NRA Takes Wider Aim

The NRA is sticking its muzzle in all kinds of legislation that don’t look much like gun laws, the New York Times reports. The gun group’s lobbyists, thanks in part to their close relationship with Harry Reid, have put their fingerprints on everything from health care legislation (making it illegal for insurers to boost premiums on gun owners) to campaign finance reform (exempting itself from proposed disclosure rules).

“What you’re seeing is a recognition that support for the Second Amendment is not only a very powerful voting bloc, but a very powerful political force,” says the group’s chief lobbyist. It’s also a group with little else to do; recent Supreme Court rulings have basically turned its signature issue into settled law. But the group’s broader focus—and cooperation with Reid—has occasioned some blowback. A recent Gun Owners of America blog post was titled, “The NRA Sells out Freedom to the Democrats.” (More NRA stories.)