National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association, or NRA, is a United States organization for gun owners's advocacy. It sponsors firearm safety training courses, as well as shooting skills and sports. The organization is sometimes considered to be the most powerful single organization in the United States and was established in New York in 1871. It often refers to itself as the oldest civil rights organization in the U.S., defining gun ownership as a civil right protected by the Bill of Rights.
Political lobby
The NRA is considered by many to be one of the most influential political lobbies in the USA because of its ability to consistently deliver large numbers of votes on election day. However, in spite of the best efforts of the NRA, the gun control/gun ban lobbies have managed to enact many gun-control laws. These laws range from the near-total ban on gun ownership in Washington DC to the outlawing of entire classes of firearms in many states as well as at the federal level to the licensing of firearms owners in some jurisdictions. The NRA opposes new gun legislation in favor of stricter enforcement of existing laws prohibiting convicted felons and violent criminals from possessing firearms, increased sentences for gun-related crime, and "right-to-carry" laws expediting the process in many states of receiving a concealed handgun license.
TU MADRE ES UN PEZ!
Current campaigns
As of September 2003, the NRA was focusing its efforts at the federal level on: firstly, encouraging Congress to enact a bill protecting manufacturers of products from certain types of lawsuits. S.659/S.1806, the "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" is also supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. It is opposed by many gun-control groups. The bill was defeated on March 2, 2004, after Senate amendments were attached to it to extend the assault weapons ban and close the so-called "gun-show loophole." The NRA changed its stance and opposed the bill when these two amendments were added. However, since the ban and the loophole closing were amendments, they must be voted upon again in the Senate to be passed into law.
Secondly, preventing the gun control lobby from expanding and re-authorizing the 1994 law that banned many types of semi-automatic rifles and certain types of removable magazines (which hold the unfired cartridges). The gun control lobby, on the other hand, wanted to greatly expand these bans and make them permanent. In a victory for the NRA, the law expired on midnight of September 13, 2004, making the banned weapons legal again.
NRA history
The NRA was founded shortly after the American Civil War by Union Army officers who were appalled by the lack of shooting skills among the Union soldiers during the war and determined to correct this problem by encouraging the shooting sports and marksmanship among the general population, including former slaves in the former slave states. This made the NRA very unpopular in the former slave states and the NRA was considered an enemy by the Ku Klux Klan.
Union Army Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate are the officially listed founders of the NRA. They were granted a charter from the state of New York on November 17, 1871. The first NRA president was Ambrose E. Burnside, a commander of the Army of the Potomac. Former President Ulysses S. Grant was elected president of the National Rifle Association in 1883.
Current leadership and policies
Wayne LaPierre has been the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the NRA since 1991. [1] Charlton Heston, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, stepped down as the organization's president and celebrity spokesman in April of 2003. Kayne Robinson took over Heston's duties.
NRA firearms safety programs
The NRA sponsors a broad range of safety programs to educate and encourage the safe use of firearms. Their "Eddie Eagle" video intended for school-age children encourages the viewer to "Stop! Don't touch! Leave the area! Tell an adult!" if the child ever sees a firearm lying around. The NRA has claimed that studies prove the "Eddie Eagle" program reduces the likelihood of firearms accidents in the home and the program is used in many elementary schools nationwide. Opponents of firearm ownership generally reject these claims and condemn the video as an attempt to "indoctrinate" children into a "gun culture". Also, hunting safety courses from the NRA are offered all across the USA for both children and adults.
Shooting sports
Historically the NRA has governed and advanced the shooting sports in the United States, making many positive contributions. In recent years however, their role in the shooting sports have drastically dwindled. In 1992 the NRA lost the role of being the National Governing Body for shooting (USA Shooting is now the NGB), and in 2000, the NRA choose not to be a member of the National Three-Position Air Rifle Council. Furthermore, NRA competitions are considered second tier to the competitions hosted by either USA Shooting or the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The NRA also has no role in the practical pistol competitions conducted by the International Practical Shooting Confederation and International Defensive Pistol Association, or in cowboy action shooting; both of these types of events have grown dramatically in recent years.
The current NRA competitions division publishes its own rulebooks, maintains a registry of marksmanship classifications, and sanctions matches. Through the NRA Foundation and Friends of NRA, the NRA also raises funds and distributes grants to local clubs.
Second Amendment
In its lobbying for gun rights, the NRA asserts that the Second Amendment guarantee rights to individuals as gun owners and users. The NRA typically opposes measures which it asserts would conflict with the Second Amendment "right to bear arms" and or the right to privacy enjoyed by law-abiding gun owners. The NRA has opposed gun control on other grounds as well--they opposed the Brady Bill in the courts on Tenth Amendment grounds, not Second Amendment.
Publications
The NRA publishes the magazines America's 1st Freedom and American Rifleman (ISSN 0003083X) as well as numerous books.
Critics
This organization has been criticized by gun control advocates due to its policies on gun control, which said critics feel to be too lax. Additionally, some Americans who believe that the right for private citizens to own firearms is absolute have criticized the NRA from the other side, arguing that the NRA's support for some laws related to firearms abridges this right.