Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), cosponsor of the Manchin-Toomey bill on background checks for gun purchases.Gun control proposals were placed higher than ever on the national policy agenda after the December 14th shootings in Newtown, Conn. It wasn’t enough to get the bipartisan Manchin-Toomey bill requiring background checks passed by the Senate four months later, but President Obama pledged that this would not stop his administration from pursuing reforms. As time passes and other issues come to the forefront, gun control advocates are trying to recapture the momentum through continued pressure on Congress.
The New Republic senior editor Alec MacGillis wrote on these efforts in his May 28 article “This is How the NRA Ends,” reviewing the back-and-forth between the pro-gun lobby, legislators, and the American public over the past 20 years. On Thursday, June 13 at 6:30 p.m. MacGillis will discuss his piece at Busboys and Poets’ 5th and K location as part of the Center for American Progress’s (CAP’s) Progressivism On Tap series.
The article focuses on the longstanding power of the National Rifle Association, which works its legislative will despite a nationwide decline in gun ownership and increased public support for restrictions. The author says this is because the NRA has had “no real opposition” that can “convince [politicians] that the conventional wisdom about gun politics is wrong.” Several organizations are currently seeking to counteract the NRA, including Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, The Brady Campaign, Gabby Giffords’s Americans for Responsible Solutions, and Moms Demand Action.
MacGillis describes how these groups struggle to coordinate an effective message that goes beyond the social and emotional consequences of gun violence, bypassing the NRA’s “relentless invocation of the Second Amendment,” and that will overcome the risk that politicians see in voting for reform.
“This is How the NRA Ends” also addresses the individuals who are needed to pass the Manchin-Toomey bill or prevent it from dying in Congress. Both MacGillis and bill cosponsor West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin — a lifetime NRA member in favor of the Second Amendment — seem optimistic that gun control reforms are now being taken seriously enough to warrant discussion. Following a riled-up town hall meeting MacGillis attended with Manchin, the Senator said, “the majority support a reasonable, responsible approach … but you gotta be willing to come out here and talk about it. If you won’t talk about it, you got problems.”
Thursday’s event will be the second in this year’s lecture and discussion series from CAP’s Progressive Studies Program. CAP is an “independent nonpartisan” educational institute founded by John Podesta in 2003 to “develop new policy ideas, challenge the media, and shape the national debate.”
“The Politics of Gun Control” will take place in the Cullen Room, and space is limited so it is recommended to register online and arrive early. Light refreshments will be served.
