NRA's lobbying in the past

The NRA’s stance on expanding background checks has already been cited on their website. This was taken from their page on March 12, 2013, “The NRA opposes criminalizing private firearms transfers between law-abiding individuals, and therefore opposes an expansion of the background check system." This is not a surprising statement coming from the NRA; it is just that when they are quoted saying this, Mayor Bloomberg didn't hesitate to bring up another quote that their leading lobbyist said in 1999 after the columbine shooting. 

Wayne LaPierre stood before the panel of House of Judiciary Committee in May 1999, testifying against the entire Lautenberg bill. However, LaPierre was quoted, saying that he was in favor of "instant checks at gun shows just like at gun store and pawn shops." The aspect that made this statement so brillent was the use of the word "instant". After the Lautenburg's proposal was passed to extend background checks, the NRA worked with Representative John Dingell to draft a background-check amendment that was denounced as a shame, actually weakening existing guns laws. His proposal did extend background checks to all sales but drastically curtailed the time allocated to the actual background checks that were being implemented. LaPierre was able to draw up such a proposal because the word "instant" that he used in his testimony. Since this proposed amendment actually made the current gun control laws weaker, the democrats voted against it, eliminating any language of background checks in the underlying bill. He was able to accomplish exactly what the NRA desired at the time, which was nothing. But now people like Bloomberg are holding him accountable for what he said in 1999 when he says his stance against extended background checks. Although this is a set back, the victory in 1999 was one of NRA's biggest in a decade.