NRA

How Much is the NRA to Blame for the Gun Culture?

Two new books help to shed light on how the NRA, partisan politicians, and the gun industry "took a political base of hunters and nurtured a new, expanded audience of gun guys," and how they made Americans live in their world. 

Secret NRA Tapes in Wake of Columbine Show Decision to Attack Critics for "Politicizing" Mass Shootings

The NRA faced a crossroads after the Columbine shootings in 1999. They chose a scorched-earth posture that has guided their response to every mass shooting incident since, documented in recordings of high-level strategy meetings.

When Texas was the national leader in gun control

by Brennan Gardner Rivas

How the land of gunslinger mythology regulated weapons to reduce violence

Can the NRA Survive its Current Crisis?

by Robert J. Spitzer

The NRA is facing a serious crisis. 

The danger of denying black Americans political rights

by Kellie Carter Jackson

Without access to political rights, violence becomes a crucial tool in the fight for freedom.

After the Supreme Court blow, unions should look to a new model: the NRA

by Heather Cox Richardson

Historic battles between business and ordinary people have played out in America’s top court before. Now, it is happening again.

Was the NRA Founded to Protect Black People from the Ku Klux Klan?

Revisionist accounts of the origin of the National Rifle Association say it was formed to help freed slaves defend themselves against racist attacks after the Civil War.

Gun-control advocates believe their activism will mirror the fight for gay marriage. They’re wrong.

by James Kirchick

The better comparison is Prohibition — and we all know how that turned out.

America Passed Gun Control in 1968. Can It Happen Again?

by Jason Sokol

The King and Kennedy assassinations spurred the passage of the Gun Control Act.

We Shouldn’t Be Surprised that Young People Are Leading the Charge for Gun Control

by Bill Heiden

Most importantly, history shows that this kind of street action works.

Patrick J. Charles, author of a new book on guns, defends militia-centric understanding of Second Amendment

“There’s been people on both sides who’ve misappropriated historical evidence over time or failed to fully contextualize it.”

Jonathan Zimmerman says students should go on strike to win gun control

by Jonathan Zimmerman

West Virginia teachers won by striking. There’s a lesson in that.

7 Times in History When Students Turned to Activism

History is full of movements led by students — albeit usually in college, not high school. Some were successful and others brutally crushed, but even the latter still resonate.

Before Trump’s wild shifts on the NRA, Ronald Reagan took on the gun lobby

On May 3, 1994, Ronald Reagan and two other former presidents sent a letter to House members, urging them to support a controversial ban on lethal, military-style assault weapons.

Boycotts won't weaken the NRA's bottom line – but that's not the point

by Lawrence Glickman

The ethical point boycotters have tried to raise from that time to our own is that, in an interconnected national and international market economy, there are no innocent bystanders.

Even the Wild West Embraced Gun Control

by Gil Troy

The Wild West wasn't so wild that it—and the Stormy South—couldn’t include gun control.

This Is How You Get Gun Control

by Bruce W. Dearstyne

It’s what happened after several headline-making shootings captured public attention a century ago.

Gun-rights advocates are right that violent films encourage school shootings. They’re wrong about how.

by Matthew Christopher Hulbert

The problem isn't the violence — it's the celebration of gun culture.

A gunmaker once tried to reform itself. The NRA nearly destroyed it.

In 2001, a little more than a year after cutting a gun-control deal with the US government, the British conglomerate that owned Smith & Wesson sold it at a dramatic loss.

The NRA Wasn’t Always A Front For Gun Makers

by Neil J. Young

The NRA operated mostly as a sporting club and hunting association for its first 100 years.