Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 2 SepteMber 2019

Gun owners look beyond the NRA for representation

By LISA MARIE PANE hosts the syndicated radio
Associated Press show, “Gun Talk.”
Bob Mokos is a passion- But gun control groups try-
ate gun owner who on the ing to court politically mod-
surface would seem like a erate firearms enthusiasts
card-carrying National Rifle still have a long way to go
Association member. to wield the same the pow-
The retired airline pilot has er of the NRA.
been shooting guns since In the wake of massa-
he was a child. The Viet- cres that killed 31 people
nam veteran got more seri- in Texas and Ohio, LaPi-
ous about firearms as a ci- erre has demonstrated his
vilian after one of his sisters sway over President Don-
was fatally shot during a ald Trump and the Repub-
mugging in Chicago. After lican-led Senate, where
the 9/11 terror attacks, he Democratic-sponsored
became qualified to carry gun legislation faces a grim
a gun in the cockpit. fate. Trump voiced support
But Mokos has grown so dis- for universal background
illusioned with the NRA over checks after the shootings
the years that he has joined but backtracked after a
forces with a rival organi- phone call with LaPierre.
zation — the gun control The NRA spent some $30
group founded by former Greg Pruett, president of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance, poses for a portrait in million to help elect Trump
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Caldwell, Idaho, on Aug. 29. in 2016 and remains a pow-
“The more gun owners Associated Press erful force lobbying politi-
I contacted, the more I Robin Lloyd said was done will be still for the foresee- are questioning the NRA’s cians and government of-
found out that everybody expressly to show that not able future,” said Greg finances and leadership. ficials. In the first half of this
is thinking the same thing: all gun owners believe in Pruett, president of Idaho The group’s former presi- year, the NRA spent $1.6
The NRA does not speak for the NRA. Second Amendment Al- dent, Oliver North, and its million lobbying Congress,
us,” said Mokos, who was a “The fallacy that the NRA liance. “But I think a lot of longtime top lobbyist have the State and Justice De-
founder of the Minnesota has perpetuated for so people are starting to re- left. Among the headline- partments and other fed-
Gun Owners for Safety. long is that you’re either for alize ... we have this large grabbing details are al- eral agencies on legislation
As the 2020 presidential the Second Amendment machine but it’s not doing legations that its longtime that ranged from recre-
campaign draws closer, or you’re for taking away what we’re paying it to do, CEO, Wayne LaPierre, ex- ational shooting on federal
gun control groups are seiz- people’s guns,” Lloyd told so where do we turn in the pensed hundreds of thou- lands to concealed fire-
ing on the turmoil engulfing the AP. At the same time, meantime until they either sands of dollars in ward- arms permits, according to
the NRA — as well as recent various pro-gun organi- get things cleaned up? Or robe purchases from a Hol- disclosure records filed with
high profile shootings in Gil- zations at the state level is the NRA done in some re- lywood clothier and spent the House and Senate.
roy, California; El Paso, Tex- have been more active in gards and we’re going to thousands traveling on pri- The NRA donated $4.1 mil-
as; Dayton, Ohio, and this staking their claim as the suffer the consequences of vate jets. lion to candidates for fed-
weekend’s in Odessa and true defenders of the Sec- their bad leadership at the The NRA’s problems have eral office during the last
Midland, Texas — to court ond Amendment. Many of ballot box?” created fears among gun four election cycles, with
firearms owners in hopes of those advocates see the Long viewed as the most enthusiasts that rival orga- the bulk of the contribu-
persuading them that there NRA as too focused on rak- powerful gun lobby in the nizations have found an tions going to Republican
can be bipartisan solutions ing in donations to fuel a world, the NRA has been opening to undermine the incumbents, according to
to gun violence that don’t large organization out of facing internal and exter- organization’s mission to figures compiled by the
infringe on their Second touch with American gun nal pressures over its opera- protect gun rights. political money website
Amendment rights. owners. tions and spending habits. “Those folks are openly say- Open Secrets. That figure
Giffords’ group formed co- “I don’t think anybody Law enforcement authori- ing we have to move now pales in comparison to
alitions this year with gun doubts, even the most ar- ties have launched probes while the NRA is in turmoil. what the gun-rights group
owners in Colorado, Minne- dent critics, that they’re that threaten its non-profit They are very much trying tallies on get-out-the-vote
sota and Texas in outreach the biggest gun lobby on status and there has been to take advantage of this,” operations and advertising
that managing director the block and probably a revolt by members who said Tom Gresham, who campaigns.q