“I am sick and tired of this”, assured the president of the United States, Joe Biden, visibly moved, this Tuesday at the White House, after at least 19 children and two teachers were killed in an attack at an elementary school in Texas.
The shooting occurred specifically at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, a school that has an enrollment of about 500 students, almost the 90% of them are Latino and about 87% is considered economically disadvantaged.
The suspect, identified as Salvador Ramos, was killed by the police at the scene of the crime.
Upon his return to the US after a short tour of Asia, Biden made a speech and n which lamented the tragedy and demanded action to try to stop the violence.
“As a nation, we have to ask ourselves: when are we going to confront the lobby of the weapons? When are we going to do what we know in our guts must be done?”
The attack on Robb Elementary School is the latest in a series of mass shootings that have shaken the country. Just ago days, a gunman in Buffalo, New York, opened fire in a supermarket, killing 10 people in an attack that was treated as racist.
This new shooting puts the accent on a theme that comes back every time a mass shooting occurs in the United States: the alleged responsibility of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
And the fact is that the National Rifle Association is one of the actors most active and controversial in one of the thorniest debate topics in the country: gun control.
The leader of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, has previously denied any responsibility of his organization in past shootings and has fervently defended the possession of weapons.
But what is the origin of this group and what power does it have over American politics?
Here we tell you 5 keys to understand it.
1- What is the National Rifle Association?
The NRA bills itself as “the oldest civil rights organization in the United States” made up of “proud defenders of the patriots of history and diligent protectors of the Second Amendment.”
Actually, it arose in 1871 as a recreational group designed to “promote and encourage shooting with a rifle on a scientific basis”.
His step towards politics occurred in 1934, when it began to send its members draft legislation related to facilities for acquire weapons.
In that year, he promoted the approval of the National Law of A Weapons of Fire and then, in 700, achieved a new regulation of the same type that facilitated access to these items.
Since then, his main objective is to promote the freedom to possess firearms among civilians, based on a controversial defense of the Second Amendment.
The NRA attacks any measure that supposes a limitation to the right to have arms as an attack against freedom.
And opposes with forcefulness even to measures such as attempts to ban the sale of assault rifles to civilians or devices that multiply the lethal power of semi-automatic weapons.
Boycott at Business linked to the NRA
Several US companies have severed their ties with the Association, after pressure from consumer groups against the powerful lobby that defends the carrying of weapons in the United States.
Car rental companies such as Hertz and Enterprise, the insurer MetLife Insurance, the telephone company Allied Van Lines, Symantec IT and First National Bank are among those that terminated their special offers, contracts or facilities with the organization and its members a couple of years ago.
Among the voices that have come out in defense of the group is that of President Donald Trump, who assured in 2018 that what many people do not understand “or do not want to understand” is that the “friends” who work in the NRA, like LaPierre, are “great people” and “great American patriots”.
In previous shootings in the United States, groups advocating greater control over the carrying of arms also called for a boycott, but their results were limited.
2- How big is the NRA really?
Estimates of the number of NRA members have been at the center of controversy for decades.
The association assures that it has more than five million followers, although groups opposed to the use of weapons assure that the amount is less and that its directors inflate the figures.
However, an investigation by 2016 of the Pew Research Center, a research center based in Washington, indicated that about from 19 millions of people are recognized as members of the organization, although they are not actively involved in it.
Nine presidents of the United States have been among its members and some personalities that currently make up its ranks are the former candidate for Vice President Sarah Palin and actors Tom Selleck and Whoopi Goldberg.
The NRA has various magazines, conducts courses of trainings on the use of weapons and organizes events of weapons sales and shooting throughout the United States.
3- Why is it so controversial?
Over the last few 50 years, the NRA has lobbied hard to prevent any gun control measures under the a arguing that they make the United States a safer country and that it is a right backed by the Constitution.
But given the increase in mass shootings in In the country, this defense has been placed at the center of controversy, mainly by those who assure that easy access to weapons affects the prevalence of shootings.
After the shootings at the Sandy Hook schools, in 2012, and Marjory Stone Douglas, in 2018, the NRA has rejected proposals to impose controls on sales and has argued as solutions to put armed police in schools and not give weapons to “mentally ill”.
The groups that question it, for their part, assure that or it would solve the problem and that stronger control measures are needed in one of the countries where it is easiest to buy weapons legally in the world.
4- What real power does it have in the United States?
A survey conducted by the magazine Fortune at 1999 among some of the leading political analysts and US legislators ranked the NRA as one of the three most influential pressure groups in Washington.
However , its real influence is also controversial.
The Center for Responsible Policy (CRP), a think tank that studies inflation uence of money and lobbying on elections and public policies, does not include among the main groups of lobby between 1998 Y 2017.
But his critics assure that this is because he often lobbies from the multiple branches and parallel organizations that he also controls.
According to an investigation by The Washington Post, the NRA has interfered over the years to stop gun control investigations and has influenced the passage of laws and endorsed or rejected candidates for governor, Congress or the presidency .
5- How does it influence politicians?
From 1968, the NRA created an Action Committee aimed at supporting or fighting politicians depending on their position towards arms control.
It has, in fact, a list of evaluations for them that goes from A to F (according to whether or not they oppose the regulations), and during elections, whether state or federal, it recommends its millions of members and followers to vote for the candidates that support the interests of the organization.
Furthermore, they carry out campaigns to influence public opinion about the image of the candidates.
According to the CRP, during the presidential campaign of 2016 the association spent $19.7 million dollars in opposition to Hilary Clinton.
The NRA also donates large amounts of money to politicians who support the deregulation of gun sales.
It is known, for example, that was one of the contributors to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and is a major donor to members of the Republican Party.
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