In the aftermath of the mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo, demand for gun control at the state and federal levels is mounting. We speak with Frank Smyth, a longtime investigative journalist who has been covering the National Rifle Association, about the gun lobby’s grip on U.S. lawmakers. He says the Democratic strategy to “find common ground” with conservatives is failing, as the growing gun rights movement refuses to do the same, and discusses how the NRA’s history of hypocrisy and corruption has weakened the formal, centralized power of the group. “The NRA is imploding … but the ideology that they have cooked at the same time they are waning is stronger than ever,” says Smyth.

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Buffalo Democratic strategy Frank Smyth National Rifle Association NRA’s history U.S. lawmakers Uvalde