Washington, DC—Today, the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (Ed Fund) is launching a new website,www.MeetTheNRA.org, that shines a spotlight on the political and cultural extremism of the members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) Board of Directors.
The NRA might describes itself as the nation s oldest civil rights organization, but this portrayal serves only as a smokescreen to mask the fact that the organization is really a rogues gallery of the most odious voices in right wing politics. While the NRA once largely advocated for policies related to hunting and marksmanship, its focus today is on the advancement of extreme, anti-government ideology.
www.MeetTheNRA.org profiles the 70+ board members of the organization, including several high-profile figures like Grover Norquist, Ted Nugent and Oliver North. The website takes an in-depth look at their political careers and catalogues the controversial statements they have made over the years. In this material, the Ed Fund has uncovered a Pandora s box of racism, misogyny, homophobia, anti-immigrant animus, religious bigotry, anti-environmentalism, political corruption, and insurrectionism. Consider the following sampling of quotes:
- There wouldn’t be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouth shut. – Wayne Anthony Ross
- There is a Mexican dream. Get the f*** out of Mexico. That s the f***ing Mexican dream. In case we got any of our import motherfuckers out there, when you come to America leave your fucking baggage at home. You came here because where you come from sucks. Don t turn this place into the place you got away from, because where you got away from sucks s***. – Ted Nugent
- In America today, there are two kinds of black people-the field hand blacks and the house n***ers. We of [the Congress of Racial Equality], the nationalists-are the field hand blacks. The integrationists are house n***ers. – Roy Innis
The NRA claims to be bipartisan, said Ed Fund executive director Josh Horwitz, but they are aligned with the most extreme elements in the modern Conservative Movement. The GOP and NRA are now locked in a symbiotic relationship where Republican legislators advance the NRA s extreme agenda while the NRA musters its hardcore supporters to serve as attack dogs on a wide range of conservative causes going way beyond the gun issue.
Horwitz also published a blog today at the Huffington Post entitled, Speaking of Fast and Furious : NRA Leaders Well-Versed in Fomenting Foreign Conflicts. The blog looks at the material support that NRA board members have provided to brutal dictators and right-wing insurgents in foreign nations.
The Ed Fund intends for www.MeetTheNRA.org to serve as a resource and reference for the public, the media, nonprofit advocacy organizations, and all those who value moderation, civility and principled advocacy in American politics.
The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (Ed Fund) is the 501(c)(3) sister organization of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. The organization has engaged in a number of successful public education campaigns over the years aimed at reducing gun death and injury. The Ed Fund can be found on Twitter.
