The NRA's Agenda of Hatred

Once upon a time, the National Rifle Association (NRA) was simply a club for target-shooters and hunters. That time has passed. The NRA has degenerated into a group obsessed with weapons and has a fringe population of semi-revolutionary zealots.

That group has become one of the most powerful lobbies at the Capitol, if only to oppose every form of gun control that the Congress enacts. Far from an association of rifle-owners, the NRA has become the National Handgun, Assault Weapon and Federal Lobbyist Association.

The NRA has systematically propounded an attitude of alienation.

The thousands of NRA members who have joined paramilitary organizations, all with a deep-seated fear of the federal government, demonstrate a rejection of and withdrawal from society. A fundraising letter from a top NRA lobbyist calling federal law enforcers "jack-booted government thugs [wearing] Nazi bucket helmets and black storm-trooper uniforms" attests further to this alienation.

The "if you're not with us, you're against us" attitude has its strongest repercussions in Washington. Local NRA members, the grass-roots companions of the federal lobbyists, lead extensive campaigns against candidates for national office who support gun control. They succeed because they have the money. The NRA contributed to the campaigns of 22 of the 35 winners in last November's elections for U.S. Senate. Of the 87 new House members, 60 received NRA funds.

But for all the NRA's power, it still holds only a feeble minority of the national population and opinion. Despite the fact that approximately two-thirds of the nation supports gun control, the NRA has marshalled for a repeal of the landmark Brady Bill. With 3.5 million loyal and voting members, the NRA's voice is also heard disproportionately in elections; they compose little over one percent of the population yet five percent of regular voters.

Those elections, with the NRA's help, could be a turn for the worse for gun control. Bob Dole, the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has claimed himself to be the NRA's man in Congress. Senator Phil Gramm, also a presidential candidate, is another open supporter.

In stark contrast, the NRA's fundraising letter resulted in an angry speech from former President George Bush, who gave up his lifelong membership in the organization. Unfortunately, Bush's speech was not accompanied by echoing sentiments from Congress. Instead, heavily NRA-funded politicians--some of whom had made similar characterizations of federal agents--ran for cover, dissembling and denying.

It's about time Congress stood up to the NRA. The NRA has opposed gun control using the Second Amendment to the Constitution, but in almost every court case their opposition has been ruled unfounded. The judicial branch has adopted a correct and narrow interpretation of the Second Amendment which the legislative branch should echo.

We've detailed our support for gun control many times before, and we don't think the NRA serves any useful purpose what-soever. As for guaranteeing our safety from a malevolent government, we see the NRA and their heavy weapons as more of a danger to common Americans' security.

The NRA's pernicious influence extends beyond the Federal government into our nation's cities. The largely rural NRA has stood against local governments' attempts to regulate guns within urban crime areas. The NRA's mantra that "guns don't kill people, people do" rings hollow before the sound of gunfire and death on urban streets.

Congress's first move should be to cut off the two million dollars that funds "gun education" every year through the NRA. Tougher controls on handguns and assault weapons can be passed, if public support can be sufficiently demonstrated. We need to show Congressional representatives that, by voting against gun control under NRA pressure, they're voting against two-thirds of the nation's population.

In the future, we'd like to see candidates for office boasting of their lack of NRA funds. Those who do take the NRA's money simply perpetuate the culture of hatred and alienation.