NRA - A Terrorist's Best Friend

Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you have to know that the attempt to close the loopholes in the background checks for gun buyers died in the Senate last week. Now it looks as though nothing will be done in Congress to fix this problem -- in spite of the fact that closing those loopholes had the support of 90% of the population. And it is a problem. At least 40% of all gun sales in the United States are done without any background check.

That means that ANYONE who wants a gun can legally buy one in this country, and we are the only developed nation where this is true. If you are a criminal, you can legally buy a gun (even though you are likely to use it to commit a crime -- maybe even a violent crime). If you are a dangerously mentally ill person, you can legally buy a gun (even after a psychiatrist has said you pose a danger to other people). If you are a domestic abuser, you can legally buy a gun (even though you are the most likely to murder someone in your own household). And if you are a terrorist, you can legally buy a gun (even if you have already been identified as such and are on the terrorist watch list).

Why can't we fix this problem? Because the NRA spent millions telling lies and half-truths about the bill, claiming it would lead to a gun registry and violate the Second Amendment (neither of which is even remotely true). And because the NRA threatened to put legislators on their anti-gun list and campaign against their re-election -- and that terrified those legislators (who value their own re-election more than legislating the will of the people or saving American lives). It was an exercise in political thuggery (by the NRA) and political cowardice (by too many legislators) that should disgust most Americans.

Some may think my headline is a little over the top. I disagree. Thanks to the NRA, it will remain easy and legal for terrorists to purchase any kind of guns in the United States, including military-style assault rifles and high-volume ammunition clips (not to mention simple kits to turn those assault rifles into true automatic weapons).

It wasn't always that way. There was a time when the NRA really represented gun owners, instead of just gun manufacturers. My fellow blogger, Jack Cluth over at What Would Jack Do?, writes about the recent perversion of this once great organization. He says:

Time was when the National Rifle Association (NRA) was a legitimate and rational organization run by reasonable people who supported both gun rights AND responsibility. As late as the mid-90s, the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre strongly supported expanded mandatory background checks (now, of course, it’s an Evil Librul Plot To Take Our Guns). Prior to 1977, the NRA was an organization that promoted shooting sports and gun safety in a reasonable and rational manner. At the NRA’s 1977 convention in Cincinnati, what was effectively a coup by gun nuts and conspiracy theorists changed the nature of the organization for the worst. Now it’s a politically tone-deaf organization run by a cabal of zealots, gun nuts, and unhinged conspiracy theorists.

A good way to follow the evolution of the NRA is through the history of their advertising. I think you’ll find that you can tell a lot about an organization through its advertising campaigns. By following the NRA’s advertising history, it’s not difficult to understand when it turned from rationality to unhinged and unbalanced wingnuttery.

The NRA should be ashamed of itself…but that would presume that those in charge recognize and understand the concept of shame. When you care far more about the gun industry’s unfettered ability to sell their products than you do about human life, shame likely isn’t part of your vocabulary.