Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has dominated the debate over gun rights since the late 1960s. In many ways, its political power is unassailable. However, a historical analysis of the NRA's deeply rooted connection to the operations of the American government proves this has not always been so. This thesis is an examination of the mission and actions of the NRA through the lens of the government's expansion of power during and beyond the Cold War.

“‘Law-Abiding Citizens’: How the National Rifle Association’s battle for gun rights shaped the New Right” explicates the development of the gun rights movement and its central role in the modern American Right. In recent decades scholars have explored the contributions of evangelical Christians, business leaders, white southerners, and women to the making of the modern conservative movement and the transformation of the Republican Party. This study establishes the central role of firearms owners and the NRA in the conservative ascendancy. Based on extensive research in congressional collections at the Dolph Briscoe Center, and the papers of Howard Metzenbaum, Roman Hruska, Birch Bayh, and Robert Dole, as well as the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan Presidential Libraries, the National Archives, and substantial research into NRA publications and related documents, the dissertation explores the evolving political strategy of the NRA and the broader gun community to halt gun control from the 1930s to the 1980s. During the 1960s, high-profile assassinations and rising crime rates put pressure on the Johnson, Nixon, and Ford administrations to “do something” about gun violence. The threat of strict federal gun control prompted the NRA and the broader gun rights community to mobilize grassroots action. Its failure to block the Gun Control Act of 1968 sparked a gradual shift within the association. As it moved rightward, its ability to mobilize its substantial membership and deliver votes made it an attractive political partner for the GOP. Long an association of hunters and shooting sportsmen devoted to firearms safety and military training in wartime, the struggle over gun control legislation divided and ultimately transformed the NRA. As it shifted its focus from hobby to lobby, the NRA became a foundational element of the New Right, playing a decisive role in the shaping of modern American conservatism. / 2025-06-16T00:00:00Z

Today, the strength of the National Rifle Association (NRA) is understood by the general public and many scholars to be dependent on the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the right of individuals to own firearms. This dissertation challenges that understanding by focusing on three organizations, the NRA, the National Guard and the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP). While each organization appears in today's world to be distinct and independent, this dissertation reveals how they garnered strength from a symbiotic relationship. The NRA was founded in 1871, originally as a marksmanship organization. The National Guard, which grew from the nation's militia, was formally established in the early twentieth century. The NBPRP was a small organization that was established in 1903 within the War Department at the encouragement of the NRA. Following passage in 1903 of legislation bringing state militia units under federal control, the newly formed National Guard became dependent on the NRA, which in turn leveraged that dependence to create a nationwide grassroots organization. The NBPRP was headed by the Assistant Secretary of War until 1916 when the position of the Director of Civilian Marksmanship was created, to be held by a U.S. Army or U.S. Marine Corps officer. The NRA acted as the surrogate of the NBPRB outside of the halls of government. At the same time, the NBRPB provided the NRA with a voice within those same halls that aided in the development of federal policy and budget positions related to firearms acquisition, competition, and training. The purpose of this dissertation is to reveal how the NRA was able to employ these two organizations to develop an exceptionally powerful grassroots organization that today is recognized as one of the most powerful special interest groups in America. Understanding how this powerful organization grew offers one perspective of how the bureaucracy that has been developed to support America's federal system of government is uniquely susceptible to special interest influence.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1960. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [219]-224).

The discussion regarding the second amendment and gun control in the United States has been a controversial and highly debated topic for many years. However, with the several school shootings taking place, the discussion about gun controls has been taken to a new level. The purpose of this essay is to give an overview of the debate and answer to the main question ”how is the relationship between freedom and rights expressed in the debate about strengthened gun control, in relation to positive and negative liberty, and over time?  In order to achieve the purpose, three different kinds of analyzes have been made. First, two pro-contra analyzes were made on two different occasions. Next, the arguments found was examined through two concepts of liberty: positive and negative liberty. Lastly, a comparison was made between the arguments from the two different occasions. The results show that there are three different core issues in the debate, and that positive liberty is dominating the pro-gun control side, while negative liberty and individual rights are dominating the contra-gun control side. The debate has not been going through a radical change. However, some arguments have grown stronger over the years.

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