Make no mistake: The NRA paved the way for the Orlando attack

[kpete]

Make no mistake: The NRA paved the way for the Orlando attack, during which Omar Mateen killed at least 49 people.

Here's how:

—The NRA's lobbyists and political allies fought for a raft of permissive state gun laws, turning Florida in particular into the "Gunshine State."

—The gun lobby's gusher of campaign cash and threats of electoral retribution cowed our federal leaders into inaction on gun control, even in the face of the slaughter of first graders, an assassination attempt on a member of Congress, and the rise of home-grown terrorists.

—The NRA's politicking has warped the Constitution itself. The late Antonin Scalia authored the 2008 Supreme Court decision that recast the Second Amendment as a guarantee of individual gun rights. Today, the NRA's top Senate allies are blocking a Supreme Court nominee who could limit or reverse that decision.

—The combined effect? Military-derived weapons are ubiquitous, cheap and simple to obtain — even for individuals on the FBI's terrorist watch list. The NRA's unhinged gun advocacy has created a soft underbelly to our homeland security that radicals are exploiting to inflict mass murder.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-nra-paved-the-way-for-the-orlando-shooting-20160615#ixzz4BkenFkdz
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[Hoyt]

1. Kick

[SuperDutyTX]

2. Honest Question...

I mean this genuinely, but there's a lot of talk about the massive lobbying power of the NRA organization, and how they're spending gobs of money. That said, when you pull them up on "Open Secrets" it doesn't seem like they're as super rich and influential as people might think.

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000082&cycle=2014

I have a hard time believing a $9,000 contribution to a congressman/senator does much of anything for their campaigns, or even 33k to the RNC is even a drop in the bucket?

Does anyone have a link or a source that show's the true resources of the NRA?

[melm00se]

3. The NRA's real power is their

ability to mobilize their 3-5 million members and influence a significant portion of the 38 to 89 million gun owners in the USA.