NRA CEO LaPierre Refutes Bob Costas: Jovan Belcher's Girlfriend Should Have Had Her Own Gun

The National Rifle Association and guns in general have taken a lot of media criticism in the wake of last weekend's murder-suicide involving Kansas City Chiefs football player Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend.

NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre pushed back Thursday telling USA Today Sports, "The one thing missing in that equation is that woman owning a gun so she could have saved her life from that murderer."

Countering claims made by NBC's Bob Costas as well as Kansas City sportswriter Jason Whitlock, LaPierre said, "There is no gun culture in the NFL. You've got good Americans who love to play sports, who are disciplined, who are responsible, and they're no different from any other Americans."

"Owning guns is a mainstream part of American culture and it's growing every day," he continued. "We've got to stop making excuses. A murderer is a murderer."

LaPierre made similar comments in an NRA News video posted at the organization's website Monday hammering Costas for "trying to piggy-back his agenda on the back of this national tragedy and spew it all over America."

He also maintained that Costas "wouldn't have said a thing [Sunday] night if this woman had saved her life, by having a firearm available, from Jovan Belcher."