Interest Groups: National Rifles Association

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Discussion

The National Rifles Association (NRA) is an American non-profit organization formed in 1871 by William Conant Church and George Wood Wingate. This Association has been in existence since then. It was established for the traditional objectives of encouraging accurate rifle shooting, both as a competitive sport and as training of military reservists, and to further the legitimate use of the firearms for hunting and farming purposes. In the early years following the association’s formation, it concentrated its activities on sponsoring target shooting competitions on its own rifle range on Long Island and elsewhere.

The main objective the association aimed to achieve in these was to; provide riflemen with an incentive to enhance their skills and foster the attitude of military preparedness. This association forged connections with manufacturers of arms and ammunition. Their source of funds was secured through political lobbying from the New York State Legislature. Through this source, the association managed to buy land and the construction of the Long Island range. This paper discusses the NRA’s; funding, organizational structure, policy interests, defense interests, campaign contributions, court actions, credit claims, and fit with the concept of democracy (Wndlesham, 1998),

First, the National Rifles Association obtains much of its funding from its membership. The NRA as a national association has many affiliates and club members all over the USA. Therefore, much of the money that sustains the organization is obtained from members’ subscriptions. This presents the reason why the NRA leadership pays a lot of attention to the needs of its membership. For instance, the national office usually seeks informed opinions about which candidates to support, allows members to vote democratically, and tries to keep members updated about campaign issues. This willingness of the organization to listen to its membership has been an asset to it. It has immensely contributed to the organization’s wellbeing because members will always be willing to contribute generously to responsive organizations. In sum, the NRA’s sources of revenue are obtained from five main sources that include; memberships, contributions, advertising in magazines, interests and dividends, and others (Wndlesham, 1998),

Second, the National Rifles Association organization has a Board of directors that governs it. This Board is composed of seventy-five NRA members of the association who are elected by members by mail ballot. Each member has unfettered right to vote, and one member voted in during the association’s general meeting. The NRA lifetime membership, age 18 and United States citizenship accords one the right to hold the office of director of the association. NRA directors are usually elected for three terms in office, except the director who is elected by the membership during the annual general meeting, who holds the office for only one year. Every year, a third of the Board members’ terms lapse.

The mode of nomination of members of the NRA Board from the general membership is done in two ways; by recommendation to the committee doing the nomination, or by 250 members petitioning the nomination. The director voted in during the annual general meeting by the members, comes from the pool of members nominated but not elected through recommendations to the nominating committee or petition of at least 250 members. The association’s members of the executive committee are usually elected in the beginning as directors to perform on the executive committee.

The organizational structure of the association’s executive committees has slightly been restructured. For instance, the second vice president’s office for the association was introduced in the association in 1979. The executive committee has also witnessed changes on other lower management portfolios been added or restructured over some time. These elected individuals manage and supervise a complex system of thirty-six standing and special committees of the association. These committees work only on matters that interest the NRA membership.

Third, as a matter of the NRA policy, it puts into great priority the interaction between its leaders and the membership. This is for the purpose of enhancing the effectiveness of NRA in its activities. The organization’s interaction policy assists in sensitizing the candidates running for the NRA offices to understand the importance the national organization attaches in listening to all its members at different levels. Once they understand this policy, the candidates become more responsive to their membership hence, enhancing sustained leadership stability in the running of NRA’s affairs. For the purpose of this policy interest that listens to the membership, the NRA has a lobbying organization called the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) that oversees the Political Victory Fund (PVF) which is NRA’s political lobbying committee. Whenever NRA communicates to an elected leader about a specific policy, its interest is for that individual the influence of the membership on his or her electoral outcome in the district or state. This policy strategy is employed by NRA effectively to combine lobbying and campaign activities at both the state and federal levels.

Fourth, NRA is an interest group thus, for this reason; offers its electoral assistance to candidates who support its main objective of defending the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights. It strictly vets elective candidates to find out those deemed to be faithful to the association’s objective. In part, it does this on the assessment of its local membership. Election volunteer coordinators are usually recruited by the association to assess the candidates in each congressional district and submit their findings to the association’s national office. The association also accords the membership the freedom and liberty to lobby the national office on behalf of their preferred candidates. Most misunderstandings between the members of the association and the national office sometimes stem from the candidate to support in the election. However, the association tolerates such disagreements for the reason that most of the funds it contributes to candidates for campaigns stem from solicitation from its membership (Hrebenar, 1997).

Fifth, NRA does file court actions in American state and federal jurisdictions challenging the laws enforced that restrict the rights of citizens to own firearms. It defends the rights of its members to keep and bear arms as secured in the Second Amendment in the US constitution. The NRA will always file court action to defend the rights of its membership when their rights as safeguarded in the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights are violated. In 1978, the association established the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund for the objective of aiding in the preservation and defense of civil, constitutional, and human liberties of American people to keep and bear arms. This fund aids individuals and organizations with legal assistance in defending their rights to keep and bear arms as established in the Second Amendment in the US constitution, and also champions reforms in the criminal justice department (Regoli, 2006).

Sixth, NRA has largely claimed credit for its successful legislative policy to defend the Second Amendment legislation in the Bill of Rights. It has largely been successful in its policy goals, despite the fact that public opinion over the period has reserved its support to a much stricter gun control policies. Being an interest group that is most powerful in the US, NRA claims credit for attracting and retaining large and enthusiastic members. The membership provides the organization with stable funding that is used to support political candidates who support the NRA’s objectives of defending the Second Amendment (Davidson, 1998).

Lastly, American democratic ideals advocates for the defense of freedoms and liberties of all American citizens in all spheres. It safeguards the constitutional rights to free speech and advocacy. The NRA fits well with our concept of democracy and participation in government. For instance, it has been able to hold up effective gun control for many years, against the parent wish of majority of American citizens. The important dimension of the American democracy is that it provides opportunities and freedoms to organizations such as the NRA, to mobilize political resources for their interests and values that they feel they should advocate. The NRA is the strongest defender of the Second Amendment legislation, advocates for the American citizens to remain committed to the constitutional rights and freedoms to free speech and advocacy. It keeps on reminding the American people that democracy can survive in the US without a free voice. Their spirited defense of the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights is significant for the maintenance of the democratic process. Many Americans express this belief through their membership in the NRA of America.

References

Davidson, O. (1998). Under Fire: The NRA and the Battle for Gun Control. Iowa: University of Iowa Press.

Hrebenar, R. (1997). Interest Groups Politics in America. M. E. Sharpe.

Regoli, R., & Hewitt, J. (2006). Exploring Criminal Justice. New York: Jane Bartlett Publishers.

Windlesham, D. (1998). Politics, Punishment and Populism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Interest Groups: National Rifles Association

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