The NRA’s misfires won’t shake its hold on America
The latest shot at the floundering nonprofit that was once the all-powerful National Rifle Association hit the organization pointblank.
NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre can’t shoot straight. Or at least he couldn’t get a shot off to kill a mortally wounded bush elephant in 2013, despite guides repeatedly helping him aim from only a few feet away. The escapade was documented for an outdoors show but never aired, partly due to legal squabbles embroiling the organization.
However, video of the embarrassing hunt was recently released by The Trace and The New Yorker and has been widely criticized, both for LaPierre’s inept marksmanship and the fact that African Savannah elephants are now considered endangered.
The release of the clip is too late. Not just for the majestic pachyderm, which was eventually put out of its misery by a quick shot from one of LaPierre’s guides. But also as a knock on the overall image of the NRA as an organization.
Because despite the organization’s recent financial troubles, there’s no disputing that LaPierre and the NRA successfully turned many politicians into their puppets.
This is despite shifting public sentiment around gun violence, particularly mass shootings that have become household names: Columbine, Parkland, Sandy Hook Aurora, the Tree of Life Synagogue and so many more.
And now the U.S. Supreme Court is seemingly stepping up to finish the job for the NRA, a bit like that Botswana guide. The conservative-leaning court is taking up a case challenging a New York state law that requires people to show “proper cause” and a “special need for self-protection” to gain a concealed carry permit. New York State Rifle and Pistol Assn. v. Corlett will be argued and decided next year.
If these long-required stipulations sound like common sense, then you haven’t been indoctrinated by the NRA’s efforts. Experts are already predicting that the court, now tipped pro-expansion of Second Amendment rights by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, will find the New York law unconstitutional.
It doesn’t seem to matter if the NRA has lost its financial footing or faces public outrage. NRA detractors love these tidbits, but none of it will change what matters most going forward.
America is overwhelmed with preventable deaths, serious injuries and trauma caused by firearms. And yet, Americans are also set to continue buying firearms at astounding rates.
Gun sales increased when the pandemic began. Gun sales also went up in correlation with the unrest that surrounded some Black Lives Matter protests.
When people are fearful, they arm themselves. They also become less prone to think rationally.
About 40% of the nation either owns firearms or lives with someone who does. That equates to about 390 million guns, the highest per capita rate in the world.
Plenty of evidence exists that proves arming ourselves does not keep us safer. Women are more likely to be killed when a gun is present in domestic violence attacks, and people who have access to firearms at home are nearly twice as likely to be murdered as people who don’t.
And yet, the majority of gun owners say they keep a gun in their home or in their car or seek a concealed carry permit primarily as a means of protection, according to Pew Research Center.
America has already bought the NRA’s message wholesale. And this message can be expected to hold strong for the foreseeable future, even as the messenger has been revealed as a fraud.