The National Rifle Association is one of the biggest political machines in America.
Each year, the NRA spends millions of dollars in lobbying campaigns and this year alone has set aside $11.4 million for fall advertising, according to Politico.
The group has 4.5 million members and has a large influence over the outcomes of elections. They air ads for Republican candidates across the country and have more of an impact on elections than people may realize.
One of their most recent campaign ads is airing in Louisiana against Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. In the ad, a woman is shown putting her child to bed and then texting her husband who is out of town, “Love you. Good night.” In the next scene, a man is shown breaking into the house, and then it cuts to a shot of yellow police tape.
The ad ends with the narrator saying, “How you defend yourself is up to you. It’s your choice. But Mary Landrieu voted to take away your gun rights. Vote like your safety depends on it.”
Gun owners have a certain level of paranoia, and the NRA knows all of the right buttons to push in order to turn this paranoia into millions of dollars.
Ads similar to the anti-Landrieu ad help coerce Americans into thinking that the only way to keep themselves and their family safe is to arm themselves, and that anyone who supports gun control in any form is a threat to their safety.
The main reason Americans purchase guns is out of fear. According to a Gallup Poll, 60 percent of gun owners have it for their personal safety.
The NRA fuels the mindset in America that the only way to truly protect yourself is to be armed.
The NRA will never accept or admit that the main cause of gun homicides and mass shootings are the guns themselves. After the Sandy Hook shooting, NRA President Wayne LaPierre blamed the shooting on a lack of protection at schools, saying “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”
Time and time again the NRA has made it clear that they think the only solution to violence is more guns when guns are what created the problem in the first place.
According to ABC News, “A study by two New York City cardiologists found that the U.S. has 88 guns per 100 people and 10 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people — more than any of the other 27 developed countries they studied.”
There is a clear correlation between the two statistics and it is important for America to finally accept that throwing more guns at a problem will not make it go away.
The NRA will never blame guns as the main cause of mass shootings and homicides because without guns, their organization becomes obsolete.
Once the gun culture in America changes, the homicide rate will change too. The only way for this to happen is for the NRA to finally accept and admit that guns may be a major part of the problem and that scaring people into thinking otherwise will not have a positive impact.
There is a fear and paranoia in America created by a pro-gun culture and in order for this fear to go away, the NRA will have to go away as well.
Gabby McDaris is a freshman studying screenwriting. Email her at gm573913@ohio.edu.
