Hey, history lovers. I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past rediscovered.

In the early 1930s, when gangsters like John Dillinger were mowing down enemies with machine guns on the streets,

Congress held hearings on a sweeping proposal to severely restrict firearm sales.

The testimony of one man, Carl T. Frederick, now all but forgotten, stood out.

According to a transcript of the hearings, Frederick said, quote,

I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons.

I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns.

I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.

Frederick's words were notable then, and now, because of who he was,

the president of the National Rifle Association.

Today, it's difficult to find any reference to Frederick on the NRA's website,

and it would be impossible to locate anyone connected with the organization

who would say anything close to what Frederick did in confronting a crisis.

Take Wayne LaPierre, the leader of the current NRA, after a man shot

and killed 21st graders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

I mean, from the very start, my thought has been how little of us has to do with actually

keeping kids safe and how much it has to do with his decade-long agenda

against firearms.

The modern NRA is unwavering in its support for gun owners and its opposition to restrictions

on gun sales, arguing that a responsible armed citizenry at home, at work, even at Starbucks, could dissuade gun violence.

But when the NRA was founded in 1871 by two Civil War veterans, the organization's primary

concern was not gun rights or the Second Amendment. What was it? They were bothered by the bad

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