The National Rifle Assn.’s political clout is so sweeping — and numerically disproportionate — that it’s unusual to realize its power is largely taken for granted, as if it were always thus. Frontline addresses that history, as well as the group’s combative modern posture, in “Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA,” an hourlong documentary perhaps especially important for Hollywood, given how surrogates for showbiz and the gun lobby inevitably end up pointing fingers at each other in the face of mass shootings. The refresher course is necessary, though nothing here provides any clues about shaking the NRA’s stranglehold on politics, where “No retreat” is the mantra.
As this latest fine and even-handed production from Kirk Documentary Group makes clear, the NRA was a relatively benign, not terribly political organization until 1977, when then-dissident members seized control of the group, adopting a hardline stance against virtually any form of gun-control regulation.
The seminal moment, however, came in 1999, when the NRA vigorously pushed back against the public’s understandable horror over the school shooting at Columbine High School, with then-front-man Charlton Heston famously brandishing a rifle and dramatically intoning, “From my cold, dead hands.”
The 2000 election followed, with NRA muscle contributing to the razor-thin margin that denied (with a little help from the Supreme Court) the presidency to Al Gore, who as Vice President had cast the tie-breaking vote on a piece of relatively modest gun legislation.
Among those interviewed, perhaps the most salient point that keeps emerging is the NRA’s savvy, now under the leadership of Wayne LaPierre, in remaining vigilant and steadfast even in the wake of new tragedies, such as the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary or of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, realizing that while the group’s commitment to the sanctity of firearms is unwavering, the public is apt to get distracted in its opposition, and move on.
LaPierre, moreover, must deal with his own unyielding wing within the NRA, a former spokesman notes, which might explain his reluctance to seek compromise in any way — a stance that has if anything metastasized during the Obama administration, due to the “They’re coming for our guns” paranoia his presidency has unleashed on the political fringes.
No one currently associated with the NRA would speak to the producers, and indeed, why should they? Because in the ongoing battle over gun control, it’s pretty obvious who’s winning. Small wonder proponents of stricter gun laws have recently begun pursuing state ballot initiatives, as the New York Times reported, seeking to mount an end run around the NRA’s well-fortified position in Washington.
For now, though, as “Gunned Down” illustrates, the organization’s leaders seem to recognize they come to that battle armed with the ultimate ammunition: Tons of money, a cowering political class, and a population that might embrace reasonable limitations on gun ownership in theory but lacks the necessary determination to make it happen once the smoke clears.
It’s kind of a funny thing; I’m commenting on this so called documentary without watching it because it’s so easy to predict what the liberals are regurgitating. There is no original thought, and no real research, just blame the NRA for the violence in America.
The fact of the matter is, the NRA is not some monolithic organization made up of a few fat old white men, and firearms manufacturers handing out millions of dollars to politicians. It’s an organization of 5 MILLION and growing, like minded law abiding gun owners who are currently subjected to over 20,000 gun laws in 50 states and the federal government, and are carefully observing the trend of anti-gun politicians who are chipping away at the second amendment one restrictive law after the other, and wrapping the slow errosion of the right to bear arms in the facade of, “Public Safety”. Gun owners are told that no one is trying to take our guns away, yet New York and Connecticut are doing just that.
For those of you that don’t know, those of us that are members of the NRA are made up of active, retired, and veterans of the military. We are also made up of city, county, state, and federal law enforcement. But wait, there’s more! NRA members are also doctors, lawyers, educators, parents, grandparents, legislators, and in the past, U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.
Interestingly enough, the liberals point an accusatory finger at the big dog, yell foul at the NRA (WE THE PEOPLE), because we will not go quietly into the night, and claim that politicians are cowering at the power of the NRA. Personally, I have a different narrative in that gun owners have the power of the U.S. Constitution behind us, and we are finally fed up with anti-gun politicians who are blatantly ignoring those 27 words in the Second Amendment. We back law makers that uphold and protect, and not violate the constitution, and we applaud legislators that implement laws that protect our right to bear arms, and repeal draconian laws that do nothing to protect the people from violent offenders, but do unnessarily restrict the possession of firearms by law abiding gun owners.
Liberals notoriously blame the NRA for Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandyhook…well…every violent attack where the criminal used a firearm. They fail to place blame and responsibility on the human element which is the violent criminal. It’s the gun, an inanimate object, and not the person, that liberals consider the real evil. But even in the mind of liberals, there are exceptions to their blame and finger pointing. According to Leah Gunn-Barrett, head of “New Yorkers Against Gun Violence”, “There’s no such thing as a law abiding gun owner”. Leah’s rationale is, “You can be perfectly law-abiding one moment, and then the next moment you can be a criminal and do something criminal and wrong, like shoot up a movie theater, or kill your spouse during an argument.” Regulation of people and behavior is needed, she said, “to protect us against our own stupidity and our own irrationality.” To that I say, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.
The irony of this commentary being posted in Variety, the newspaper of the entertainment industry, is overwhelming to me. The entertainment industry promotes violence, and calls it entertainment. Sylvester Stallone, and Liam Neeson, create personas that shoot, stab, and blowup everything in their path, get paid MILLIONS of dollars to play those roles, and then have the audacity to tell law abiding gun owners that possession of firearms is wrong. Seriously?
I am a veteran of the United States Army, and I served as a Military Policeman. After the military, I served my community as a police officer. In that time, and after my retirement, I have kept firearms, unlocked and loaded in my home. I raised two daughters, and I now have five grandkids. NO ONE in my house has ever been in danger from my firearms…except for the intruder that broke in…he came face to face with my .357 magnum and I, and peacefully submitted to arrest and detention as my wife called local law enforcement.
In closing, people, not inannimate objects or organizations are responsible for the evil in the world. Once liberals finally learn that lesson, we can all move on to solve other issues.
I watched part of this show early this morning when i couldn’t sleep – it cured THAT.
Mayor–something tells me you ain’t the brightest bulb in the garden or in the ceiling…
Torrey spouts nothing but insults. No intelligence is required to do that. We all learned it in third grade. Is it fun to use tax payer money to troll? Your facebook page is unavailable. Afraid someone will uncover your true identity?
This review is by far the most shallow piece of television criticism I’ve ever seen. Nowhere does Mr. Lowry mention that the film visually equates the NRA with mass killings of children and assumes a totally unproven idea that gun control would stop such crimes. Frontline should be embarrassed to call this journalism.
Saw the nra ep and I got to say, I thought it was such a one sided left wing story it made me sick. I can’t believe you would show Obama fake tearing like he gave two shits.political show boating for his own agenda is all that was . I lost all respect for front line and would not donate a dime to such one sided news.
The Newtown tragedy will resonate in American politics for years to come. Any politician who dare breathe a word of gun control will face fierce opposition. Let a candidate show off his/her ability to fire the Glock [Joni Ernst}–and that candidate will be sure to get that far right wing fascistic element that is a reality of American politics. And the shift in Congress to the far right will be inevitable.
I just watched the program. Frontline takes the perspective from that of the murder victims of gun violence; Frontline reports on the politician’s response to those murder victims. Frontline reports on how the NRA controls the politicians and controls the debate about gun control. As far as I’m concerned, Frontline did not go far enough in describing the NRA as a far right fascistic organization that would replace Constitutional Law with the Tyranny of the 2nd Amendment. For example, emblazoned on the NRA headquarters is the truncated quote from the 2nd Amendment–“….shall not be infringed…” The NRA objected to Dr. Vivek Murthy as Surgeon General because Dr. Murthy asserted that gun violence represents a major health crisis. With 81,000 gun injuries, with 20,000 suicides by gun, with 10,000 gun deaths–if that does not qualify as a health care crisis, then what does? (Never mind a political lobby having any say in who should be Surgeon General.) The NRA objects, and wants to prohibit. Doctors from asking patients about presence of guns in the household. First, any imposition on the medical profession regarding questions doctor can or cannot ask–seems out and out fascistic; second, if the tobacco industry lobby was to want doctors prohibited from asking about smoking–well, it couldn’t be done. The NRA has persisted in demanding Congress forbid the CDC from collecting statistics on gun violence or doing research on gun violence for fear such statistical gathering or research would lead to more gun control legislation. All of that is something of a small nature the radical far right fascistic nature the NRA is.
Since the Newtown tragedy, the NRA gun nut psychos have persisted in claiming that the Founding Fathers intended the 2nd Amendment to allow for mob armed citizen revolt against the Federal Government. With that lunatic logic, the Boston Marathon Bombers, Eric Frein, Timothy McVeigh, et. al. were simply exercising a [supposed] Constitutional Right to overthrow the US Government. That Timothy McVeigh’s lawyers did NOT invoke the 2nd Amendment as a defense for his actions, suggest that there is no right inferred or implied in the 2nd Amendment allowing for armed insurrection of the U. S. Government. (And such lunatic logic shows how fascistic these NRA gun nut psychos are.)
this is just another in a long list of why i stopped donating to the local pbs station long ago …. public broadcasting should never do any programming on such issues as it will never be even handed or representative of the average person. I am willing to bet the author and variety want the police to answer their calls and i am also sure most hollywood functions have armed security. when the author and ALL supporters of so called “gun control” including ALL politicians and that means obama too, give up their guards and walls and security then we can talk
deserttrek I apologize ….that comment is meant for the dipshit (Steven Torrey) that posted above you
It’s was a simple mistake. It still doesn’t negate the fact that you are a hoplophobic, freedom-hating moron.
If you are so dumb as to get confused in how to respond–maybe you shouldn’t be commenting–and certainly too dumb to own a gun….
With the Heller and McDonald Supreme court rulings, the 2nd Amendment means what it says. The Supreme Court will soon have other cases to further cement the ORIGINAL intent of the 2nd Amendment and finally prevent it from being perverted by the likes of freedom hating morons like you sir. Now kindly pull your bottom lip over your head and swallow.
Every time PBS whines about how evil guns and the NRA are, I buy another gun and support the defunding of PBS. I’m already a life member of the NRA, can’t do better than that. If you don’t like guns, don’t buy one. Just because you want to be helpless and unable to protect yourself from criminals doesn’t mean the rest of us have to do the same. Besides, if we have guns and you don’t, what can you do about it? Not much.
This was a good overview of the NRA, but an hour isn’t nearly enough time to communicate the extent to which it subverts the democratic process. The NRA’s tentacles are at work not just Washington, but in every state and at the ready to attack individual communities.
See the lunacy of your logic, Dee? Per the NRA mantra–per the 2nd Amendment, everyone owns a gun. Now there is need for a gun in every store, every mall, every school, every church, every street corner to protect everyone from the gun everyone owns.
I can’t blame the these people for being upset and furious about the horrible things that happened to their children and loved ones. I would be also. I would be even more furious that they had not been protected. Our nation has protection, our presidency and family has protection. why do our schools NOT have protection? Lives would have been saved if a qualified, trained gun owner would have been there to stop these shooters. Education and training are the keys to preventing horrible situations like these. How horrible it would be to know all you can do is wait and hope the shooter doesn’t shoot you before the police or swat team are able to get there and hopefully get in to save you.
The gun control lobby drifts ever farther from the mainstream of American society. For over 20 years legislation, federal court decisions, and public opinion itself have evolved in the direction of more firearms freedom. Experience has shown that, rather than being “a virus that must be eliminated” as the public health gun prohibitionists say, firearms in the hands of good citizens are a social benefit.
Timothy Wheeler, MD
Director
Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership
A Project of the Second Amendment Foundation
Tell me why there are an estimated 110 million gun owners and only say 7 million NRA members. I would think if the majority of Gun owners like my self felt the NRA represented our views then more of us would be members. But they don’t so over 103 Million of us don’t care for the NRA. Numbers don’t lie.
Numbers lie when they’re slanted and generated by liberals who want to paint a narrative that guns are evil and we should give up our 2nd amendment rights while democrats force “gun control” laws the force gun seizures from innocent citizens. Thank you Mr.Lowrey for showing me this show is as “even handed” as your review.way way way left of the center.
This is easy. Some people just aren’t joiners. But, that doesn’t mean that they disagree with the NRA and its policy and position. You may however be the exception to the rule…if you really are a gun owner.
“End-run around the NRA”?
You ain’t gonna like what you find on the other side.
With liberals it’s always about the agenda and “end runs” around the will of the people — question for this anti-2nd Amendment/anti-Constitution/ anti-Freedom journOlista hack: isn’t the will of Congress, the true will of the American people in this Constitutional Republic??? So what is it that you and your ilk really want?? End of the power of Congress? More power in the hands of the omnipotent, one-party-rule, “presidency”? Dictatorship a la Maoist China? How far is too far for your ilk?? As a naive young Democrat woman I couldn’t care less about 2nd Amendment fights, but after your ilk exposed its true colors with the radical Occupiers in power, I finally get what we are fighting for. It’s the very heart and soul of this republic OF the people, BY the people, FOR that miserable statists such as yourself want to abridge.
Those twenty murdered children had a RIGHT to life! Their RIGHT TO LIFE trumps the 2nd Amendment right–despite Joe the Plumber’s psychotic assertion. The Right to Peaceable Assembly is also in the Constitution. As well as a right to ‘ensure domestic’ tranquility and to achieve those rights, the Founding Fathers included a clause Article I, Section 8, paragraph 18–“To make all laws which shall be necessary…” (But hey, thanks for confirming for the reading public–Maryam–that you are indeed a right wing lunatic that the NRA is so fond of.)
Since the Newtown tragedy, the NRA gun nut psychos have loudly and often proclaimed that the Founding Fathers intended the 2nd Amendment to allow for armed mob insurrection against the Federal Government. That lunatic logic means that the Boston Marathon Bombers and Eric Frein were simply exercising a [supposed] 2nd Amendment right to overthrow the US. Government. A lot of these NRA gun nut psychos–crypto-fascists, the lot of them–need to read Title 18 of the US Code, specifically Sect 1114 & 1111–the Sections that Timothy McVeigh was indicted and sentenced with. And read again, for the first time, about the Militia to ‘suppress insurrections” which the NRA would foment.
name calling and the denial of my rights does not help your agenda ..
Since the Newtown tragedy, the far left anti gun nut psychos have loudly and often proclaimed that the Founding Fathers intended the 2nd Amendment to allow for hunting……no that is not true and all you far leftist know it
You understand NOTHING of the adoption of the Constitution.
Yes, the anti-Federalists lost the battle over the adoption of the Constitution. They didn’t want a strong central govt and also didn’t like that there was no bill of rights.
In the state adoption process the legislatures, frequently at the behest of the anti-federalist minority, recommended changes to the Constitution. In at least one instance the state ratified on the express condition that a Bill of Rights be adopted by the first Congress and one state didn’t ratify until after that was done.
Madison took those 186 (as I recall) different proposals and distilled them into 12, numbers 2 thru 12 eventually became the Bill of Rights.
Both the anti-Federalists and the Federalists like Madison clearly recognized that the BofR was about INDIVIDUAL rights. This history is well documented.
The “militia” clause was a consolation prized to the anti-Federalists. It gave them nothing because the new Constitution still allowed Congress to keep a standing army but it did ideologically reaffirm the desire to depend upon the militia. But that is all.
Heller and MacDonald have now completed the process of recognizing that 2A protects an individual right to arms. We are no only arguing about scope.
The rest of your blathering about McVeigh and the “right to revolt” is simply that – blathering.
No serious gun-owner, least of all the NRA, claims the 2A provides a right to revolt. That is a “straw man” argument.
It is clear though, from the writings of the Founders, that the means to resist tyranny were to be left in the hands of the people.
btw, calling me “moron” doesn’t make me one. but doing so demonstrates exactly what you are.
Frontline took the perspective of those murdered victims. I see twenty murdered children. I do not see a need for the psychotic screed about the 2nd Amendment from the NRA gun nut psychos. So yes–you are both a moron and a sociopath–indifferent to the magnitude of the tragedy that is gun violence. Article I, Section 8, paragraph 18: “…to make all laws necessary…” to ensure that innocent life has a Right to Life…
No, Seven Torrey, NO ONE else’s “right to life” trumps ANYONE else’s individual rights.
I ALSO have a “right to life”.
Therefore I have the right to defend that life.
Therefor I have the right to arms to defend that life (see Blackstone).
So, I have the right to “arms”, which the SC said in in Miller (1934) were the arms “commonly in use at the time” as “suitable for militia (military) use”.
Semi-automatic rifles, at least, clearly meet that test.
And Heller (2008) clearly stated the right is INDIVIDUAL, there is no “militia” membership required to exercise it. But the arms “necessary” to a militia are my RIGHT.
And possessing them and using them for “ordinary purposes”, including self-defense is my RIGHT.
Get over it. YOU LOST.
You also need a lesson in American History. The Anti-Federalists lost in 1787for three reasons: 1) because they did not attend the convention; 2)Washington cast a pall of gravitas upon the convention that would see a strong Federalist government be developed; 3) they were outclassed intellectually by James Madison. One of the more popular Anti-Federalist was Patrick Henry–“Give me Liberty or give me death”; his peers dismissed him as long on rhetoric and short on smarts–like so many modern day NRA gun nut psychos. Gottleib and Wayne LaPierre represent new Anti-Federalist stance which echoes Reagan’s dictum–“Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” Well, in times of national crisis like world wide depression, global terrorism, pandemics like AIDS, armed insurrection–a strong and united Federal Government is required to address the complexity of the issue. Washington and Mason saw this in 1787 when they knew that local states could be overwhelmed by the likes of Shay’s Rebellion–to Washington and the Founding Fathers they saw that only a UNITED States could stand strong in the presence of Shay’s Rebellion; no different then the modern day lunacy that the NRA wants to foist about the 2nd Amendment. And note–Timothy McVeigh’s attorneys did not invoke the 2nd Amendment in his defense; that means the 2nd Amendment cannot ever be construed to mean that armed insurrection was intended by the Founding Fathers. Again–by your logic, the Boston Marathon Bombers and Eric Frein, Timothy McVeigh, et. al. are simply exercising a [supposed] 2nd Amendment Right for armed insurrection. You lose! Get over it! (Moron!)
Thanks for the rhetoric that disguises a pathology of Charles Manson, Adolf Hitler, Adolf Eichmann. Twenty children murdered in cold blood and this is the best your pathetic excuse for a ‘soul’ can come up with. In the end–no matter what you say, what drivel you produce–your psychotic screed reduces itself to the notion that America must accept as 2nd Amendment collateral damage the murder of those twenty children. You are simply too stupid to know implications of what you write. And it’s why I persist in calling you NRA gun nut psycho sociopaths. Indifferent and callous toward the tragedy. Hilter would envy the pathology of the NRA gun nut psychos.
It’s interesting you mention McVeigh, he never fired a single shot. What is lunacy is having a single person commit a horrendous crime, and screaming to restrict the other 135 million gun owners that are law abiding citizens that own and use guns for hunting and recreational shooting everyday. Where is the ‘common sense’ to that logic? Would you ban crayons from schools because 1 kid writes on the wall? The circumstances are far different but it is the same flawed logic.
MDJ357–that was sick and psychotic even by the usual standards of sick and psychotic NRA gun nut pathology….
If some psyco jumps on a nearly full school bus at a stop, shoots the driver, takes control of the bus then drives it full speed over a cliff or bridge and kills all aboard, you would then, of course, demand more gun control. If some psyco jumps on a nearly full school bus at a stop, punches out the driver, takes control of the bus then drives it over a cliff or bridge and kills all aboard, you would then, of course, demand more, ummm, fist control? But if I said arm and train the driver you, I’m sure, would call me all the typical anti-gun insults you could come up with. We have guns and some “bad” people will misuse them. We have cars and some “bad” people will misuse them. We have lots of “things” and, of course, some “bad” people will misuse them and cause harm to others. So are we to ban (like that would do any good anyway) all “things” that can be used by someone to cause harm? Or instead give people ways to protect themselves, like airbags in cars, life-vests in boats and AR-15’s in the hands of people determined to protect themselves and their families from any and all that threaten their lives and/or freedoms.
My topic was about the NRA mentality–a mentality that believes the 2nd Amendment is about lawful citizen armed insurrection. And bedsides–it turns out that all you 135 million gun owners need to be controlled–witness the 2 year old shooting to death his conceal/carry mom in Walmart.
The face of the NRA: Cliven Bundy, Frazier Glenn Cross, Amanda & Jared Miller, Eric Frein, Timothy McVeigh–far right fascistic fanatics, anti-government kooks, crack pots, wackjobs, lunatics, and sociopaths. And this thread confirms the worst suspicions about the NRA lunacy.
Torrey is an excitable boy, isn’t he? using terms like ‘NRA gun nut’, ‘wackjobs’ all the other unflattering comments indicates to me that you need to be controlled, since you have none over yourself. You seem to be the type that does indeed need a background check before being allowed to own a firearm. I’m pretty sure that you are unable to participate in a civil conversation. You appear to me to be the voice of violence in these discussions.
Punk…the only people that “need to be controlled” are statists, communists, and traitors like YOU.
Damn straight about the armed insurrection part, but even a borken clock is right twice a day.
See your sad-sack sorry ass in our next civil war!
“(with a little help from the Supreme Court)” FALSE
Later full recounts gave the state to Bush.
“a population that might embrace reasonable limitations on gun ownership in theory but lacks the necessary determination to make it happen once the smoke clears.”
A population that recognizes that “reasonable” has a vastly different meaning to them compared to liberal gun control fanatics.
When “reasonable” gun control laws show up….then we’ll talk.
love the NRA,at least there some people who are afraid to fight for our rights
I meant not afraid to fight for rights
Like the war on drugs, libbies?
You’ll absolutely LOVE a war on guns…
Why is the NRA so powerful? Because of the many millions of dollars it spends. Where does all that money come from? The millions of NRA members that give to the organization. Why do they give so much? Because the NRA fights for their rights. End of show.
Gee Brian Lowry, do you think that just maybe that strong NRA backing is ————wait for it, ———a large majority of Americans that believe in the 2nd 2nd amendment?
Have you ever wondered why it is that liberal Democrats hate guns so much? I have. I think about it a lot, whenever I think how nice it would be if New Jersey became a “shall issue” state. Really though, why do liberal Democrats, who like to pose as supporters of individual liberties, hate guns? What is the motivation behind their position? Here are a few thoughts.
1. Liberal Democrats Hate Gun Owners
Gun owners, as a general rule, are more conservative and are more likely to vote Republican. Gun owners are also more likely to join the Armed forces and to give unqualified support to our troops. Gun owners are also more likely to think it was a good idea for people like Richard Nixon to go after communists like Alger Hiss. Many gun owners supported the Vietnam War. Some of them allowed themselves to be drafted and others went so far as to enlist of their own accord. These, however, are all things that liberal Democrats despise. If gun owners are in favor of these hated things, guns must be very bad.
2. Gun Control as a Means to Attain Political Power
Many misguided people have an honest aversion to guns and would prefer the enactment of strict gun control regulations. In this great country they are entitled to their opinion and to vote their beliefs. The liberal Democrats know this and use these people as a means to win elections.
The liberal Democrats are actually an unholy alliance of single issue voting blocs. The liberal Democrats believe that they can win at the ballot box if they support the following issues and groups: abortion, homosexuality, affirmative action, opposition to school vouchers, anti-religious sentiment, radical feminists and big labor unions.
Gun control is just another special interest in their bag of tricks. The best example of this is the assault weapons ban. Every rational person knows that the ban eliminates certain guns based on cosmetic features. Bayonet lugs and flash suppressors do not make semi-automatic guns more deadly or more suitable for criminal use! However, the assault weapon ban is the ideal wedge to use in a heated political debate. (“My Republican and Libertarian opponents are against the assault weapons ban!”)
3. Liberal Democrats Hate African-Americans
Despite their protestations to the contrary, much of the push for gun control comes from liberal Democrats who want to keep guns out of the hands of black people. Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C. and New York City are places with large minority populations and very restrictive gun laws.
Also, the people who push for gun control come from cushy places where minorities are not welcome (except as servants). How many working class African-Americans hang out in places like Brentwood, California or Beacon Hill and Hyannis, Massachusetts? People who do not want minorities to have guns like gun control.
4. Liberal Democrats Hate the Constitution
The Constitution protects the individual rights of individuals and it protects individuals from the State. Liberal Democrats hate this. They believe that they know what’s good for us, how to use our money better than we do, and they know whether I should be allowed to carry a gun on my person to protect myself, my family and my Synagogue. How else do you explain that liberal Democrats find a right to abortion emanating from the penumbra of the Constitution, but cannot seem to find any individual right at all in the Second Amendment?
Funny, you can count on both hands the number of nuts that do mass shootings, and they want to get rid of our guns for that, but you have to take your shoes and everyone in towns to count the number of deaths caused by cars and trucks. NRA is me, I use my gun to feed the freezer, and to make sure that I and my family sleep in our own beds at night. If you use it for something else, I’m betting you’re not a NRA member.
I’m just wondering Brian Lowry, if you read the comments on sites like Yahoo News in regards to your anti-Constitutional gun control story? The American people are sending you a clear message! I can’t find one comment in support of what you are doing. That’s out of 1,083 comments. I have seen polls conducted with the same amount of people so it is obviously a good cross section of America, not to mention Yahoo News is a Left leaning news org.
I’m also curious if you understand the following Supreme Court decisions:
The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials….fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.” — Justice Jackson, United States Supreme Court in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
The right of a citizen to bear arms, in lawful defense of himself or the State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the State government. It is one of the “high powers” delegated directly to the citizen, and is excepted out of the general powers of government.’ A law cannot be passed to infringe upon or impair it, because it is above the law,
and independent of the lawmaking power.” [Cockrum v. State, 24 Tex. 394, at 401-402 (1859)]
The provision in the Constitution granting the right to all persons to bear arms is a limitation upon the power of the Legislature to enact any law to the contrary. The exercise of a right guaranteed by the Constitution cannot be made subject to the will of the sheriff.” [People vs. Zerillo, 219 Mich. 635, 189 N.W. 927, at 928 (1922)]
Do you understand that you are trying to infringe on rights granted by God? These powers are delegated directly to me and my fellow American citizens. Who are you to come along and try to take that from me?
What about the guy who comes along and tries to remove my freedom of speech? My freedom from illegal search and seizure?
If you don’t like the way the Constitution is written and what it stands for, why not move to a country that supports your views? Why try to change something that 1,082 people support, and you and 2 other people don’t? Are you that selfish that you and a couple million like you feel your feelings are more important than hundreds of millions of people’s God given rights?
Magic Eight Ball
The true intent of the 2nd Amendment has finally reached the ears of the sheeple. With their jaws on the floor and their minds in shock they stand aghast that it’s primary role is to keep the government in check and under the control of the people.
Then they claim no such scenario now exists for such an extreme mentality and besides that the people would surely lose any such confrontation, with the government having aircraft and all kinds of advanced weaponry. They believe it would be a massacre. And they may be right.
But that’s not the point anymore.
The point now is, is that the government would HAVE to fight and require their soldiers and police forces to fire on their fellow Americans. A thing most Americans would have a serious problem with. There would be outright refusals perhaps even ending with them being shot as a “traitor”. Many would refuse to drop bombs on Kansas City for example.
But basically it forces the government to show it’s ugly self for what it would be. A Plutocracy run by the 1% who have taken over the country. Greedy bastards willing to kill it’s citizens for the status quo. Only by armed resistance can the mask be taken off and the evil behind it exposed. Otherwise the great propaganda machines will tell the greatest lies ever and claim we wanted to be subjects rather than free citizens. In fact many sheeple are demanding it NOW.
But… once the populace is disarmed, then there’s no choice but to go along with the status quo, or kill yourself to avoid corporate slavery.
Without firearms in the hands of braver men than the gun grabbing sheep, they to will find themselves in “chains” but they will have the extra satisfaction of knowing they put them on themselves.
Despite all of the political name-calling, ultimately the NRA … well, they are your neighbors. If you trust billionaires and Washington-types with your freedom more that you trust your neighbors, then that’s probably why they don’t trust you!
Any mention of the Second Amendment and recent Supreme Court cases upholding the NRA’s position in this piece?
“Kirk Documentary Group makes clear, the NRA was a relatively benign, not terribly political organization until 1977, when then-dissident members seized control of the group”
Dissident: “a person who opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state”.
Okay, I can respect that. I don’t care for authoritarian states…and that is what the NRA is against. So NRA members who were against a weak NRA, took hold, and used its power in a way to attack a growing, authoritarian state. Good plan.
From all of the hype about the NRA “power” from the news media I firmly believe that the new media believes they are the only “pro-gun” association in the U.S.. How often do you read about the literally HUNDREDS of other organizations other than the NRA that are spending millions against the onslaught–actually this review leaves out the BILLIONS of dollars spent to sway politicians to make new anti-gun laws–even though there are already thousands on the books in most states already (death by millions of paper cuts)!
If we lose the 2nd amendment, we will become a communist country. The average American has no idea what is at stake. If we lose our guns, we lose our Constitutional rights because we have no way to protect ourselves. We the people are the government. The government works for the people, not the other way around.
Anti-gun nuts are fine killing babies, as long as it’s done by a Doctor. So by their logic, we should ban doctors now.
You anti-gun nuts need to face reality. The NRA is made up of, “We the People”. I know you have difficulty comprehending that fact. Anti-gun nuts are just that. Nuts.
Senate Democrats stood up to the NRA lunacy by approving Dr. Vivek Murthy US Surgeon General in opposition to the NRA because Dr. Murthy expressed the opinion that gun deaths, gun injuries represents a health care crisis in America. Passage of Washington State’s I-594 meant that people can stand up to the lunacy the NRA represents. And if voters can stand up to the lunacy of the NRA than so too can politicians. The NRA lunacy is readily apparent to the public; the crackpots, wackjobs, lunatics, psychos, sociopaths that the NRA represents need to be put in their place.
32,000 total firearms deaths for 2012.
-19,200 suicides.
-960 accidents.
-1,280 justifiable homicides.
-8,448 gang-on-gang crime.
————
2,112 in a society of 312,000,000 leaves a 0.0000067692% chance death by gun.
Assuming you’re not suicidal or a gangbanger, the likelihood of death by gun is even lower.
But let’s keep talking about how this represents an impending threat to American health and not, say, heart disease or automobile fatalities from drinking or phone related negligence.
Care of: CDC
You haven’t got the foggiest idea how psychotic your response is, do you?
The people of WA were lied to.
The I594 act will lose in the courts.
The Senate Democrats had to change the rules to get that unqualified donor appointed.
It is disgusting that the Democrats support Obama’s appointment of an unqualified political hack over the man that should have gotten it, the Asst. Surgeon Gen’l, that had been the Acting Surgeon General.
Using your logic, scalpels cause medical malpractice.
You may want to rethink that.
People, please try to agree on something. Is the gun control movement a government conspiracy to take away everyone’s guns, or are there enough guns and ammo around to supply a “black market” for 100 years? It can’t be both, because the latter would negate the concern of the former.
The NRA believes the Founding Fathers intended the 2nd Amendment to allow for armed mob revolt against the Federal Government. By that lunacy–the Boston Marathon Bombers and Eric Frein were simply exercising a [supposed] Constitutional Right to overthrow the government. The NRA is a far right fascistic organization. Politicians are expected to defend, explain themselves before an inquiring press, why does the NRA run from critical questioning from the Press. Answer-the NRA is a far right fascistic organization.
Are you a troll or do you really believe in that hateful drivel? The more conventional number of gun owners is in the 80 million range and they shot NO one, hurt no one. Just as hating blacks for the crime committed by the few in inner cities is bigotry, hating 80 million firearms owners for the crimes committed by .05% or less (illegal owners and black criminals included) is also bigotry.
You make assertions about the NRA which are so off base I can only assume you are a troll. The NRA began political action in the 70s to counter your bigotry and continues to be a major source of sports venues and safety training. The NRA does not support any sort of insurrection.
Since the Newtown tragedy this notion about the 2nd Amendment allowing for armed insurrection has been the stuff of NRA psychotic screed…. Even this thread this sentiment appears more than several times… You GBM are the one denying the reality of the NRA and the NRA gun nut psycho pathology.
No Steven, in fact to become a member of the NRA you must sign a pledge specifically disavowing that very sentiment you claim they support.
But the “right to revolt” (though not by an armed “mob”) is a human right as amply discussed in the Declaration of Independence. Of course, that document is not taught much in schools anymore so you may be unfamiliar with it.
The Founding Fathers believed in armed revolt when a government stops being legitimate. Or did you forget that little revolution we had.
The Federalist papers and other writings support that view.
And since the citizenry is SUPPOSED to be trained militia (another responsibility abrogated by Congress)….any rebels would have be trained.
You seem to have trouble telling the difference between criminal acts and defending Constitutional freedoms from tyranny…..in the unlikely event that ever happens.
So then you are essentially in sympathy with Eric Frein, Frazeir Glenn Cross, Amanda & Jared MIller, Cliven Bundy, Timothy McVeigh, etc, and all the other cop killers out there. Way to go. Send your detailed plans for armed insurrection to the Attorney General and I’m sure he will give you a medal for your keen insight into the 2nd Amendment–course, you might get while you are in Leavenworth Prison…
Why does the Obama Administration refuse to cooperate with Congressional investigations?
The NRA addresses the Press pretty much every day–just because an article (normal, anti-gun) and review says the NRA is cowering from answering their questions doesn’t mean they are “run (ning) from critical questioning from the Press. Unless of course you believe everything on the Internet. I guess you could say the blue coats were a “MOB” when they rebelled against Britain in the 18th century, but you would be sending your taxes to Queen Elizabeth today if it wasn’t for that mob. I guess it doesn’t matter to you, Torrey, that some of the Boston Marathon Bombers and associates were NOT even U.S. Citizens, or even LEGALLY in the U.S. in the first place (no right to rebel against our government).
The face of the NRA is Cliven Bundy, Amanda & Jared Miller, Frazier Glenn Cross, Eric Frein–anti-government kooks, fanatics, right wing fascists.
Well aren’t you the broken record? Time to find a new schtick there Steven you are getting boring.
Jake–you pretty much belong in the jake… Thanks for pointing out for all to see that you are indeed a sociopath–the NRA is so fond of…
You are a coward who would have no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than yourself…
The face of the left is Sharpton, Jackson, Holder and Ayers.
The hard line stance you see today may have something to do with the backlash of some members from what they saw as the NRA selling out the NFA during negotiations surrounding “The Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986” and the subsequent turmoil created by these members dissatisfaction within the organization. NRA leadership at the time pissed off prominent members who then splintered from the NRA. In case you may be wondering the NFA deals with legal machine guns of which only one has ever been used in a crime and that was a domestic dispute related shooting by a police man.
Twenty murdered children–ZERO; NRA gun nut psychos–100; something for the NRA gun nut psychos sociopaths to be proud of.
That’s the weirdest reply on the internet today. There’s got to be a prize for that.
200,000 women protect themselves from sexual abuse every year using a gun. What do you say to them? Get raped?
1.5 to 2.5 million people protect their lives with a gun every year, some of them children. What do you say to them? Die?
It is sociopaths like you that we have to protect ourselves from. You seem like you are one pill away from becoming the next Adam Lanza…
16 killed in Chicago so far this year. By whom?
by Democrats. Approximately 60%-70% of the firearms homicides each year are committed by Democrats.
54 million American babies killed in the womb by their mothers. That is just fine with the left.
Get real and grow up.
Yet very different from the main anti-gun organizations such as Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the new umbrella group called Everytown for Gun Safety, the NRA is actually funded by small grass-roots contributions, not multi-million dollar contributions from Billionaires like Bloomberg. Perhaps if you follow the money you will find out where the true political fringe minority is hiding. It isn’t in the NRA. Maybe we already have reasonable “reasonable limitations on gun ownership” and don’t need Bloomberg’s restrictions on freedom- which is pretty much what the NRA stands for.
More liberal propaganda trying to get the uninformed to go against our rights as defined by the Constitution. Adopting any of the liberal draconian laws will not stop one mass murder situation – one of their own even stated so. So why, do they continue to push their anti-gun agenda? Because they want to confiscate all guns. Don’t think so? Just look at Australia and the UK. Obama has stated he wants America to be just like that.
It is OK to chop up the unborn invitro but heaven forbid if you shoot a criminal.
NRA stands between liberalism, that has failed in every country in the world, and our Founders vision of how best to protect citizens from tyranny. Variety writers are part of the fight.
Another left wing mass media hack job “propamentary” on a solid voice of the people.
Oh and I don’t want to hear one word from you liberals about babies, you are the leading cause of baby deaths with your pro abortion crap!
The NRA is responsible for crime as much as flies are responsible for s#!t.
And liberals are responsible for the deaths of millions of unborn babies yet you say you are here to protect children.
Libatards make the NRA out to be this crazy monster fed by Gillions of dollars from “gun makers” and “gun lobbyists” but lack the brain cells to understand it’s gun OWNERS that feed the NRA any money, either directly, donations or dues, or indirectly by buying guns from, you guessed it, gun makers! I would not expect any liberal “mind” to understand anything economic or mathematical that makes sense. Remember folks, liberalism is a mental disorder-
They also don’t care that they are part of a group that gets millions and millions of dollars donated from billionaires like Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates. But I guess when its your group buying what they want from politicians its ok.
The one thing that no one on the left will ever tell you about the NRA is that it really is a true grass roots campaign. Several million members that are always active and ready to send letters and calls to their representatives and ready with the checkbook to fight for gun rights. Now, as to the claim that the extremists took over the NRA, let me be clear here, I have been a life member for many years, it was never taken over by the extremistis, the NRA has been ever vigilant when it comes to gun control efforts since the act in the 60’s. I expect this so called documentary will be a pile of lies and slander.
Another poorly researched and written piece of journalism. This is all speculation on the writer’s wish list. It takes a special kind of stupid to believe this gobbility gook.
Exactly all you need is the internet and a want to look up the information to see that most of this article is just nonsense.
The liberal push to eliminate guns in the hands of all law abiding citizens is the basis to seize control of the government and police forces first. Eliminate the ABILITY of the common citizen to overthrow a socialist government created by the liberals is their primary objective. The fall of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, which have already been declared imperfect, flawed and in need of total replacement by the liberals such as Obama, will occur next under what could become martial law. Obama has granted himself that right, not to be overridden by congress. When liberals attack the rights of the citizen to protect their own lives and their families, they imply that “We, the People” have no rights to life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness. They imply that only a socialist regime with a heavily armed police state has that right. And we all know where that goes!
What a terribly biased article. Why bother fact checking when it’s easier to just make crap up?
As far as the NRA has “tons of money” comment, Bloomberg and his cronies are far outspending the NRA. However, the NRA is still more effective, and it isn’t because only the “fringes of society” are backing them up. The NRA is made up of average Americans, despite the ravings of gun control lunatics claiming otherwise. Also, The NRA has a larger membership than any gun control group you’ll ever find, and there are many more non card carrying persons who support the cause.
What I dare ask is the problem????? This is not about liberal and conservatives. I’m not against bearing arms, I’m against the insecurity and fear that produces people to fire a weapon unless it is an actual life and death struggle. Note: A teenager just wrote on Facebook she is going to kill and shoot her teachers and security personnel today (1-14-15) in an Oklahoma school. Now then, this kid needs help. Is that a liberal or conservative problem for you? No, stop the blame game. I saw too much death working for a major police department crime lab and at the time, firearms were the major cause: a 12-year old walks past her dad coming home from school, walks into her parents room and gets their gun and fires not once, but twice into her brain. A woman is forced by gunpoint to perform felatio on a corpse, a man running for his life after being shot in a leg artery, a child shot to death because the next door neighbor was cleaning his gun and forgot the bullet in the chamber, the kid died in his sleep, Another man teaching his wife how to clean a gun forgot the chamber round and it blew her brains out. They were so much in love and it was Thanksgiving day. I will never forget that man’s face. The list goes on and on: 2 teenage boys kidnap a girl, kill her with their guns and put her in a barn and propped her up for target practice. Several hundred bullets were found in her body. I have no problem with gun ownership: I have a problem in the use of a firearm UNLESS it is a life and death situation. Humans being what we are: we are irrational and irresponsible. Working in law enforcement, you see more of the human condition than anyone of you can fathom. Now then, the people who are fed up with the NRA are the victim’s families. Are you going to hate them too and call them names? Who pays for the higher costs of medical care, rehab, etc. from gunshot wounds? Anyway, I go back to a question I wrote after Frontline aired its piece: WHO IS YOUR GOD?????? The man or Being upstairs, or the gun?
Beth–many thanks for that first hand, eye witness account of gun violence. To me, the NRA gun nut psychos are placing the wrong emphasis on 2nd Amendment Right–when it should really be a question of existential choice like cigarette smoking, or drinking alcohol. I can never be convinced that America is saver with all those gun toting people ready to explode at a moments notice with deadly gunfire. Now there is need for a gun everywhere to protect everyone from the gun everyone owns. A madness writ large.
Thank you the only other person so far who sees what I see. In my state, Washington, Bloomberg himself donated over 1 million dollars for I-594 which is a background check bill on any sale or transfer of a firearm. Bloomberg’s Everytown donated over 2 million I believe and Bill Gates donated another million. 594 got about 10 million dollars to help pass it, but those opposed were only able to get about 2 million.
Steve, it is too bad you don’t know the definition of fascist, you sure like to toss it around.
Obama is closer to the definition than an organization that is defending the Constitution.
I – 594 WON because that election week saw the Marysville shooter kill four of his friends with a handgun; that week also saw Eric Frein–shooter of police officer in Pennsylvania–on the run. The carnage of innocent life from gun violence gets sickening; the psychotic screed about the 2nd Amendment from the NRA gun nut psychos gets sickening. The NRA is a far right fascistic organization–something that decent people readily see.
It is interesting how Charlton Heston said his famous “from my cold dead hands” line right after the Columbine shooting when that happened in 1999 and he first delivered that line at the 2000 NRA convention and it was about Al Gore wanting to take gun rights away. But its ok Variety, you can just skew and misrepresent facts just to prove your point in a very democratic agenda way. Like how you also blame the NRA for Gore losing as well. What about the other facts or implications that are lied about in this article. Like the NRA always buys elections but the anti-gun groups don’t. Take Washington state for example, this year a new background law was passed that was so hurried and not clearly thought through that armed security guards have to do a background check before getting their gun for work and have to do one after their shift to avoid being charged with a felony for transferring a firearm without a background check. Would you like to know how much money was put up against this bill? It was about 2 million dollars including funds from the NRA. The pro background check side raised over 10 million dollars including over a million from Bill Gates, from Michael Bloomberg,and from Everytown. So I am a little confused on how the NRA always buys every gun law legislation that is passed in this country as this article or the frontline special wants you to believe. When you lie Variety, you should try a little harder and find something to lie about that there aren’t millions of facts out there to dispute your blatant lies.
The “cowering political class” sums the entire issue up