NY Times News Story Takes Aim at NRA

If you can’t beat them, the next best thing to do is to publish a story that takes aim at their agenda – or rather write a piece that claims to report on the group’s agenda. That’s how it seems that The New York Times has reported on the  National Rifle Association in a profile piece that ran this week, titled “Beyond Guns – N.R.A. Expands Agenda.” While the story included quotes from NRA leaders, it did offer the usual anti-gun/anti-NRA bias that we’d expect from the Old Gray Lady.

This is notable because the article seems to suggest that the NRA is somehow tied closely with just the Republican Party and that breaking with that trend somehow goes against the grain. This is simply a misconception, as not all gun owners are Republican and not all Democrats are anti-gun.

But should we really be surprised? The paper noted that the NRA might back Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the upcoming election, but the truth is – while many Republicans might not like Mr. Reid – he does support gun rights. Thus again, the NRA isn’t about conservative or Republican issues, it is about gun issues. Members aren’t required to vote a particular way, and one thing that the paper fails to remind readers is that this isn’t even a national issue – it only affects voters (and potentially NRA members) in the state of Nevada. Likewise, as the paper does note, the NRA believes that if the Democrats retain control of the Senate, which does seem likely at this point, the alternative to Reid could be far worse – someone truly that is an enemy to guns. The name Charles Schumer is noted in the article – fitting given that Mr. Schumer is from the “great” state of New York. Could there be a connection to the NY Times and this mention? We do wonder, we do wonder.