National Rifle Association
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| Hail to the Chief? |
| Persons of interest |
| —Michael Bloomberg,[1] who funds his own marketing organization selling fear |
The National Rifle Association (or NRA) is a political action group that promotes ownership of guns in the United States at all costs.[2] Originally a relatively moderate organisation, it no longer represents hunters and collectors, having been taken over by investment groups that own large percentages of most firearms/ammo companies. Not surprisingly, it has knee-jerk reaction against the most mild gun control legislation[3] or even the enforcement of existing gun laws.[4] They are not well known for teaching their members how to properly debate (shout at) increased gun control proponents, and as a result, most members resort to clichès such as "guns don't kill people, people kill people," "a bad guy with a gun can only be stopped by a good guy with a gun," and other empty platitudes.
After the Sandy Hook massacre, which claimed 20 children as victims, the NRA finally shut up... for a few days. Many naively hoped that they had finally come to their senses, but instead, the group used their next meeting to call for more guns to stop gun violence and blamed the massacre on everything but guns, including mental illness, violent video games, and movies. While clamouring for a national mental health database, they naturally recoil at the thought of a gun registry and as of this writing, their National Firearms Museum, which glorifies violent movies, is still open for business.[5]
The NRA also has a 500+ entry-long list of people and organizations who have ever lent support to anti-gun initiatives.[6] With luminary freedom haters such as the American Medical Association, PBS, and Hallmark, and notorious anti-gun celebrities like... Sylvester Stallone, it's probably easier to say who is not on the list. (Richard Nixon at least tried to keep his enemy list secret.)
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[edit] Board member eyebrow-raisers
The NRA has an insanely large board of directors (76 members!), and has included many questionable people on it, such as noted traitor Oliver North, a spokesman for gun manufacturer Glock (supporting accusations of the NRA having too-close ties to gun manufacturers), the perpetually batshit Ted Nugent, Larry Craig (of "I am not gay..." fame), and Grover Norquist (because no mainstream right-wing group is complete without a guy who really, really hates taxes).[7]
Charlton Heston was a former president of the NRA, famous for his "cold dead hands" speech. The group's main talking head is Wayne LaPierre, a perennial member/vice president prone to conspiracy theory, groupthink, and pulling bullshit out of his ass.
[edit] Exaggerated political power
The NRA has long been viewed as a mighty Goliath in US politics[8][9] — politicians feared their piles of lobbying money and the wrath of their 4 million-strong membership base. However, in the aftermath of the Aurora and Sandy Hook massacres, their self-proclaimed political influence and membership figures have fallen under scrutiny.
While the NRA claims to be able to elect politicians they support between 71% and 86% of the time,[10] third parties have pegged their success rate at a hilariously abysmal 0.83%.[11]
The NRA's membership figures are also suspect. They usually claim about 4 million members, but reports from insiders, and from outsiders reading between the lines, suggests these numbers are greatly inflated. The NRA has a very loose definition of "membership" that includes gun purchasers automatically enrolled in the NRA as a promotional gimmick, long-dead members, and subscribers to their magazines. The best guess as to their true size is at most 3.1 million.[12]
On top of this, the NRA is suffering internal problems, with a large disconnect between what its official leadership, who are far too cozy with the gun industry, wants, and its own membership base.[13][14] As a result, not only is it spending its lobbying money ineffectually, but it can no longer even count on its own members to vote in support of its policies.[15]
[edit] Activities that aren't (too) political
The NRA supports firearms education for both children and adults. They occasionally make contributions to the Boy Scouts of America and other organizations.[16] Despite their highly politicized nature, their education programs are usually sound in both concept and execution and do a generally good job teaching the fundamentals and importance of firearms safety. This, of course, is doing fuck all to reduce the proportion of gun crime.[17][18][19][20]
[edit] See also
- David Keene
- Gun Owners of America, which may be even nuttier.
[edit] External links
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For those of you in the mood, RationalWiki has a fun article about NRA. |
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ "How to Break NRA’s Grip on Politics", Bloomberg
- ↑ In case money isn't solving the problem, it is likely that they'll simply point their guns at everyone, if not actually shooting the opposition to death.
- ↑ Despite the fact that the related constitutional amendment purportedly allowing gun ownership does not explicitly define what "arms" are. Suitcase nukes anyone?
- ↑ As seen from the two terms of the Obama administration — "No new laws" somehow means "future gun control laws" for those guys. This contrasts with the NRA's stance during the Clinton years, when they advocated more vigorous enforcement of existing gun laws as an alternative to passing new gun laws.
- ↑ NRA Slams Violent Pop Culture, Even as it Puts on ‘Hollywood Guns’ Exhibit, ThinkProgress
- ↑ NRA's enemies list: Most of America, CNN
- ↑ Meet the NRA's Board of Directors, Mother Jones
- ↑ "The N.R.A. has been increasingly flexing political muscle, with both Democrats and Republicans courting its favor and avoiding its wrath." —The New York Times, December 21, 2012.
- ↑ The Gun Lobby: Why The NRA Is The Baddest Force In Politics, Huffington Post
- ↑ "Election Day Brings Wins For Gun Owners"
- ↑ Outside spenders' return on investment, Sunlight Foundation
- ↑ Does the NRA Really Have 4 Million Members?, Mother Jones
- ↑ This is not your father’s NRA, Politico
- ↑ Why the NRA Is Becoming the 'Great Oz', Huffington Post
- ↑ Americans, even NRA members, want gun reforms, CNN
- ↑ "NRA & BSA—100 Years of Partnership"
- ↑ If you trust the evil UN!
- ↑ Or those crazy Canucks!
- ↑ Or the National Institute of Justice!
- ↑ Or a shockingly-well cited Wikipedia!