Here a gun, there a gun, everywhere a gun gun gun -- Old McDoNRA's goal

Journalist Mike Spies, who has extensively reported on the National Rifle Association, was interviewed on NPR's "Fresh Air" by Teri Gross on 10-05-17.  Spies writes for The Trace, an independent, nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to covering issues related to guns in America.

Here are some of his observations and conclusions.   Quotations are from the NPR interview.

1.  The NRA's goal is to normalize the presence of guns in places we are not accustomed to seeing them -- so that eventually guns are perceived as a regular part of our daily existence.   To this end, they have lately been pushing laws to allow gun carry in places that have traditionally been considered "sacred," i.e. off limits for guns.   These include:  bars, churches, day care centers, college campuses, government buildings.

2.  They also are pushing "no permit" laws.  This allows anyone to just go in and buy a gun, without a permit.  There would be no restrictions:  no background checks, no training, no licensing, no registration required.

3.  The NRA has more clout in state races than they do on the federal level, especially with the preponderance of legislatures and governorships filled by Republicans.   NRA grades each lawmaker, based on their voting records.   Any Republican who does not get the coveted A- or above is at risk of having the NRA pick and support a primary opponent.   So it's not so much that the NRA "buys" politicians to do their bidding (i.e. giving them lots of money, although they do some of that too).  It's more that they will exert their clout and money to get them voted out of office.   Hence the new term, "getting primaried."

4.  Spies described the NRA lobbyist for Florida and why she is so powerful.  Her name is Marion Hammer, and she has been there "for an exceptionally long period of time. . . .  And because she's so enmeshed in the culture of the state and because Florida is a state that has a very high population of NRA members, she's able to function as an unelected legislator and often has more power than legislators do and is able to tell governors what to do and able to tell Republican lawmakers there what to do. . . .  [She is a] legendarily vindictive person who plays . . . hardball politics."

Spies says that she is the one who drafted Florida's "stand your ground" law that figured in the Treyvon Martin-George Zimmerman case.  Why is this law important?  Spies says:  "If you're going to give people the right to carry guns in public and you're telling them that they need the guns because they have to defend themselves, then stand your ground is a way of sort of codifying that message. . . .  Everyone in the Florida legislature knows that every gun bill is drafted  by an NRA lobbyist."

Spies also gave, as an example of her tactics and power, the case of the chairman of the legislative Judiciary Committee who had had an A+ rating from NRA.   But, because he killed an NRA-backed bill that he thought was unnecessary and would also make prosecutors' jobs more difficult, Ms. Hammer was able to rob him of a judicial appointment he wanted and was considered the front runner for.  She organized an email campaign of thousands of NRA members, who demanded that under no circumstances should the governor appoint this man to the judgeship.  Despite his prior A+ rating from the NRA, most people thought he failed to get the appointment as a direct result of his action on that one bill and the NRA's vengeance.

5.  Earlier this year, the NRA launched an insurance program called Carry Guard, underwritten by a major insurance carrier, that covers your legal fees and other legal expenses in the event you kill someone while claiming self-defense.   Their marketing strategy is essentially "you live in an extremely dangerous society.   You carry a gun.   You shouldn't have to think twice about using your gun in a dangerous situation because you're worried that you're going to wind up going bankrupt after you do so.  Get this insurance so you won't go bankrupt after you kill someone."

6.  In trying to explain the appeal and the power of the NRA, Spies says:  "The NRA is more than just a group that pushes gun rights.  It is much closer to a religion or like a very particular way of life, and that's what it sells its members.  

7.  The NRA believes that "the only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."    The more guns, the better.

My question:   this ignores the fact that a loaded gun is a dangerous thing in the wrong hands. or in the hands of someone not in sane control of his actions (drunk, impassioned rage, a child, a mentally disturbed or suicidal person).

Statistics have long been available that show:   when there is a gun in the house, a member of that household is more likely to be killed with it than any sort of intruder.   Think about that in connection with the claim of needing a gun for protection.   What this says is that your family is safer not having a gun in the house.   This, of course, also includes suicides;  but they are family members too, aren't they?   Maybe even you, yourself some day.

And what about limits on the type of weapons?   Does the NRA recognize any limits?  Machine guns, mortar launchers, hand grenades, dynamite -- a nuclear bomb?   Why put any limits?

But, if you accept some limits, why not at least ban the guns designed for nothing but to kill lots of people quickly?   Like those used by the shooter in Las Vegas.

Ralph