NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch climbed onto the stage at CPAC on Thursday and delivered a message that combined all the best of violence and racism.
“Many in legacy media love mass shootings. You guys love it. I’m not saying you guys love the tragedy but I am saying you love the ratings. Crying white mothers are ratings gold.”
Actual reporters had a somewhat different take on their “fondness” for mass shootings.
“There's nothing more horrific, crushing, draining & painful than covering mass shootings. I vomited while covering the San Bernardino attack I was so overwhelmed. I often can't sleep for days after going to shooting sites, so many I've lost count. No love, I literally hate them.”
But there is someone who actually does love mass shootings. And it’s Dana Loesch.
Loesch, Wayne LaPierre, and the entire freak show of NRA surrogates and supporters live for mass shootings. Because it’s only following a shooting that the NRA can prove its real worth to its real supporters. It’s only in the face of horrid tragedy, complete with dead children and agonized families, that the NRA does its real job—creating talking points, deflecting the conversation, putting the blame anywhere but where it belongs. And their real clients, the people they really care about, are extremely grateful. Because they love mass shootings, too.
American Outdoor Brands Corporation (AOBC, +0.70%), the maker of Smith & Wesson guns, saw its share price rise by 5.6%. Sturm, Ruger & Company (RGR, +3.59%) was up 2.8%, ammunition and rifle-scope firm Vista Outdoor (VSTO, -2.28%) was up 2.8%, and ammunition maker Olin (OLN, -0.21%) was up 1.4%.
Mass shootings generate a boost for gun stocks, and gun sales. And the NRA is a critical part of keeping that cycle intact.
Just as she predicted in the speech, Loesch’s finger-pointing at the media got most of the coverage. But it was what she said at the beginning of her speech that was the real point of her being on the stage at CPAC.
"I want to make this super obvious point. The government has proven that they cannot keep you safe. And yet, some people want all of us to disarm. You heard that town hall last night. They cheered the confiscation of firearms. And it was over 5,000 people."
That’s the message of the NRA in a nutshell. It’s not just that only more guns in the hands of more people can save you. It’s that without the NRA to protect your guns, all those gun grabbers would take them away.
The NRA doesn’t just want people afraid. They want people afraid for their guns. That’s the job that they do for the gun manufacturers. And it’s a job they can only do when people are actually mourning, upset and asking for a change.
Many people have commented that they thought Loesch was somehow “brave” for showing up at CNN’s townhall, knowing that she would get a bad reception. Those people have it absolutely backward. Nothing—nothing—could excite Loesch and her handlers more than the opportunity to trot her out on stage and have people yell at her about guns.
The whole purpose of Dana Loesch is to make people upset about guns and the NRA. That’s why she makes those videos. That’s why she’s happy to come and scowl at grieving parents and sneer at shell-shocked students. She’s there to get people angry about shootings, because only when people are angry about guns, can the NRA drive up fear that people might do something about guns. That fear increases sales, and manufacturers get a sweet influx of cash.
The NRA gets to prove its worth in two ways: It builds up the fear that someone is coming to snatch away guns, and it makes sure that reasonable conversations about sensible changes to gun laws can’t happen. Because a cut of the resulting improvement in gun manufacturer’s incomes absolutely circulates right back to the NRA—and of course, part of it goes to making sure that Republican politicians stand aside so the NRA can do its thing.
For Dana Loesch and the other NRA staffers whose job it is to keep this cycle going, mass shootings are a critical component. The bloodier the better. They love them. They depend on them.
And they do everything they can to make sure they keep happening.
