National Rifle Association Research Paper

Dylan Stedronsky
Psc 121
Professor Salhi
16 October 2014
National Rifle Association
According to the mission statement of the National Rifle Association, its purpose is to defend and foster the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding Americans with activities designed to promote firearms and hunting safety, to enhance marksmanship skills, and to educate the public about the firearms in their historic, technological, and artistic context. Not only does the Association promote firearm safety and responsibility, it has formed one of the largest lobbying groups in the country called the NRA Institute for Legislative Action. This essay is designed to show the history of the National Rifle Association as well as how it has evolved over
In the world, humans all think differently than each other on certain things and alike on others. Societys perception today on the National Rifle Association is very ambiguous. You can find opinions everywhere from news, to bloggers on the internet, to members of the NRA. Some perspectives in regards to the current gun debate in America are anti gun, pro gun control, and anti gun control. For those who are anti gun believe guns should be used for military purposes only. They believe that people do not need to own them nor should they be carrying them in public. They put a lot of trust into the law enforcement. One famous filmmaker anti gun activist Michael Moore, tweeted hours after the Sandy Hook Massacre, “ Just 18 hrs ago, the Republicans in the Michigan House rammed thru a bill making it LEGAL to carry a gun into a school or day care center. The NRA hates freedom. They don’t want you to have the freedom to send your children to school and expect them to come home alive.” As you can see from the example, the anti gun believers believe the NRA is bad for the country. Those who are pro gun control simply would like restrictions on weapons, background checks, and some would like a national firearms registration. There main purpose for asking for these things are to curb and eventually end gun violence. They do not mind guns in the hands of
As the premier hunter safety and firearm safety program as well as a large lobby group, the NRA will always have a place in this country in both sporting and politics. It will always be there for sports due to how many people love to hunt and to shoot competitively. Its Institute for Legislative Action will always be there as well because of the massive split in this country over the gun debate. Someone is always going to try to alter a gun amendment and the members of the NRA expect them to be there fighting for change. It is already very active as it is in politics and will continue to be. The National Rifle Association exemplifies influences of the pluralistic model due to the fact that they lobby for what their members and people want. Although many argue an elitist model speculating that what the NRA lobbies for is the minority view. They also argue that since a small amount of board members actually make up the decisions that the members have very little say. As a member of the NRA I would have to argue that us as members join because we believe in the thoughts and beliefs that are already in place. We as members voice our opinion not only to the NRA but also to the rest of society. The NRA is a historical association responsible for the training of our militaries and law-abiding citizens as well as driving force in protecting the 2nd