Two weeks ago, coincidentally on the same day that the unfortunate 9-year old girl accidentally shot and killed a firearms instructor in Arizona, the NRA kicked off a series of Netflix-style video ads that are perhaps the organization's most disingenuous effort to present itself as something other than what it really is; namely, an organization devoted to ownership and use of guns. In fact, having watched all 12 one-minute productions, I can tell you that the only way you would know that this is an effort of the NRA is that each commentator ends his or her spiel by telling the viewer that their wholesome and didactic script was produced by the "National Rifle Association of America" with a slight pause and then heavy emphasis on the word 'America' even though officially the NRA is still just the NRA, not the NRAA.
This new media blitz by the people who used to bring us messages like "only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" is significant insofar as the word "gun" is never mentioned in any of these videos, not even once. You would think that the NRA had become some kind of touchy-feely civics organization devoted to uplifting our moral virtues rather than a trade association committed to getting everyone in America to own a gun. And not only are the minute-long lectures all about honesty, and decency, and respect for everyone's point of view, but only four of the homilies are delivered by white males, who just happen to own most of the guns in America -- seven of the commentators are women, one is Asian-American and, of course, there's always room for Colion Noir, aka NRA's African-American spokesperson.
When I first started watching these videos I thought I was looking at a remake of the Reagan "it's morning again in America" campaign ads from 1984. Those were slickly-produced messages which never showed Reagan, who was beginning to look his age, but instead had a variety of American families proudly standing in front of a farmhouse, a factory gate, a well-manicured suburban lawn, all smiling, all happy, all gently reminding us that if we just remembered to vote Republican that all those things we cherished and loved would never be taken away.
The NRA scripts flow back and forth between a kind of Tea Party-lite condemnation about the problems we face -- government spying, unlawfulness in high places, fear of crime -- and an immediate sense of setting things right with the help of the "good guys," the real Americans who can be counted on every time to keep us safe, honest, decent and sound. And who are these good guys? They are your neighbor with a decal on the back of his truck which reads: N-R-A.
I can't imagine anyone actually watching one of these messages and coming away having learned anything at all. But I don't think that's the point. What the NRA is trying to do is cast itself in a softer, more reasonable and, if you'll pardon the expression, less combative way, because for the first time they are up against an opponent whose money, smarts and media access can sway lots of people to go the opposite way. And not only does Bloomberg have that kind of dough, for the first time he might be able to energize non-gun owners to stay active and committed to the gun control fray.
This week we have another retail chain, Panera, which is walking down the path blazed by Starbucks and Target and asking gun owners to leave their weapons at home. Like the other chains, Panera isn't posting a gun-free sign on their front doors, but if any of the 2-Amendment vigilantes believes that this isn't a victory for the folks who want more gun control, they better think again. The fact that Panera's announcement coupled their concern about guns with their desire to build social "communities" in their stores should tell you why, all of a sudden, the NRA has stopped talking about guns.