Wayne LaPierre, President of the NRA, wrote a Daily Caller op-ed where he refers to the importance of buying a gun:
Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Riots. Terrorists. Gangs. Lone criminals. These are perils we are sure to face–not just maybe. It’s not paranoia to buy a gun. It’s survival. It’s responsible behavior, and it’s time we encourage law-abiding Americans to do just that.
Since the election, millions of Americans have been lining up in front of gun stores, Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops exercising their freedom while they still have it. They are demonstrating they have a mass determination to buy, own and use firearms. Millions of Americans are using market forces like never before to demonstrate their ardent support for our firearm freedoms. That’s one of the very best ways we can Stand And Fight.
Seems pretty normal, right? This is straight-from-the-headline stuff.
However, Matt Gertz from Media Matters gets the vapors, saying that the NRA “fearmongers” in order to “drive up membership and promote increased firearm sales”, calling LaPierre “unhinged”.
Note that these same people never call out Planned Parenthood when they claim that women’s rights are being “stripped away”. Nobody calls out Planned Parenthood from the media or the left when they claim that Republicans are trying to deter “womens’ health”, apocalyptically describing landscapes in which women turn to coathangers in dark alleys for reproductive health. At least there’s a constitutional right to own a gun versus having an abortion.
LaPierre continues:
Every gun owner should be an active member of the NRA. Every gun owner should be sure that every member of his or her family is an active member. […]
This begins with remembering to keep your own membership active, or reactivate it if it has lapsed. It means reminding yourself, “I have a son and daughter who aren’t members and should be.” It means reaching out to your hunting and shooting friends and personally telling them why it’s so important that they join the NRA now, during this time of peril.
Gertz looks at the cash: “Renewing an NRA membership for one year costs $35; lifetime memberships cost $1,000.”
In other news, interest group wants to raise funds and increase membership.
But of course, the media and Gertz don’t support this interest group, so they try to paint them as “fearmongering” and “unhinged”.
LaPierre concludes:
We will not surrender. We will not appease. We will buy more guns than ever. We will use them for sport and lawful self-defense more than ever. We will grow the NRA more than ever. And we will be prouder than ever to be freedom-loving NRA patriots. And with your help, we will ensure that the Second Amendment remains America’s First Freedom.
That’s pretty much the crux of the NRA’s existence. Don’t like it? Don’t join it. Gertz panics, “According to the Violence Policy Center, the gun industry donated up to $38.9 million to the NRA from 2005 to 2011. Gun manufacturers gave millions more in 2012, with one holding a yearlong promotion in which it donated a dollar for each gun sold.”
Gee Gertz, it’s almost like an industry interest group is…supported by that industry! This little Politics 101 lesson is brought to you by the letters N and S, standing for “No Shit”.
The narrative here is to make the NRA look “crazy” when they’re just doing the same thing that any other interest group does: fundraise, increase membership, get their voice heard. This isn’t questioned when Planned Parenthood or NARAL or PETA do it even though they all have their own goals. Isn’t that the point of democracy in America? Different interests of different people working for different goals? Just take a look at the Center for American Progress and the Democracy Alliance. Both are interest groups which fund…Media Matters.
