The Washington Post details how the National Rifle Association went from being a relatively benign group to the more forceful advocacy organization it is today. Its a great look at how interest groups can grow in strength, and how groups can be taken over by committed activists within their ranks. It helps if they are well funded by a strong industry.
In gun lore it’s known as the Revolt at Cincinnati. On May 21, 1977, and into the morning of May 22, a rump caucus of gun rights radicals took over the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association.
The rebels wore orange-blaze hunting caps. They spoke on walkie-talkies as they worked the floor of the sweltering convention hall. They suspected that the NRA leaders had turned off the air-conditioning in hopes that the rabble-rousers would lose enthusiasm.
The Old Guard was caught by surprise. The NRA officers sat up front, on a dais, observing their demise. The organization, about a century old already, was thoroughly mainstream and bipartisan, focusing on hunting, conservation and marksmanship. It taught Boy Scouts how to shoot safely. But the world had changed, and everything was more political now. The rebels saw the NRA leaders as elites who lacked the heart and conviction to fight against gun-control legislation.
And these leaders were about to cut and run: They had plans to relocate the headquarters from Washington to Colorado.
“Before Cincinnati, you had a bunch of people who wanted to turn the NRA into a sports publishing organization and get rid of guns,” recalls one of the rebels, John D. Aquilino, speaking by phone from the border city of Brownsville, Tex.
They have a timeline of the group's development here.
Here are a few other stories related to the NRA - which most people place on the list of the most influential interest groups in the nation. They've obvious popped back into the national conversation doe to the recent shootings. Some question the outsized influence they have in Congress, but it shows what a coherent, well funded committed group can accomplish. Less coherent groups, even if they have more numbers, can't match this.
- Here's a look at its ties to the firearms industry.
- Open Secrets details its contributions to candidates.
- Slate describes how it leverages its power over members of Congress.
- BusinessWeek thinks their power was undiminished by the Newtown massacre.
- But the Hill wonders if they've pushed the limits of their power.
- Michael Bloomberg thinks their power is overrated.
