The National Rifle Association of America, or NRA, is a not-for-profit association in the United States that brings together supporters of citizens ’right to store and carry firearms .
Since its founding in 1871, the organization has been informing its members of bills related to firearms. Since 1975, the organization has been directly lobbying or opposing some legislative initiatives. The National Rifle Organization is considered the oldest standing civil rights organization and "the largest and most funded lobbying organization in the United States."
Modern NRA is based on improving shooting skills and training in the safety of possession and use of firearms. The organization also publishes magazines and sponsors shooting competitions. The number of participants in May 2013 exceeded 5 million.
Observers and lawmakers see the NRA as one of the three most influential lobbying groups in Washington. The NRA Legislative Initiative Institute is a lobbying body that manages its political action committee, the Victory Political Fund (PVF). Throughout its history, the organization has influenced legislation, participated or initiated litigation, and has endorsed or opposed various candidates.
The NRA is criticized by groups advocating for arms control. The organization has often been the focus of criticism over high-profile shootings in schools, such as shooting at Sandy Hook, shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, and shooting at a school in Florida.
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Aims and purposes of the organization
This organization positions itself as a non-partisan and non-profit organization and, as its main goal, proclaims the protection of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States Bill of Rights, as well as the protection of the personal and property rights of arms dealers and owners of firearms for hunting and self-defense in the United States .
The creation of an organization called the National Rifle Association was officially announced in New York in 1871 by William Conant Church and George Wood Wingate. The first president of the Association was the former Senator and well-known general of the army of the northerners of the period of the Civil War in the USA Ambrose Everett Burnside . Future US President Ulysses Simpson Grant was the eighth chairman of the NRA, and General Philip Henry Sheridan was the ninth.
The National Rifle Association sponsors safety training courses for handling weapons, as well as shooting techniques, holds competitions and sporting events in shooting sports. According to a survey by Fortune magazine, NRA lawmakers and congressional staff are considered one of the most influential lobbying groups. The ideological activity of this association is based on the principle that the right to own weapons is an inalienable civil liberty of Americans and is protected by the Second Amendment to the US Constitution .
However, membership in the association is also available to citizens of other countries that support the right to free possession of weapons. They can provide their assistance to the association through voluntary donations and participation in promotions.
Lobbying and Political Activities
When created on November 16, 1871, the NRA set as its main goal "to promote and encourage scientific shooting of rifles." The NRA’s website also states that the organization is “the oldest human rights organization in America.”
On February 7, 1872, the NRA established a committee to lobby for legislation in the interests of the organization. The first lobbying attempt was to ask the New York State legislature for $ 25,000 to buy land to create a firing range. Within three months, the petition passed and was signed by Governor John Hoffman .
In 1934, the National Rifle Association established a legislative department to formally work on the Second Amendment . The Institute of Legislative Actions, lobbying the NRA industry, was established in 1975. According to political scientists John M. Bruce and Clyde Wilcox, the NRA in the late 1970s focused on the inclusion of political propaganda in its activities and began to consider its members more as political resources, rather than as recipients of goods and services.
In 2012, 88% of Republicans and 11% of Democrats in Congress at some point in their careers received a donation from the NRA PAC. At the international level, the NRA opposes the International Arms Trade Treaty, the Canadian Register of Firearms, and criticizes Australian arms laws.
Elections
NRA support for a particular US presidential candidate was first implemented in 1980. The association supported Ronald Reagan instead of Jimmy Carter . In the 2006 Senate election, the NRA approved Rick Santorum in place of Bob Casey Jr.
The NRA spent $ 40 million on US elections in 2008, including $ 10 million against the election of Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign. The NRA also spent more than $ 360,000 on re-election in Colorado in 2013, which resulted in the removal of John Morse and Angela Giron.
On May 20, 2016, the NRA approved Donald Trump as a candidate for the 2016 US presidential election. The terms of approval, before Donald Trump became the official Republican candidate, were unusual. The NRA generally supports Republican nominations at the end of general elections. The organization said its early approval was triggered by Hillary Clinton ’s arms control stance. In the 2016 United States presidential election, the NRA said it was spending more than $ 30 million in support of Donald Trump .
Legislation
The organization supported the National Firearms Act of 1934, which regulated what was considered “gangster weapons” at the time, such as machine guns and sawn-off shotguns. The NRA partially supported and partially opposed the 1968 Weapons Control Act. This law regulated the circulation of firearms and the activities of gun owners. First of all, the law focused on regulating the interstate trade in firearms by banning the interstate supply of arms, with the exception of licensed manufacturers, dealers and importers. The law was supported by America’s oldest manufacturers (Colt, S & W, etc.), who feared even greater restrictions due to frequent cases of domestic violence. The NRA also upheld the provisions of the law responsible for banning the sale of firearms to convicted criminals and the mentally ill. The National Rifle Organization influenced the writing of the Law on the Protection of Weapon Owners and worked to promote it.
In 2004, the NRA opposed the renewal of the 1994 Federal Assault Weapon Ban. The ban expired on September 13, 2004. In 2005, George W. Bush signed into law the Law on the Protection of the Legal Trade in Arms, which protected arms manufacturers from lawsuits brought against them by local authorities and individuals affected by firearms.