If a recent ad from the National Rife Association (NRA) is any indication, the most powerful gun lobby in the country is changing up its strategy to attract more members. Instead of catering to older white men, the group has its eyes on one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the United States: Latinos.
Sharp shooter Gabby Franco, a U.S. immigrant and former Olympian, is the star of a new NRA ad that slams gun control. She talks about her home country of Venezuela, where defenseless families had their firearms stripped away by lawmakers, despite rampant violence.
“A few years ago, the government came for our guns. We were told we would be safer without them. Of course, the politicians, the rich and famous, their bodyguards, and criminals — they still have their guns,” she says. “Drug cartels and gangs, the colectivos, still have all the guns they want.”
“The biggest mistake Venezuelans made was believing that this could never happen,” she continues.
The ad is part of the Freedom’s Safest Place campaign, which boasts that “no other organization in American history has done more to defend and advance freedom’s cause than the National Rife Association of America.”
Although the NRA hasn’t admitted to shifting its attention to Latinos specifically, the organization has long positioned itself as the arbiter of security and self-defense. That messaging could go a long way for immigrants, like Franco, who fled to the United States to escape danger in Mexico and Central America. It also makes sense for the NRA to target a minority group that’s growing steadily and flexing its political muscle to influence key elections.
According to Dr. Robert Spitzer, an NRA member and gun control scholar, the organization is looking for ways to expand its base at a time when their primary supporters are literally dying out.
“Their base has been gradually shrinking — older white males are a smaller and declining population as a whole and younger people are less interested in guns,” he told Fox News Latino. “They’ve certainly made appeals to ethnic groups in the past.”
Indeed, in the past few years, the NRA and like-minded gun groups have attempted to woo vulnerable demographic groups to boost support for pro-gun laws and policies.
In 2013, the NRA tapped black YouTube personality Coilion Noir to win the support of African Americans by playing into fears of government oppression.
“No one wants to fight for their protection, they want the government to do it. The same government who at one point hosed us down with water, attacked us with dogs, wouldn’t allow us to eat at their restaurants and told us we couldn’t own guns,” Noir said in an 83-second ad. “The only person responsible for your safety is you. Cops can’t always be there. Obama definitely can’t be there.”
One month later, two billboards featuring gun-wielding Native Americans and the phrase “Turn in your arms, the government will take care of you” popped up in Colorado.
Unlike the NRA, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) freely admits that it’s campaigning hard for Latino support. However, 75 percent of Latinos favor gun control over gun rights.