Is there any difference between a maggot infestation and the NRA after a mass shooting?

[branford]

30. The divide is legal and quite meaningful.

I certainly never claimed that the NRA is "benign," but you basically proved my point with your post.

The NRA is a old, large and complex organization. If you want to oppose their policies and counter their influence, it's best to acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses. Using strawman arguments or ignoring the truth is just intellectually lazy and plain ineffective.

For example, whether you like it or not, the NRA is indeed the gold standard in firearms safety and proficiency training, as well the largest sponsor of firearm sport and hunting activities. That is one of the primary reasons why they are politically influential, and more importantly, can get the 95+% of non-NRA gun owners and others in the USA to the polls in opposition to gun control.

If gun control advocates want to counter the NRA's ancillary ideological influence when it participates in these more benign areas, those opposing the NRA need to establish credible alternatives. If the only real position espoused is the elimination of guns, rather than actual firearm safety and training, this will be a practical impossibility, and the influence of the NRA will continue to spread and grow.