The NRA Lays Out Groundwork Against New Gun Laws

     A barrage of calls to change gun laws has emerged after last week's horrific tragedy in Connecticut, and the National Rifle Association has kept quiet. However, no one expects the NRA to keep its silence once President Obama or members of Congress take any action to change the laws. For years, the well-known gun rights advocate and lobbying group has laid the ground work to fend off any move to change the national gun policy, spending millions of dollars to destroy laws that would make it tougher to purchase or wield guns.

     Calling on celebrities such as Chuck Norris and the late Charlton Heston as spokesmen, the National Rifle Association is considered to be "royalty" in Washington, and is known to easily be able to bring together its 4 million members. "The whole fire arms community is very powerful, because gun owners see their relationship to this democracy through the eyes of the gun issue," said Richard Feldman, a former NRA lobbyist and president of a gun rights group called the Independent Firearm Owners Association.

     This year, the NRA spent approximately $17 million on federal elections. According to statistics, it's a pretty large amount when compared to the overall size of the industry. Based on estimates from Wedbush Securities analyst Rommel Dionisio, annual gun sales in the U.S. total about $3.5 billion.

Compared to that, Goldman Sachs corporate political action committee and employees spent a total of $7.5 million on candidates running in the recent November election. The investment bank raked in about $29 billion last year. "But Goldman Sachs doesn't have 4 million members who are very passionate, vocal and well-distributed from coast to coast," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a group that tracks political spending of various groups and organizations. "Certainly money is part of that, but the NRA is one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, because they can draw on such a huge base."

     The NRA didn't do so well in the latest election as only a handful of the candidates it supported won, according to the Center. However, experts say the NRA is in strong shape to defend against any move to limit assault rifles like the one used in last week's school shooting. The NRA has showed off its powers well in the past. It successfully managed to push through new laws lightening gun bans in national parks and Amtrak trains in 2009, a year when Democrats pledging stronger gun control laws controlled both Congress and the White House. Overall, so far this year, the NRA and other groups that lobby Congress and the White House on gun rights have spent almost to $4 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

     Personally, I think there should be stricter gun laws so incidents can hopefully be reduced in the long run. While I don't support their views, I do admire the effort and teamwork the NRA puts together to defend their views. It is this persistence that more companies and organizations should have when it comes to doing anything they can in order to support and defend their opinions and views. Overall, based on last week's tragic events, I feel that something needs to be done in order to curb violence and the potential for future incidents like the one in Connecticut.