Why Is the NRA so Powerful?
A poll by Parade magazine about a year ago asked, Should there be a one-month waiting period so a criminal background check could be performed every time a firearm is transferred in the United States? Eighty-one percent said yes. If you propose that in the Congress today they’d call you a Communist; the five-day waiting period part of the original Brady law which was repealed, despite the fact that it unquestionably helped to reduce some suicides and other tragedies. Is the NRA so powerful because they take reasonable positions on matters of public policy? It’s pretty hard to make that argument. The reason they are so powerful, honestly, and I say this as a recovering politician who has been there and has seen their power and how it works, is very simple: They use intimidation against public officials who oppose them. This year we expect them to spend $25 million running hate ads against moderate, reasonable public officials who dare to disagree with their agenda. When they run their a
