NRA leaders called its members 'hillbillies' and 'fruitcakes' in secretly recorded audio following Columbine massacre

• NRA leaders reportedly called its members "hillbillies" and "fruitcakes" in the wake of the Columbine shooting.
• Private conversations within the NRA after the 1999 massacre were secretly recorded and published Tuesday by NPR.

National Rifle Association leadership reportedly called its members "hillbillies" and "fruitcakes" in the wake of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre as officials in the gun-rights group strategized on how to deal with the shooting crisis.

The private conversations within the NRA in the aftermath of the Colorado shooting that left 13 dead were secretly recorded by a participant, according to NPR, which obtained 2.5 hours of recordings and published parts of them on Tuesday.

After the school shooting, NRA leadership held the conference calls to consider canceling their annual convention that was scheduled a few days later and just miles away.

NRA chief Wayne LaPierre and longtime NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer can be heard in a conference call ridiculing NRA membership who they said may embarrass them, NPR reported.

"You know, the other problem is holding a member meeting without an exhibit hall. The people you are most likely to get in that member meeting without an exhibit hall are the nuts," LaPierre says in the recording, according to the news outlet.

PR consultant Tony Makris then responded, "Made that point earlier. I agree," says Makris. "The fruitcakes are going to show up," NPR reported.

Hammer chimed in to say, "If you pull down the exhibit hall, that's not going to leave anything for the media except the members meeting, and you're going to have the wackos ... with all kinds of crazy resolutions, with all kinds of, of dressing like a bunch of hillbillies and idiots. And, and it's gonna, it's gonna be the worst thing you can imagine," according to NPR.

NPR reported that during a call, LaPierre claimed that former Republican Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles of Oklahoma had secretly asked him for "talking points" to use after the Columbine shooting.

In a statement to NPR, a current NRA spokesperson said: "It is disappointing that anyone would promote an editorial agenda against the NRA by using shadowy sources and 'mystery tapes' in order to conjure up the tragic events of over 20 years ago."

Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit seeking to dissolve the NRA, charging that the organization is "fraught with fraud and abuse."