By Nina Lavezzo- Stecopoulos Reporter
N R A 20 the little hawk
The National Rifle Association is a nonprofit organization founded by ex-Union soldiers in 1817, because they were disgusted by their fellow soldiers’ poor use of guns during the Civil War. Since then, the NRA has made efforts to elect politicians who support their ideals by donating large sums of money to their campaigns. The NRA also grades politicians in United States elections, which usually correlates with the amount of money they have taken from the NRA. Politicians’ affiliation with the NRA usually affect their views or non-existent views on gun control. In late February, Donald Trump called out other politicians for staying silent while speaking about gun control, stating that they are “afraid of the NRA.” In order to promote and aid the NRA’s chosen politicians, it founded the Political Victory Fund (PVF). The first political candidate the PVF supported was Ronald Reagan in the election of 1980. The NRA has endorsed many politicians since, spending $54 million on supporting Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election. But the NRA doesn’t only comment on politics in the United States: it has also commented on Australian gun laws and Brazilian gun rights. The NRA first began to take on a larger role in politics in 1975, when it formed the Institution for Legislative Action. The ILA “is committed to preserving the rights of all law-abiding individ-
uals to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” The NRA advocates for gun rights in many ways. One topic they use in arguments and promote often is the safety issue. The NRA is known to advocate for guns as a way to defend oneself, especially women. On their website they describe how to “refuse to be a victim” under the section titled Women’s Interests. In addition to this reason for gun advocacy, they have an article describing the reasons why members need an AR-15, citing hunting, disaster preparation , hunting, and fun. Generally, this association takes current social topics and tries to connect them to advocating for guns. The NRA also responded to the March for Our Lives by claiming the activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas wanted to repeal the Second Amendment and steal their guns. Though this extremely political association is mostly focused on gun rights, they still spread information about gun training, also known as gun safety. They offer free training programs for basics of pistol shooting, refusing to be a victim for women, range safety officer training, club leadership and range development courses online. On their website, they have arti-
cles focused on defining firearm legislation in each state. They also supply facts, usually responding to gun control activists, about why the NRA believes in the right to own an AR-15. But the NRA wasn’t always this involved in politics. In fact, for many years they were just showing boy scouts how to shoot a rifle. The first mission of the NRA was to create more rifle ranges and general shooting grounds. At these grounds the NRA’s first shooting matches were held. From then on the NRA began to promote gun-related sports. They also promoted rifle clubs in colleges around the nation, increasing the size of their youth programs, which are still around today, in places like YMCA Camp Wapsie where there is a rifle range that most likely arose from the NRA’s youth programs. One way the NRA spreads their information is through memberships. With a membership, one receives one of their magazines as well as Armscare Coverage, which insures NRA members’ rifles. With its magazines the NRA can spread its chosen articles, and, like most political organizations’ publicity, the magazines don’t include many points for the other side. This propaganda enlarges the NRA’s following and spreads the voices of NRA’s five million supporters.
The NRA has five million reporting members, meaning that one out of every 65 Americans is a member of the NRA.