The Secret Footage of the N.R.A. Chief’s Botched Elephant Hunt
Wayne LaPierre has cultivated his image as an exemplar of American gun culture, but video of his clumsy marksmanship—and details regarding his Rodeo Drive shopping trips—tells another story.
www.newyorker.com
So this footage was from eight years ago and buried. LaPierre (who claims to be a skilled hunter) botches killing an elephant, including shooting it a couple of times at short range after it's already collapsed but still alive, such that eventually one of the guides has to finish it off. And he does not look confident with that rifle. His wife also shoots an elephant - far more effectively, albeit with the advantage of a rest supplied by a guide.
I accept the occasional necessity of killing elephants. However, I find the idea of people doing it for fun enrages me to an unusual degree. The idea of doing it for fun and fucking it up so the animal lies there suffering, well... the forum rules preclude me wishing extreme pain and death on other human beings.
There is also something I find incredibly contemptible about these sorts of jaunts, where a bunch of local pros go out and do the hard work to find a suitable target, and some pathetic, cossetted Western arsehole just follows along for the hike, grabs his rifle at the end and *pop*. They are not really "hunting". There's no great skill, no honour, no achievement. It's like thinking a diner is a great chef just because they can do the work of forking food from plate to mouth at a restaurant. It's mere animal slaughter no better than an abattoir, except that abattoirs generally get the job done more humanely. Even if he hadn't fucked this up, why does anyone think this impressive?