As most of you have probably realized—and as this week's congressional inactivity confirmed—the fight over gun control in the United States is not one that rational voices on either side can win. Like so much in American politics, the debate is governed by emotions. And when it comes to guns, those emotions are usually (perhaps exclusively) anger and fear—of minorities and Muslims; of violent crime, of ISIS or any other bogeyman du jour; of a "weapons culture" liberals disagree with; and of the politicians who conservatives claim are "coming for our guns."
Incidentally, fear and anger also generate a lot of revenue—upwards of $16 billion, in fact, for guns and ammunitions manufacturers in 2015 alone. That was a big year for gun sales, with the FBI recording 23 million background checks, the highest number ever—although it looks like the US may break that record in 2016. Gun manufacturing has similarly ballooned, with US firearms makers producing nearly 11 million guns, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. [...]
In turn, the NRA blocks any and all gun control legislation that comes up before Congress; in 2015 alone, the group spent more than $37 million to oppose new gun laws, and prop up sympathetic legislators who would back their agenda. Because fewer rules means more money, for both gun makers and their lobbyists. In 2014, the NRA took in a whopping $310 million in revenue, according to IRS tax filings; its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, took home a cool $1 million.
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