Guns, politics, and fear: The National Rifle Association and the battle to keep and bear arms in Texas, 1930-1970

This thesis concentrates on the evolving rhetoric of the National Rifle Association to understand what language, specifically, in the organization’s national message resonated with its members in Texas. From the patriot-frontiersman-populist messages of the 1930s to the anti-communist, pro-law and order message of the 1960s, the NRA relied on language to maintain cohesiveness in its member ranks. By bonding its members into a noble assemblage of gun wielding “Riflemen,” the organization built a strong relationship with its membership. This relationship allowed the group to bring considerable constituent power to bear as the federal government sought to legislate restrictions on firearms in the 1930s and most notably in the 1960s. As the organization’s message crossed lines with the political and social necessity for “law and order” in the late 1960s, the individual members of the NRA moved the political language beyond that of anti-communism. They synthesized the organization’s national message with that of their local experience and pushed the boundaries of the NRA’s rhetoric by bringing their personal beliefs and values into the political arena. Far from leaving behind the older style of frontiersman-populism, the new language extolled the virtues of traditional social values, hard work, and self-reliance. It also picked up the general anxiety in 1960s American society and called for unrestricted access to firearms for self-protection and to assure local control over law and order. By the end of the 1960s, the NRA had become increasingly politically active at the national level. Holding membership in the organization also increased activism on the part of individual gun owners who were committed to keeping their firearms. This activism against liberal social policies – the 1968 Gun Control Act was but one example – brought many conservative gun owners into the political arena where their personal values and commitment to “sound Americanism” (shared traditions, independence, patriotism, the rights of the people, etc.) contributed to the rise of the Right and the ultimate fracturing of the Democratic Party in the South.

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