What do you think?
Rate this book
Under Fire: The NRA and the Battle for Gun Control
Looks at the history of the National Rifle Association, explains why its lobbying has been so successful in the past, and discusses the reasons for its current decline
Paperback
First published April 1, 1993
34 people want to read
About the author
Osha Gray Davidson
17 books15 followersOsha Gray Davidson is a writer who focuses on energy, the environment and other social and human rights issues. He was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and grew up in Iowa, studying at the University of Iowa.
Osha Gray Davidson is an award-winning author of six books of non-fiction and more than a hundred articles on a range of topics. He covered the environment for Rolling Stone magazine and blogged on renewable energy at Forbes.com. His freelance work has also appeared in InsideClimate News, Grist, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Salon, Mother Jones and other publications. Davidson co-wrote the screenplay for the IMAX documentary Coral Reef Adventure and his photographs have appeared in Rolling Stone, InsideClimate News, Forbes.com, and elsewhere.
His Rolling Stone article about Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in combat fighting for the United States, was nominated for a National Magazine Award for feature writing. He was a finalist for both the Natural World Book Award (UK) and the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. Coral Reef Adventure was the highest grossing documentary film of 2003 and was voted Best Picture of 2003 by the Giant Screen Theatre Association. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and a Fellow at the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights.
Davidson lives in Phoenix, Arizona, where he publishes the blog The Phoenix Sun, about renewable energy.
[Source: Wikipedia]
Osha Gray Davidson is an award-winning author of six books of non-fiction and more than a hundred articles on a range of topics. He covered the environment for Rolling Stone magazine and blogged on renewable energy at Forbes.com. His freelance work has also appeared in InsideClimate News, Grist, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Salon, Mother Jones and other publications. Davidson co-wrote the screenplay for the IMAX documentary Coral Reef Adventure and his photographs have appeared in Rolling Stone, InsideClimate News, Forbes.com, and elsewhere.
His Rolling Stone article about Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in combat fighting for the United States, was nominated for a National Magazine Award for feature writing. He was a finalist for both the Natural World Book Award (UK) and the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. Coral Reef Adventure was the highest grossing documentary film of 2003 and was voted Best Picture of 2003 by the Giant Screen Theatre Association. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and a Fellow at the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights.
Davidson lives in Phoenix, Arizona, where he publishes the blog The Phoenix Sun, about renewable energy.
[Source: Wikipedia]
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 26, 2024
A HISTORICAL SUMMARY OF THE NRA, AND GUN CONTROL LEGISLATION
Osha Gray Davidson is also the author of Fire In The Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean, Broken Heartland: The Rise of America's Rural Ghetto, The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South, etc.
He noted in this 1993 book, "The rise of the NRA's fortunes was intertwined with those of their guest... Just as Ronald Reagan was the first sitting president to address an NRA gathering, so the NRA's endorsement of Reagan in the 1980 presidential campaign marked the first time in the gun organization's 109-year history that it had backed a candidate for the nation's top office." (Pg. 40) Interestingly, Reagan later (remember that there was an assassination attempt on him in 1981) supported the Brady Bill, which imposed a "waiting period" on gun purchases. (Pg. 248)
He argues, "The letter clearly illustrates two of the NRA's most important grass roots lobbying tactics: portraying every fight over gun legislation as the FINAL SHOWDOWN between gun owners and 'gun grabbers'; and dividing the world into two mutually exclusive factions: 'with us' and 'against us.'" (Pg. 67)
Concerning the proposed ban on so-called "cop killer" bullets, he asks, "But why not just allow these admittedly dangerous bullets to be banned, if just to mollify the police? Because, the NRA calculated, such legislation would set a bad precedent... Next thing you know, they'll be banning ALL handguns, and then shotguns and rifles." (Pg. 88) Later, he adds, "The NRA views assaults on Saturday Night Specials as the first step toward confiscation of all firearms, and so it pours its resources into defeating legislative initiatives aimed at them..." (Pg. 130)
Concerning the interpretation of the Second Amendment, he argues, "Gun-control advocates... say that the word 'militia' in the Second Amendment refers to what is now known as the National Guard---state military forces capable of protecting the states from an overpowerful central government... the Second Amendment, then, protects only a 'collective right' to firearms, not an INDIVIDUAL one." (Pg. 135)
This is an excellent summary (albeit thirty years old) of the gun control fight, and its implications.
Osha Gray Davidson is also the author of Fire In The Turtle House: The Green Sea Turtle and the Fate of the Ocean, Broken Heartland: The Rise of America's Rural Ghetto, The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South, etc.
He noted in this 1993 book, "The rise of the NRA's fortunes was intertwined with those of their guest... Just as Ronald Reagan was the first sitting president to address an NRA gathering, so the NRA's endorsement of Reagan in the 1980 presidential campaign marked the first time in the gun organization's 109-year history that it had backed a candidate for the nation's top office." (Pg. 40) Interestingly, Reagan later (remember that there was an assassination attempt on him in 1981) supported the Brady Bill, which imposed a "waiting period" on gun purchases. (Pg. 248)
He argues, "The letter clearly illustrates two of the NRA's most important grass roots lobbying tactics: portraying every fight over gun legislation as the FINAL SHOWDOWN between gun owners and 'gun grabbers'; and dividing the world into two mutually exclusive factions: 'with us' and 'against us.'" (Pg. 67)
Concerning the proposed ban on so-called "cop killer" bullets, he asks, "But why not just allow these admittedly dangerous bullets to be banned, if just to mollify the police? Because, the NRA calculated, such legislation would set a bad precedent... Next thing you know, they'll be banning ALL handguns, and then shotguns and rifles." (Pg. 88) Later, he adds, "The NRA views assaults on Saturday Night Specials as the first step toward confiscation of all firearms, and so it pours its resources into defeating legislative initiatives aimed at them..." (Pg. 130)
Concerning the interpretation of the Second Amendment, he argues, "Gun-control advocates... say that the word 'militia' in the Second Amendment refers to what is now known as the National Guard---state military forces capable of protecting the states from an overpowerful central government... the Second Amendment, then, protects only a 'collective right' to firearms, not an INDIVIDUAL one." (Pg. 135)
This is an excellent summary (albeit thirty years old) of the gun control fight, and its implications.
Displaying 1 of 1 review