The 1995 jackbooted-government-thugs letter was the moment the NRA inarguably settled in deepest Fantasyland. It seemed demented even to Republicans, dozens of whom had voted for the assault weapons ban in Congress. Former president George H. W. Bush resigned from the NRA in protest. Just days after the letter went out, the anti-gun-regulation activist Timothy McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City federal building.
