Usually when asked what this 'gun lobby' is though, the only answer you'll get is some vague reference to the NRA like this comment from Ladd Everitt, CSGV Comm Dir.:
“Nah. This is more like good, old-fashioned corporate corruption. Money to be made and far-right-wing political causes to be pandered to. Visit MeetTheNRA.org for a better idea of how it works.”So in other words, they make up whatever definition they think fits at the time, just like Humpty Dumpty in 'Through the Looking Glass'. It's just another generic smear to use whenever they don't like something firearm related, have no clue about the specifics but need it to sound scary. It's little different than referencing the Gnomes of Zurich or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, two fabricated concepts designed to attack groups of individuals (in those instances bankers and Jews) that allegedly manipulate the world and control the information.
The most amusing thing about this is the fact that there is no all controlling 'gun lobby'. Yeah, the NRA is the '800lb guerrilla on the block' but then there's the dozens of other groups and organizations out there, from national to local levels, magazines, blogs, ranges, companies,you name it that have little to nothing to do w. the NRA. But the Anti's don't know nor care, they need a single, simple boogy man they can demonize in their single, simple minds.
All the while the overwhelming majority of gun control activism (including Ladd's CSGV) is controlled, organized and funded by a few major sources. No clue bat is heavy enough to get that idea through them though.
5 comments:
It's fine with me. While these groups are busy throwing pebbles at tanks like the NRA, the small groups like Florida Carry, of which I am a board member, continue to wipe the board with legislative victories.
The NRA doesn't even notice Ladd and his (relatively few) friends, and it keeps them out of the hair of those of us actually getting gun rights restored.
When they say "gun lobby," they are trying to imply that it's like any other "X lobby," in which X is a manufactured product and the lobby is entirely constructed by industries in order to receive preferential treatment from Congress, in return for which they contribute to the reelection funds of Congressmen.
In this sense, the only gun lobby is NSSF, and it hasn't historically been particularly powerful (although this could change, considering the current boom in gun sales). The NRA, which is completely controlled by gun owners, is no more a lobby for gun industries than pool shooting teams that meet in bars are lobbyists for the beer industry.
Also, the biggest favor the NRA can do for a member of Congress is to give him an A rating. This is in contrast to most lobbies, which hide in the background while giving plenty of money to their candidates for advertisements that don't even mention the product for which they lobby.
IOW, the trial lawyers' lobby will give a million dollars to Congressman Y, which will be spent not to convince people that trial lawyers are good for the country, but rather to produce ads claiming that his opponent, Assemblyman Z, is a child-molesting war monger.
Bottom line: if the NRA is a lobby, it's the only lobby that receives almost nothing from its associated industry; and it's the damned near the only one that a politician will brag about.
By this logic, I would the AARP is a problem, too.
They just hate that we have a HUGE activist/membership base that votes and not just a sugar daddy like the Joyce Foundation.
We are winning. We are mainstream.
Molon Labe!
...I would [think] the AARP...
I am SOOOOO going to use
"I'm with the gun lobby. BOOGA BOOGA!"
You've inspired me with the title of this post.
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