e crime and advocate harsher penaltiesfor people who use firearms to commit a crime, and the Youth HunterEducation Challenge offers courses in marksmanship and gun safety (TheNRA Home Page: web). ***In many ways, the aged in the United States are victims both of theyouth orientation of modern times and of a tendency toward denial ofdeath. As a result, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)was founded in 1958 by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus to reverse the stereotypeof old people as weak and dependent, and to improve the status of the aged(The American Association of Retired Persons Home Page-web). AARP isa private, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping older Americans. AARP's motto is: "To Serve, Not to Be Served." Today, the organization has more than 30 million members andmaintains more than 4000 chapters across the United States. Membershipis open to all persons over the age of 50, whether working or retired and membership dues serve to financially support the organization (The AARPHome Page-web). AARP monitors local and national legislation of interestto its members. However, AARP is a nonpartisan organization that doesnot endorse political candidates. AARP has combated age discriminationin employment by supporting the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. It has funded programs to educate people about its guidelines and hasurged Congress to remove any loopholes in the bill that may lead to agediscrimination. AARP has also fought to better transportation for theelderly. Citing that public transit should encompass more routes alongwhich the elderly travel and offer better facilities, AARP has pressuredCongress to better fund the Intermodal Transportation Efficiency Act (TheAARP Home Page: web). It has advocated for extended pedestrianwalkways, better paratransit and more driver education programs for theelderly. As a result of this drive, cities throughout the country haveadopted paratransit system that accommodat...
