I'm going to speak plainly and honestly about what's happened here.

In 2013, President Barack Obama addressed the nation

after the Senate failed to pass major gun legislation

following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School

where a gunman killed 20 first graders and six teachers.

All in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington.

And what Obama called a shameful day was a good day for the National Rifle Association

at the peak of its political influence.

Obama said the NRA's power was why members of Congress voted against the gun control

measure.

They worried that the gun lobby would spend a lot of money and paint them as anti Second Amendment.

And obviously a lot of Republicans had that fear, but Democrats had that fear too.

And so they cave to the pressure.

The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Today, NRA CEO Wayne La Pierre, who's been at the forefront of the NRA's campaign against gun control for decades, has resigned.

He steps down as he and other former NRA officials are facing a civil trial.

NPR's Brian Mann says fear of the NRA is what has kept major gun legislation from being passed.

You know, the NRA was once one of the biggest political forces in Washington and in state capitals around the

country. The organization really succeeded for decades under La Pierre's leadership,

pushing the gun control debate to the right, blocking gun control measures even after catastrophic mass

shootings like Sandy Hook and Parkland. In 2019 the organization began to

unravel. Tonight new questions emerging about lavish spending and potential conflicts of interest

...