The NRA's Influence and the Evolution of the Second Amendment

The NRA established a strong ground game by enlisting local members and mobilizing them to participate in local events and meetings. The organization invested heavily in campaigns and effectively lobbied at the state level to pass preemption laws, which made it difficult for cities to govern themselves on gun laws. As the law and order rhetoric grew, so did the invocation of the Second Amendment as an individual right for self-defense. The attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981 prompted a significant wake-up call and led to the emergence of influential leaders in the gun violence prevention movement, particularly James Brady and his wife, Sarah Brady.