So why do many politicians on the right offer ‘thoughts and prayers’ and insist, while the blood is still wet on the school floor, that this is no time to talk about gun reform? How can they hold such an egregious position? In the last three years alone there have been 1,721 mass shootings, according to figures from the Gun Violence Archive. As for school shootings, last year saw 34 such incidents at educational institutions, according to Education Week, the highest since the organization started its database.
Enter stage left, the National Rifle Association. Founded in New York state in 1871 by two US Civil War veterans as a recreational group designed to “promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis,” today it claims a membership of nearly five million target shooters, hunters, gun collectors, gunsmiths, police, and other gun enthusiasts and has grown to be among the most influential advocacy groups in U.S. politics.
