National Rifle Association v.s. Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
The Issue: Guns
Guns, Gun Violence, and Gun Usage are all very controversial issues that has caused many citizens to question the gun policies that we have in place. There are two sides to this argument. This first side, the liberal viewpoint, advocates for a world without gun violence which means banning the use of guns in certain areas and reducing the amount of people with guns. The second side, the conservatist side, advocates for a world where people can use guns and own guns without anyone telling them otherwise. There are many other opinions on how guns should be dealt with, but those two opinions are the most common.
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
The mission of this interest group is to stop gun violence. They are trying to make advancement and push legislation to start banning the use of firearms in certain areas. To achieve their objective, the organization is using “data-driven policy development and aggressive advocacy.”
The website that they have has a pretty diverse array of artifacts. It contains blog posts, links to media outlets that cover their issues, and their own statements about controversial topics pertaining to guns. The article I want to examine is one that discusses how the coalition is going to deal with the NRA (https://www.csgv.org/issues/taking-on-the-nra/).
The artifact that I am observing is about how the CSGV is going to combat the NRA’s “toxic ideology.” I believe the main focus of the artifact is to shame the argument made by the NRA and prove to us the people that we need to side with the CSGV. I think the only reason for this article being created is to shame the most popular organization that holds political views that are the opposite of the CSGV.
They make very extreme arguments about the NRA, but they don’t have any evidence to back it up. They call the NRA’s stance on guns, dangerous, extremist, twisted, and other demeaning words but they don't provide evidence of the NRA acting like they are being described. There is most definitely a biased in this article because it is meant to point out hatred for something. The CSGV is a small organization that is most likely made up of people that oppose gun violence and want to see it abolished by society. Since they are all like-minded people, they created an article that was completely one-sided. A limitation that I noticed was that this source does not provide any evidence that backs up their outlandish claims toward the NRA. If they had provided evidence to support their statements, their argument would be more compelling and accurate, but since they don't, it makes their argument weak.
The National Rifle Association
The artifact that I chose to inspect is one that provides a list of different youth firearm programs(http://youth.nra.org/). The artifact lists links to a multitude of programs that are intended to help teenagers find organizations they can join to practice and compete in shooting sports. I believe that the purpose of the list is to help kids that are interested in getting into shooting sports the information they need to join an organization. For this artifact, I don’t think anything is left behind and I also don’t think it is a biased website. I believe this because the artifact was created with the purpose to share information, not manipulate it to pursued a certain audience. The people that created this website and artifact promote the exercise of the Second Amendment. This causes the website to provide information on their website that favors a more conservative approach to guns and gives people exposure to programs and ideas that promote the use of guns. A limitation that I have noticed in this website is that the NRA always believes that they are in the right and that there is no arguing with the Constitution. There point is valid because it is very hard to argue against what the Constitution says, but there is no need for anyone to own an assault rifle at the age of 18. I know an 18 year old can't purchase an AR but there are some areas in the country that don't abide by that law and sell guns to kids as young as 16.
Compare and Contrast of CSGV and NRA
The two interest groups that I chose to analyze have a few similarities and a lot of differences. One of the main similarities that the two interest groups have is that both of them have very strong opinions on gun policy and the use of firearms. Now although those views on guns may not be the same, both interest groups have their own approach to America’s gun policy. Being that that was one of the only similarities that these interest groups share, here are some examples of the many differences that the interest groups do share. The NRA, National Rifle Association, is a organization that promotes the use of guns and has a Conservatist point of view, while the CSGV, Coalition of Stop Gun Violence, opposes the use of guns and has a more Liberal point of view on the matter. Additionally, it seems as though one of the main objectives of CSGV is to push for legislation that bans the use of firearms in certain areas and believes that by doing so, gun violence will be reduced. On the other hand, the NRA’s main objective is to bring awareness to those who don’t know about the Second Amendment and give them the resources they need to help them better understand their constitutional rights. As you can tell they have conflicting views on whether or not guns should be allowed to be used recreationally and competently. Along with different views on guns they also have different views on how to pursued their audience. It seems as though the NRA’s website is more of an informative website that provides a wide variety of information pertaining to the use of firearms, legislation about firearms, and programs that involve the use of firearms. There aren’t any blog posts or subjective articles that force pro-gun propaganda down your throat, the website only provides information on firearms. The CSGV conveys their message to their audience by doing almost the complete opposite of the NRA. The CSGV website uses blog posts, articles, and press statements to get their message across. Unlike the NRA, the CSGV uses the opinions of others and evidence based on common sense to promote their ideals. Since they hold the opposing arguments towards a constitutional right, it is a lot harder for the CSGV to provide concrete evidence that supports their claims than it is for the NRA that can just quote the U.S. Constitution.
How might interest groups influence an individual’s political beliefs?
Interest groups are able to influence other individual's political belief by one, lobbying government, which involves hiring representatives in government that have the power to advocate for that interest groups specific goals. Two, engaging in election activities by giving money to a candidate or funding an elective's campaign to get an elective that support their ideals to get elected. Lastly, they educate the public by advertising on TV or the radio, or holding demonstrations that provide the public with information about their ideals.
Example of TV advertisement by a Interest Group: https://www.nratv.com/featured
The National Rifle Association
The NRA was originally founded to help promote the practice of rifle training for scientific data. The organization then moved on to promoting shooting sports and start providing information to the public to help them better understand gun policies in their states. They advocated for the second amendment and very strongly believe in the people’s right to bear arms.
The artifact that I chose to inspect is one that provides a list of different youth firearm programs(http://youth.nra.org/). The artifact lists links to a multitude of programs that are intended to help teenagers find organizations they can join to practice and compete in shooting sports. I believe that the purpose of the list is to help kids that are interested in getting into shooting sports the information they need to join an organization. For this artifact, I don’t think anything is left behind and I also don’t think it is a biased website. I believe this because the artifact was created with the purpose to share information, not manipulate it to pursued a certain audience. The people that created this website and artifact promote the exercise of the Second Amendment. This causes the website to provide information on their website that favors a more conservative approach to guns and gives people exposure to programs and ideas that promote the use of guns. A limitation that I have noticed in this website is that the NRA always believes that they are in the right and that there is no arguing with the Constitution. There point is valid because it is very hard to argue against what the Constitution says, but there is no need for anyone to own an assault rifle at the age of 18. I know an 18 year old can't purchase an AR but there are some areas in the country that don't abide by that law and sell guns to kids as young as 16.
Compare and Contrast of CSGV and NRA
The two interest groups that I chose to analyze have a few similarities and a lot of differences. One of the main similarities that the two interest groups have is that both of them have very strong opinions on gun policy and the use of firearms. Now although those views on guns may not be the same, both interest groups have their own approach to America’s gun policy. Being that that was one of the only similarities that these interest groups share, here are some examples of the many differences that the interest groups do share. The NRA, National Rifle Association, is a organization that promotes the use of guns and has a Conservatist point of view, while the CSGV, Coalition of Stop Gun Violence, opposes the use of guns and has a more Liberal point of view on the matter. Additionally, it seems as though one of the main objectives of CSGV is to push for legislation that bans the use of firearms in certain areas and believes that by doing so, gun violence will be reduced. On the other hand, the NRA’s main objective is to bring awareness to those who don’t know about the Second Amendment and give them the resources they need to help them better understand their constitutional rights. As you can tell they have conflicting views on whether or not guns should be allowed to be used recreationally and competently. Along with different views on guns they also have different views on how to pursued their audience. It seems as though the NRA’s website is more of an informative website that provides a wide variety of information pertaining to the use of firearms, legislation about firearms, and programs that involve the use of firearms. There aren’t any blog posts or subjective articles that force pro-gun propaganda down your throat, the website only provides information on firearms. The CSGV conveys their message to their audience by doing almost the complete opposite of the NRA. The CSGV website uses blog posts, articles, and press statements to get their message across. Unlike the NRA, the CSGV uses the opinions of others and evidence based on common sense to promote their ideals. Since they hold the opposing arguments towards a constitutional right, it is a lot harder for the CSGV to provide concrete evidence that supports their claims than it is for the NRA that can just quote the U.S. Constitution.
How might interest groups influence an individual’s political beliefs?
Interest groups are able to influence other individual's political belief by one, lobbying government, which involves hiring representatives in government that have the power to advocate for that interest groups specific goals. Two, engaging in election activities by giving money to a candidate or funding an elective's campaign to get an elective that support their ideals to get elected. Lastly, they educate the public by advertising on TV or the radio, or holding demonstrations that provide the public with information about their ideals.
Example of TV advertisement by a Interest Group: https://www.nratv.com/featured
Interesting summary of each interest group. Also interesting comparison of each group. I didn't really think about how the fact that they both have strong opinions was a similarity. If there was any criticism I have of your blog, it's that you didn't finish the last sentence of your NRA analysis which was disappointing because I would have liked to see what you thought were limitations of the NRA. Other than that, good blog post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback Max, because of you, I noticed an uncompleted section of my blog and was able to fix it. Thank you
DeleteYour article is organized and visually appealing. Looking at it made me want to improve my own.
ReplyDelete