Say what you want about the NRA (and I’ve said a lot), but their strength is in their organization. They are big and bad because they are organized. With a historically Pavlovian and rabid clutch that froths at the mouth and considers victory to be anything President Obama loses, they are armed to the teeth, stand ready to denigrate any opposing position and contribute readily to the NRA coffers. Meet Goliath.
The other side consists of a patchwork of dedicated and passionate activists from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence to Moms Demand Action to Americans for Responsible Solutions to Preventing Newtown and including a myriad of locally organized groups focusing on federal, state and local issues relating to gun violence. Meet David.
The chasm that exists between these sides cannot be bridged by debate. One side deems compromise as a “slippery slope” toward an infringement of “God given” rights (as if the Constitution and its amendments were somehow belched from a burning bush onto stone tablets) while the other continually feels the need to genuflect to an unalterable second amendment while ignoring that the solution required is a national one and not provincial, and constantly engaged in a meaningless argument with the opposition that ultimately leads nowhere but to further division.
The NRA will never negotiate nor compromise on anything when they have the high ground (to use a military analogy, if not a moral one). Nor does it have to. Goliath will never bend when David is only armed with a river rock. The solution lies in the organization, assimilation and merging of the various gun control groups into a well-funded, well-oiled machine with a reach capable of touching the highest offices in America and a grassroots organization fervently motivated to affect change.
There has been precious little discussion of this happening however and that does not bode well for the movement. Inroads need to be taken to merge the organizations and their coffers into one cohesive giant with a war chest ready for battle. The nation’s gun addiction needs a national solution. Too many times have we heard that Illinois has strong gun laws but there is daily carnage in Chicago. The same argument goes for Washington, D.C. and now for Massachusetts with people questioning how the Boston Marathon bombers got their guns. Only when these groups speak with one voice and carry a large enough boulder to damage Goliath will he pay attention. Only when the message is crystallized and the messenger big enough will Congress blink.
This is not an insurmountable challenge. In fact, while the patchy gun control groups realize their strength in numbers (90% of Americans want stronger background checks) but weakness in fragmentation, the NRA is suffering a previously unheard of fragmentation within its ranks. High profile members are publicizing their departures from the group. Members are speaking out that the NRA does not speak for them. There is a disconnect between the leadership and the rank and file. So too, other groups are commanding attention, such as Gun Owners of America and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (based in, of all places, Newtown, Connecticut).
In effect, momentum can be achieved on two fronts. First David will get stronger by the coalescence of the various gun control groups while Goliath will weaken through the fragmentation of its membership and the membership’s uneasy acceptance of its leadership. These two tectonic shifts may result in Congress “showing some guts” to address gun violence in America. We know how the story ends. But, only when Goliath feels threatened by an equal will it negotiate. Only then will America realize that we do not have to accept daily gun deaths in deference to those preparing for some fantasy, tyrannical government overthrow. Only then will David raise the first amendment to equal footing with the second. Only then will logic and compassion replace paranoia and paralysis. Only then.
Thoughts at Large 
Yes, it will make the campaign stronger if all/many of the groups can merge. However, the same-sex marriage and gay rights groups are many, and they have worked in coordination with the evolution in public opinion to bring about a sea change in the laws. (Of course, we’ll see what the Supreme Court says in June.) If the gun control groups DON’T merge, the change will still come — it will just take longer.
You’re right, CJ! Of course, the same sex/gay rights groups don’t face the juggernaut that is the NRA and their war chest that holds sway over so many elected officials. Change will come. I just hope it’s not precipitated by another Newtown or Aurora. We would all prefer it happen organically through the legislative process. It is made all the harder when people like Senator Cruz lie about there being a gun registry in the legislation when the bill specifically states (in three different places) that such a registry is forbidden and when people like Senator Cornyn introduce legislation into a bill seeking to reduce gun violence where he wants concealed gun reciprocity nationwide! The lies, hypocrisy and hyperbole spewed during the senate debate last week was disgusting. I recently tweeted that with all due respect to Otto von Bismarck, I’d rather see how sausage is made. We will get there. I only hope it is sooner rather than later so we can save some lives.
Thank you for this post, Christopher. And thank you for referencing Preventing Newtown! We were honored to see it featured in your post with some of the large groups devoted to reducing gun violence.
You are right in that we will be more successful if we can come together. I believe some will come together permanently, but I also believe that it is possible for the large groups to form a union while staying separate. I hope to work behind the scenes with some of these larger groups to form a unified front, addressing the same thing at the same time, perhaps even sponsoring joint projects, so that we can be most effective.
Thank you again, and thank you for all you are doing to reduce gun violence.
Melissa