Whatever its origins, the National Rifle Association is now effectively a lobbying group for the gun industry. If the NRA actually represented gun owners, rather than the firearms industry, it would be championing data collection and research on gun safety. Such analysis could lead to reduced gun violence through sensible legal protections. Improving gun safety is the best way to protect the Second Amendment.
In fact, the NRA long has taken the opposite position, blocking data collection, analysis, and research on gun safety. The industry that the NRA represents does not want this information to be developed or discussed - just as the tobacco industry resisted all research on the health effects of smoking.
The NRA's suggestions that tragedies like the one in Parkland, Fla., could be averted by mental health services or by arming teachers or by improving school security systems are self-serving and even sinister. All nations have citizens with mental health problems, but only the U.S. makes the purchase and ownership of deadly weapons readily available to those suffering from mental illness. No advanced nation arms its teachers or militarizes its schools; such an idea can only spring from the minds of those who will profit from further gun sales. And we should never lose sight of the fact that the idea of fortifying our schools arises only because of the proliferation of the deadly weapons championed by the gun industry and its lobbying arm, the NRA.
Of course, the NRA has members who are sincere, well-intentioned gun owners, sportsmen, sportswomen, and advocates for the Second Amendment. These people must face the fact that the NRA is no longer listening to its members and has evolved into little more than a front for an immensely profitable industry. Well-meaning gun owners deserve better representation.
Barbara Stark
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Duluth
