Time was when the National Rifle Association (NRA) was a legitimate and rational organization run by reasonable people who supported both gun rights AND responsibility. As late as the mid-90s, the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre strongly supported expanded mandatory background checks (now, of course, it’s an Evil Librul Plot To Take Our Guns). Prior to 1977, the NRA was an organization that promoted shooting sports and gun safety in a reasonable and rational manner. At the NRA’s 1977 convention in Cincinnati, what was effectively a coup by gun nuts and conspiracy theorists changed the nature of the organization for the worst. Now it’s a politically tone-deaf organization run by a cabal of zealots, gun nuts, and unhinged conspiracy theorists.
A good way to follow the evolution of the NRA is through the history of their advertising. I think you’ll find that you can tell a lot about an organization through its advertising campaigns. By following the NRA’s advertising history, it’s not difficult to understand when it turned from rationality to unhinged and unbalanced wingnuttery.
The NRA should be ashamed of itself…but that would presume that those in charge recognize and understand the concept of shame. When you care far more about the gun industry’s unfettered ability to sell their products than you do about human life, shame likely isn’t part of your vocabulary.
