David French of National Review Online probes the political left’s misunderstanding of the National Rifle Association.
It never fails. Every single time there is a mass shooting in the United States, a huge section of the Left singles out a single political culprit. Yes, they condemn the shooter, but it’s almost as if there’s another murderer out there, lurking in the shadows — the National Rifle Association. The NRA, you see, is to blame for America’s gun culture. It’s to blame for the lack of so-called “common sense” gun regulations. It’s the puppeteer, and GOP politicians are its marionettes. …
… For all too many journalists and pundits, the NRA is the Darth Sidious of the American republic, the malicious manipulative force that poisons our citizenry and corrupts our politics. Powerful progressive organizations, by contrast, are the engines of social justice, the persuasive force that helps put our nation on the right side of history.
Why the difference? Why do progressives ascribe such awesome power to the NRA? I’d suggest that one explanation is confusion. Simply put, the progressive movement is used to winning its culture wars. It’s used to seeing “progress” on its core issues. When the mighty combination of pop culture, the religious Left, the academy, and the Democratic party unite, they usually get results. …
… Not so in the gun debate. While the Left, of course, has solidified its hold on progressive urban enclaves, it has been thoroughly and completely routed in much of the rest of the country.
