P O L I T I C S
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● The gun-rights group is
hobbled by lawsuits and has
lost its longtime power brokersIn February 2018, two weeks after a shooting at a
Florida high school left 17 dead, President Trump
made a blunt declaration to a roomful of poli-
ticians during a televised discussion on school
safety: “You’re afraid of the NRA.” Trump prom-
ised action. He vowed—just as he would following
the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton over the
weekend of Aug. 3 and 4 that killed 31 people—to
expand background checks on firearms purchases
as a way to prevent shootings.
The earlier push for background checks brought
a familiar figure to the White House. Chris Cox,
then the National Rifle Association’s chief lobbyist,
emerged from the Oval Office a day after Trump’s
promise with a clear message of his own: “POTUS &VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support
strong due process and don’t want gun control,” he
wrote on Twitter. Trump soon pivoted to discuss-
ing measures such as arming teachers and narrower
state-level restrictions tied to severe mental-health
risks—steps broadly supported by the NRA.
The difference this time, after a weekend with
two massacres, is that there was no publicized visit
from NRA officials to the White House. There’s also
no Cox: He was ousted in June after losing a power
struggle with NRA chief Wayne LaPierre.
This is the NRA’s first big test since April, when a
brewing civil war resulted in a flurry of lawsuits from
former allies, the departure of key players, and the
consolidation of power by an embattled LaPierre.
Trump has already signaled a turn back toward
support for background-check legislation pro-
posed by Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia
and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, a Democrat and
a Republican, respectively. The bill would make it
more difficult for individuals with mental illness toBloomberg Businessweek August 12, 2019Edited by
Jillian Goodman