Yesterday, Public Policy Poll released numbers showing that the National Rifle Association's favorability had slipped into negative territory. It was close -- 42% positive vs. 45% negative -- but PPP reported that this represented a "10 point net decline in the NRA's favorability" compared to their numbers before NRA President Wayne LaPierre's disastrous press conference. You remember, the one where he revealed he was insane. The issue is dragging House Republicans' numbers down as well.What the NRA desperately needs is to change their image from a collection of trigger-happy psychopaths with a gun fetish -- which is what they are -- to an organization of levelheaded protectors of freedom -- which is what they pretend to be. The problem is that, being a collection of trigger-happy psychopaths with a gun fetish, they have absolutely no idea what the hell "levelheaded" looks like. As a result, they stage PR nightmares like this, reported by NPR:
Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband, Mark Kelly, have formed a political action committee to support prevention of gun violence. The announcement came Tuesday, the second anniversary of the mass shooting in Tucson that left six dead and wounded 13, including Giffords.
Churches and fire stations around the city rang bells in memory of the victims and in commemoration of other mass shootings since Tucson.
The Tucson Police Department also held a gun buyback Tuesday. Police want to destroy the 206 firearms turned in to them. But the National Rifle Association says that would violate Arizona law.
