Rifle Selling Association


National Rifle (Selling) Association

The National Rifle Association is scheduled to hold a news conference on
Friday where it says it plans to provide details about its promise of
“meaningful contributions” to prevent another a massacre like the one in
Newtown, Conn.

We would like to believe that the N.R.A., the most influential opponent
of sensible gun-control policies, will do as it says, but we have little
faith that it will offer any substantial reforms. The association
presents itself as a grass-roots organization, but it has become
increasingly clear in recent years that it represents gun makers. Its
chief aim has been to help their businesses by increasing the spread of
firearms throughout American society.

In recent years, the N.R.A. has aggressively lobbied federal and state
governments to dilute or eliminate numerous regulations on gun
ownership. And the clearest beneficiary has been the gun industry —
sales of firearms and ammunition have grown 5.7 percent a year since
2007, to nearly $12 billion this year, according to IBISWorld, a market
research firm. Despite the recession, arms sales have been growing so
fast that domestic manufacturers haven’t been able to keep up. Imports
of arms have grown 3.6 percent a year in the last five years.

The industry has, in turn, been a big supporter of the N.R.A. It has
contributed between $14.7 million and $38.9 million to an
N.R.A.-corporate-giving campaign since 2005, according to a report
published last year by the Violence Policy Center, a nonprofit group
that advocates greater gun control. The estimate is based on a study of
the N.R.A.’s “Ring of Freedom” program and very likely understates the
industry’s total financial support for the association, which does not
publicly disclose a comprehensive list of its donors and how much they
have given.

Officials from the N.R.A. have repeatedly said their main goal is to
protect the Second Amendment rights of rank-and-file members who like to
hunt or want guns for protection. But that claim is at odds with surveys
that show a majority of N.R.A. members and a majority of American gun
owners often support restrictions on gun sales and ownership that the
N.R.A. has bitterly fought.

For instance, a 2009 poll commissioned by Mayors Against Illegal Guns
found that 69 percent of N.R.A. members would support requiring all
sellers at gun shows to conduct background checks of prospective buyers,
which they do not have to do now and which the N.R.A. has steadfastly
argued against. If lawful gun owners are willing to subject themselves
to background checks, why is the association resisting? Its position
appears only to serve the interest of gun makers and dealers who want to
increase sales even if it means having dangerous weapons fall into the
hands of criminals and violent individuals.

Businesses and special-interest groups often cloak their profit motives
in the garb of constitutional rights — think Big Tobacco and its
opposition to restrictions on smoking in public places and bold warnings
on cigarette packages. The Supreme Court has made clear that the right
to bear arms is not absolute and is subject to regulations and controls.
Yet the N.R.A. clings to its groundless arguments that tough regulations
violate the Second Amendment. Many of those arguments serve no purpose
other than to increase the sales of guns and bullets.


from the NYT Editorial Page