Friday October 21, 2022
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Meeting Both In-Person and by Zoom
Dampeer Room, Second Floor of Kelvin Smith Library*
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues:
This week’s “Friday Lunch” both addresses a hot issue and gives us a chance to introduce and enthusiastically welcome a new colleague.
It’s the best of times and it’s the worst of times – at least, for the National Rifle Association (NRA). And few people in the country are as qualified to talk about this as our new colleague Matt Lacombe.
On the one hand, the NRA has had significant revenue and membership problems, which among other things meant that it spent just over half as much on the 2020 elections as for the 2016 elections. Its opponents have in recent years been able to point to seemingly scandalous internal management. Facing potentially damaging lawsuits, it even tried to file for bankruptcy, though that was rejected in court last year. It even was unable to block Congress from passing the first new gun control legislation in three decades – modest though that is.
On the other hand, in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court on June 23 overturned New York state’s regulation of concealed carry of firearms, in a way that, according to a New York State Bar Association report, seems likely to lead to major changes in existing regulations across the country, as well as further legal challenges. Concealed carry is one example of the NRA having moved from defense a generation ago to offense: from resisting restrictions on, say, automatic weapons to pressing for “stand your ground” laws and expanded rights to concealed or even visible carry of firearms in public.
In short, on balance the NRA seems to have been on a winning streak, for its policy preferences, for a couple of decades. It has achieved this in part by virtually merging with the Republican party – which (in case you haven’t noticed) seems to be much more likely than the Democrats to control Congress these days and has had a much stronger position in State Houses.
This ideological and partisan strategy has risks. A few decades ago there was a significant contingent of Democrats who viewed the NRA as a single issue group that they had to palliate (or agreed with on many issues). Senator Bernie Sanders was one example. In 1992 37% of NRA congressional campaign contributions went to Democrats; in 2016 that was 1%. With the NRA so implacably opposed to Democrats – and seeing Democrats as implacably opposed to gun rights – it is becoming less and less obvious why any Democrats should oppose legislation – as the prospect of NRA support seems vanishingly small. At the same time, the reward from the partisan alliance with Republicans may seem easily worth the risk.
What are the prospects for this alliance, and for gun regulation, and how did it happen? In Firepower: How the NRA Turned Gun Owners Into a Political Force, Professor Lacombe explains how the NRA has crafted and propagandized to its membership an ideology that essentially mirrors current conservative Republicanism, going well beyond the original attractions for and beliefs of members. In that process, the NRA – which was hardly powerless before – has developed a different kind of power, both riding and building the current right-wing wave.
Speaking personally, I am thrilled to have Matt join us not only because of the topic and his expertise but because this will be his first public event as the Lamis Chair. Alec Lamis (a 2010 picture is here) took the lead in creating the Public Affairs Discussion Group, or “Friday Lunch,” in 1989. He was an expert especially in Southern Politics, Ohio Politics, judicial politics, and the news media. Sadly, he passed away in 2012, and our department is exceedingly grateful to our generous and anonymous graduate who has so kindly endowed this chair in his memory. I’m sure he would have been excited to welcome Matt Lacombe to join us, and wish he could.
In-Person and Virtual Attendance
In order to make it easy for people to protect themselves and still participate, the meetings are accessible on Zoom. Participants can register for each meeting in the same way they did for the past two years. The link is posted below.
This “dual delivery” remains a work in progress. Please be patient with any glitches. The ways we can set up video and audio to work for both people in the room and on Zoom are not perfect.
The discussion begins at 12:30 p.m., but the room should be open no later than Noon. We try to have beverages and refreshments set up soon after that. Participants should be able to sign on to Zoom also by Noon. But please remember not much will be happening online until the talk begins at 12:30 pm. Please also remember to show identification when entering Kelvin Smith Library.
Zoom participants should speak up when asked for questions or comments, or submit thoughts through Zoom’s chat function. Please keep yourself muted until you are choosing to speak.
Each week we will send out this newsletter with information about the topic. It will also include a link to register (for free) for the discussion. When you register, you will automatically receive from the Zoom system the link to join the meeting. If you do not get the newsletter, you should also be able to get the information each Monday by checking http://fridaylunch.case.edu/. Then if you choose you can use the contact form on that website to request the registration link.
This week’s Zoom link for registration is:
https://cwru.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rcOysrzssHdS4Wl-ELRzmNAnJcgtgpjbY
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Please e-mail padg@case.edu if you have questions about how the Zoom version of the Friday Lunch will work or any other suggestions. Or call at 216 368-2426 and we’ll try to get back to you. We are very pleased to be partnering this semester with the Siegal Lifelong Learning Program to share information about the discussions.
Best wishes for safety and security for you and yours,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
About Our Guest
Matt Lacombe is Associate Professor and holds the Alexander P. Lamis Memorial Chair in U.S. Politics in the Department of Political Science at Case Western Reserve University. He joined the Department in CWRU after a national search to fill this new position. Matt is the author of Firepower: How the NRA Turned Gun Owners into a Political Force and a co-author of Billionaires and Stealth Politics. His research has appeared (or will appear) in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Policy Studies Journal, PS: Political Science and Politics, Social Science Quarterly, and the Journal of Political Science Education. It has also been discussed in a wide range of media outlets, including the New York Times, New Yorker, NPR, Guardian, Washington Post, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, and Time. Matt was previously an Assistant Professor at Barnard College, Columbia University and a National Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Jefferson Scholars Foundation. He received a PhD from Northwestern University and BA from Allegheny College.
* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.
Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
October 28: Is This the EU’s Moment? With Elliot Posner, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science.
November 4: Midterm Election Polls and Prospects. With Thomas Sutton, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science and Director of the Community Research Institute, Baldwin Wallace University, and CWRU faculty.
November 11: Law Enforcement and the Opioid Epidemic. With Daniel J. Flannery, Ph.D., Dr. Semi J. and Ruth Begun Professor and Director, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, MSASS.
November 18: The First Energy Scandal and the Challenge of Utility Regulation. With Miranda Leppla, J.D., Director, Environmental Law Clinic, CWRU School of Law.
November 25: Thanksgiving Break
December 2: To Be Determined
December 9: To Be Determined |
