National Rifle Association Frieda and Rhea

Aims William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate formed the National Rifle Association in 1871 The primary goal of the association would be to ‘’promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis’’ Founded to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA continues to teach firearm competency and safety. It instructs civilians and law enforcement, youths and adults, in various programs. The organization also publishes several magazines and sponsors competitive marksmanship events.

Tactics The NRA goes to a great length and spends a large amount of money on lobbying to defend the constitution- 2nd Amendment the right to bear arms In 2013, the NRA spent on lobbying $3,410,000 while in 2014 it spent $3,360,000 the top issues that the NRA lobbied during 2014 included but not limited to firearms, gun and ammunition, federal budget , civil rights etc. A lobbying technique that the NRA practice is creating a separate organization to lobby on its behalf The institute for legislative action for example is the lobbying arm for the NRA and it is in charge of the associations political action committee Pressure point in the political process is another technique where they rely on to pressure policy makers the legislative branch has many pressor points that attract lobbyists Senate are divided into committees and subcommittees where the NRA-ILA uses these committees to pressure point to influence policies.

Successes In 2004 the NRA successfully opposed renewal of the federal assault weapons ban of 1994 which banned many features of certain semiautomatic rifles and certain types of removable magazines against a campaign to make the ban permanent and expand it. The ban expired on September 13, 2004 States passed an average of 4.8 NRA backed laws since 2003 Virginia top of the list passing 16 NRA favoured laws since 2003, Mississippi (11 laws), Utah (11 laws), Texas (10 laws) These states have been predominately controlled by Republicans or pro0gun Democrats for the past decade 21 emergency powers laws which forbid prohibitions on firearms in a time of emergency these became popular after Hurricane Katrina in 2006 12 Castle Doctrine laws these laws state if a criminal breaks into your home you may use any manner of force against the person without legal liability Seven rage protection laws which exempt gun ranges from noise complaints Several laws to protect fun dealers from out of state sting operations

Failures The NRA since then has spent millions of dollars on lawyers to challenge state gun laws, believing the 2008 District of Columbia v. Hellerdecision signaled the judicial system was on its side. Instead, the gun-rights organization has lost numerous court cases, including in Second Amendment-friendly Texas, where a judge ruled against the NRA’s effort to give teenagers the right to buy semi-automatic handguns. The NRA suffered another significant setback when it tried to rollback more gun control laws in DC, going after the city’s ban on semiautomatic assault weapons and ammunition, as well as its mandatory handgun registration. The D.C. Circuit Court rejected the challenge, ruling the district’s toughest-in-the-nation gun laws did not infringe on the core of the Second Amendment.

Funding Streams In 2010 the NRA had $227,811,279 in total revenue $100,531,465 (44%) from members dues $20,922,249 (9.2%) from the sale of advertising space $12,573,541 (5.5%) contributions from related organizations $11,745,200 (5.2%) came from selling stuff $11,303,074 (5.0%) came from royalties

Influences on US Politics President Clinton attributed to the NRA’s influence the historic Republican party takeover of the US House of Rep The NRA donates millions of dollars every year to republican lawmakers in congress and those same republicans line up uniformly to block proposed gun legislation