NRA Under Fire

>> 13 people were shot, 10 of them killed in northeast Buffalo.

>> NARRATOR: More mass shootings.

>> 19 children and two teachers are among the victims a gunman shot and killed in Uvalde, Texas.

>> NARRATOR: Another plea from Washington.

>> Where in God'’s name is our backbone?

Time to turn this pain into action.

>> NARRATOR: Now on FRONTLINE, drawing on years of reporting, the story of the long struggle to take on the gun lobby.

>> Possible active shooter at The Tops.

There are still shots being fired.

>> NARRATOR: Before Buffalo... >> Ten killed, three injured, after a mass shooting in a Buffalo supermarket.

>> As the city mourns the victims of a mass shooting at a supermarket.

>> Evil swept across Uvalde yesterday.

>> NARRATOR: Before Uvalde, Texas.

>> America here we are again.

Another mass shooting, this time in Texas.

>> This attack is now the third deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, surpassing the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

>> NARRATOR: There was another shooting, at another school.

(students talking in background) >> It was Valentine's Day.

And we had joked, days prior, that I was going to ruin Valentine's Day with this quiz.

And the fire alarm went off.

(fire alarm blaring) >> What the (bleep)... >> I heard what sounded like faint pops.

Students started to evacuate, thinking it was a fire drill.

And that's when he came up the stairs and ravaged that floor.

(gun firing, people screaming) >> NARRATOR: In less than six minutes, he fired 140 rounds from an AR-15.

>> It just became very real, very fast.

(gun firing rapidly) >> Holy (bleep)!

Oh, my God, oh, my God!

(gunfire continues) >> (crying): Oh, my God.

>> (bleep)!

(gun firing in distance) >> Oh, (bleep), yo.

>> No, no, no.

>> Shut the door.

>> Shut the lights off.

>> People were texting and Snapchatting.

>> (whispers): I heard gun, I heard one gunshot.

We thought it was a drill initially, but it's not.

>> Hush.

>> We stood in a closet, 19 of us and the teacher.

>> I just had to take out my phone and film a lot of what was going on.

>> Hands up, guys, keep those hands up.

>> Let's go, let's go, let's go.

>> NARRATOR: Ryan Deitsch kept filming as he and his classmates fled.

>> We couldn't tell what was going on at what point.

It's a tragedy.

>> Follow me, follow me, follow me.

>> NARRATOR: 14 students and three adults were dead.

>> On the wall.

>> (crying): Oh, my God.

♪ ♪ >> Breaking news, a deadly shooting at a Florida high school... >> Parkland, Florida, this is where there's been a school shooting... >> It sends students rushing out into the streets... >> There are "numerous fatalities."

>> NARRATOR: As the students evacuated, so did the shooter.

He was later arrested.

>> A number of parents who are crying right now, they're worried about their children in that school... >> Parents going running to that area to find their loved ones... ♪ ♪ >> You're looking at live pictures there where there is an active shooter at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

>> Parkland, Florida, that's in Broward County.

We're just getting this information in, it's breaking at this hour... >> NARRATOR: Once again, students had been gunned down in a school.

>> Yeah, hey, do you guys need a live interview?

>> NARRATOR: But this time, after the 105th school shooting, these students were determined they wouldn't be just another statistic.

>> We didn't just want it to end here.

We didn't just want it to end once the cameras went away.

>> We wanted to make sure that it wasn't just forgotten about.

We wanted to make sure that the story was still being told.

♪ ♪ >> (chanting): No more!

No more!

>> NARRATOR: Ryan and his classmates went on the offensive.

>> I now want to introduce Emma González.

>> If all our government and president can do is send "thoughts and prayers," then it's time for victims to be the change that we need to see.

>> NARRATOR: 18-year-old Emma González led the charge.

>> The people in the government telling us nothing could have ever been done to prevent this, we call BS.

>> BS!

>> They say that no laws could have been able to prevent the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred.

We call BS!

>> NARRATOR: They had a target.

>> To every politician who is taking donations from the NRA, shame on you.

>> NARRATOR: The National Rifle Association, the nation's powerful gun lobby.

>> We had learned in, in our own government class that the NRA is one of the largest and most powerful lobbying forces.

And we decided that they couldn't just keep going the way they were going.

>> Emma González's speech is trending on Twitter this morning.

>> A teenager is getting a lot of attention on social media... >> Anguished voices calling for change.

>> Students turned activists trained their own political sights on the NRA.

>> I think that that speech resonated with so many Americans.

Going up against this kind of entrenched Washington behemoth.

You know, they were everything the NRA is not.

>> From my cold, dead hands.

>> NARRATOR: Once one of the most feared forces in Washington, for decades dominating one issue: guns.

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

>> NARRATOR: An unrivaled power that would ultimately become a target.

>> Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.

We're not going to allow it... ♪ ♪ >> The National Rifle Association has made possible the training of thousands of instructors.

>> NARRATOR: Long before it was at the center of a political firestorm... (gun fires) ...the NRA was something very different.

>> The NRA was a safety organization.

They helped people teach their children and, and their friends and family how to use and store and keep firearms safely.

>> This is an organization that, back in the '60s, was a very tame, not particularly political organization.

>> Here is a bulletin from CBS News.

>> NARRATOR: But that would begin to change with the assassinations of the 1960s.

>> There has been an attempt, as perhaps you know now, on the life of President Kennedy.

(sirens blaring) (gun firing) >> ...shooting, I repeat, a shooting on the motorcade.

>> NARRATOR: He was shot by a $12, .38-caliber, mail-order rifle.

(gun fires) Martin Luther King-- a 760 Gamemaster.

And Robert F. Kennedy-- a Saturday Night Special.

(siren blaring) Armed conflict broke out on America's streets.

In Washington, the response-- gun control.

>> Effective crime control remains, in my judgment, effective gun control.

>> NARRATOR: Those words would be a call to arms for some in the National Rifle Association.

>> The NRA people said, "Wait a minute.

We've got other things to worry about than, than teaching guys how to shoot or how to hunt, and so forth, or collect guns."

And that's when, that was the transformative period.

>> NARRATOR: The transformation happened here in 1977.

>> The National Rifle Association convention in Cincinnati went into overtime last night, a stormy, all-night session.

>> NARRATOR: Two sides faced off: hunters versus gun-rights activists.

>> When it was over, some dissident members had taken control of the 400,000-member organization.

What it means is even stricter support for the right to bear arms and against gun control.

>> They believed that it was incumbent upon the NRA to become a Second Amendment organization.

And they cleared the board of people that disagreed with them.

And the NRA has essentially been that ever since.

>> This is an NBC News special report.

>> NARRATOR: But just a few years later, another dramatic shooting would challenge the NRA.

>> You can see the president coming out now.

(gun firing) >> NARRATOR: President Reagan, shot in the lung.

>> There's the shots.

(people murmuring in background) >> (bleep)!

>> NARRATOR: And his press secretary, James Brady, in the head.

>> They said six shots in two seconds.

>> Let the ambulance in here!

>> NARRATOR: In the aftermath, once again, a call for gun control.

>> These incidents seem to keep happening, and that is a real puzzle and a tragic puzzle.

>> NARRATOR: Over the years, Jim Brady became a powerful symbol.

A gun-control group formed around him in opposition to the NRA, which had launched a full-scale lobbying effort in the Capitol.

And by the time Bill Clinton was elected, the anti-gun movement had found a president willing to take up their cause.

>> President Clinton blasted the National Rifle Association... >> NARRATOR: Clinton cracked down on guns... >> President Clinton signed the Crime Bill into law today... >> NARRATOR: Banning the import of military-style handguns.

>> One bans the importation of foreign-made assault pistols... >> NARRATOR: The assault weapons ban... >> A ban on 19 types of assault weapons... >> NARRATOR: And background checks at gun stores.

>> A stunning victory for the president.

>> NARRATOR: It seemed like a victory for the gun-control forces.

But that's not the way the NRA saw it.

>> Has the NRA really lost its clout in Congress?

>> I think NRA benefited tremendously through the Clinton years, because of the extreme radicalism of the anti-gun-- call them left-wingers, I call them regressives, not progressives-- but the anti-gun people.

>> It's in combat that the NRA thrives.

It's with enemies that the NRA is best able to communicate its point of view, and above all, raise money.

>> NARRATOR: Near the end of his presidency, Clinton would take on the NRA one last time.

>> NARRATOR: It was set in motion by a shooting at a Colorado high school.

>> The pictures that we are watching here in Colorado are being broadcast nationally... >> It's very chaotic out there right now.

>> SWAT teams went in to rescue possible hostages.

>> We are going to continue to follow this horrific situation taking place in Littleton... >> NARRATOR: Americans would see for the first time students being gunned down.

188 rounds fired off.

(gun firing rapidly) (explosion echoes) And a bomb detonated in the cafeteria.

As the two assailants, seen here, enter the room and hunt for student victims, they had killed 13 and wounded 23 more.

>> You see some of the victims being taken out.

We want to advise you, we have no confirmation of any... >> They're continuing to find victims throughout the building, throughout the school, as SWAT team members slowly go through the building, because it is not secure as of now.

>> NARRATOR: In the days that followed, the police gathered evidence, including home videos of the attackers and their weapons.

>> NARRATOR: They had assembled a small arsenal: sawed-off shotguns, a nine-millimeter carbine rifle, and a TEC-9 pistol with a 30-round magazine.

The shooters got a friend to buy some of the weapons at a gun show, which didn't require a background check.

It would become known as the gun-show loophole.

>> Columbine was a direct threat to the American gun culture because Columbine really brought to the surface the idea that a couple of disturbed teenagers, if they want to, on any given weekend, can go to a, a gun show and assemble the weapons they need to go and take over the school and start shoot, shooting everybody.

>> At the Colorado State Capitol, the anguish over the Columbine massacre turned to protests.

>> NARRATOR: In the wake of the shootings, thousands protested in Denver.

>> Some here are channeling their grief into protest... >> NARRATOR: Demanding that something-- anything-- be done.

>> 8,000 strong... >> NARRATOR: One of them was the father of a 15-year-old victim.

>> I had a sign made at a sign shop with Daniel's picture on it, and the words, "My son died at Columbine.

He would expect me to be here today."

>> NARRATOR: The protesters had a specific target-- guns and the NRA.

>> Something is wrong in this country... when a child can grab a gun... grab a gun so easily and shoot a bullet... (exhales) ...into the middle of a child's face, as my son experienced.

Something is wrong.

>> The National Rifle Association, target of much anger in Colorado... >> NARRATOR: As it happened, just blocks away, the NRA was gathering for its long-planned annual convention.

>> Gun enthusiasts insist there's no connection between the Columbine tragedy and weapons.

>> NARRATOR: Inside, top executives of the NRA weighed how to respond.

They issued a public statement of sympathy and then sent out their most famous member, movie star Charlton Heston.

>> Thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

>> You couldn't have picked a better caricature of who you wanted speaking, with that stentorian voice of his.

>> America must stop this predictable pattern of reaction.

When an isolated, terrible event occurs, our phones ring, demanding that the NRA explain the inexplicable.

Why us?

Because their story needs a villain.

>> NARRATOR: Despite the shooting, the NRA stayed focused on its core belief-- the right to own guns.

>> The base of the National Rifle Association believes so strongly, it's more a religion, or what a religion used to be.

There's a passion involved in it.

>> The NRA is the closest thing that a membership group can have to just pure patriotism.

They love their country.

>> As long as there's a Second Amendment, evil can never conquer us.

Tyranny in any form can never find footing within a society of law-abiding, armed, ethical people.

>> NARRATOR: Heston tapped into a fundamental fear of NRA members-- that the government would use Columbine to restrict and then take away their guns.

>> Purchases at gun stores start to go up astronomically as people, who are thinking about buying a particular gun over the course of the next year or so, worry that they may outlaw it.

"I better get it while I can."

>> NARRATOR: Hundreds of thousands of new members signed up for the NRA right after Columbine.

>> The gun is a symbol of freedom, the only thing that keeps bad government from taking over.

It really has nothing to do with guns, it has to do with freedom.

But things started getting more political.

>> The president of the United States... >> NARRATOR: Within weeks, while speaking to the Columbine community, President Clinton would push back on the NRA and rally the gun-control forces.

>> You have a unique chance-- a chance-- to make sure that the children of Columbine are never forgotten.

>> The attack in Columbine was such a shock to the body politic that we felt the country needed to do something.

>> Thank you and God bless you.

(crowd applauds) ♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Clinton proposed a bill to close that gun-show loophole.

>> Mr. Ashcroft.

Mr. Baucus.

>> NARRATOR: It was quickly rushed to a vote.

As the roll was called, the Senate was split.

>> Vice President Gore called to the Capitol to break a deadlock.

>> New laws to govern gun sales were deeply dividing... >> NARRATOR: Vice President Gore needed to break the tie.

>> On this vote, the yeas are 50.

The nays are 50.

The Senate being equally divided, the vice president votes in the affirmative, and the amendment is agreed to.

>> It was a setback today for the gun lobby and its allies in Congress.

>> NARRATOR: One month after Columbine, the NRA had lost the first round.

>> The Democrats admit the grip of the National Rifle Association had finally been broken.

>> The gun-control battle now moves to the House, where the tide also seems... >> NARRATOR: The bill then headed to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and that was where the National Rifle Association would make its stand-- under the leadership of Wayne LaPierre.

>> The Wayne that we saw in Columbine was really large and in charge of this huge, dynamic organization.

>> NARRATOR: In the 1970s, he started as a lobbyist.

>> If you're a political junkie, like Wayne or like myself, it was a wonderful job.

>> NARRATOR: But LaPierre was no one's idea of a glad-handing lobbyist.

>> He was a very quiet man.

I was amazed he was a lobbyist, because he did not have the "hail fellow, well met" attitude or personality that I associated with politicians or with lobbyists.

>> NARRATOR: And surprisingly for the NRA, he was not a gun enthusiast, more comfortable on K Street than in a duck blind.

>> The safest place you could be with Wayne and a gun back then was in a different state, because he really did not know anything about guns.

Politics, yes.

Guns, no.

>> NARRATOR: But inside the divided politics of the NRA, LaPierre was skillful, navigating between the sportsmen and the gun-rights activists.

>> Wayne could put a finger to the wind and see which way it was blowing, and he would position himself so that neither side would be offended and might even think that he were, in fact, on that side.

>> In an organization that is so beset by factionalism, his being unmoored to any particular point of view is actually very helpful for him in terms of being able to ride the torrents that have occasionally swept through the NRA and emerge always on top.

>> ...legally to get a gun... >> NARRATOR: Now LaPierre made a crucial decision-- to counterattack, fight against Clinton's attempt to close the gun-show loophole.

>> What we see is the president now dusting off every tired old gun-control bill that's been around his administration for the last six years.

>> The NRA needed to go and show that it could stand up to the president, that it could stand up, and it could, it could, toe-to-toe, meet him in the ring and bash his brains out.

>> NARRATOR: It was all part of what would become LaPierre and the NRA's playbook.

>> (recorded message): Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association.

>> (recorded message): This year, more than ever, your vote really can make a difference.

>> NARRATOR: Within days, faxes and phone calls... >> "The Clinton-Gore Administration isn't wasting any time attempting to further its aggressive anti-gun agenda."

>> NARRATOR: Stoking fear that their guns could be taken away.

>> Fear is a much greater motivator in American politics than anything else, the fear of losing rights that you perceive you have.

When that fear level is high, that's when the groups that represent the issue do well.

>> (recorded message): NRA calling with an urgent... >> NARRATOR: The NRA activated its members.

>> You don't need thousands of people, and you don't need millions of dollars.

You need hundreds of people who will get on the phone, and really, a couple of hundred people to show up at a town-hall meeting.

You do that a couple of times, and your member of Congress gets the message.

>> (recorded message): I'm Charlton Heston.

We need your help to protect our freedom... >> The NRA's membership, if it had one political trait, they vote.

It's that simple.

You are a politician.

You want to get elected.

You want votes.

The NRA has votes.

>> NARRATOR: It also grades members of both parties, punishing them if they break with the NRA on guns.

>> And so if you've got an F rating from the NRA, and you are trying to get elected, good luck with that.

♪ ♪ >> Those in favor of the amendment will say aye.

>> Aye!

>> Those opposed will say no.

>> No!

>> NARRATOR: After the NRA lobbying blitz, the White House came up 22 votes short.

>> Gun-control legislation on Capitol Hill was left for dead today on the floor... >> A hands-down victory for the NRA.

>> When I saw that after this horrific tragedy, despite everything that people say about, "We have to do something to prevent this from happening again," when they couldn't do something as basic as that, I was livid.

>> The National Rifle Association opens its annual convention today.

>> The NRA convention here is rallying the gun-rights faithful... >> NARRATOR: One year after Columbine, it was time for another NRA national convention.

>> ...convention center opened at 10:00 this morning.

>> Ladies and gentleman, and members of the National Rifle Association of America, your president, Charlton Heston.

>> NARRATOR: They had overwhelmed the Clinton administration and successfully demonstrated their power in Congress.

It had been a very good year for the NRA.

>> The NRA is back!

(crowd cheers and applauds) >> NARRATOR: And now the NRA would take the offensive.

>> That leads me to that one mission that is left undone-- winning in November.

>> The race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, that's the last year that the gun issue played a critical role in American politics.

>> NARRATOR: It was time to settle a score with the man who had broken that tie vote in the Senate, Al Gore.

>> I want to say those fighting words for everyone within the sound of my voice to hear and to heed, and especially for you, Mr. Gore.

From my cold, dead hands!

(crowd cheers and applauds) >> NARRATOR: The NRA would spend $20 million on the 2000 election, the most aggressive political campaign they had ever undertaken.

>> Al Gore wants government testing, licensing, and registration for all firearms owners.

He cast the vote that would have shut down every gun show.

This year, vote freedom first, because if Al Gore wins, you lose.

>> To all of you in West Virginia, it's Halloween, and Al Gore doesn't need a mask to scare gun owners and hunters!

>> The NRA wins because it's patient, and because long after America's dismay about these gun massacres has faded, the NRA and its membership are still thinking about guns.

>> Good evening, everybody, and welcome to our election coverage 2000.

>> Stay with us.

We're about to take you on an exciting and bumpy ride.

>> NARRATOR: And on Election Day, the NRA was rewarded.

>> Al Gore has lost in Tennessee tonight.

>> Embarrassing Vice President Gore by snatching his state's 11 electoral votes... >> In no small measure, it was that fight over guns after Columbine that had the firearm community more enlivened, engaged.

And a few votes' difference, and the whole thing would have gone the other way.

>> NARRATOR: Gore was an example to Democrats of the risk of going up against the NRA.

>> Democrats came to believe that gun control was a toxic issue for them.

Democrats were running scared of the NRA.

>> I, George Walker Bush, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.

>> NARRATOR: George W. Bush's inauguration would mark the beginning of a decade where the NRA would get what it wanted.

The assault weapons ban would expire, the Supreme Court would rule that individuals had a constitutional right to own guns, Congress would pass a law to protect gunmakers from lawsuits.

The gun-control forces were left in disarray.

>> Gun-control movement is fragmented.

You don't have what you need to mount a true movement, which is committed warriors-- people who don't need money, who don't need fancy galas, who come out 'cause they care.

That's what the gun people have.

>> NARRATOR: But eventually, the NRA would be threatened by two events.

>> Obama!

Obama!

>> NARRATOR: A new president-- Barack Obama.

>> Obama, Obama, Obama!

>> NARRATOR: And an epidemic of mass shootings, one that would test the NRA's will.

>> 911, what's the location of your emergency?

>> Okay... >> NARRATOR: 154 rounds from a Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle.

(gun firing rapidly) ♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: It lasted less than five minutes.

>> NARRATOR: This time, it was six- and seven-year-olds.

>> We smell fire from the gunshots.

You guys, come in my room now.

Get in here.

>> Okay, well... >> There's still shooting going on, please.

(gun firing) >> I need, I need assistance here immediately.

>> NARRATOR: 20 children and six adults were shot dead.

>> Shots are still being fired there.

>> Get everybody you can going down there.

>> NARRATOR: Outside, it was chaos.

>> My daughter's in that building, please!

>> I have five children who ran from Sandy Hook School.

>> There were just more emergency vehicles and personnel, helicopters than I had ever seen in my life.

I couldn't...

I just... it was a surreal scene.

I just couldn't believe it.

>> NARRATOR: Mark Barden's son, Daniel, was a first-grader at Sandy Hook Elementary.

>> More and more of the kids were being collected by their families, and... No Daniel.

And there was this growing group of parents that were growing in concern, "Where, where's my child?"

>> NARRATOR: Nicole Hockley's son, Dylan, was another first- grader at Sandy Hook.

>> You know, and you're searching, searching the eyes, searching the faces for someone that you recognize, and I just, I couldn't.

>> They told us that, "If you haven't been reunited with your loved one yet, you're not going to be."

(radios running in background) ♪ ♪ >> The majority of those who died today were children.

Beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old.

As a country, we have been through this too many times.

May God bless the memory of the victims, and in the words of Scripture, "Heal the broken-hearted and bind up their wounds."

>> NARRATOR: Like Clinton before him, President Obama took up the cause of gun control.

He handed the job to Vice President Joe Biden.

>> It was in a context of sorrow, extreme, I mean, anger and frustration about, why can't we do something about this?

It was, like, "Enough is enough is enough.

Put together something for me, Joe."

(siren blaring in distance) >> NARRATOR: At the NRA, they knew another political fight was coming.

>> My feeling was, "Uh-oh, here we go again.

Oh, they're going to come out and blame the NRA.

We're really in trouble now."

But I just feared what might happen.

>> When Newtown occurred, it was like Columbine all over again, and we immediately knew that there would be a big push among politicians to seize the opportunity, 'cause they're kind of like vultures on the gun issue.

They have to wait until there's a pile of dead bodies, and then they come swooping in with their catcalls and everything else.

It's very disgusting.

>> The Democrats debate, one on one... >> NARRATOR: The NRA had reason to worry.

Obama had long supported gun restrictions.

>> We can make sure that criminals don't have guns in their hands.

We can make certain that those who are mentally deranged are not getting ahold of handguns.

We can trace guns that have been used in crimes.

>> NARRATOR: For the NRA, it was time to activate the playbook.

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

>> And he almost immediately goes right back to what they usually say, which is that the answer to this is more guns.

>> What if he'd been confronted by qualified armed security?

>> The NRA wins by picking fights.

Its power swells, in a certain regard, every time it has its members feel under attack, that their rights are under attack.

>> Our children, we as a society leave them every day utterly defenseless, and the monsters and the predators of the world know it and exploit it.

>> This was not off the cuff.

He didn't lose it.

This was very thought-out.

And they decided on a strategy, and they executed the strategy.

>> Because the people that it resonated with gave more money.

And this is what you need to do in order to keep that, that tough persona.

>> "And we've got to send the signal that this is not the time to compromise, that Obama is the enemy, and they want to take your guns away.

Yes, it's too bad about the, the kids, but we are not going to back down."

(siren blaring in distance) >> NARRATOR: At the White House, they wanted an ally who could reach out to NRA members.

And they knew just the man.

>> As your senator, I'll protect our Second Amendment rights.

That's why the NRA endorsed me.

I'll take on Washington and this administration... >> NARRATOR: Joe Manchin, who had an A rating from the NRA, was shaken by the Newtown shootings.

>> It really got to me.

These are babies, five- and six-year-old children.

Who would have ever... it's just beyond my imagination, most Americans', to conceive that anything this horrific could happen in America.

>> Light bulbs went off at the Capitol.

Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer and their aides realized, "Wait a second.

We now have a Democrat with an A rating from the NRA saying he wants to do something."

>> NARRATOR: Manchin returned to the same idea as Clinton, requiring background checks at gun shows.

He hoped he could convince the NRA to go along.

>> So Manchin's argument to the NRA is, "Look, you'll never find a gun-safety bit of legislation that is as gun-friendly as this.

And, and all we're really doing is closing a loophole."

>> I felt this would be something that they would embrace.

It was truly a time that Wayne LaPierre and the NRA, the leadership, could have rose to another level, complete another level.

>> NARRATOR: With polls showing wide public support for expanding background checks, Manchin and the vice president figured they had a chance.

>> Everyone felt like the world was going to change, everyone felt like this is going to be the mass shooting that makes America really look at its gun laws and change something.

>> I was optimistic.

Over 91% of the American people supported expanding background checks, 80% of the households that had an NRA member supported it.

>> NARRATOR: Under pressure, there was hope that LaPierre might even get on board-- depart from the playbook.

>> Within the inner circles of the NRA, the wives of senior NRA officials shedding tears and saying to their husbands, "Something has to happen.

You, you have to do something different, honey."

>> And so when they're hearing it from their own members, and when they're hearing it from their own wives, and when they're hearing it probably from others on staff, in that moment, they realized, "Yes, we have to see about doing something here."

>> NARRATOR: NRA staff met with Manchin.

>> They made some suggestions on some wording and changes from that standpoint, so, yes, they had input, and we valued that input.

>> NARRATOR: It didn't take long for news of the meeting to leak.

>> ...that idea, now Joe Manchin says he might be working with the NRA... >> The fact that the NRA was even talking with Manchin suggested at least some room for negotiation for the group.

>> Two small groups, the Gun Owners of America and the National Association of Gun Rights, began to circulate letters saying, "We hear that the NRA is compromising with Manchin."

"There"-- and they used that word, the dreaded C word, that "there's a compromise bill."

>> NARRATOR: Larry Pratt represented one of those groups, whose 300,000 members were some of the most fervent gun-rights activists.

>> The Manchin bill was not aiming at loopholes, it was aiming at nailing down some remaining freedom that American people have.

Gun control simply kills people.

And for Senator Manchin to wave the bloody shirts of those children from Newtown is despicable.

>> NARRATOR: Pratt quickly issued an alert to his members, warning them about the NRA's talks with Manchin.

>> We put out an alert saying, "Please, if you belong to the NRA, call this guy at this number and ask him to urge the powers-that-be to oppose the bill."

>> NARRATOR: LaPierre got the message.

This bill wasn't going to fly with hard-core gun owners.

>> The NRA's main anxiety at that moment is not losing, is not seeing something enacted, it's not looking soft to their own membership and to the substantial number of Americans, who probably number in the millions, who think the NRA is not tough enough.

>> NARRATOR: LaPierre pulled the NRA out of the talks.

>> Suddenly, the NRA stopped cooperating with Manchin, stopped returning their emails, stopped calling.

>> We are not going to let... >> NARRATOR: LaPierre returned to the playbook.

He launched a full-scale assault on the legislation.

>> Remember this TV ad?

>> NARRATOR: Just like he had done to Al Gore, he singled out Senator Manchin.

>> That was Joe Manchin's commitment.

But now Manchin is working with President Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Concerned?

You should be.

>> Senator Manchin was vilified by the NRA.

It was almost like a personal vendetta.

So they, you know, they chewed up one of their own.

>> NARRATOR: As LaPierre waited for the votes, Republicans and some conservative Democrats backed away from the bill.

>> Mr. Isakson.

Mr. Lautenberg.

Mr. Leahy.

Mr. Lee.

Mr. Wyden.

(gavel raps) >> The amendment is not agreed to.

>> NARRATOR: The bill fell five votes short.

The NRA had won.

>> "How could they vote that way?

Don't they understand what happened?

How can they do that?

How can this be?"

I mean, it was disbelief and a sense of betrayal.

That was the mood.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Obama invited the Newtown families to the White House after the vote.

>> Daniel was a first-grader at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

I know that he felt, he felt a sense of responsibility to us and, and to the nation, and to that 90% of the country that, that wanted this.

You know, I think he felt a, a strong sense of responsibility toward that.

And his, his disgust was palpable.

>> It came down to politics-- the worry that that vocal minority of gun owners would come after them in future elections.

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

Thank you very much, everybody.

♪ ♪ >> NARRATOR: Any effort at gun control in Washington was over.

>> ...in a stinging loss for President Obama and, I might add, the country.

>> The proposal was rejected, saddening families of the Sandy Hook victims.

>> Not a single new federal gun law has passed.

And that had NRA members celebrating.

>> Hey, hey, ho, ho!

The NRA has got to go!

>> The nation's capital is the epicenter of the gun-control debate today, with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators... >> NARRATOR: But by 2018, in the wake of the Parkland shooting, a formidable new threat to the NRA was emerging.

>> ...March for Our Lives right here in Washington is the NRA and its lobbying power.

>> NARRATOR: Those Parkland students had come to lead a march on Washington.

>> About half a million people, at least, expected today in Washington.

>> NARRATOR: They vented their anger and frustration at the NRA.

>> A march against the NRA.

A march against Republican lawmakers... >> Washington is preparing for today's historic March for Our Lives rally... >> I was in Washington for the march.

>> ...Congress to address gun violence and school safety.

>> And, I mean, the energy was huge.

>> NARRATOR: Ryan Deitsch was there.

>> I've been amazed by what I've seen.

I'm amazed that I cannot see the end of this crowd here in DC today.

(crowd cheers and applauds) Seeing that crowd on that day be unified over this one issue, this might be our reality now, but it doesn't have to be, and we can change it together.

Thank you!

>> The NRA has never had to deal with this kind of generational problem before.

They'd never gone up against a bunch of incredibly smart, talented, and organized young people.

>> Emma, Emma, Emma!

>> NARRATOR: Emma González rallied the crowds.

>> In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken from us.

Everyone who has been touched by the cold grip of gun violence understands.

>> Hey, hey, ho, ho!

The NRA has got to go!

Hey, hey, ho, ho!

>> The fact that it was actually the children who were in the school was a very powerful, emotional message to the American public.

It was just something unprecedented, and something that the, the pro-gun side really didn't have a counter to.

>> Today, the gun debate takes center stage at the White House.

>> NARRATOR: President Donald Trump invited the Parkland survivors to the White House.

>> Now, the president will host a listening session today at the White House.

>> ...to hear firsthand from survivors... >> ...for a face-to-face meeting with the president.

>> The question remains is what will actually come out of this.

>> It's not going to be talk, like it has been in the past.

It's being going on too long, too many instances.

And we're going to get it done.

We're going to be very strong on background checks.

We'll be doing very strong background checks.

Very strong emphasis on the mental health of somebody.

>> And he said, "You know, I want to do legislation, let's do something now.

I'll, I'll sign it."

>> We're going to come up with a solution.

God bless you all.

Thank you.

>> President Trump vowing to take action.

>> The president, who has indicated his openness to gun control, met students... >> NARRATOR: To the NRA and Wayne LaPierre, it looked like the president was walking away from them.

>> Gun-rights supporters were dumbfounded, they were stunned.

>> NARRATOR: And day after day, it continued.

>> You guys, half of you are so afraid of the NRA.

There's nothing to be afraid of.

And you know what?

If they're not with you, we have to fight them every once in a while-- that's okay.

I appreciate it very much... >> President Trump making some waves in the gun-control debate.

>> "We're going to have to fight them," language that the NRA clearly does not want to hear.

>> NARRATOR: Then Trump went even further.

He decided to revive Obama's Newtown bill.

>> Democrats and Republicans are going to be seated around one table.

>> NARRATOR: He invited Senator Manchin and others to put together a deal.

>> We could have one terrific bill that everybody... started by the people around this table.

We could have an amazing result.

Now, this is not a popular thing to say in terms of the NRA, but I'm saying it anyway, I'm going to just have to say it.

But people want to see something happen.

Some good stuff.

We want to pass something great.

Thank you all very much.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, thank you.

>> Mr. President, could you see yourself supporting... >> NARRATOR: To sweeten the deal, Manchin would offer to rename the bill the Trump Common Sense Gun Bill.

>> ...amid a heated debate that put him at odds with the powerful NRA... >> NARRATOR: The NRA sprung into action.

Wayne LaPierre headed to the White House for a face-to-face with the president.

>> The NRA quickly reacting to that exchange, strongly disagreeing... >> NARRATOR: He made it clear where the NRA stood.

>> ...fighting back against something the president said about assault-style... >> Wayne LaPierre got with President Trump and knocked him upside the head a little bit, and, you know, before you knew it, there was no gun-safety legislation.

And Parkland had produced nothing in Washington.

>> Despite denials from the White House, it's the president who appears to bending to the NRA.

>> Trump appears to be bowing to the demands of the NRA.

>> The NRA meanwhile claims it has the president on its side.

>> They are the best equipped, most feared special-interest group on Capitol Hill.

I mean, they are sort of the gold standard in how to do lobbying work in Washington.

>> I think, truth be told, the White House needs the NRA, the NRA needs this White House.

>> NARRATOR: LaPierre and the NRA were early investors in the Trump presidency.

(crowd cheering) >> Ladies and gentleman, the next president of the United States, Donald Trump.

>> NARRATOR: They had spent more than $30 million supporting the Trump campaign.

>> The NRA, earlier than ever before, officially endorsed him and supported his campaign.

In the political environment, they had to become pro-Trump, and, and very assertively pro-Trump.

>> NARRATOR: Soon after that visit to the White House, President Trump and the NRA were back on the same team.

>> "Great meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA!"

"Respect 2nd Amendment!"

"Highly trained expert teachers will be allowed to conceal carry."

"I want to thank all of our friends and patriots at the NRA.

We will never fail, and we will always protect your Second Amendment!"

>> This is what democracy looks like!

>> NARRATOR: But the Parkland students were keeping the pressure on.

>> ...developing story on the South Side, survivors from the Parkland, Florida, school shooting... >> ...Parkland school shooting have announced a nationwide bus tour to change gun laws.

>> NARRATOR: They traveled the country, pushing their gun-control campaign.

>> The summer bus tour is making more than 50 stops in over 20 states, pushing for gun reform.

>> Through our unified message, we were able to combat them in ways that they had never been challenged before.

>> We must put an end to the senseless violence that rages in our communities, and we need to put each other first.

>> Yes!

>> For about two decades, Democrats were running scared of the NRA.

And I think Parkland changed that.

>> Trying to get so many people registered to vote.

>> When the kids of Parkland started this incredible grassroots movement... >> This does not just lie in the city of Parkland.

>> It captivated constituents.

Democratic lawmakers started hearing from people back home, "Hey, why aren't you doing anything?"

>> NARRATOR: The Parkland students had helped put gun control on the agenda of the 2018 midterms.

The NRA was under fire.

>> I'll take on the NRA, ban assault rifles, ban bump stocks.

>> One out of five guns are obtained without a background check.

>> (bleep) the NRA.

>> NARRATOR: For the first time... >> These weapons have no place... >> NARRATOR: Hundreds of Democrats were taking on the NRA.

>> I'll fight the gun lobby.

>> Because the NRA is an embarrassment, and weapons I used in Iraq have no business on our streets.

>> We had had a moment.

We had had a chance to turn the tides, and we fundamentally did.

>> This is CNN breaking news.

>> This is a very significant defeat for Mr. Trump, a historic accomplishment for the Democrats.

>> NARRATOR: And on Election Night, a big victory for those Democrats who challenged the NRA.

>> Democrats picked up more than two dozen House seats to take control for the first time in eight years.

>> Many of them are from red districts, some of whom represent districts that haven't been in Democratic hands since the early 1960s.

Those people are not NRA supporters.

>> Let me hear you scream!

>> ♪ I'm all the way up, oh All the way up, all the way up All the way up I'm all the way up... ♪ >> NARRATOR: One candidate who won was Letitia James... >> New York now has a new state attorney general.

>> NARRATOR: ...the New York attorney general.

>> New York State's top legal official, and Tish James made history today.

>> Democrat Letitia "Tish" James, and... >> And our nation is at a pivotal moment in history, and we are careening... >> NARRATOR: She immediately turned her sights on the NRA.

>> We need an attorney general who will go after gun manufacturers and the NRA.

>> NARRATOR: As attorney general, James would go after the NRA from a new angle, to try and weaken it from the inside.

>> The New York Attorney General has a lot of power.

She can subpoena their records, and she can look into precisely how they are raising and spending money.

>> She was going to dig in and see what exactly were they doing, how were they spending their money.

>> The National Rifle Association is under investigation by New York State's attorney general.. >> The NRA in crisis, with the New York attorney general launching an investigation... >> New York's Attorney General's Office has opened an investigation... >> And so, that became a really significant threat to the NRA.

>> $200,000 in NRA... >> NARRATOR: Then, a big break that would feed the investigation.

>> Wayne LaPierre looting the coffers.

>> Complaint about the NRA's tax-exempt status... >> NARRATOR: Leaks from inside the NRA.

>> ...extracted hundreds of millions of dollars... >> NARRATOR: Allegations of lavish spending and financial misconduct by LaPierre.

>> The NRA spent more than $200,000 of its members' donations... >> NARRATOR: There were bills for nearly $300,000 from a Beverly Hills clothing store, private jets to the Bahamas, and plans for a $6 million mansion on a Dallas golf course.

>> There were a lot of people around NRA looking to be rich.

Can't imagine any other nonprofit in the entire country that has a similar mission where people are making so much money.

>> NARRATOR: Aaron Davis spent a decade as an NRA fundraiser.

This is the first time he has spoken on camera.

>> The hypocrisy of it all is that the membership who gives $25 doesn'’t, they don'’t know where their money is going.

>> NARRATOR: LaPierre has denied any wrongdoing, but the investigation has thrown the NRA and its leadership into crisis.

>> Now you see a Wayne LaPierre who's under siege and backed into a corner and the NRA is vulnerable to these investigations into its finances that are ongoing.

So it's just mired in internal problems and you know dysfunction.

>> NARRATOR: In the midst of the 2020 presidential campaign the NRA was in the crosshairs.

>> I wanna tell you, if I'’m elected, NRA I'’m coming for you.

And gun manufacturers, I'’m gonna take you on and I'’m gonna beat you.

I'’m the only one who'’s done it.

>> NARRATOR: Within months of Biden'’s election the NRA would declare bankruptcy.

>> America'’s biggest gun lobby group the NRA has filed for bankruptcy.

>> This is a transformational moment in the history of the NRA.

>> NARRATOR: But in Washington there would be little new action on guns.

And the shootings around the country would continue.

>> Police say an 18 year old man dressed in tactical gear open fired at a grocery store in Buffalo.

>> Why do we keep letting this happen?

>> It is the worst mass shooting in Buffalo's history.

>> We have to act.

>> A mass shooting this time at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

>> We are following the breaking news out of Texas, and it is heartbreaking news.

>> I am sick and tired of it.

>> Gunman barricaded himself inside a classroom, police say, and began shooting.

>> Go to pbs.org/frontline for more of our coverage and see all our films around gun violence in america.

Hear more from former NRA insider Aaron Davis.

>> The hypocrisy of it all is that the membership who gives $25 dollars, they don't know where their money is going.

>> Connect with FRONTLINE on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and stream anytime on the PBS Video App, YouTube or pbs.org/frontline.

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org >> For more on this and other "Frontline" programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline.

♪ ♪ FRONTLINE's, "NRA Under Fire" is available on Amazon Prime Video.

♪ ♪