[T]he times that have been the hardest for gun rights have also led to major advances. Because they needed to lead to major advances.
The Gun Control Act of 1968 led to the NRA’s 1977 overhaul. And for all its faults, the NRA in the couple decades after that was the reason that gun rights had any political pull at all.
The early ‘90s burst of assault weapons bans (until Washington state’s ban in 2022, every AWB in the country dated to a five-year political spasm from 1989 to 1994) led to enormous interest and pent-up demand for ARs. At the time of the federal AWB, there were less than 700,000 affected rifles in the country. Today, in part because of the backlash to that ban, the installed base is something like 50x number.
That curve bent upwards in response to the political atmosphere after the Sandy Hook shooting, which was the closest the country has come to a second federal AWB. In the handful of states where some guns are already banned, the bans only ratchet tighter over time. But everywhere else in the US, each failed attempt at restriction only makes future attempts even less likely to succeed.
— Open Source Defense in AlphaGo and Invisible Limits
4 Responses
“the NRA in the couple decades after that was the reason that gun rights had any political pull at all.”
Isn’t this when the NRA created the Hughes Amendment and NICS?
Also laughing at the idea of “only” 35 million rifles in the US today being under the AWB’s conditions. Even if we ignore all the firearms able to accept a double stack mag (virtually all full size pistols) as being on the magazine and not the gun, just the three largest makers (Anderson, Aero, PSA) make a million AR receivers for sale as receivers every year. Smith and Wesson make about half a million “rifles” per year as of 2021, when all rifles they made were AWB items. Diamondback is another 133,000 a year. This does not count braced/stockless “pistols” that would fall under AWB
“At the time of the federal AWB, there were less than 700,000 affected rifles in the country. Today, in part because of the backlash to that ban, the installed base is something like 50x number.”
Basic human nature, anytime someone wants something gone, the reflex is to get what they want gone, before it actually is gone is some powerful MoJo.
They are unable, incapable, or unwilling to understand that, when the exact same thing is why banning drugs is a fool’s errand…
“The Gun Control Act of 1968 led to the NRA’s 1977 overhaul. And for all its faults, the NRA in the couple decades after that was the reason that gun rights had any political pull at all.”
The head of the NRA in 1968 was literally telling people that they were unamerican if they didn’t support the GCA.