How Can We Defeat the N.R.A.?

The National Rifle Association, as I pointed out in my previous post, is on the offensive. Not content with its recent victory in Congress, it is already looking forward to the 2014 midterm elections, when it hopes to sink the prospect of effective gun control for another decade or more. So what, if anything, can be done? How can supporters of sensible measures to prevent the proliferation of deadly firearms—a group that includes the majority of Americans—hope to defeat the gun lobby?

In seeking answers to this question, I’ve been conversing with some folks in the gun-control movement, and the conversations were more encouraging than I had expected. Having spent a few weeks getting over their setback in the Senate, the N.R.A.’s opponents are taking President Obama at his word that it was merely the “first round” in a lengthy fight. Realistically, they can’t hope to knock out Wayne LaPierre and his four-million-plus members (the precise number of N.R.A. members is hotly disputed) anytime soon, but they are looking to defeat them on points. And they see signs of encouragement. Indeed, some of them believe that the N.R.A.’s historic victory could end up being viewed as a historic blunder.

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