navy Yard had armed guards, there were simply not enough people with firearms to stop Aaron Alexis from killing 12 people last week.
"There weren't enough good guys with guns," LaPierre said Sunday on Meet the Press. "When the good guys with guns got there, it stopped."
Following the latest mass-shooting in Washington, D.C., LaPierre said the NRA was calling for improved security layers around bases and for servicemembers to freely carry their weapons on bases. The organization will not, however, be calling for expanded background checks, he said.
The NRA successfully recalled two Colorado State senators who voted for expanded background checks, and a bipartisan Senate bill closing background loopholes died on the floor.
Despite the losing track record of advocates for gun control reform, Sandy Phillips—whose 24-year-old daughter, Jessica Ghawi, was killed in the 2012 mass shooting at an Aurora, Colorado movie theater—said that gun control backers were planning for the long game.
"It took six votes over seven years to get the initial Brady Law passed," Phillips said to David Gregory Sunday. "Those of us who are involved—and unfortunately our group is getting larger—are not going to give up."
"More guns," Phillips said, "that's certainly not the answer."
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy