It is only natural that in todays society of conflicting interests, people with similar interests and views have banned together to garner influence As James Madison noted in the Federalists Papers, like-minded people naturally aggregate together. Two of the mostinfluential of such modern groups are the National Rifle Association (NRA)and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Driven by thecommon interests of their supporters, each of these organizations hasinvolved itself in government and society to become powerful voices inAmerica.The National Rifle Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated topromoting the legal use of firearms and protecting the right of United Statescitizens to keep and bear arms. In addition to sponsoring numerouseducation and training programs for gun owners, the NRA lobbies ingovernment to oppose gun control legislation (The National RifleAssociation Home Page: web). The NRA was founded in 1871 by a groupof former Union army officers who were irritated with the shooting skills oftheir soldiers. The organization's initial efforts focused on marksmanshiptraining. During the 1960s the role of the NRA began to change from anorganization promoting shooting skills to one of protecting the right to keepand bear arms (The NRA Home Page: web). The assassinations ofPresident John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin LutherKing, Jr., convinced many Americans that tighter controls on firearms werenecessary. A group of influential NRA members urged the organization toincrease its political activities to defeat proposed gun control laws. Today,the NRA objects to any restrictions on gun ownership, arguing that mostpeople use guns in a lawful fashion and that private ownership of weaponsis essential for personal safety. With a membership of about 3.5 million andan annual budget of $80 million, the organization is governed by a75-member board of members and has organized units in every s...
