In 2017, political commentator Dana Loesch was named the NRA`s national spokesperson, officially titled “Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President for Public Communications.” [184] [185] Loesch hosts The DL on NRATV and has played a major role in other videos produced by the NRA. [ref. needed] We have found similar narratives in a number of books on the history of guns and gun politics in the United States, including Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law (2012), Gun Violence in America: The Struggle for Control (2003), and Gun Politics in America (2016). All cited the need for organized firearms training in the military as the main motivation for founding the NRA; none of them mentioned protecting freed slaves or fighting the Ku Klux Klan. Again, and unfortunately not for the last time, a mass shooting in Las Vegas in October. 1 stunned the nation and shocked the rest of the civilized world, sparking a national debate about guns and gun laws. This approach was masterfully employed by Orbán, who built a political platform focused on “Hungarian” identity to advance his populist rise to power. Using moments of conflict and war in Hungarian history, he evoked the sentiments of the “glorious Hungarian nation”, crystallizing the identity of the Hungarian people and claiming that they are directly attacked both by the large number of migrants seeking asylum from conflicts in the Middle East and by European leaders in Brussels. which would allow Hungary to be invaded by migrants.28 In Orbán`s own words, “the prosperity of [British] unification should be an incentive for the immediate formation of a similar character in this country,” he concluded. “Let`s have our Rifle Training Association, also a Wimbledon on American principles.” Although the introduction of the rifle as a military weapon is due to the lessons of our Revolution, and although our success in previous competitions in our history depends on the skill of our ancestors in its use, our citizens have not recognized the fact that the change that has taken place in the habits of the American people is rapidly depriving them of this personal weapon capability. and precision, which has been one of the greatest elements of our national strength to date. This is all the more regrettable since the introduction of long-range breech loaders has made this capability even more important in modern times; that under the old system, not only for the conflict between Prussia and Austria, but also for the more recent competition between the French and Prussia, have shown that the very precision and rapidity of fire, which make these weapons so impressive in the hands of trained artillerymen, simply lead to a waste of ammunition among those unfamiliar with their use.
This leaves an army powerless at the decisive moment of the battle. Other nations recognizing these facts have long since instituted a comprehensive system of rifle training, France, Germany, Switzerland and especially England and Canada unite to give rifle practice a prominent position in their military training systems. The initial call to organize such a group came from an article by Colonel William C. Church in an August 1871 issue of the Army and Navy Journal. He cites the success of Britain`s National Rifle Association and its Wimbledon shooting range, whose name is confusing, at least to modern readers: Although he initially believed that the National Guard should organize such a club, he would turn to private companies for the sake of speed. “In this city [New York], an association should be organized to promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis. The National Guard is too slow on this reform today,” Church wrote. “The private sector must take up the cause and bring it to life. The topic has already been introduced to several enterprising officers and former National Guard officers, and they have been found enthusiastic about it. All it takes is a warm collaboration and a real start to ensure the success of the company. Similarly, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán capitalized on the idea of a “Hungarian citizen” and stoked fears about how the European Union and the migration crisis would affect Hungary.
Orbánân`s persistence in establishing a threatened Hungarian identity is evident in his public speeches, including a recent one in 2018, in which he said: “We have to say that we don`t want to be diverse and don`t want to be mixed: we don`t want our own skin color, traditions and national culture to be mixed with those of others. 26 Through this xenophobic rhetoric, a marginalized Hungarian identity emerged in a largely homogeneous nation.27 The NRA organized shooting clubs in other states, and many state National Guard organizations sought advice from the NRA to improve the accuracy of their members. The Wingate Marksmanship Manual became the United States Army`s marksmanship training program. [24] Former President Ulysses S. Grant was the eighth president of the NRA and General Philip H. Sheridan was his ninth. [30] The U.S. Congress created the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice in 1901, which included representatives from the NRA, National Guard, and U.S. Armed Forces. An annual program of rifle and pistol competitions was approved and included a national game open to military and civilian shooters. In 1907, the NRA`s headquarters was moved to Washington, D.C.
The NRA focused its attention on the Clinton administration`s gun control policy. [47] Knox lost power again in 1997 when he lost re-election to a coalition of moderate leaders who supported movie star Charlton Heston, although Heston had supported gun control legislation in the past. [50] NRA members` estimates have varied considerably for decades. The association said membership grew to nearly five million in response to the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook School, but some analysts put the number at more than three million. The organization has been accused of inflating the number. National Rifle Association of America (NRA), the leading gun rights organization in the United States.