Has the N.R.A. Won? [View all]

[VScott]

And the answer is ... yes they/we have a long time ago.

I do have one problem with the article though, is that it gives the NRA way too much credit.

What's omitted, ignored or neglected is the grass roots movement that has been taking place
online amongst the numerous 2nd amendment advocates, firearms related forums and blogs.

Certainly the NRA has some impact and influence, but it's the little people in the trenches
(the vast majority aren't even NRA members), that fight the hardest.

I see the the NRA as useful (but effective), idiots. But as long as the Micheal Bloomburgs,
Brady Campaigns, Demanding Mom's, VPC's, Sandy Hook Promise's, etc exists, I'll do whatever
I need to to do align myself with those that support our 2nd amendment rights.

It is now fair to ask whether the National Rifle Association is winning — or has in fact won — this era of the gun debate in this country.

Gun control advocates have tried to use the horror that exists in the wake of mass shootings to catalyze the public into action around sensible gun restrictions. But rather than these tragedies being a cause for pause in ownership of guns, gun ownership has spiked in the wake of these shootings.

A striking report released Friday by the Pew Research Center revealed that “for the first time, more Americans say that protecting gun rights is more important than controlling gun ownership, 52 percent to 46 percent.”

One of the reasons cited was Americans’ inverse understanding of the reality and perception of crime in this country. As the report spells out, in the 1990s, people’s perception of the prevalence of crime fell in concert with actual instances of violent crime. But since the turn of the century, things have changed: “A majority of Americans (63 percent) said in a Gallup survey last year that crime was on the rise, despite crime statistics holding near 20-year lows.”

More @ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/opinion/charles-blow-has-the-nra-won.html?ref=opinion&_r=0