Time lists this article as being from 2001, but it’s clearly not. It’s from January 1990. It talks about J. Warren Cassidy being Executive Vice President of NRA, who resigned in 1991, and was replaced by Wayne LaPierre. Joe Foss is still NRA President. The best date for the article is it references the 1989 Stockton Massacre as happening “a week ago last year”.
Read the whole thing. It gives a snapshot in time of NRA, at a time when membership was declining, the inevitable passage of the Brady Bill and Assault Weapons Bans were on the horizon, and the future of NRA seemed more uncertain. In those days, there was plenty of infighting between, I guess what we today would call the “pragmatic” faction of NRA, and the more hard line “Knoxers.”
The NRA of today has considerably less infighting in comparison to those days, but the political climate is much better. That sounds crazy considering who controls Congress and who’s in the White House, but those were really dark days. The media pointed to declining NRA membership as evidence of its losing support among mainstream gun owners. The only people who suggest NRA is impotent now are the Brady Campaign, and my Governor. I don’t think anyone really believes them.
Ok, I’m so confused.
Why in the world would Time LIE about this?
I really don’t understand what the point of them time traveling this article is.
Is it to push a false support of gun control by gun owers 8 years ago instead of 18 years ago?
I doubt it was intentional. They probably put it online at the indicated date, from their archives, and never changed the date.
Excellent summary, Sebastian.