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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for national rifle association
3 results foundAuthor: Violence Policy Center Title: Time Bomb: How the NRA Blocked the Regulation of Black and Smokeless Powder to the Benefit of Its Gun Industry “Corporate Partners” Today Summary: Since the 1970s, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has worked to block federal regulation--including background checks on transfers--of black and smokeless powder. The NRA’s decades-long campaign against regulating these two common explosives today benefits the gun industry “corporate partners” that help fund the organization according to the new Violence Policy Center (VPC) report, Time Bomb: How the NRA Blocked the Regulation of Black and Smokeless Powder to the Benefit of Its Gun Industry “Corporate Partners” Today. The VPC study details how in 1970, in response to a wave of bombings throughout the country, Congress, with the support of the Nixon Administration, moved to consolidate and increase federal regulatory oversight of the explosives industry and its products, including black and smokeless powder. Despite the clear threat posed by black and smokeless powder, the NRA--joined by other pro-gun organizations such as the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF)--worked to ensure that resulting legislation contained an exemption for “small arms ammunition and components thereof” which applied to most smokeless powder as well as to “black powder in quantities not to exceed five pounds.” In 1974, over the protestations of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), the NRA successfully lobbied to increase the amount of black powder exempted from federal regulation from five pounds to 50 pounds. The continuing danger posed by the exemptions for smokeless and black powder has been noted by experts. In a review of the implementation of the “Safe Explosives Act” (SEA) passed in the wake of the September 11th attacks, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice identified “several issues related to the regulation and safeguarding of explosives in the United States that while not addressed in the SEA nonetheless are relevant to public safety.” Among the issues identified was ATF’s limited authority over smokeless and black powder. The report noted, “Because black powder is relatively inexpensive (between $5 and $15 per pound), it is the most common explosive used in pipe bombs. Additionally, the ATF does not regulate smokeless powder, a more expensive explosive used in the manufacturing of firearms ammunition.” ATF acknowledges the threat to public safety posed by the unregulated sale of black powder and smokeless powder. In a letter sent to Federal Firearms Licensees in July 2004, the agency wrote: “As you may know, explosives are frequently used by terrorists to cause destruction. Some of the products you may carry in your inventory, such as black powder and smokeless powder, could be used in acts of violence. While smokeless powder and black powder generally are exempt from the Federal explosives laws, these products are often used to make illegal or ‘improvised explosives devices’ and pipe bombs.” The letter included a flyer headlined “BE AWARE FOR AMERICA.....” and set out tips to help dealers identify suspicious buyers. Details: Washington, DC: Violence Policy Center, 2013. 11p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 25, 2013 at: Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 128441 Keywords: Background ChecksExplosivesGun ViolenceNational Rifle AssociationViolence (U.S.) |
Author: Violence Policy Center Title: Blood Money II: How Gun Industry Dollars Fund the NRA Summary: In the new report, Blood Money II: How Gun Industry Dollars Fund the NRA, the VPC reveals that members of the gun industry have donated between $19.3 million and $60.2 million since 2005. And while the NRA claims on its website that it has no financial ties to the gun industry, its own publications, statements, and even awards ceremonies prove otherwise. One of these "corporate partners" is Freedom Group, manufacturer of the Bushmaster assault rifle used in the mass shooting of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012. Cerberus Capital Management, which owns a 94 percent share in Freedom Group, pledged to sell its investment in the days following the Sandy Hook shooting but has yet to uphold its promise. After ramping up its financial support to a million dollars or more, Freedom Group's leadership was inducted into the NRA's Golden Ring of Freedom at the organization's annual meeting in May 2013. The Golden Ring of Freedom is reserved for those who have "given gifts of cash totaling $1,000,000 or more," according to the NRA. A second inductee was Smith & Wesson, manufacturer of the assault rifle used in the July 2012 mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado that left 12 dead and 58 wounded. In a promotional video on the NRA's website, Smith & Wesson CEO James Debney explains, "I think it's important for everybody to step up and support the NRA. They are our voice." VPC Executive Director and study author Josh Sugarmann, a native of Newtown, states, "Less than five months after the tragedy in Newtown, while families and the entire community still mourned, the NRA was celebrating its financial ties to the manufacturer of the assault rifle used in the shooting. In the wake of declining household gun ownership, the NRA has turned to the funder of last resort: the gun industry itself." The VPC first exposed the gun industry's growing financial support of the NRA in its original Blood Money study, released in 2011. At that time, gun industry financial support of the NRA totaled between $14.7 million and $38.9 million. Since then, the giving levels have risen dramatically. (The exact total is not possible to know because in its promotional efforts the NRA only reports a range of giving levels within its "Corporate Partners Program" - for example, gifts between $1 million and $5 million and gifts between $500,000 and $1 million.) Freedom Group, Smith & Wesson, and other million-dollar donors were honored at the "biggest, best NRA Ring of Freedom Brunch ever" during the NRA's May 2013 annual meeting in Houston, according to the group. These "selfless, passionate, and devoted leaders" were given yellow sports coats, each with a Golden Ring of Freedom crest on the front pocket, and then took part in "what has become a joyous - and loud - Golden Ring of Freedom custom: the ringing of the 'Freedom' bell." The new report shows the NRA's top corporate benefactor remains MidwayUSA, the official sponsor of the organization's annual meeting for this and previous years. MidwayUSA sells ammunition, high-capacity ammunition magazines, and other shooting accessories. MidwayUSA has donated more than $9 million to the NRA, primarily through its NRA Round-Up program, which rounds up customer purchases to the nearest dollar and gives the difference to the NRA's lobbying arm. Additional gun industry "corporate partners" that have given a million dollars or more to the NRA include: gunmakers Beretta USA, Springfield Armory, and Sturm, Ruger & Co; accessories vendor Brownells; and target manufacturer Pierce Bullet Seal Target Systems. Donors that have given $250,000 or more include: Benelli USA; Cabela's; and Glock. In addition to direct donations, the NRA has embarked on an aggressive series of "sponsorship" programs funded by the gun industry. Gun companies sponsor specific NRA programs, online features, and memberships. This year, Brownells, headed by NRA board member and newly minted Golden Ring of Freedom member Pete Brownell, renewed its commitment as the "presenting sponsor" of the NRA's "Life of Duty" program, which allows individuals or corporations to purchase one-year NRA memberships for members of the military and law enforcement. And in December 2012, the NRA announced that Smith & Wesson would be the "presenting sponsor" of the NRA Women's Network. Details: Washington, DC: Violence Policy Center, 2013. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 7, 2014 at: http://www.vpc.org/studies/bloodmoney2.pdf Year: 2013 Country: United States URL: http://www.vpc.org/studies/bloodmoney2.pdf Shelf Number: 132274 Keywords: Gun IndustryGunsNational Rifle AssociationWeapons |
Author: Lee-Ashley, Matt Title: Oil and Gas Industry Investments in the National Rifle Association and Safari Club International. Reshaping American Energy, Land, and Wildlife Policy Summary: Two bedrock principles have guided the work and advocacy of American sportsmen for more than a century. First, under the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, wildlife in the United States is considered a public good to be conserved for everyone and accessible to everyone, not a commodity that can be bought and owned by the highest bidder. Second, since President Theodore Roosevelt's creation of the first wildlife refuges and national forests, sportsmen have fought to protect wildlife habitat from development and fragmentation to ensure healthy game supplies. These two principles, however, are coming under growing fire from an aggressive and coordinated campaign funded by the oil and gas industry. As part of a major effort since 2008 to bolster its lobbying and political power, the oil and gas industry has steadily expanded its contributions and influence over several major conservative sportsmen's organizations, including Safari Club International, or SCI, the National Rifle Association, or NRA, and the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation. The first two organizations have assumed an increasingly active and vocal role in advancing energy industry priorities, even when those positions are in apparent conflict with the interests of hunters and anglers who are their rank-and-file members. The third group, the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, or CSF, is also heavily funded by oil and gas interests and plays a key role in providing energy companies, SCI, the NRA, gun manufacturers, and other corporate sponsors with direct access to members of Congress. The growing influence of the oil and gas industry on these powerful groups is reshaping the politics, policies, and priorities of American land and wildlife conservation. In this report, we identify three high-profile debates in which the growing influence of the oil and gas industry in SCI, CSF, the NRA and other conservative sportsmen groups could play a decisive role in achieving outcomes that are beneficial to energy companies at the expense of habitat protection, science-based management, and hunter and angler access to wildlife and public lands. These areas to watch are: - Endangered and threatened wildlife in oil- and gas-producing regions: The case of the greater sage grouse and the lesser prairie chicken - The backcountry: How the oil and gas industry and its allies are working to undo protections of roadless areas and wilderness study areas - Public access and ownership: The movement to privatize public lands and wildlife The oil and gas industry's growing investment in conservative sportsmen groups is already yielding ever-greater influence over legislation and policy decisions that benefit the industry's financial interests at the expense of hunters and anglers. Understanding and tracking this powerful lobbying alliance is of increasing importance to those who believe that American sportsmen can and should continue to be the standard-bearers for our nation's conservation tradition defend the principles that have guided North American land and wildlife stewardship for more than a century. Details: Washington, DC: Center for American Progress, 2014. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2015 at: https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/IndustryInfluenceReport.pdf Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/IndustryInfluenceReport.pdf Shelf Number: 135503 Keywords: National Rifle AssociationNatural ResourcesOil IndustryWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime (U.S.) |