How Gun Control Groups Are Catching Up to the N.R.A. – The New York Times

In a major shift from past presidential campaigns, the 2020 Democratic candidates are unanimous in their support of universal background checks and other restrictions. Many have gone further, calling for reinstatement of the expired 1994 assault weapons ban — part of a crime bill written by former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. — as well as offering more robust proposals. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey has called for a federal gun licensing program.

“Enough is enough is enough, and it’s been enough for the past five years,” Mr. Biden said at a campaign event in Las Vegas late Saturday.

Both sides have claimed victories at the state level. In 2019, 17 states, all but three of them with Democratic legislatures, and Washington, D.C., enacted 35 laws that restricted gun ownership. At the same time, Republicans in Florida enacted legislation allowing teachers to carry guns in their classrooms, Idaho lowered its age for carrying a weapon without a permit to 18, and several states now allow residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

Further complicating the gun-control debate is that the N.R.A. has been in turmoil, mired in financial scandal, investigations, infighting and revelations that it was targeted by Russia.

In April, a power struggle with Wayne LaPierre, the N.R.A.’s longtime chief executive, led to the departure of Oliver North, the group’s former president, leading Mr. Trump to implore the group to “stop the internal fighting, & get back to GREATNESS – FAST!” But the turmoil continued, and Christopher W. Cox, the N.R.A.’s top lobbyist and second-in-command — and a friend of Donald Trump Jr. — was forced out in June.

The N.R.A. has turned over thousands of pages of records in congressional investigations of its ties to Russia. It is also facing investigations by the attorneys general of New York and Washington, D.C. And it is mired in a bitter legal fight with Ackerman McQueen, an advertising firm that was for decades its most influential contractor.