The NRA Is Not Your Typical Interest Group

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National Review

The NRA Is Not Your Typical Interest Group

By Jay Cost / February 26, 2018 6:30 AM

As the political fallout from the tragic shooting in Parkland, Fla., continues, progressives and anti-gun activists have directed their ire increasingly at the National Rifle Association (NRA). One argument that has been circulating is that the NRA is a special-interest group that effectively buys off members of Congress with campaign contributions, inducing them to vote against the interests of their constituents for the sake of their own reelections.

This is an inaccurate picture of the substantial power that the NRA wields in the political process. That is not to say that the gun-owners’ group is above reproach. Rather, it elides several important distinctions between how the NRA operates and most other special interests do.

The NRA is not like the stereotypical interest group that we think of influencing the political process. These groups — think of the big banks, the hospitals, the homebuilders, etc. — have business before the government. Literally. The taxing and regulatory authority of the government is so vast that Uncle Sam can make or break pretty much any industry it likes. So these economic factions mobilize to protect themselves from harms or to extend their benefits.   

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IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT GUNS

IT'S ABOUT FREEDOM