Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
The National Rifle Association is sponsoring "a multimillion-dollar TV advertising campaign ... aimed at messaging beyond gun rights and reaching middle-class mothers, minorities and other Americans 'who believe our country is off the rails,'" The Washington Times reported Thursday.
"The gun lobby's campaign ... uncharacteristically delves into issues far beyond the Second Amendment to explore the IRS scandal, media elitism and security vulnerabilities, with a call to return 'good guys' to power."
"[Americans] care about their Second Amendment freedoms but understand that all freedoms are connected," NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said about the ads.
Exactly, and that's precisely the point this column has been making in its reports on the political and legal threat illegal immigration poses to the right to keep and bear arms, from amnesty bringing in millions of new Democrat voters (and the impact that will have on the composition of legislatures and the judiciary), to the increases in violent crime that will be exploited with demands for further gun restrictions.
NRA has thus far avoided addressing any of that by falling back on the claim that they focus exclusively on the "single issue" of the Second Amendment in their political evaluations. That has allowed them to continue assigning "A" ratings to politicians who enable an amnesty agenda pushed by both the Obama administration and Tea Party-opposing Republicans, squeezing principled candidates out in the primaries to ensure only establishment-sanctioned match-ups on election day.
That's why the absence of NRA leadership in this discussion is so glaringly obvious, especially as there is no more grave threat to the long-term viability of political and judicial recognition of the right to keep and bear arms.
Now that he has officially embraced the concept that "all freedoms are connected," it's up to Mr. LaPierre to explain why he will not include illegal immigration positions among the factors to be considered when evaluating politicians for support and endorsements.
Why won't an NRA that recognizes "all freedoms are connected" recognize that all threats to to those freedoms are too?