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American gun lobby the National Rifle Association (NRA) is under fire over a magazine column featuring a photo of United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi next to the headline “Target Practice”.
Key points:
- One of the women featured in the photo, Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head by a gunman in 2011
- Democratic representatives claim the photo incites violence against those featured
- The lobbying arm behind the article says the headline has been taken out of context
The article, which appeared in the March issue of American Rifleman, took aim at new gun control legislation being pushed by congressional Democrats, which its author, NRA lobbyist Chris Cox, argued targeted gun owners “for persecution”.
It included the headline “Target Practice” next to an image of Ms Pelosi and other politicians, including former Democratic House member Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head when a gunman opened fire at a political meeting in 2011, killing six and wounding 13 others.
“This is a call for violence by the NRA against Gabby Giffords, who was nearly killed by gunfire and [Nancy Pelosi], the most powerful legislator in America,” Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell wrote on Twitter.
“The NRA should face legal consequences. But let’s put them out of business with boycotts and ballot boxes.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Ms Pelosi’s daughter Christine, a Democratic political strategist, who labelled it an “intentional, outrageous criminal incitement”.
“We cannot allow this hate speech to stop common sense gun violence prevention,” she tweeted.
Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin Oliver — one of 17 children killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida — added his voice to the growing wave of opposition, questioning who the NRA was “trying to intimidate”.
Controversy ‘manufactured’, lobby group says
However, gun owners and conservative politicians have pushed back against opponents, accusing them of furthering “outrage culture”.
Republican Dan Crenshaw, a former United States Navy SEAL, questioned whether critics had actually read the article.
“How can you claim this? Are you deliberately lying or did you just not read it?” he wrote on Twitter.
“The article is about legislation targeting gun owners, not the NRA targeting Democrats.
“If your goal is to ensure that ‘outrage culture’ is alive and well, continuing to divide us, congrats.”
The Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), the self-described “lobbying” arm of the NRA, which is behind the article, later clarified its position to The Washington Post, labelling the controversy “manufactured”.
“The column was clearly focused on the gun-control legislation moving through Congress and the fact that law-abiding gun owners are being targeted by anti-gun politicians,” spokesperson Jennifer Baker told the newspaper.
“Anyone who bothers to read the column knows the assertion that the column is calling for violence is ridiculous.”
Ms Baker conceded the NRA-ILA ran a different photo and headline in the online version of the article, titled “What Lurks Behind ‘Universal’ Background Checks”, and that the column’s author had not approved subsequent changes in the magazine edition.
American Rifleman is the NRA’s official publication, and what it claims is the largest firearm magazine in the world.
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