How the NRA Shapes the Debate Over Guns After a Mass Shooting

Guest: Kelly Patterson, PhD, Professor of Political Science, Brigham Young University  After each tragic mass shooting comes a spin cycles that’s now familiar: Gun control advocates press for restrictions on access to firearms and blame the NRA for blocking them. Meanwhile, the NRA goes silent. Up until Friday of last week, the NRA was posting multiple times daily on its Facebook and Twitter feeds. Since the shooting in Las Vegas, nothing. No public statements from the NRA in the press, either. And allies of the NRA in Congress say now is not the time to talk about gun laws, it’s the time for “thoughts and prayers.”  If the recent past is any indication, when the time to talk about gun laws does come, Congress is unlikely to make changes. How much credit can the NRA take for that?