NRA Blatantly Disregards Public Opinion

The National Rifle Association has hit a new low in obstructing the will of the people.

Last week, the NRA was responsible for the defeat of legislation in the Senate that would have extended background checks to gun purchases at gun shows and over the Internet. The compromise was forged by Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, a Democrat and Republican who both have A ratings from the NRA. Despite this, only 54 senators supported the measure, short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster.

Make no mistake, the 60 votes were there, and public opinion was as well. Ninety percent of respondents in polls consistently say they support universal background checks, let alone the Manchin-Toomey compromise. However, those that might otherwise have voted for the bill were terrified of the NRA using its vast war chest to make difficult re-election campaigns nearly impossible. Three Democrats that voted against the measure are up for re-election in 2014 in Republican-leaning states. It should be more complicated, but it's not: the NRA killed a very minor piece of gun control legislation for the cause of Second Amendment absolutism.

It wasn't always this way. In the 1960s, the NRA was an organization focused on using guns safely, for hunting and marksmanship. In 1968, the NRA actually endorsed the Gun Control Act. In 1977, however, a group of libertarians hijacked a NRA meeting in Cincinnati, taking over the leadership and deciding the organization would now focus on the elimination of all gun control laws.

Today, the NRA's leadership, and I do only mean the leadership, has become so corrupted and absolutist, it ignores even the wishes of its own members. Three out of four NRA members also support universal background checks, but every talking head the NRA has sent out makes it seem as if that's the worst thing we could possibly do. They have taken Charlton Heston's cry of prying guns from his "cold, dead hands" as their first and only commandment. It's disgusting. It's dishonorable. And it's killing people we love.

One final illustration of the NRA's insanity came when the United Nations passed a treaty meant to reduce black market arms trafficking. It makes clear that it reaffirms "the sovereign right of any State to regulate and control conventional arms ... pursuant to its own legal or constitutional system." Nevertheless, the NRA opposed it. As did the only three nations to vote against it: Syria, Iran and North Korea.

The NRA officials must moderate their positions, but more importantly, politicians must find the courage to step out from their shadow. Refuse their money. Fight lies with common sense. They may lose their races, but they will have earned our respect.

When teaching me to drive, my father constantly said that driving a car was like having a loaded gun in my hand. In some states, it is harder today to get a driver's license than it is to get a gun. So thanks, NRA. Thanks for nothing.

Jonathan Tomczak is a junior history and political science double major.