Loser of the week

This week’s loser: the National Rifle Association.

Even after a wave of mass shootings rocked the U.S. over the course of the past year and prompted renewed pressure for gun control legislation, the NRA is sticking to its guns.

In the wake of such shootings as the mass murders in Newtown, Conn. and Aurora, Colo., the NRA has refused to compromise their Second Amendment fundamentalist stance on magazine capacity limits and assault rifle bans. Its tone-deaf and unyielding response to the recent spike in gun violence and their adamant defense of the right to bear arms — regardless of the hazard presented by assault rifles on the streets of U.S. cities — has made the NRA appear completely unsympathetic to the victims of mass shootings.

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama weighed in on the subjects of gun violence and gun control, exclaiming the families of shooting victims “deserve a simple vote” and demanding Congress take legislative action to pass a gun control bill. After the NRA spent the past few months of intense lobbying asking lawmakers to oppose a gun control bill at all costs, Obama pointed out gun control isn’t about guns at all, it’s about people — the victims of gun violence and their families.

Frankly, at this point in time it is safe to say gun control advocates, including Obama, have won the battle for public opinion. While it is not yet clear what will stem the tide of gun violence, most Americans value their right to live productive, peaceful and safe lives more than they value their right to own an assault rifle. And that makes the NRA the loser of the week.