Research Paper on "Why the NRA Supports Certain Politicians"

Research Paper 3 pages (1041 words) Sources: 4

[EXCERPT] . . . .

The NRA had its way for a year and a half; in other words, legislators' fears that the NRA would sponsor attack ads in their next election kept the Surgeon General office vacant for 18 months. But he was finally confirmed as Surgeon General in December, 2014. The NRA acts as a bully, pushing its agenda by threatening elected officials to vote or not vote the way the NRA wants them to.

Another example of the NRA's influence -- which defied the will of a great majority of Americans -- was the NRA's lobbying effort that led to a filibuster of legislation that would have required people who bought firearms at gun shows to go through background checks, just like they now do at legitimate gun shops.

Over 90% of Americans polled by various legitimate polling groups clearly showed that citizens agreed that requiring background checks at gun shows was a good idea, and they agreed that it was reasonable to have sellers at gun shows obtain the same kind of licenses as licensed dealers in legitimate gun shops. The NRA falsely claimed that the legislation would "criminalize the private transfer of firearms through an expansion of background checks," which one of the sponsors of the Bill, an NRA member, Senator Joe Manchin, said was "a lie" (Robertson, 2013).

It should be noted that the NRA has over the years propagandized its members (and others) to believe that the government is trying to negate the Second Amendment by requiring background checks so that it can create a database and take those weapons away at some point. That is pure paranoia, but it has been an effective albeit deceptive tool for the NRA.

In the gun show-related legislation debate, he NRA also stated that "80% of police say background checks will have no effect" on violent crime.

In conclusion, this 80% assertion by the NRA turned out to be a fabrication, a lie, but once again the NRA bullied its way into the lives of Americans, putting safety on the back burner while threatening elected officials with attacks if they didn't cow-tow to the whims of the NRA. There are advocacy groups that are better than others, because they advocate for issues and legislation that help people -- and the AARP is one of those better groups. If you look at the legislation AARP drums up support for, it is all positive and inclusive. Compare the mission and values of the AARP with the NRA, and it's like comparing a youth choir singing songs of joy with a back yard full of pit bulls growling and waiting to pounce on an innocent.

Works Cited

AARP. (2015). LGBT Issues and Aging: Where AARP Stands on the Issues. Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.aarp.org.

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2014). Interest Group. Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.britannica.com.

Ragone, N. (2011). Types of Interest Groups. Netplaces.

Robertson, L. (2013). NRA Misrepresents Police Survey, Legislation. FactCheck.

Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.factcheck.org.

Siddiqui, S. (2014). Senate Confirms Vivek Murthy As Surgeon General Over NRA

Opposition. Huffington… READ MORE

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