An Analysis of the NRA

Trigger Warning: Gun Violence.

In 2012, when I was in the second grade, twenty children and six educators were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. This is one of my earliest and most vivid memories as a child, it affected the way I viewed attending school everyday. I remember often thinking to myself before school, “Is this Tuesday just a regular Tuesday, or is it the day I go to school and get shot?” That is a heavy emotion and concern for a seven or eight year old to have when just trying to receive an education. Ever since Sandy Hook, there have been 948 school shootings across the United States. According to the Sandy Hook Promise organization, “Since the historic attack at Columbine High School in 1999, nearly 300,000 students have been on campus during a school shooting.” Gun violence has become engrained into modern American culture. Most recently, nineteen children and two teachers were shot and killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. It has been ten years since Sandy Hook and nothing has changed. Children are still waking up to go to school in the morning and returning home in caskets.

Three years after Sandy Hook, a white supremacist killed nine African Americans in a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Seven years later, merely a week before the Uvalde shooting, a white supremacist went into a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and killed ten African Americans, wounding three others. It’s the same pattern. Racism and gun violence is a deadly cocktail, but something that is far too common in the United States.

While the mental health epidemic remains an urgent message and movement to prevent gun violence in America, the mere number and accessibility of firearms in the United States is a blaring red flag and indicator that there are other problems to be dealt with if we truly want to eradicate mass shootings.

Police evacuating children out of building, Uvalde, TX. Source: *The Washington Post*

In a rush of outrage and grief, Americans seek answers as to why these shootings keep happening. Many have looked to the most powerful political lobbyist organization in the nation, the corporation who bases it’s whole existence on fighting for the rights of an inanimate object, the National Rifle Association or NRA.

In preparation for this article, I sought to educate myself fully on the extent of the NRA; its history, goals, methods, and purpose. The NRA was originally founded in 1871 by two former Union soldiers following the Civil War. The organization focused on creating widespread firearm training, then shifted its goals toward promoting shooting as a sport up into the early 20th century. It wasn’t until the start of the 1930s when the NRA began to intervene into politics. Following prohibition, Congress wanted to outlaw certain firearms which were contributing to the illegal production and distribution of alcohol. Surprisingly, the NRA supported gun control efforts, a stark contrast to the NRA’s political standings today. They worked closely with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to add gun control incentives into the New Deal. This position toward limiting the accessibility and amount of firearms was the NRA’s main focus for many years, until the 1970s. A shift began in the NRA during this time, as they began to view gun control efforts as a violation of the Second Amendment. In the 1980s, the NRA became an outspoken influence in American politics when they endorsed then presidential nominee, Ronald Reagan. Since this epiphany, the NRA has raked in over 5 million members and has donated $56 million to the Republican led Pro-Second Amendment movement in the past six years.

Just recently, the NRA held a convention in Houston, Texas. Despite calls to maybe cancel or postpone the event due to it’s proximity to the Uvalde shooting which had just happened three days before, the convention continued on. The NRA’s current role in American society is boisterous and often tone deaf with its promotion campaigns, proudly boasting direct ties to former President Donald Trump. These conventions provide a platform for Trump, a platform he desperately needs since he can no longer use the oval office or Twitter. Trump and other right wing thinkers use NRA conventions to connect with their supporters. It is a place for certain Americans to feel heard and understood. The typical convention hosts a speaker line up, gun giveaways, assault rifle exhibits, and seminars on self defense.

A picture is often worth a thousands words. Pictured here: NRA member showing children firearms at the Houston Convention. Source: *NPR*

Zach Despart and Lomi Kriel from The Texas Tribune commented on the Houston NRA convention saying, “Thousands of attendees, who skewed older and whiter than the average demographics of Texas, perused exhibits, attended seminars and voted in a NRA leadership election.” The demographic present at NRA conventions is not surprising considering it's the same demographic gallantly headlining the conservation movement of the Second Amendment.

The Pew Research Center confirmed what I think most Americans knew, the type of person most likely to own a firearm in the US is a white man who lives in a rural area. There is a significant gender gap when it comes to gun ownership, as well as a racial gap. I also don’t think it’s presumptious to assume this group of white men is a majority heterosexual and cisgender. In other words, the majority of people who own firearms in the US harness a privilege that is foundational to the structure of this country. One of the most common reasons people in America own guns is because they feel the need to protect themselves and their property. (First of all, if we want to get technical, what is “American property” if not stolen land? But of course, most Americans are not ready to have the decolonization conversation yet.)

Looking at this issue intersectionally, if firearms were really used in the US to empower people to defend themselves rather than inflict violence, you would assume marginalized groups would hold the majority of the weapons. (The fact people even feel the need to protect themselves in this country should be alarming enough to realize maybe something isn’t quite right here.)

After watching a few of the NRA’s informational videos on YouTube, I came to a rather simple conclusion. I believe the NRA, like most large corporations in the United States, is exploiting the American working class. They are meticulous in their propoganda, and target a gullible population; white people living in rural areas working blue collar jobs who lack college educations. The NRA has painted a picture of fear, and turned the white working class against possible allies by making them think their property and lives are in danger, thereby distracting them from the inevitable truth that they are paying sums of their income to a large corporation who creates a false sense of security in order to gain profit. Not only are rural dwelling, white blue collar workers paying membership fees and making donations to a corporation who’s CEO has an estimated net worth of $10 million, they are also voting for senators and representatives who receive funds from the NRA. (An extremely well put together article by Daniel Nass for The Trace allows readers to access information regarding every single penny donated to campaigns by the NRA supporting Republican candidates in states across the country.)

White, blue collar workers are so afraid of being sheep that they don’t even realize they are being exploited through the use of their labor while being manipulated into thinking a capitalist corporation is on their side. They keep falling for the “I’m not like other politicians” mirage created by right wing extremists. It started with the populist movement, it continued with Ronald Regan and the neo-conservatism movement, and it remains with the followers of Donald Trump. It is all just so ironic, and deeply frustrating when one imagines the kind of change that could be achieved if workers across America united. Until these workers realize they are contributing to the problem, the well being and rights of marginalized communities will continue to go down the drain. As for mass shootings, they will continue as well. And politicians will continue to fight and people will continue to die.

My research solidified what I already knew, the NRA is dangerously powerful when it comes to American politics. With the grip it has on certain politicians, it is no surprise that gun control legislation is rarely passed in Congress. The NRA has an unbelievable amount of money at it's disposal, and it’s influence is insurmontable in rural communities and red states. The gun control movement, at it's core, does not seek to abolish the Second Amendment. It seeks to clean up an out of control system that lacks basic necessities when it comes to the rights and safety of all Americans, like enforcing background checks when it comes to purchasing a firearm. While background checks seem like an easy compromise, the NRA has greatly rejected this idea, lobbying $1.6 million against efforts to do so. Thankfully, the Senate and House of Representatives just passed a bipartisan bill that according to Democratic Senator, Chris Murphy, “will save thousands of lives without violating anyone's Second Amendment rights." At the end of the day, that is all the average American wants.

The overall movement to create a better America for tomorrow, in my eyes, has it’s doors open and ready for white, blue collar workers to undertake. There is power in solidarity, and all Americans should be standing up to large, abusive corporations like the NRA that value profit over human lives. I believe that once all workers realize their potential allies are diverse and across party lines, the amount of good this nation can do is immeasurable.