Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - European History None Provided None Provided It is only natural that in today’s society of conflicting interests, people with similar interests and views have banned together to garner influence through their numbers. As James Madison noted in the Federalists Papers, like-minded people naturally aggregate together. Two of the most influential of such modern groups are the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Driven by the common interests of their supporters, each of these organizations has involved itself in government and society to become powerful voices in The National Rifle Association is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the legal use of firearms and protecting the right of United States citizens to keep and bear arms. In addition to sponsoring numerous education and training programs for gun owners, the NRA lobbies in government to oppose gun control legislation (The National Rifle Association Home Page: web). The NRA was founded in 1871 by a group of former Union army officers who were irritated with the shooting skills of their soldiers. The organization's initial efforts focused on marksmanship training. During the 1960s the role of the NRA began to change from an organization promoting shooting skills to one of protecting the right to keep and bear arms (The NRA Home Page: web). The assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr., convinced many Americans that tighter controls on firearms were necessary. A group of influential NRA members urged the organization to increase its political activities to defeat proposed gun control laws. Today, the NRA objects to any restrictions on gun ownership, arguing that most people use guns in a lawful fashion and that private ownership of weapons is essential for personal safety. With a membership of about 3.5 million and an annual budget of $80 million, the organization is governed by a 75-member board of members and has organized units in every state (The NRA Home Page: web). The NRA bases its position on the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." The NRA argues that this amendment confers upon individual citizens the right to possess firearms without government interference or regulation. The organization's opposition to the Brady Bill, a federal handgun law first proposed in 1985, helped to delay its passage for seven years (The NRA Home Page: web). Presently, the NRA lobbies vigorously for the passage of state laws allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons. Furthermore, the NRA has warred to enact legislation in 13 states prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufactures for the misuse of their products. Just this October, a Cincinnati judge dismissed one such lawsuit. The defense, of course, was assisted by the NRA (The NRA Nonetheless, the NRA has recently seen a decline in membership as school-shootings have terrorized the country and pushed gun manufactures away from the NRA (James, NY Times 5/25/99: web). Following the Littleton shooting, gun manufactures agreed to meet with government officials to discuss certain gun restrictions. The NRA, adamantly opposing new restriction on gun owners, refused to join them (Glaberson, NY Times 5/30/99: web). In all, negative publicity and a rift between the NRA and gun manufacturers has weakened the organization. It has intensified its membership drive that exploits fears about federal restrictions on gun ownership. However, it has contributed to the loss of some members who support the NRA's traditional sport and safety programs but do not accept the organization's focus on gun control legislation (Butterfield, NY Times 3/3/99: web). Among those resigning their NRA membership was former U.S. President George Bush (James, NY Times 5/25/99: web). The NRA is guided by two influential affiliates. The Institute for Legislative Action, the NRA's lobbying arm, advises lawmakers and builds public support for the rights of gun owners through advertising and direct-mail campaigns. The NRA's Political Victory Fund is a political action committee that raises money to support political candidates who endorse the organization's objectives (The NRA Home Page: web). Because of its great financial resources and ability to mobilize its membership, the NRA has become one of the most effective single-issue interest groups in the United States. Through fund-raising programs like Friends of the NRA that seek out private individuals and corporations such as Miller Brewing Co., Sturm Ruger & Company and Kawasaki, the NRA’s Political Victory Fund has been able to grant millions of dollars to political candidates (James, NY Times 5/25/99: web). In the 1993-1994 election cycle, the NRA, longing to repeal a ban on the manufacture of certain semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity ammunitions clips, donated $5.6 million to candidates sympathetic to their cause. In contrast, anti-gun organizations could only donate $500,000 to candidates. This ultimately led to the repeal of the ban, as 190 of the 206 representatives who had received NRA money voted to repeal (Clymer, NY Times 3/23/96: web). Representative Charles Schumer angrily noted that the repeal was a payback for the NRA’s contributions, while Vice-President Al Gore said: “This is not complicated. This is an IOU to the NRA” (Clymer). In the end, however, the NRA, in a tremendous show of political The NRA also has donated more than $17 million to sponsor gun safety programs, personal protection training, shooting competitions, hunter education, wildlife conservation research, shooting range development, and law enforcement. The "Eddie Eagle" program develops gun-safety educational materials for preschool and elementary students, the CrimeStrike program works to reduce crime and advocate harsher penalties for people who use firearms to commit a crime, and the Youth Hunter Education Challenge offers courses in marksmanship and gun safety (The In many ways, the aged in the United States are victims both of the youth orientation of modern times and of a tendency toward denial of death. As a result, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) was founded in 1958 by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus to reverse the stereotype of old people as weak and dependent, and to improve the status of the aged (The American Association of Retired Persons Home Page-web). AARP is a 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 and maintains more than 4000 chapters across the United States. Membership is open to all persons over the age of 50, whether working or retired and membership dues serve to financially support the organization (The AARP Home Page-web). AARP monitors local and national legislation of interest to its members. However, AARP is a nonpartisan organization that does not endorse political candidates. AARP has combated age discrimination in employment by supporting the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. It has funded programs to educate people about its guidelines and has urged Congress to remove any loopholes in the bill that may lead to age discrimination. AARP has also fought to better transportation for the elderly. Citing that public transit should encompass more routes along which the elderly travel and offer better facilities, AARP has pressured Congress to better fund the Intermodal Transportation Efficiency Act (The AARP Home Page: web). It has advocated for extended pedestrian walkways, better paratransit and more driver education programs for the elderly. As a result of this drive, cities throughout the country have adopted paratransit system that accommodate old peoples’ commuting AARP’s greatest efforts, however, lie in its struggle to reform Medicare. AARP has helped to bring Medicare fraud to the forefront of national policy. Their investigations have shown that Medicair doctors regularly file false reports to collect government money, that Medicare help-lines are often disconnected and that Medicare treatment is often sacrificed by doctors for the sake of making more money (Pear, NY Times 2/21/99: web). In all, AARP has co-sponsored a campaign to cease the Medicare fraud and abuse that has cost the government $12.6 billion in improper payments and has increased patient premiums (Lawlor & Pear, NY Times 5/25/99 & NY Times 2/21/99: web). AARP’s campaign encourages people to closely monitor Medicare doctors and to report any suspicions of abuse to a Medicare fraud hotline (Pear). Furthermore, AARP has urged Congress to better enforce the False Claims Act against Medicare abuse. This has resulted in 326 criminal convictions last year, up from 140 in 1994 (The AARP Home Page: web). AARP also runs an extensive nationwide volunteer network aimed at improving the self-worth and self-reliance of senior citizens. More than 160,000 volunteers are involved in various AARP projects. The Grandparent Information Center provides information and support to grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, Tax-Aide provides help with taxes, and the 55ALIVE/Mature Driving program offers members courses in safe-driving (The AARP Home Page: web). AARP also offers training for lawyers who represent the elderly and the association's Andrus Foundation awards grants for research in gerontology. Finally, AARP, through its AARP/VOTE program, maintains a web of representatives throughout the country (The AARP Home Page: web). The representatives are especially trained to discuss issues relevant to the elderly with government officials. They also hold public issue forums on the state of national policy. Because of their publicity and fanfare, these forums act as means of AARP and the NRA are clearly influential organizations in the United States. Although they have offended many individuals for their seemingly selfish, narrow-minded pursuits, these organizations provide orderly and comprehensive backdrops for Americans to express themselves. However, the enormous influence that the NRA draws from its monetary resources is a frightening testament to the government’s dependence on private cooperations that hold disproportionate amounts of power. Campaign funding laws must be enacted to prevent such governmental dependence, or the government will ultimately become a mere Bibliography: www.nra.com www.aarp.com Word Count: 1649
Copyright © 1998-2008 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved. DMCA Notifications and Requests