October, 25 2018, 12:00am EDT
NRA Has Worked for Decades to Block Efforts to Regulate Type of Explosive Reportedly Contained in Bombs Targeting Political Figures, Media, and Others
NRA leadership and “Corporate Partners” benefit financially from lack of regulation
WASHINGTON
Numerous news sources report that at least some of the pipe bombs targeting political figures, the media, and others this week were constructed with black powder. Since the 1970s the National Rifle Association (NRA) has worked to block federal regulation of black and smokeless powder, according to the 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 (https://www.vpc.org/studies/timebomb.pdf). Many of the targets of the bombs have been consistently vilified in NRA publications.
The NRA's decades-long campaign against regulating these common explosives benefits domestic and foreign terrorists who use bombs to intimidate and spread fear. The lack of regulation also financially benefits gun industry members whose companies sell these explosives or related products. These include Pete Brownell of Brownells, who until recently was the NRA's president, and the NRA's top firearms industry financial patron, MidwayUSA.
VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, "The lack of regulation of black and smokeless powder is a time bomb that threatens all Americans. For decades, the NRA has successfully blocked public safety measures in order to protect the profits of the gun industry. Now, these explosives are being used to target those the NRA identifies as its enemies."
The VPC study details the history--from the 1970s to the present--of how the NRA and members of the firearms industry have successfully worked to stop the regulation of black and smokeless powder.
These efforts have paid off in financial benefits to the NRA's "corporate partners" in the firearms industry who sell these explosives and related products including NRA board member and former NRA President Pete Brownell, CEO of Brownells, the "world's largest supplier of firearms accessories and gunsmithing tools." Brownells has contributed between $1 million and $4.9 million to the NRA as a "corporate partner" and is a member of the organization's "Golden Ring of Freedom," an honorary society for donors who give a million dollars or more.
Fellow "Golden Ring of Freedom" member Larry Potterfield, founder of MidwayUSA, is the NRA's most generous "corporate partner." As in prior years, MidwayUSA was the "official sponsor" of the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits held this past May in Dallas, Texas. Through the creation of its Round-Up Program, MidwayUSA has channeled $15.5 million to the NRA as a "corporate partner." Additional Round-Up revenue from non-MidwayUSA corporate participants brings the total to $17.2 million.
Additional NRA gun industry "corporate partners" that sell smokeless or black powder and help fund the organization include: Cabela's; Graf & Sons, Inc.; Hodgdon Powder Company; Natchez Shooters Supplies; and, Sinclair International, Inc.
NRA leaders and "corporate partners" also benefit from the sale of components that rely on the use of smokeless or black powder such as reloading equipment and accessories, bullets, and brass casings.
For more information on the gun industry's financial support of the NRA, please see the 2013 Violence Policy Center report Blood Money II: How Gun Industry Dollars Fund the NRA, (https://www.vpc.org/studies/bloodmoney2.pdf).
The Violence Policy Center (VPC) works to stop gun death and injury through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration. Founded in 1988 by Executive Director Josh Sugarmann, a native of Newtown, Connecticut, the VPC informs the public about the impact of gun violence on their daily lives, exposes the profit-driven marketing and lobbying activities of the firearms industry and gun lobby, offers unique technical expertise to policymakers, organizations, and advocates on the federal, state, and local levels, and works for policy changes that save lives. The VPC has a long and proven record of policy successes on the federal, state, and local levels, leading the National Rifle Association to acknowledge us as "the most effective ... anti-gun rabble-rouser in Washington."
LATEST NEWS
BREAKING: Biden to 'Stand Down'; Endorses Kamala Harris
' I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year'
Jul 21, 2024
Breaking News...more to come
UPDATE : In response to President Biden’s announcement that he is no longer seeking reelection, MoveOn Political Action Executive Director Rahna Epting released the following statement:
“President Joe Biden‘s legacy is defined by defeating Donald Trump, restoring our nation’s commitment to our democracy, and delivering one of the most impressive domestic policy agendas in modern history. Just like he did in 2020, President Biden is making a tremendous personal sacrifice to preserve our democracy, putting the interest of the American people first, and he has the gratitude of our nation and our millions of members.
“Vice President Harris is tested and respected, and her voice is critically important at this moment. MoveOn and our members have her back and believe that those who share our commitment to winning this election and protecting our futures will do everything in their power to lift her up and stop Trump in his tracks.
MoveOn is more driven than ever to unifying the anti-Trump coalition and defeating Donald Trump and extremist MAGA Republicans once again in 2024. We are all in on electing Kamala Harris and Democrats to the U.S. House and Senate and we look forward to engaging our members and surge voters across the country to rise up and make their voices heard this fall.”
President Joe Biden has made the decision to not run for president. Read his just released statement below.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Israeli Military Strikes Claim Lives of 64 Individuals in a Single Day
'When is enough? When will the war ever end?'
Jul 21, 2024
The local Health Ministry says at least 64 people were killed and 105 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours. Many victims are still under the rubble and on roads, with civil defense crews not able to reach them, it adds.
The Israeli military has launched numerous deadly strikes focused on the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, including the targeting of multiple UN-run schools housing displaced people.
Nuseirat residents described living in constant fear of being bombed and a deteriorating humanitarian situation.
“The situation is scary,” said Rahma Abu Hajjaj, a 39-year-old mother of five from Nuserirat. “There are no warnings, there are no alarms when homes are bombed, we are hiding all the time and we do not know why they are targeting these homes.”
"We hear the sounds of explosions in Nuseirat and we see the smoke rising from here in Deir Al-Balah, the last refuge you can say and we are being terrorized by the feeling tanks may roll here," Tamer Aburakan, a resident of Gaza City, told
Reuters.
"Where should we go next? The entire Gaza Strip is under fire, and we are being hunted like deer in a forest. When is enough? When will the war ever end?" he said via a chat app.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to travel to the US on Monday. Netanyahu is expected to meet with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday afternoon. The next day, he is due to address a joint session of US Congress.
Thousands of people are expected to protest against the visit of Netanyahu for whom the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court is seeking an arrest warrant for war crimes.
At least 38,983 Palestinians have been killed and 89,727 others injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday, including the 64 people killed in the last 24 hours.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Israel Bombs Yemen Saturday in Escalation with Houthis
The attack came a day after the Houthis claimed responsibility for a drone attack on Tel Aviv
Jul 20, 2024
Houthi-run media say Israeli air strikes Saturday targeted oil storage facilities in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah and that there are an unspecified number of fatalities and injuries.
The attack came a day after the Houthis claimed responsibility for a drone attack on Tel Aviv that killed one person and struck just yards from a U.S. Embassy branch office.
Israel’s air strikes will not stop the Houthi's military operations in support of the Palestinian people, Houthi political bureau member Mohammed al-Bukhaiti said in a post on X, warning they will instead increase until the war in Gaza ends. “The Zionist entity will pay the price for targeting civilian facilities, and we will meet escalation with escalation,” al-Bukhaiti wrote.
Military and political analyst Elijah Magnier told Al Jazeera, “Is this going to change the course of action of a non-state actor that is motivated to support the people of Gaza? Certainly not,” Magnier said. “They’ve been given a perfect reason to increase the attacks. We have not seen the end of it – far from it,” he said.
In another post on X, the Houthis’ spokesman, Mohammed Abdulsalam, called the Israeli air strikes “a brutal Israeli aggression against Yemen that aims to deepen people’s suffering and to pressure Yemen to stop supporting Gaza.” Abdulsalam called the attack an Israeli “dream that will not come true. We affirm that this brutal aggression will only increase the determination of the Yemeni people and their valiant armed forces to be steadfast and to continue their support for Gaza. The Yemeni people are able to face all challenges for the sake of victory for oppressed Palestine and the people of Gaza, whose cause is the most just on earth.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular