The National Rifle Association, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, posted that Essayli's remarks were "dangerous and wrong," and called for a full investigation rather than "making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens."…
Showing posts with label NRA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NRA. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Thursday, December 18, 2025
Myths of Violence: How Guns Became Sacred in America (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)
Brad sits down with Dr. Rachel Wagner, Professor of Religious Studies at Ithaca College and author of Cowboy Apocalypse, for a sobering and necessary conversation about why guns hold such powerful meaning in American life. Prompted by recent mass shootings, the episode explores how firearms have become more than tools or political symbols and instead function as sacred objects tied to religion, masculinity, and apocalyptic imagination. Dr. Wagner introduces the idea of the “cowboy apocalypse,” a myth rooted in frontier nostalgia, the fantasy of the lone hero, and the belief that violence can restore order in a chaotic world. Together, Brad and Rachel unpack how this story continues to shape American responses to fear, danger, and social change.
The discussion traces how Christian theology, end times thinking, and cultural certainty have fused with gun culture, turning weapons into symbols of protection, identity, and belonging for some, while representing terror and exclusion for others. Brad and Rachel examine the evolution of the NRA from a gun safety organization into a political and quasi religious force, the role of masculinity and whiteness in defining who is seen as a “good guy with a gun,” and how moments like January 6 reflect a kind of live action role play driven by these myths. The episode closes with a powerful reflection on democracy itself, emphasizing that dialogue, complexity, and empathy are incompatible with the certainty promised by violence. It is a challenging conversation that invites listeners to confront the stories Americans tell about guns and what those stories cost us.
Interview:
The discussion traces how Christian theology, end times thinking, and cultural certainty have fused with gun culture, turning weapons into symbols of protection, identity, and belonging for some, while representing terror and exclusion for others. Brad and Rachel examine the evolution of the NRA from a gun safety organization into a political and quasi religious force, the role of masculinity and whiteness in defining who is seen as a “good guy with a gun,” and how moments like January 6 reflect a kind of live action role play driven by these myths. The episode closes with a powerful reflection on democracy itself, emphasizing that dialogue, complexity, and empathy are incompatible with the certainty promised by violence. It is a challenging conversation that invites listeners to confront the stories Americans tell about guns and what those stories cost us.
Interview:
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
David Hogg’s Fight for the Future of the Democratic Party (Reveal/More to the Story podcast)
The gun control activist and DNC vice chair is targeting “asleep at the wheel” incumbents. But could his primary strategy lead to his own ousting?
“It’s all gas, no brakes.” For David Hogg, a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, there’s little time away from politics right now, especially considering his $20 million campaign to disrupt his own party.
Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, and gun control advocate, is looking to oust what he calls “asleep at the wheel” incumbents in primaries around the US through his political action committee, Leaders We Deserve. It’s a strategy that has won him admirers and detractors, especially from the Democratic establishment, who say he shouldn’t be meddling in primaries, considering he’s now a party boss. So far, Hogg isn’t backing down. But he argues that it might get him kicked out of the DNC altogether. The party is set to vote June 9 to decide whether to redo Hogg’s election.
Just seven years ago, Hogg was a high school senior in Parkland, taking speech and debate classes and prepping for college. But all that changed when a former student entered his school and committed the largest mass shooting at a US high school. Hogg quickly co-founded the student-led organization March For Our Lives and became one of the nation’s most prominent gun control activists. Today, he’s the first member of Gen Z to be a vice chair at the DNC and, through Leaders We Deserve, is aggressively challenging the party’s status quo to generate “an attitudinal shift.”
“What we’re trying to do is say, across the board, Democrats need to stand up and fight harder,” says Hogg, whose PAC is trying to recruit a fresh slate of young candidates. “And if there’s somebody that feels nervous about potentially being challenged as a member of Congress, they should ask themselves why that is ultimately.”
Interview:
“It’s all gas, no brakes.” For David Hogg, a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, there’s little time away from politics right now, especially considering his $20 million campaign to disrupt his own party.
Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, and gun control advocate, is looking to oust what he calls “asleep at the wheel” incumbents in primaries around the US through his political action committee, Leaders We Deserve. It’s a strategy that has won him admirers and detractors, especially from the Democratic establishment, who say he shouldn’t be meddling in primaries, considering he’s now a party boss. So far, Hogg isn’t backing down. But he argues that it might get him kicked out of the DNC altogether. The party is set to vote June 9 to decide whether to redo Hogg’s election.
Just seven years ago, Hogg was a high school senior in Parkland, taking speech and debate classes and prepping for college. But all that changed when a former student entered his school and committed the largest mass shooting at a US high school. Hogg quickly co-founded the student-led organization March For Our Lives and became one of the nation’s most prominent gun control activists. Today, he’s the first member of Gen Z to be a vice chair at the DNC and, through Leaders We Deserve, is aggressively challenging the party’s status quo to generate “an attitudinal shift.”
“What we’re trying to do is say, across the board, Democrats need to stand up and fight harder,” says Hogg, whose PAC is trying to recruit a fresh slate of young candidates. “And if there’s somebody that feels nervous about potentially being challenged as a member of Congress, they should ask themselves why that is ultimately.”
Interview:
Thursday, April 10, 2025
Kash Patel loses ATF gig as Trump kills gun safety measures
Bondi also intends to roll back Biden-era checks on people who use stabilizing braces to turn pistols into rifles and a regulation that made gun sellers adhere to stringent licensing and background check requirements.
Biden signed the first major federal gun safety bill in decades in the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Meanwhile, Trump, who opposes gun safety regulations and laws, has been bankrolled by the far-right, scandal-plagued National Rifle Association for years...
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Trump's NRA Convention Speech Recap
Gag orders won’t stop Trump from talking… much to our displeasure.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
Trump’s radical promise to the NRA raises the stakes in 2024
If elected, Donald Trump doesn't simply intend to do nothing to address gun violence; he intends to do less than nothing by undoing existing safeguards...
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
‘Even more insidious than the NRA’: US gun lobby group gains in power
"From leading dangerous smear campaigns against ATF director nominees who publicly promise to better regulate the gun industry, and bullying members of Congress to vote against even the most reasonable pieces of legislation regulating guns, the NSSF continues to value gun-industry profits more than the American people's right to live in safe communities," Vokhiwa said.
Other gun-control advocates say the NSSF, like the NRA, has often exploited fears of gun owners and pushed conspiracy theories about "big government" efforts to undermine the second amendment, in order to rally opposition to gun-control measures.
"The firearms industry was peddling anti-government conspiracies long before Trump came along talking about the "deep state"," said Suplina. "That includes claiming that even modest proposals for gun-violence prevention, like requiring background checks on every gun sale, are part of a sinister government plot to disarm all Americans…
Monday, April 17, 2023
Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Shooting in the Dark: Why Gun Reform Keeps Failing (Reveal podcast)
Gun-related deaths in the U.S. are at an all-time high. Why efforts to stop the violence fall short.
Interview:
Friday, July 15, 2022
Ted Cruz's Home Visited By Activists Because Of NRA Donations
Oliver hand-delivered a letter from his late son Thursday to the home of Cruz, who has received a total of $749,000 from the pro-gun group. The note, which had been written by a 12-year-old Joaquin, spoke to gun owners about his thoughts on gun control in the country…
Friday, June 3, 2022
Our Massive Gun Problem – What Can We Do? (Opening Arguments podcast O599A)
Another horrific mass shooting has us all asking WTF can we actually do about this? There is plenty of reason for pessimism, but Opening Arguments is here to break down what might realistically be done. This is part 1, focusing on why gun companies are immune from civil actions and what we should do about that. Part 2 will be about the police response.
In the first segment, we give an update on Elon Musk. There was a filing that went virtually unnoticed but sheds more light on the Twitter situation.
Interview:
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Prankster Trolls NRA Head Wayne LaPierre To His Face In Front Of All His Pals | HuffPost Latest News
What first seemed like praise quickly turned uncomfortable for the NRA boss…
Thursday, May 26, 2022
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz receives sharp backlash for comments in wake of Uvalde school shooting – The Hill
"Aren't you slated to headline a speaking gig for the NRA in three days—in Houston, no less? You can do more than pray. Faith without works is dead," said House Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)...
Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Biden was describing misinformation about gun control legislation, not threatening to take away guns - PolitiFact
Biden, then vice president, was describing in detail what he called a campaign of disinformation by the National Rifle Association, including the false idea that the government would take people's guns…
Monday, November 8, 2021
Ryan Busse, Once an NRA Hero, Gives us the Dirt (Al Franken podcast)
Former gun exec & author of Gunfight on how the NRA turned from teaching gun safety into a pernicious threat to public safety & democracy.
Interview:
Thursday, November 4, 2021
Trump, Republicans benefited from NRA's secret, illegal donation scheme, Gabby Giffords group says - The Washington Post
… The lawsuit alleges as much as $35 million in "unlawful" and "unreported in-kind campaign contributions" went toward a scheme that goes back as early as 2014, with $25 million allegedly going toward Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Republican campaigns for Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Rep. Matthew M. Rosendale (Mont.) are named as defendants in the lawsuit, and GOP Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ron Johnson (Wis.) and former senator Cory Gardner of Colorado are also mentioned...
Sunday, May 30, 2021
Florida's Pointless, Unconstitutional Social Media Law (Opening Arguments podcast OA494)
I know I say this a lot but... this episode is action packed! So much good stuff to discuss that we had to squeeze in the Trump grand jury news into the announcements slot. Andrew breaks down what it means and what to expect. Then, a listener who actually worked on the NRA case wrote in to give us the final word on Sea Girt. But in our main segment, Andrew gives us the full breakdown on the asinine social media law Florida just passed. Eyes, look your last, because this thing is destined for the trash bin. Find out why! Then, we squeezed in a wildcard segment, if you can believe it. Did Alan Dershowitz win a defamation case against CNN? (no)
Interview:
Saturday, May 22, 2021
Letitia James – Kicking Ass and Taking Names (Opening Arguments podcast OA491)
And two of those names are: Jacob Wohl and the NRA! It's a consequences show! While consequences might be an endangered species these days, Tish James shows us that species still has teeth. You may know Jacob Wohl as that right wing troll who absolutely should be in jail right now for any number of things, like fabricating blackmail material against Elizabeth Warren, for example. He's in big trouble for yet another criminally awful plot. Then, Andrew breaks down the recent bankruptcy decision regarding the NRA, and why it's bad news for them and good news for not them.
Interview:
Thursday, May 13, 2021
Fact check: Post takes Biden's remarks on gun violence out of context
… Biden has said he is "not opposed to the Second Amendment." But a recent Instagram post from the National Rifle Association suggests otherwise…
Friday, April 23, 2021
NRA launches $2 million campaign to oppose Biden gun-control agenda - The Washington Post
"Tell Joe Manchin to reject President Biden's extreme gun-control agenda," the ads say, targeted to each state's senators. As pictures of Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) loom menacingly, an announcer describes the president's plan to "ban commonly owned firearms" and nominate David Chipman "a radical gun-control activist" to be the head of ATF...
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