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Before I go any further, I must admit to a secret shame in my past--I almost joined the NRA when I was an impressionable youngster. I happened to be the Camp Mah-Kee-Nac riflery champion, and at the tender age of 12 all I knew about the NRA was that they supplied the cool patches that read "Marksman" and "Marksman First Class." I also knew that the riflery counselor, an ex-Marine named Leigh and a genuinely cool guy, was a member of the NRA. (Though even in my naivete I was a bit disturbed by his tendency...
...racked up the awards, it began to occur to me that it might be cool to actually belong to the organization that supplied all those patches. Fortunately, my parents talked me out of it. I'm older and wiser now, and I know that the NRA is effectively a massive special interest group that lobbies to keep access to guns free and easy. I know that one of their officials referred to government agents last year as "jack-booted thugs." I know that they have millions of members and strong influence in Congress. But I still don't understand...
...being a student in the information age, I decided to learn about the world in the most modern way possible; over the World Wide Web. The NRA homepage (www.nra.org) is very unassuming. It shows simply the organization's logo and a list of links, some with very progressive-sounding names such as "Women's Issues and Personal Safety," and "Refuse to be a Victim." At the top of the page is a slightly ominous link; larger than the rest and prominently displayed, it reads "1996 Preferred Candidates...
...ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Schumer is a bad word to NRA lobbyists: he was a fierce sponsor of the assault-weapons ban and the Brady Bill, which mandates a five-day waiting period before buying a handgun. He also sponsored a law making it illegal to obstruct access to abortion clinics, a popular move in the liberal Ninth. By no means camera shy, Schumer may be setting himself up to bid for New York's governorship...
...steps on to get there. "Dole has calculated that he must move farther toward the center," says TIME's Jeffrey Birnbaum. "He is purposefully trying to upset the conservative base to appeal to the moderate middle and he thinks he can afford to do so." Dole has enraged the NRA by reneging on a pledge to repeal the assault weapons ban. The organization, which claims 3 million members, says it will now concentrate its efforts on Senate and congressional races. Dole has also upset Ralph Reed, the influential executive director of the Christian Coalition, by supporting the GOP's decision...