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David Yamane's avatar

This makes sense if you conceptualize the NRA simply or mostly as a gun rights political activist organization, which is a mistake that I think the NRA leadership itself made along the way (taking that to an extreme and making itself into a culture warrior organization). I would love to see this debacle lead the organization to refocus on what it contributes to gun safety as a service organization (it can also still do necessary political work, of course, as it always did). I'm not an expert on the NRA but have reflected on this some in the past: https://gunculture2point0.com/2015/10/01/the-national-rifle-association-as-thousands-of-spider-monkeys-not-an-800-pound-gorilla/

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David H. Roberson's avatar

A useful article that hits the nail pretty squarely. I wish you’d mentioned how corruption by Wayne and his cronies did so much to damage the organization. And it would gave been useful to point out that the NRA for generations provided most of the non-military shooting instruction available in this country. Also, Carter’s first name was *Harlon*, not Hanlon. All those are minor points, though, and I thank you for this piece.

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