RaggedMan wrote:
The NRA has on outsized influence as most gun owners aren't members, and the lobbying they do is more on the behalf of gun makers than gun owners. Lots of people who own a single gun for home defense don't care about the NRA, and many other guns owners, myself included, disagree sharply with their ideas. But it's politics so money talks and the NRA has plenty of that.
It's not purely a money thing, it's also an issue thing.
They have a sizeable membership, and likely others outside of that membership, who will vote on a single issue. Try to mess with their guns and they will not vote for you, they will be mobilised to vote against you, and they will spend their entire day finding ways to screw you over.
On the other side you have people who are more pro gun control, but aren't angry enough for them to vote on this single issue anyway.
I see a similar situation with the Conservaties, Theresa May, and Brexit. Most people did not vote for hard Brexit. The Tories know they'll lose the hard Brexiters if they don't follow their lead, but they wouldn't lose the soft Brexiters by going hard.
I long for the day politicians act in the name of morals, what is just, and what is generally accepted as the right thing to do.