NRA Accidentally Made A Great Case for Gun Control at the Republican Convention
Cleveland—The National Rifle Association sent its top lobbyist, Chris Cox, onto the stage at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night. Keeping with the theme of the proceedings—scary people are coming to kill you—Cox told a little parable:
Imagine a young mother at home with her baby, when a violent predator kicks the door in. He’s a three-time loser who was released from prison early because some politician wanted to show their compassion. What’s she going to do? She’ll dial 911, and pray. The police will do their best to get their quickly, but their average response time is 11 minutes. So the question is, should she be able to defend herself with a firearm in her own home? Of course. Friends, that question is on the ballot in November.
Nothing Hillary Clinton is proposing, or conceivably would propose, would prevent that woman from legally purchasing a gun. But that aside, Cox’s tale was a huge backfire that eviscerated the NRA’s case for more gun ownership and looser laws.
This hypothetical violent predator, after having committed three crimes, could still easily purchase a gun today if he knows how to use Craigslist or find a local gun show. That’s because Republicans in Congress, backed by the NRA’s aggressive lobbying efforts, defeated a legislative package in 2013 that would have expanded universal background checks to online and person-to-person sales. Cox clumsily tried to avoid this point by not actually saying this “three-time loser” was armed, even though it would have made a better story. But it would have further underlined his accidental pro–gun control argument.