Most of us are still reeling from last week's shooting
in Uvalde, Texas.
While some people put their grief to good use
by volunteering, I channeled my rage by flying to Paris
and throwing cake at the Mona Lisa.
Authorities believe the cake was thrown by a man dressed
as an old woman, but it was actually thrown
by a woman in her prime--
dressed as a man dressed as an old woman.
Still, our rage over what happened last week
hasn't dissipated.
Especially as we've learned more about the tragic failure of
Uvalde police to do their jobs.
ANNOUNCER: Tactical teams took more than 45
minutes to enter the classroom.
ANNOUNCER: Uvalde police in the local school district
are now refusing to, and no longer cooperating
with the wider Texas probe.
ANNOUNCER: Just two months ago, Uvalde school district
hosted an active shooter training
for their six-membered police force.
First responder unwilling to place their lives
of the innocent above their own safety should
consider another career field.
I tried to think of a more suitable career
for these people, but all I could come up with was
elephant shit collector.
Actually, no, those cops don't deserve
to be elephant shit collectors.
Also, turns out the school officer,
who law enforcement officials claimed
engaged with the gunman, wasn't even there.
That officer was not on scene, but had heard the 911 call
with a man with a gun, drove immediately to the area,
sped to what he thought was the man with a gun.
What turned out to be a teacher, and not the suspect.
In doing so, he drove right by the suspect,
who was hunkered down behind a vehicle, where he
began shooting at the school.
Jesus Christ.
How hard is it to tell the difference
between Mr. Bishop and the person
who is shooting at people?
If you thought the unspeakable horror of last week
might have convinced the NRA to cancel its annual circle
jerk of a gun convention in [BLEEP] Texas, no less,
you'd be wrong.
ANNOUNCER: The NRA has condemned the Uvalde shooting,
but decided to press ahead with this gathering.
Oh, my God, read the room, freaks.
To be fair, there were some changes
to the NRA's lemon party.
The grand old night of freedom concert
was canceled after artists like Don McLean
and Lee Greenwood took their one and only songs and pulled out.
Unfortunately, when it came to the people
whose parents we wish had pulled out, there was no such luck.
Moments like this tear apart the very fabric of a community.
A community that, until Tuesday, never thought
that a tragedy like this could ever happen in such
a quiet south Texas town.
There is no substitute for a strong mom and a great dad.
Wise words, but he didn't have to say
that to a group of orphans.
Look, if you're a little surprised
the NRA is still kicking around, you're not alone.
The NRA has been in legal and financial jeopardy for years.
But it turns out, its gun rights above all rights message
has become so ingrained in the Republican Party,
the GOP will still hold a gun gala just
days after a school shooting.
As despicable as we know the NRA to be,
it's hard to believe that it wasn't always
the legislation-blocking, candidate-buying
primordial ooze it is today.
NARRATOR: The NRA started as an actual rifle association,
a marksmanship club, all the way back
in 1871, when a couple of Northern army veterans
from the Civil War decided that Northern boys
ought to learn to shoot as well as their Southern counterparts.
Another reminder that nothing good starts by saying,
hey, let's try to be more like the Confederate South.
After four presidents were shot, people
began to talk about maybe putting
some restrictions on guns.
For example, no longer allowing manufacturers
to hand out free guns at all presidential
public appearances.
Back then, the NRA actually worked with the government
to make sure guns were only used for things
like hunting, sharp shooting, and making
Marty McFly do the moonwalk.
You know, when you think about it, Back to the Future
is just the story of a White guy who travels through time
to steal Black people's ideas.
Throughout the 1920s and '30s, the NRA
helped draft state and federal laws enacting measures
like waiting periods, concealed carry permits,
and banning sales to people convicted
or indicted for violent crimes.
I mean, sure, there was still violence,
but it was largely of the hilarious slapstick variety,
which thrived, thanks to lobbying
by the powerful custard pie and banana peel industries.
In the '60s, the assassinations of JFK,
Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr,
led to renewed support for gun restrictions.
And in 1968, Congress passed the Gun Control Act.
The law placed substantial restrictions
on the purchase of guns based on mental Illness,
drug addiction, and age.
This kind of legislation would be impossible today.
If JFK had been assassinated in 2022,
Ted Cruz would have called for the doors
to be removed from the Texas School Book Depository.
Republicans would have said, the only way
to stop a bad book depository is another good depository
with also a gun.
Well, some NRA members found the 1968 Gun Control Act overly
restrictive, and the organization
lobbied to block it from including
a national gun registry, the NRA ultimately backed the law.
Even Charlton freaking Heston supported it.
But I mean, back then, his motto was, please, take my gun
from my warm, alive hands.
But let's be real--
the NRA support for gun control also grew from racism.
In the late 1960s, the Black Panthers
began defending themselves against police brutality
by invoking the Second Amendment and patrolling Black
neighborhoods while armed.
When police would stop a Black person,
Black Panthers would stand to the side
and shout out legal advice.
It was mostly related to the situation at hand.
But they also had some incredible insights
on maritime law.
The state of California responded
by passing the Mulford Act, which
banned the carrying of firearms in public without a license.
Essentially, racist White California Republicans
were so afraid to let Black people carry guns,
they were willing to lose their own rights.
As then-governor Ronald Reagan put it--
There is absolutely no reason why out on the street, today,
civilians should be carrying a loaded weapon.
Reagan's fear of armed Black people
was then vindicated when he was shot by noted Black Panther,
John Hinckley.
By the '70s, the NRA, much like the Bush of its day,
had grown wild and unruly.
When the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms,
and Explosives, a.k.a., the government's fun police,
shot a longtime NRA member suspected
of stockpiling illegal weapons, some NRA members
became more militant about gun rights,
and the organization formed a lobbying arm, led by Texas
lawyer, Harlan Carter.
Carter felt the NRA wasn't political enough,
and led a dissident group wearing
orange hunting caps to overthrow the leadership
at the 1977 NRA convention.
It was an event known as the Revolt at Cincinnati.
And it was revolting.
On the other hand, seeing a bunch of losers running
around wearing orange is actually
what gave the city of Cincinnati the idea
to start a football team.
Suck it, Bengals.
Oh, that's right, I learned about you today.
Harlan Carter also helped shape the current NRA.
Harlan Carter's new marching orders,
which have been in effect basically ever since,
were to oppose all forms of gun control
in Washington and in the state capitols,
and to aggressively lobby for gun owners' rights.
Changes in campaign financing laws
allowed the NRA to begin funneling money directly
into the pockets of lawmakers.
And the NRA also led a pro-gun PR blitz to rewrite history.
By the 1980s, a group of lawyers,
many affiliated with the NRA and other gun right groups,
published a flood of studies in legal journals arguing
that when the Founding Fathers wrote in the Second Amendment
about a well-regulated militia, what they really meant
was, any stupid [BLEEP] with a gun.
Look, it's true that the NRA has weakened,
but gun rights activists have more of a grip on the GOP
than ever.
In fact, the decline of the NRA has left an opening
for smaller pro-gun groups, many of which
hold even more extremist views.
These organizations file lawsuits challenging state gun
control laws, mobilize members, and unseat politicians who
aren't extreme enough for them.
In 2018, the group, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners
campaigned against Cole Wist, a pro-gun Colorado Republican
with a refreshing name, because he sponsored a bill
to allow guns to be taken away temporarily
from people who pose an immediate threat
to themselves or others.
It was a bare minimum gun safety law.
And yet, these mother [BLEEP] won.
Look, as much as I wish the NRA's influence
had diminished along with the NRA, itself, it hasn't.
A majority of Americans have supported
stricter gun laws for decades, and yet, we're still here.
We're still here begging Congress to do
just one thing to protect us.
We are still here fighting, despite the fact
that the Republican Party's entire identity is a lie
about the Second Amendment.
We are still here.
And they aren't.
We'll be right back.