Institute For Legislative Action

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while continuing to teach firearm safety and competency. The organization also publishes several magazines and sponsors competitive marksmanship events. According to the NRA, it had nearly 5 million members as of December 2018, though that figure has not been independently confirmed.

The NRA is among the most influential advocacy groups in U.S. politics. The NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) is its lobbying division, which manages its political action committee (PAC), the Political Victory Fund (PVF). Over its history, the organization has influenced legislation, participated in or initiated lawsuits, and endorsed or opposed various candidates at local, state, and federal levels. Some notable lobbying efforts by the NRA-ILA are the Firearm Owners Protection Act, which lessened restrictions of the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Dickey Amendment, which blocks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from using federal funds to advocate for gun control.

Starting in the mid-to-late 1970s, the NRA has been increasingly criticized by gun control and gun rights advocacy groups, political commentators, and politicians.This criticism began following changes in the NRA's organizational policies, following what is now referred to as the Revolt at Cincinnati at the 1977 NRA annual convention. The changes, which deposed former NRA executive vice president Maxwell Rich and included new organizational bylaws, have been described as moving the organization away from its previous focusses of "hunting, conservation, and marksmanship" and toward a focus on the defense of the right to bear arms. The organization has been the focus of intense criticism in the aftermath of high-profile shootings, such as the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, after which they suggested adding armed security guards to schools.

History

Early history

A few months after the Civil War began in 1861, a national rifle association was proposed by Americans in England. In a letter that was sent to President Abraham Lincoln and published in ''The New York Times'', R.G. Moulton and R.B. Perry recommended forming an organization similar to the British National Rifle Association, which had formed a year and a half earlier. They suggested making a shooting range, perhaps on the base on Staten Island, and were offering Whitworth rifles for prizes for the first shooting competition with those rifles. They suggested a provisional committee to start the Association which would include: President Lincoln, Secretary of War, officers, and other prominent New Yorkers.

The National Rifle Association was chartered in the State of New York on November 17, 1871 by ''Army and Navy Journal'' editor William Conant Church and Captain George Wood Wingate. On November 25, 1871, the group voted to elect its first corporate officers. Union Army Civil War General Ambrose Burnside, who had worked as a Rhode Island gunsmith, was elected president.Meeting of the National Rifle Association Election of Officers
. ''The New York Times''. November 25, 1871. p. 3. When Burnside resigned on August 1, 1872, Church succeeded him as president.

Union Army records for the Civil War indicate that its troops fired about 1,000 rifle shots for each Confederate hit, causing General Burnside to lament his recruits: "Out of ten soldiers who are perfect in drill and the manual of arms, only one knows the purpose of the sights on his gun or can hit the broad side of a barn."Craige, John Houston ''The Practical Book of American Guns'' (1950) Bramhall House pp. 84–93 The generals attributed this to the use of volley tactics, devised for earlier, less accurate smoothbore muskets.

Recognizing a need for better training, Wingate sent emissaries to Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany to observe militia and armies' marksmanship training programs. With plans provided by Wingate, the New York Legislature funded the construction of a modern range at Creedmoor, Long Island, for long-range shooting competitions. The range officially opened on June 21, 1873.America's Wimbledon: The Inauguration
. ''The New York Times''. June 22, 1873. p. 5. The Central Railroad of Long Island established a railway station nearby, with trains running from Hunter's Point, with connecting boat service to 34th Street and the East River, allowing access from New York City.The National Rifle Association
. ''The New York Times''. June 12, 1873. p. 5.

After beating England and Scotland to win the Elcho Shield in 1873 at Wimbledon, then a village outside London, the Irish Rifle Team issued a challenge through the ''New York Herald'' to riflemen of the United States to raise a team for a long-range match to determine an Anglo-American championship. The NRA organized a team through a subsidiary amateur rifle club. Remington Arms and Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company produced breech-loading weapons for the team. Although muzzle-loading rifles had long been considered more accurate, eight American riflemen won the match firing breech-loading rifles. Publicity of the event generated by the ''New York Herald'' helped to establish breech-loading firearms as suitable for military marksmanship training, and promoted the NRA to national prominence.

Rifle clubs

The NRA organized rifle clubs in other states, and many state National Guard organizations sought NRA advice to improve members' marksmanship. Wingate's marksmanship manual evolved into the United States Army marksmanship instruction program. Former President Ulysses S. Grant served as the NRA's eighth president and General Philip H. Sheridan as its ninth. The US Congress created the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice in 1901 to include representatives from the NRA, National Guard, and United States military services. A program of annual rifle and pistol competitions was authorized, and included a national match open to military and civilian shooters. In 1907, NRA headquarters moved to Washington, D.C. to facilitate the organization's advocacy efforts. Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal began the manufacture of M1903 Springfield rifles for civilian members of the NRA in 1910. The Director of Civilian Marksmanship began manufacture of M1911 pistols for NRA members in August 1912. Until 1927, the United States Department of War provided free ammunition and targets to civilian rifle clubs with a minimum membership of ten United States citizens at least 16 years of age.

1934–1970s

After the passage of the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934, the first federal gun-control law in the US, the NRA formed its Legislative Affairs Division to update members with facts and analysis of upcoming bills. Karl Frederick, NRA president in 1934, during congressional NFA hearings testified "I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I seldom carry one. ..I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses." Four years later, the NRA backed the Federal Firearms Act of 1938.

The NRA supported the NFA along with the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), which together created a system to federally license gun dealers and established restrictions on particular categories and classes of firearms. The organization opposed a national firearms registry, an initiative favored by then-President Lyndon Johnson.

1970s–2000s

Until the 1970s, the NRA was nonpartisan. Previously, the NRA mainly focused on sportsmen, hunters, and target shooters, and downplayed gun control issues. During the 1970s, it became increasingly aligned with the Republican Party. After 1977, the organization expanded its membership by focusing heavily on political issues and forming coalitions with conservative politicians. Most of these are Republicans.Utter, 2000, pp. 99–100, 162

However, passage of the GCA galvanized a growing number of NRA gun rights activists, including Harlon Carter. In 1975, it began to focus more on politics and established its lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), with Carter as director. The next year, its political action committee (PAC), the Political Victory Fund, was created in time for the 1976 elections. The 1977 annual convention was a defining moment for the organization and came to be known as " The Cincinnati Revolution" (or as the Cincinnati Coup, the Cincinnati Revolt, or the Revolt at Cincinnati). Leadership planned to relocate NRA headquarters to Colorado and to build a $30 million recreational facility in New Mexico, but activists within the organization whose central concern was Second Amendment rights defeated the incumbents (i.e. Maxwell Rich) and elected Carter as executive director and Neal Knox as head of the NRA-ILA. Insurgents including Carter and Knox had demanded new leadership in part because they blamed incumbent leaders for existing gun control legislation like the GCA and believed that no compromise should be made.

With a goal to weaken the GCA, Knox's ILA successfully lobbied Congress to pass the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986 and worked to reduce the powers of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In 1982, Knox was ousted as director of the ILA, but began mobilizing outside the NRA framework and continued to promote opposition to gun control laws.

At the 1991 national convention, Knox's supporters were elected to the board and named staff lobbyist Wayne LaPierre as the executive vice president. The NRA focused its attention on the gun control policies of the Clinton Administration. Knox again lost power in 1997, as he lost reelection to a coalition of moderate leaders who supported movie star Charlton Heston, despite Heston's past support of gun control legislation.

In 1994, the NRA unsuccessfully opposed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), but successfully lobbied for the ban's 2004 expiration. Heston was elected president in 1998 and became a highly visible spokesman for the organization. In an effort to improve the NRA's image, Heston presented himself as the voice of reason in contrast to Knox.

2018–present

Legal cases, 2019–present

In April 2019 the group unexpectedly sued its longtime public relations firm Ackerman McQueen, which was responsible for two decades of aggressive gun-rights advertising on behalf of the NRA. The lawsuit alleges that the firm refused to turn over financial records to support its billings to the NRA, which amounted to $40 million in 2017. The lawsuit questioned recent programming on NRATV, an online channel operated by Ackerman, which has taken political positions unrelated to the NRA's traditional focus on gun-related issues. There were also concerns about possible conflicts of interest, such as the $1 million contract to host NRATV between Ackerman and NRA president Oliver North. Leading up to the NRA's 2019 national convention in April, there were reports that North and LaPierre were at odds, with North demanding that LaPierre resign and LaPierre accusing North of extortion. At the convention a letter was read from North, saying he had been told he would not be granted a second term as NRA president and adding that he intended to create a committee to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement. A subsequent resolution to oust LaPierre over "highly suspect" financial practices was hotly debated for an hour before members voted not to discuss financial issues in public and to refer the resolution to the NRA board. On June 25, 2019, the NRA severed all ties with Ackerman McQueen and shut down the NRATV operation.

2020 lawsuits and 2021 bankruptcy filing

Following an 18-month investigation, on August 6, 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against the NRA, alleging fraud, financial misconduct, and misuse of charitable funds by some of its executives, including its long-time CEO and EVP Wayne LaPierre, treasurer Wilson Phillips, former chief of staff and current executive director of general operations Joshua Powell, and general counsel and secretary John Frazer. The suit calls for the dissolution of the NRA as being "fraught with fraud and abuse". On the same date, Attorney General for the District of Columbia Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against the NRA for misusing charitable funds.

On January 15, 2021, the NRA announced in a press release that it and one of its subsidiaries had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas. LaPierre, Wayne (January 15, 2021).
Dear NRA Members & Supporters
. ''National Rifle Association''. It also announced that it would reincorporate in Texas, subject to court approval, although its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, would not move. During the bankruptcy trial LaPierre stated that he had kept the bankruptcy filing secret from the NRA's board of directors and most of its senior officials. LaPierre's excessive compensation and exorbitant spending of NRA funds on himself and his wife, such as extremely expensive suits, chartered jet flights, and a traveling "glam squad" for his wife, became a subject of testimony in the eleven-day Texas proceedings.Judge Rejects NRA’s Bankruptcy Bid, Sets Stage For Dissolution
''New York Daily News'', Stephen Rex Brown, May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.

On May 11, 2021, Judge Harlin Hale of the federal bankruptcy court of the Northern District of Texas, dismissed the bankruptcy petition without prejudice, describing that it "was not filed in good faith", warning that if the NRA chose to file a new bankruptcy case, Hale's court would immediately revisit concerns about "disclosure, transparency, secrecy, conflicts of interest of litigation counsel", which could lead to the appointment of a trustee to oversee the organization's affairs. Hale doubted that the NRA was "faced with financial difficulties", instead ruling that the true purposes of the lawsuit were "to gain an unfair litigation advantage" against the New York Attorney General, and to "avoid" regulation from New York.

On March 2, 2022 New York state court in Manhattan ruled against Letitia James's effort to break up the NRA while allowing the portion of the legal actions against the NRA's leadership to continue. The judge found that dissolving the NRA would have a negative impact on the free speech and assembly rights of the organization's members. It was also found that the NRA as an organization did not benefit from the alleged misconduct of its leadership and "less intrusive" remedies against NRA officials could be sought instead.

Lobbying and political activity

When the National Rifle Association was officially incorporated on November 16, 1871, its primary goal was to "promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis". The NRA's website says the organization is "America's longest-standing civil rights organization".

On February 7, 1872, the NRA created a committee to lobby for legislation in the interest of the organization. Its first lobbying effort was to petition the New York State legislature for $25,000 to purchase land to set up a range. Within three months, the legislation had passed and had been signed into law by Governor John T. Hoffman.

In 1934, the National Rifle Association created a Legislative Affairs Division and testified in front of Congress in support of the first substantial federal gun control legislation in the US, the National Firearms Act.

The Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), the lobbying branch of the NRA, was established in 1975. According to political scientists John M. Bruce and Clyde Wilcox, the NRA shifted its focus in the late 1970s to incorporate political advocacy, and started seeing its members as political resources rather than just as recipients of goods and services. Despite the impact on the volatility of membership, the politicization of the NRA has been consistent and its PAC, the Political Victory Fund established in 1976, ranked as "one of the biggest spenders in congressional elections" as of 1998.

A 1999 ''Fortune'' magazine survey said that lawmakers and their staffers considered the NRA the most powerful lobbying organization three years in a row. Chris W. Cox was the NRA's chief lobbyist and principal political strategist, a position he held from 2002 until 2019. In 2012, 88% of Republicans and 11% of Democrats in Congress had received an NRA PAC contribution at some point in their career. Of the members of the Congress that convened in 2013, 51% received funding from the NRA PAC within their political careers, and 47% received NRA money in their most recent race. According to Lee Drutman, political scientist and senior fellow at the Sunlight Foundation, "It is important to note that these contributions are probably a better measure of allegiance than of influence."

Internationally, the NRA opposes the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). It has opposed Canadian gun registry, supported Brazilian gun rights, and criticized Australian gun laws.

In 2016 the NRA raised a record $366 million and spent $412 million for political activities. The NRA also maintains a PAC which is excluded from these figures. The organization donated to congressional races for both Republicans (223) and Democrats (9) to candidates for Congress.Business Insider, February 28, 2018
These are the members of Congress with the most NRA donations
Retrieved April 2, 2018, "...The NRA remains one of the premier gun rights lobbying groups in the US, regularly contributing to congressional candidates. ... "

The NRA has been described as influential in shaping American gun control policy. The organization influences legislators' voting behavior through its financial resources and ability to mobilize its large membership. The organization has not lost a major battle over gun control legislation since the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban. At the federal level, the NRA successfully lobbied Congress in the mid-1990s to effectively halt governments-sponsored research into the public health effects of firearms, and to ensure the passage of legislation in 2005 largely immunizing gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits. At the same time, the NRA stopped efforts at the federal level to increase regulation of firearms. At the state and local level, the NRA successfully campaigned to deregulate guns, for example by pushing state governments to eliminate the ability of local governments to regulate guns and removing restrictions on guns in public places (such as bars and campuses).

Elections

The NRA Political Victory Fund (PVF) PAC was established in 1976 to challenge gun-control candidates and to support gun-rights candidates. An NRA "A+" candidate is one who has "not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues, but who has also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment", whereas an NRA "F" candidate is a "true enemy of gun owners' rights".

The NRA endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time in 1980, backing Ronald Reagan over Jimmy Carter. The NRA has also made endorsements even when it viewed both candidates positively. For example, in the 2006 Senate elections, the NRA endorsed Rick Santorum over Bob Casey Jr., even though they both had an "A" rating.

Republicans joined forces with the NRA and used the recently passed gun control measures to motivate voters in the 1994 midterm elections.Siegel, Reva B. "Dead or Alive: Originalism as Popular Constitutionalism in Heller." ''The Second Amendment on Trial: Critical Essays on District of Columbia v. Heller'', edited by Saul Cornell and Nathan Kozuskanich, University of Massachusetts Press, 2013, pp. 104. In 1993, with Democrats in the majority of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, named after the press secretary who was shot and paralyzed during the 1981 assassination attempt of President Reagan. The Brady Bill created a mechanism for background checks in order to enforce the GCA of 1968 and prevent criminals and minors from purchasing guns. In addition, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 included a 10-year ban on the sale of assault weapons. In 1994, the ban was favored by 78% of Americans according to a CBS poll.

According to Yale professor Reva Siegel, during the 1994 midterm elections, the NRA "spent more than $3.2 million on GOP campaigns and helped win nineteen of twenty-four 'priority' races the organization targeted, leading to a House with a majority of members who were 'A-rated' by the NRA."Siegel, Reva B. "Dead or Alive: Originalism as Popular Constitutionalism in Heller." ''The Second Amendment on Trial: Critical Essays on District of Columbia v. Heller'', edited by Saul Cornell and Nathan Kozuskanich, University of Massachusetts Press, 2013, pp. 105. Groups like the NRA seeking to expand interpretation of the Second Amendment to include an individual right to a gun, coincided with the 'New Right', a political movement concerned with gun control, and social issues such as school prayer and abortion. Leader of the new House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich stated that support for or against gun control defined ones partisan identity. NRA leader Knox echoed this sentiment, assuring members that Republicans would be defenders of Second Amendment rights and repeal recently passed gun control legislation.

The NRA spent $40 million on United States elections in 2008, including $10 million in opposition to the election of Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign.

In 2010, ''Citizens United v. FEC'' was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, paving the way for dark money to flow into U.S. elections. As of mid-September 2018, the NRA has become one of just 15 groups which account for three-quarters of the anonymous cash.

The NRA spent over $360,000 in the Colorado recall election of 2013, which resulted in the ouster of state senators John Morse and Angela Giron. ''The Huffington Post'' called the recall "a stunning victory for the National Rifle Association and gun rights activists." Morse and Giron helped to pass expanded background checks and ammunition magazine capacity limits after the 2012 Aurora, Colorado, and Sandy Hook, Connecticut, shootings.

On May 20, 2016, the NRA endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election. The timing of the endorsement, before Trump became the official Republican nominee, was unusual, as the NRA typically endorses Republican nominees towards the end of the general election. The NRA said its early endorsement was due to the strong gun control stance of Hillary Clinton In the 2016 United States presidential election the NRA reported spending more than $30 million in support of Donald Trump, more than any other independent group in that election, and three times what it spent in the 2012 presidential election.

Russian influence

Investigations by the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller resulted in indictments of Russian nationals on charges of developing and exploiting ties with the NRA to influence US politics by using the NRA to gain access to Republican politicians. Russian politician and gun-rights activist Aleksandr Torshin, a lifetime NRA member who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was suspected by some of illegally funneling money through the NRA to benefit Trump's 2016 campaign. In May 2018, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee released a report stating it had obtained "a number of documents that suggest the Kremlin used the National Rifle Association as a means of accessing and assisting Mr. Trump and his campaign" through Torshin and his assistant Maria Butina, and that "The Kremlin may also have used the NRA to secretly fund Mr. Trump's campaign."

Butina was arrested on July 15, 2018, and charged with conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian Federation and using Republican operative Paul Erickson for cover and connections as she developed an influence operation designed to "advance the interests of the Russian Federation." The FBI acquired an email Erickson had sent to an acquaintance in 2016 stating, "Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns, I've been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key OPleaders through, of all conduits, the RA" According to the affidavit, from 2015 through at least February 2017, Butina worked at the direction of Russian who was a high level government official and official at the Russian Central Bank. In December, Butina agreed in a plea deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors. Butina later denied accusations that she was a Russian agent.

In 2018, in a letter sent to Sen. Ron Wyden and addressed to Congress, the NRA acknowledged it had accepted approximately $2,000 in membership dues and magazine subscriptions and $525 in contributions from 23 Russian nationals or people associated with Russian addresses since 2015. In an earlier news interview the NRA's lawyers stated that the NRA had received less than $1000 from only one Russian donor. According to a Wyden aide, the NRA letter would be referred to the Federal Elections Commission. NRA's General Counsel John C. Frazer wrote to Senator Wyden: "While we do receive some contributions from foreign individuals and entities, those contributions are made directly to the NRA for lawful purposes. Our review of our records has found no foreign donations in connection with a United States election, either directly or through a conduit."

According to the minority Democratic staff of the Senate Finance Committee the NRA acted as "a foreign asset" of Russia during the 2016 election, putting its tax exempt status at risk. The allegations were made in a 77-page report on an 18-month investigation released on September 27, 2019. An 18-page rebuttal by majority committee Republicans said the Democratic report demonstrated "little or nothing."

Neither the FBI nor Special Counsel investigations found any Russian money funneling. The FBI investigation resulted in the conviction of Butina, not on any money-related charges, and the Mueller Report does not mention the NRA. The Federal Election Commission has dismissed allegations of Russian money funneling as unsupported by the evidence.

The ATF and Senate confirmations

The NRA has for decades sought to limit the ability of the ATF to regulate firearms by blocking nominees and lobbying against reforms that would increase the ability of the ATF to track gun crimes. For instance, the NRA opposed ATF reforms to trace guns to owners electronically; the ATF currently does so through paper records. In 2006, the NRA lobbied US Representative F. James Sensenbrenner to add a provision to the Patriot Act reauthorization that requires Senate confirmation of ATF director nominees. For seven years after that, the NRA lobbied against and "effectively blocked" every presidential nominee. First was President George W. Bush's choice, Michael Sullivan, whose confirmation was held up in 2008 by three Republican Senators who said the ATF was hostile to gun dealers. One of the Senators was Larry Craig, who was an NRA board member during his years in the Senate. Confirmation of President Obama's first nominee, Andrew Traver, stalled in 2011 after the NRA expressed strong opposition. Some Senators resisted confirming another Obama nominee, B. Todd Jones, because of the NRA's opposition, until 2013, when the NRA said it was neutral on Jones' nomination and that it would not include the confirmation vote in its grading system. Dan Freedman, national editor for Hearst Newspapers' Washington, D.C. bureau, stated that it, "clears the way for senators from pro-gun states—Democrats as well as at least some Republicans—to vote for Jones without fear of political repercussions".

In 2014, Obama weighed the idea of delaying a vote on his nominee for Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, when Republicans and some conservative Democrats criticized Murthy, after the NRA opposed him. In February, the NRA wrote to Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell to say that it "strongly opposes" Murthy's confirmation, and told ''The Washington Times'' Emily Miller that it would score the vote in its PAC grading system. "The NRA decision", wrote Miller, "will undoubtedly make vulnerable Democrats up for reelection in the midterms reconsider voting party line on this nominee." ''The Wall Street Journal'' stated on March 15, "Crossing the NRA to support Dr. Murthy could be a liability for some of the Democrats running for re-election this year in conservative-leaning states". Murthy's nomination received broad support from over 100 medical and public health organizations in the U.S., including the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association. On December 15, 2014, Murthy's appointment as Surgeon General was approved by the Senate.

The NRA also opposed the appointments of Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan as Supreme Court justices.

Legislation

The NRA initially opposed the 1934 National Firearms Act, but gave their support after several changes including the removal of pistols and revolvers and redefinition of machine gun, which regulated what were considered at the time "gangster weapons" such as machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, and sound suppressors. However, the organization's position on suppressors has since changed.

The NRA supported the 1938 Federal Firearms Act (FFA) which established the Federal Firearms License (FFL) program. The FFA required all manufacturers and dealers of firearms who ship or receive firearms or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce to have a license, and forbade them from transferring any firearm or most ammunition to any person interstate unless certain conditions were met.

The NRA supported and opposed parts of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which broadly regulated the firearms industry and firearms owners, primarily focusing on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers and importers. The law was supported by America's oldest manufacturers (Colt, S&W, etc.) in an effort to forestall even greater restrictions which were feared in response to recent domestic violence. The NRA supported elements of the law, such as those forbidding the sale of firearms to convicted criminals and the mentally ill. Originally in ''Guns & Ammo Magazine'', June 1966.

The NRA influenced the writing of the Firearm Owners Protection Act and worked for its passage.

In 2004, the NRA opposed renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994. The ban expired on September 13, 2004. Transcript of chat with NRA's chief lobbyist.

In 2005 President George W. Bush signed into law the NRA-backed Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act which partially shields firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable for negligence when crimes have been committed with their products.

Litigation

In November 2005, the NRA and other gun advocates filed a lawsuit challenging San Francisco Proposition H, which banned the ownership and sales of firearms. The NRA argued that the proposition overstepped local government authority and intruded into an area regulated by the state. The San Francisco County Superior Court agreed with the NRA position. The city appealed the court's ruling, but lost a 2008 appeal. In October 2008, San Francisco was forced to pay a $380,000 settlement to the National Rifle Association and other plaintiffs to cover the costs of litigating Proposition H.

In April 2006, New Orleans