Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson on the NRA

In today’s installment of Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson, historian, offers a brief history of the NRA’s shift from “sports” to “gun rights.”

[I just realized that the title Letters from an American must have been inspired by Alistair Cooke’s BBC broadcast Letter from America.]

comments: 3

Daughter Number Three said...

I wonder why she didn't refer to the fact that the NRA change happened in a direct line with the rise of the Black Panthers and the idea of Black people having guns? I wrote about this a couple of years ago, cribbing from a Radio Lab episode and a few other sources. https://daughternumberthree.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-road-to-our-current-nra-hell.html

Michael Leddy said...

Thanks. DN3. I remember a Frontline episode that called attention to that too.

Michael Leddy said...

I see that several people mention the Panthers and the Mulford Act in the comments. I think HCR should have called attention to white fear of black gunowners.