Jon Stewart rips GOP's 'hilarious and misguided' fear-mongering at NRA event

Jon Stewart took aim at the National Rifle Association convention on The Daily Show on Tuesday, pointing out that Republicans seemed a bit too eager to use the event as a platform to discuss national policy positions.

"The NRA convention is like a fortune cookie game 'in bed,'" Stewart said. "Except here the answer is always, 'You need a gun.' It's a hilarious and incredibly misguided game, like tennis darts."

Besides Sarah Palin telling attendees, "Waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists," Stewart said, the event had speakers like Rick Santorum insisting on portraying conservatives as victims of "the other side," despite the passing 30 pro-gun lobby laws across the U.S. by the end of April.

"But here's what they miss: What 'the other side' is winning are elections," Stewart observed. "Peaceful contests between competing viewpoints. And your solution seems to be less, 'We need more electable candidates and more nuanced viewpoints' and more, 'Lock and load, motherf*cker.' And the lack of self-awareness, that ain't helping."

If conservatives' viewpoint regarding gun safety were closer to what's actually going on in the world, Stewart said, that would help them shed the "paranoid" label imposed upon them. Instead, Georgia lawmakers passed a law making it legal for gun owners to take their firearms virtually anywhere -- except the state Capitol in which lawmakers passed the "guns everywhere" bill to begin with.

"They're the voyeurs at the orgy," Stewart said sarcastically, before affecting a drawl. "'Y'all go on and do what you do. We just like to watch."

Watch Stewart's commentary, as posted online by Crooks & Liars on Tuesday, below.