North Carolina Republican: NRA has been pushed to the right

The National Rifle Association’s position on gun laws has become more conservative due to pressure from grassroots gun rights organizations, Republican former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said Sunday.

Asked by host Chuck Todd of NBC’s “Meet the Press” to respond to a 1999 clip of NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre arguing in favor of mandatory background checks for purchases at gun shows, McCrory argued that the NRA was a more moderate organization under pressure to go further to the right of its executives’ positions.

“They're being pushed, politically, more to the right on this political issue, as President [Donald] Trump was during his term, where he was going to institute some policies. And then, he was pushed to reverse that decision,” McCrory said.

The NRA's national convention began in Houston only days after a mass shooting at a Texas school, creating an uncomfortable juxtaposition that led some speakers to withdraw. Others, including former President Donald Trump, went ahead with their plans to speak.

McCrory blamed institutional breakdown from the federal to local level for not preventing horrific events such as the Tuesday shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and said gun violence was a cultural problem.

McCrory, who lost a GOP primary for one of North Carolina’s Senate seats earlier this month to Rep. Ted Budd, said the culture of gun ownership and the symbolism of guns was a manifestation of Americans’ distrust with the criminal justice system and the sentiment that “I'm going to take this into my own hands.”

“I was the mayor [of Charlotte] for 14 years and I had reduced the murder rate by over 50 percent due to some tough law enforcement, and some mentoring, and other programs,” he said. “I lost the primary two weeks ago to a congressman who had a gun in his front trousers in a commercial.”