PBS’s new special, Gunned Down: The Power of the NRA, includes looks at other gun rights groups–like Gun Owners of America (GOA)–and actually credits GOA with dragging Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) into the light when he tried to cloak his 2013 gun control push with words like “compromise” and “loopholes.” According to PBS, when GOA’s Larry Pratt saw Manchin working behind the scenes crafting and then pushing gun control in the wake of Sandy Hook, he called Manchin out and pressed other gun rights groups to refuse Manchin’s efforts as well.
Pratt saw Manchin as an opportunist who was stepping in while the hearts of the American people were aching, offering them salve that wouldn’t heal, but which would take away even more of their liberty. Consequently, the GOA began pushing other gun rights groups–notably the NRA–by asking GOA members to call the NRA and “urge [them] to oppose [Manchin’s] bill.”
When all was said and done, GOA, the NRA, and other gun rights groups stood shoulder to shoulder against Manchin’s gun control bill and defeated it.
Pratt said: “The Manchin bill was not aiming at loopholes, it was aimed at nailing down some remaining freedom the American people have. Gun control simply kills people. And for Senator Manchin to wave the bloody shirts of those children from Newtown is despicable.”
