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Abstract
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On March 5th, 2018, a threatening video made headlines throughout the United States and gained international attention. With Wild West music playing in the background, a woman wearing all black sits in a dark room with an hour glass. After listing enemies of "individual liberty in America," including the New York Times and Washington Post, she flips the hour glass and warns, "Your time is running out."[1] The woman featured in the video was Dana Loesch, official spokesperson for the National Rifle Association. The video was released in response to highly publicized calls for gun control from American students. This movement emerged in wake of a horrific mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.[2] Ms. Loesch's combative tone and threatening words perfectly illustrate the longstanding reality of the NRA as a radical non-state actor that aggressively influences America's gun control debate.
Gun control remains one of the most polarizing issues in American politics.[3] This public and political debate is primarily focused on the potential for Congress to take modest action in order to reduce gun violence. It has gained significant attention in recent years, considering the number of high profile, and deadly, mass shootings.[4] Advocates of gun control point to measures such as banning semi-automatic rifles and increasing background checks for firearms purchases. While they push for restrictions on gun ownership (for mentally ill people, wanted terrorists, etc.), they usually refrain from opposing the fundamental right to bear arms.
This paper analyzes the NRA as a controversial non-state actor in the context of the gun control debate within the United States. It first provides background information on the organization, then proceeds to emphasize the sources of its influence in American politics and society. It contends that the group is a remarkably powerful actor that serves as a leading obstacle to gun control legislation in the US. The paper subsequently considers the potential for the NRA to have consequences for the US beyond the domestic realm. It specifically argues that due to its prominent role as the leading opponent to any form of gun control, the NRA serves as a threat to American soft power, broadly defined as the ability to exert international influence through attraction as opposed to coercion.[5] In this light, the NRA is not only indirectly killing Americans through its role in opposing gun control, but also killing America's influence as an effective democracy, 'city on a hill,' and symbol of progress around the world.
Availalble: https://yris.yira.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/combinepdf-3.pdf |