Where is nra headquarters?
The opening of the annual convention of the National Rifle Association took place three days after the shooting at a Texas school that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
The group is known by its acronym in English as the NRA.
The political force is powerful.
The lack of marksmanship of their soldiers horrified the two Civil War veterans who created the NRA. The main goal of this club was to promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis.
The political turning point for the group came in 1975, when the Institute for Legislative Action was created.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution allows the possession of firearms in the United States, which is a right that dates back to the year 1789 and leaves a lot of room for interpretation.
The National Rifle Association and individual gun manufacturers spent $80 million to influence elections to the Senate, House of Representatives, and the White House from 2000 to 2012.
In the 2016 presidential election, the National Rifle Association spent over 20 million dollars on a negative publicity campaign against Hillary Clinton, and over 10 million dollars on Donald Trump.
There are lots of weapons.
The industry has produced more than 140 million guns for the commercial market in the two decades since 2000, including more than 11 million in 2020 according to government data.
The United States records tens of thousands of gun deaths each year, with a "historic" rise in murders in 2020.
In 2020, the United States had 19,350 homicides with firearms, which is 34% more than in the previous year.
The era afterColumbine.
A new era of classroom shootings in the United States began after the April 20, 1999 shooting at the Colorado high school that left 12 students and a teacher dead.
The annual convention of the National Rifle Association was scheduled to begin in Denver less than two weeks later. The meeting went ahead despite the criticism, and the NRA took a defiant tone on the right to bear arms.
"For the next two decades, this unapologetic message would set the tone for the NRA in the wake of the mass shootings in America's schools," national public radio NPR said after posting recordings that it said reflected the group's discussion after the massacre.
An individual in trouble with the law.
The state of New York wants to destroy the powerful lobby by filing a lawsuit in 2020 against the NRA and its leader Wayne LaPierre.
The acronym, which is unknown to anyone in this country, has been at the center of the fight over gun ownership since the Florida school shooting. For the first time in decades, Americans seem willing to explore from different points of view, even if they disagree with each other. Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, and many other massacres passed and nothing happened. The emotional blow of each massacre bruised the skin of the average American, but the wound healed and the pain was forgotten. Something seems to have changed this time.
There are between twenty and thirty cars in the parking lot that surrounds the building, an entrance that is hard to get to, some security guards and a patrol car complete the landscape. Any public department could be facing us.
The headquarters of the "true patriots" of the NRA is behind the blue windows. "Good people who want to help others." Many Americans agree and others disagree.
The National Firearms Museum is the weapons museum for the National Rifle Association.
You can take photos at admission. The shooting range is located in a large basement and the order is not to speak to the press. Behind an armored glass, a dozen men are practicing with their weapons and the noise of the shots is deafening. Jim has a sign on his chest that says "Now we can't talk to the journalists."
The museum is a great place to visit a gun lover. There are 3,000 different kinds. There are six centuries of history in the showcases.
The guard says that 40,000 people visit the place every year. The museum that the NRA has in Springfield, Missouri, is much more popular than the one in his home state.
There is a third museum in New Mexico.
The most important collection is the Fairfax one. The three shotguns known as the "invincibles", manufactured by Parker Brothers to the highest quality and valued at $5,000,000, are included. John Alden was one of the pioneers of the Mayflower. John Kennedy never received the Colt New Frontier.45 caliber revolver because he was assassinated earlier.
The American history of wars, struggles and crimes is summarized in these showcases. The story of a passion that can be used as a weapon by a deranged person. In 2017, more than 15,500 people were killed in the United States by firearms. It is a crisis.
There were 30 mass shootings in the first six weeks of this year. The one in Florida was the most dramatic.
The National Rifle Association has arguments against gun control. The association says their cause is freedom.
There is a sign at the entrance of the museum that says "stand up and fight for freedom" The brochure says that the history of weapons is the history of that struggle. "It's not just about guns, it's also about freedom," the website says.
The president of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, used that argument a few days ago. LaPierre is a soldier in a war.
The wave of European-style socialists that is invading us isn't going to be stopped by the election of President Trump. He said more must be done. "They hide behind labels like 'democrat', 'left' and 'progressive' to make his socialist agenda more palatable, and that's terrifying," he said. He said that these "wreckers who don't believe in capitalism, they don't believe in the constitution, they don't believe in our freedom, and they don't believe in America as we know it" are "socialists."
The almost unrestricted right to buy weapons is more than a question of market or culture.
The essence of a nation that became great and free at gunpoint is at stake, according to those who oppose any kind of state control. Behind the mirrored windows of the National Rifle Association headquarters, a few kilometers from the heart of American power, is where strategies are defined to guarantee that the political debate does not travel uncomfortable paths. It is part of a lobby.
The manufacturers are behind them.
In the last presidential campaign, the National Rifle Association allocated more than 20 million dollars to support Trump and against Clinton. The game changed after the massacre at the college.
The gun advocates appear to have lost some of their strength.
"The NRA is very afraid this time because in front of it is a group of young people who know how to defend their position against weapons, who have media skills and who have made much more sophisticated use of social networks than the manufacturers," he told Infobae. political analyst Erick Langer, a professor at Georgetown University.
They are survivors of the massacre, companions and friends of the victims, a cohesive group of adolescents, according to the expert who is making politicians change their position in the debate on weapons. One of the survivors, Emma Gonzlez, added a million followers to her account in a few days. Her messages are very loud in Washington.