Not-So-Good Guys with Guns: On the Origins of the NRA

LITERARY HUB--THE NEW PRESS

It’s Been 20 Yrs Since the Brady Bill Passed. Here Are 11 Ways Gun Politics Have Changed.

WASHINGTON POST

 Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which went into effect in 1994. The law -- named after James Brady, who was shot during an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981 -- made background checks a requirement for gun purchases from licensed dealers. From the law's passage until 2009 -- the latest year statistics are available -- over 107 million Brady-mandated background checks were conducted.

Gun politics have also changed since the passage of the Brady bill. Here are a few notable examples.

1. When gun policy gets passed, it's usually about loosening gun restrictions, not tightening them.

The New York Times did a study in December 2013 analyzing gun policy since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School the previous year, a year when 71 other children were killed by gun violence. Around the country, 1,500 state gun bills were proposed, 109 became law, and 70 of those new laws loosened existing gun legislation. According to a Gallup poll from January 30, 2014, 55 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with existing gun policy.

2. 242 members of the House had an "A rating" from the National Rifle Association in December 2012.

46 senators did. 

3. In 2013, a plan to expand background checks failed.

Fifty-four senators were for it, 46 were against -- and it couldn't pass without a 60-vote threshold. Only 56 senators voted yes on the Brady bill. The background checks bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), would have required checks on all commercial gun sales, and was a part of the big federal push on gun violence policy after the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. The president did sign 25 executive actions related to gun-violence prevention in 2013, however.

4. In 1998, gun violence was seen as the most pressing issue in the country, according to a Gallup survey.

In October 2013, 1 percent of respondents saw violence and crime as the most pressing issue in the country.

5. Opinions of the National Rifle Association are about the same as they were 20 years ago.

December 2012, Gallup

In a 1993 Gallup survey, 55 percent of the country had a favorable opinion of the NRA. At the end of 2012, 54 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of them.

6. In the 1993-1994 election cycle, the NRA spent $2.3 million.

In the 2011-2012 election cycle, they spent $24.8 million.

7. New gun-control groups are starting to spend big money, too.

Gabby Giffords, who was shot at a constituent meeting in Arizona in 2011, started Americans for Responsible Solutions, a gun-control focused 501(c)4. The group raised nearly $12.5 million this year. Michael Bloomberg started Mayors Against Illegal Guns in 2006. The organization has spent nearly $2 million lobbying since its formation. According to the National Journal, "gun-control groups spent five times as much on federal lobbying in 2013 as they did the year before, but the NRA and others still outpaced them by more than 7-to-1."

8. In 1993, 34 percent of Americans thought it was more important to protect the right to own guns than control gun ownership.

 

In 2013, 48 percent of Americans thought that.

9. Firearm homicides reached a peak of 17,075 in 1993.

In 2011, about 9,900 people were murdered by guns, according to FBI data. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 18,253 gun homicides happened in 1993, while 11,078 gun murders occurred in 2010.

10. In October 2011, 47 percent of Americans said they had a gun in the home -- the highest number since 1993.

11. Things that didn't exist in 1994 that politicians have to think about now: online gun sales, 3-D printing and smart guns.

How the NRA is winning

WASH POST Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake

It’s easy to think that in the wake of Wayne LaPierre’s angry press conference and the National Rifle Association’s tin-eared web video on President Obama’s daughters that the NRA is losing — and losing badly — in the fight over the proper place for guns in American society.
Easy and likely incorrect.
There’s little doubt that the inside-the-Beltway crowd and those who have been longtime advocates of more gun control laws are outraged by the brash style that the NRA has adopted following the shootings in Newtown, Conn.

But, there’s also plenty of evidence to suggest that the NRA is regarded entirely differently in the country at large. Polling conducted by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal this week showed 41 percent of people had a favorable opinion of the NRA, while 34 percent viewed it unfavorably, a margin largely unchanged from a similar survey conducted in January 2011.
And a look at the longer-term trend line on views of the NRA by Gallup suggests a striking consistency in the overall impression Americans have of the gun rights group.
(Worth noting: The last Gallup survey, which showed the NRA’s favorable rating at 54 percent, was taken after the LaPierre press conference.)
With all of that as backdrop, there are at least two major reasons to think the NRA will emerge from the national debate on guns as a winner.

1. The NRA is already in the midst of a membership boom, as the actions taken by Obama — and, in particular, his executive orders — convince people that the threat of the government seizing guns or limiting gun ownership is real and, because it is, a counter-weight to that government is needed. (To be clear: Obama has never said anything that would suggest confiscation of guns is a possibility.)
According to NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanadam, the group has added 250,000 new members since gun control re-emerged in the national debate and added 400,000 more followers to its Facebook page (from 1.6 million to 2 million). Arulanadam wouldn’t disclose any information about the pace of donations to the NRA over that same time period, but it’s hard to imagine that hasn’t heavily increased as well.
The longer the fight on gun rights carries on, the more members — and money — the NRA will add. It’s not unreasonable to think the NRA will add more members (and raise more money) in 2013 than in any year in recent memory.

2. The likelihood is that whatever passes through Congress will be small, not big. While the NRA is fighting on all fronts at the moment — including opposing the executive orders signed by Obama — the organization almost certainly recognizes that some sort of measure(s) restricting gun rights is likely to be made law.
Given that, the NRA’s goal — unstated, of course — is likely to keep what Congress passes on the small side in terms of impact. So a ban on high capacity ammunition clips might be acceptable, but a new version of the assault weapons ban wouldn’t be.
If early indications from Congress are a good indicator, a small move on guns seems to be the preferred option — even for many Democrats who either a) represent rural seats/states or b) hold Republican-leaning seats/states.
The likelihood of a small-bore bill coupled with the near-certainty of record growth in membership and money are a sort of best-of-both-worlds scenario for the NRA.
To be clear, risks remain for the long-term health of the group — particularly if its Washington leadership comes to be viewed as detached from its millions of members — but to assume this gun debate is a stone-cold loser (especially in the near term) for the NRA is to badly misread the political landscape.

Obama Calls for Broad Action to Toughen Gun Laws. Vows to ‘Put Everything I’ve Got’ Into Gun Control

 


 NEW YORK TIMES

Four days before taking the oath of office, President Obama on Wednesday staked the beginning of his second term on an uphill quest to pass the broadest gun control legislation in a generation.

In the aftermath of the Connecticut school massacre, Mr. Obama vowed to rally public opinion to press a reluctant Congress to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, expand background checks, and toughen gun-trafficking laws. Recognizing that the legislative fight could be long and difficult, the president also took immediate steps by issuing a series of executive actions intended to reduce gun violence.

Surrounded by children who wrote him letters seeking curbs on guns, Mr. Obama committed himself to a high-profile and politically volatile campaign behind proposals assembled by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. that will test the administration’s strength heading into the next four years. The first big push of Mr. Obama’s second term, then, will come on an issue that was not even on his to-do list on Election Day when voters renewed his lease on the presidency.

The emotionally charged ceremony, attended by family members of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., reflected a decision by the White House to seize on public outrage to challenge the political power of the National Rifle Association and other forces that have successfully fought new gun laws for decades.

[Hey, NRA, the century is not even 13 years old, declaring a “fight of the century” might be a bit premature. The nation’s largest gun lobby vowed to use all their resources to fight President Obama in a fundraising letter distributed on Wednesday— “I warned you this day was coming and now it is here,” NRA president Wayne LaPierre declares in the leaflet, which is being circulated at the 35^th Annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas. On Wednesday, the NRA and other gun advocacy groups spend the whole day in closed-door meetings to draft a response to Obama’s proposal to reduce gun violence, which included a ban on assault weapons, higher-capacity magazine guns, and stricter background checks.]



The N.R.A. made clear that it was ready for a fight.  [see above] Even before the president’s speech, it broadcast a provocative video calling Mr. Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for opposing more armed guards in schools while his daughters had Secret Service protection [see below].

[Stay classy, National Rifle Association. The gun-lobbying group released a video on Tuesday that calls President Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for using Secret Service protection for his daughters. “Are the president’s kids more important than yours?” the video asks. “Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their schools?” The NRA denied that the ad is about Malia and Sasha Obama, with spokesman Andrew Arulanandam saying that "misses the point entirely." Arulanadam said the ad is about "keeping our children safe," and about the president's skepticism about schools having armed security guards when he and his family have them. The White House called the ad "repugnant and cowardly" and spokesman Jay Carney said that the president's children should not be used as "pawns in a political fight."]

 After the speech the group said it would work to secure schools, fix the mental health system and prosecute criminals but criticized the president’s other proposals. “Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation,” the N.R.A. said in a statement. “Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected, and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy.”

 

Mr. Obama’s plan included 4 major legislative proposals and 23 executive actions that he initiated on his own authority to bolster enforcement of existing laws, improve the nation’s database used for background checks and otherwise make it harder for criminals and people with mental illness to get guns.

Mr. Obama asked Congress to reinstate and strengthen a ban on the sale and production of assault weapons that passed in 1994 and expired in 2004. He also called for a ban on the sale and production of magazines with more than 10 rounds, like those used in Newtown and other mass shootings. Mr. Obama’s plan would require criminal background checks for all gun sales, closing the longstanding loophole that allows buyers to avoid screening by purchasing weapons from unlicensed sellers at gun shows or in private sales. Nearly 40 percent of all gun sales are exempt from the system.

 He also proposed legislation banning the possession or transfer of armor-piercing bullets and cracking down on “straw purchasers,” those who pass background checks and then forward guns to criminals or others forbidden from purchasing them.

For Mr. Obama, the plan represented a political pivot. While he has always expressed support for an assault weapons ban, he has made no real effort to pass it on the assumption that the votes were not there. But he and the White House are banking on the idea that the Newtown shooting has changed the dynamics. “I have never seen the nation’s conscience so shaken by what happened at Sandy Hook,” Mr. Biden said Wednesday. “The world has changed and is demanding action.”

 

read more at NEW YORK TIMES  

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AGENDA FACES UNCERTAIN FATE IN CONGRESS

WASHINGTON POST

As important as the executive actions are, Obama said, “they are in no way a substitute” for the legislative proposals he sent to Congress.
But on Capitol Hill, where two decades of gun-control efforts have landed in the political graveyard, leaders of Obama’s own party do not necessarily share his views.
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) stopped short of embracing Obama’s proposals, calling them “thoughtful recommendations” and saying that he would “consider legislation that addresses gun violence and other aspects of violence in our society early this year.”

The gun-control agenda that President Obama unveiled with urgency on Wednesday now faces an uncertain fate in a bitterly divided Congress, where Republican opposition hardened and centrist Democrats remained noncommittal after a month of feverish public debate.
By pursuing an expansive overhaul of the nation’s gun laws, Obama is wagering that public opinion has evolved enough after a string of mass shootings to force passage of politically contentious measures that Congress has long stymied.

Yet there was no indication on Wednesday that the mood on Capitol Hill has changed much. Within hours of Obama’s formal policy rollout at the White House, Republicans who had previously said they were open to a discussion about gun violence condemned his agenda as violating the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms.
“I’m confident there will be bipartisan opposition to his proposal,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement.
The Senate plans to begin taking up Obama’s proposals next week, with the House waiting to see what the Democrat-controlled Senate passes first, congressional aides said. The Senate is likely to take a piecemeal approach, eventually holding up-or-down votes on the individual elements of Obama’s plan rather than trying to muscle through a single comprehensive bill, aides said.

“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,”

NY TIMES

After a weeklong silence, the National Rifle Association announced Friday that it wants to arm security officers at every school in the country. It pointed the finger at violent video games, the news media and lax law enforcement — not guns — as culprits in the recent rash of mass shootings.
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” Wayne LaPierre, [above] the N.R.A. vice president, said at a media event that was interrupted by protesters. One held up a banner saying, “N.R.A. Killing Our Kids.”

 

The N.R.A.’s plan for countering school shootings was met with widespread derision from school administrators, law enforcement officials and politicians, with some critics calling it “delusional” and “paranoid.” Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican, said arming schools would not make them safer.

 

Even conservative politicians who had voiced support this week for arming more school officers did not rush to embrace the N.R.A.’s plan.Their reluctance was an indication of just how toxic the gun debate has become after the Connecticut shootings, as gun control advocates push for tougher restrictions.

 

Nationwide, at least 23,000 schools — about one-third of all public schools — already had armed security on staff as of the most recent data, for the 2009-10 school year, and a number of states and districts that do not use them have begun discussing the idea in recent days.

 

Even so, the N. R. A’s focus on armed guards as its prime solution to school shootings — and the group’s offer to help develop and carry out such a program nationwide — rankled a number of lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

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Majority back major gun legislation:

Another national poll shows rising support for gun control. Fifty-two percent of Americans support major gun legislation, including and up to an outright ban, according to a new poll from CNN and Opinion Research.

The poll shows 37 percent support “major restrictions” and 15 percent prefer an outright ban. On the other side, 33 percent say there should be minor restrictions and 13 percent say there should be none.
A very strong majority — 62 percent — approve of a ban on semi-automatic assault guns and high-capacity ammunition clips, which Senate Democrats are pushing, but another majority — 52 percent — says people should not be prevented from buying multiple guns.

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But, despite what it may seem like on Twitter or in the media, most Americans still have a fondness for the National Rifle Association. According to a Gallup poll released Thursday, 54 percent of participants have a favorable opinion of the recently scandal-ridden gun lobby, while 38 percent view them unfavorably. The time period in which the poll was conducted includes NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre’s speech advocating the stationing of armed guards at each school in America.