Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has long been a strong advocate of gun control. He wrote the Brady Bill, which requires background checks for firearm purchases, in the ’90s. The National Rifle Association isn’t a fan.
But it wasn’t always that way.
“When I was in summer camp, I took NRA sharp shooter lessons–I have a merit badge,” he said on Thursday’s Morning Joe.
“It used to be like the AAA, it was helpful with safety and insurance.”
The NRA’s dramatic change since Schumer’s childhood days to the fierce lobby group it is today–widely credited with scuttling the assault weapons bans expiration in 2004 and keeping gun control laws from passing for decades.
“Twenty years ago everyone [supported gun control] because crime was rampant. The broad middle was for gun control, so that was enough to counter the NRA,” Schumer said. “Now, when I go to street fairs, even on Long Island, and I’ll see a thousand people, two or three people will say ‘I don’t like you, you wrote the Brady Bill,’ no one will say ‘I support gun control,’” the senator said.
As crime lessened, the NRA strengthened.









