On Sept. 13, our neighboring school, UNC-Chapel Hill, experienced its second lockdown of the year when an armed suspect was discovered on campus.
The lockdown is one of many recent events that have reinforced the call for gun reform, which has overwhelming support in our country. As of October 2022, 57% of the American public favored stricter laws covering the sale of firearms.
This percentage is notably large and represents a majority of our citizens, so why have no reforms been enacted? The answer lies in a faulty democracy taken advantage of by the National Rifle Association.
The NRA represents many faults in the current democratic system of the United States. The organization is a perfect example of how misinformation and propaganda can negatively affect the progress of a country and how political action committees can serve as opposition to democratic progress.
When a mass shooting or an act of gun violence occurs, national outrage follows, putting pressure on the NRA to invoke some response. They continuously respond with lies and hyperbole.
The NRA often uses unethical rhetorical strategies to create an emotional response. They even go so far as to use authoritarian political figures’ quotes like Vladimir Lenin and Adolf Hitler to justify their cause.
For example, they used the Lenin quote, “One man with a gun can control 100 without one.”
Because of these unethical tactics used to create fear in the hearts of gun owners, the NRA stands to benefit from the death of victims of mass shootings. In one instance, NRA membership increased following a mass shooting incident.
The NRA isn’t ignorant of their tactics either. Recordings after the Columbine shootings highlight how the NRA twists death into profit. The NRA infamously created a victims fund in order to offer “something concrete” and show that they “care about these people.”
This tactic is especially ironic considering the NRA usually says gun reformists like to use the death of others to serve their agenda. The NRA used this Columbine money to piggyback off the dead victims to fund politicians to oppose laws that could stop the violence.
The truth of the matter is the NRA doesn’t care if the violence stops. In fact, if it does, it damages their pocketbooks because the NRA is funded by industries that supply guns.
The organization says they believe guns reduce violence to underserved parties, but based on the corporations that support them, it’s clear a reduction of violence is not good for their business.
They also represent a larger flaw in the democratic system of the United States. Through their status as a PAC, they’re able to stand in the way of majority public opinion becoming law.
PACs place an influx of money in the hands of politicians whose interests are easily moved by money. They make the opinions of the mega-rich worth much more than the opinions of the regular person. This concept completely disregards the ideals of democracy put forward by the Founding Fathers, who are constantly referenced by right-wing groups like the NRA.
These problems plague the minds of our current generation and add to the frustration of having to live in a flawed democratic system.
In a recent Harvard poll, only 7% of young Americans view our current democracy as “healthy.” But there are solutions to this concern.
Obviously, a reduction of money to motivate politicians should be put in place to eliminate greed. A good first step is a return to oversight for PACs and overturning the Citizens United case, which deregulated political funding.
However, this is just a first step, and I’m sure the amazing minds of our generation will find solutions that will have a lasting impact on our democratic system. Let’s not allow the NRA to corrupt these amazing minds.
