ohio, the guy had a 100 round drum hooked up to this firearm. in 32 seconds, he killed 35 people. and th police were right there they were there within 40 seconds and it wasn't time enough to stop something like that. amy: what are you con for in the colorado legislature where you are a state representative? >> yesterday afternoon, we passed out of committee in the house a lost and stolen to make sure people who have their firearms lost or stolen report them so law-enforcement nose the eas th these are happy -- knows the areas these are happening at so when they recover them, they can get them back to people, that kind of stuff. 60% of people already do it but the opponents who were there

talking about it, right away they started with the fear mongering that they are notorious for and were comparing us to nazis, sayg this was the beginning of a gun registration. 60% of them are already doing that of their own wish and and none of their firearms are getting -- their own volition and none of their firearms are getting confiscated. 60% is not enough. we need 70%, 80% of the people to notify law enforcement when they have the firearms lost or stolen. better yet, they need to be more responsie with their firearms. we are also working on a safe storage, making sure you lock up your firearms when they're in the presence of kids when their kids in the house because we just have those accidents happening way too often. whatever people die every day from gun violence.

22 are veterans. four dying by suicide. over 200 people are injured by accidental shootings. a lot of those are children. amy: i want to thank you so much for joining us, tom sullivan. he began running for office after his son alex was killed in the aurora movie theater mass shooting. it was his 27th birthday. before we move into the next segment on the history of the nra, the democracy now! family would like to send our condolences to the family of kevin mahoney, who died in the boulder shooting. kevin's daughter erika interned at democracy now! in 2010. she is now the news director at kazu public radio in california. on tuesday, she posted a message on twitter that went viral. it read -- "i am heartbroken to announce that my dad, my hero, kevin

mahoney, was killed in the king soopers shooting in my hometown of boulder, colorado. my dad represents all things love. i'm so thankful he could walk me down the aisle last summer." she went on write -- "i am now pregnant. i know he wants me to be strong for his granddaughter." kevin mahoney was 61 years old. next up, whispered to longtime investigative journalist frank smyth. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. less than a week after a gunman in the atlanta area killed eight people when he attacked three asian-owned spas, news broke monday of another mass shooting. this time, 10 people were killed

in a boulder, colorado, grocery store. the powerful gun rights lobby group the national rifle association responded by tweeting out the text of the second amendment. the massacre in boulder came just after a colorado judge ruled in favor of the nra's challenge to boulder's ban on assault weapons, which was passed in 2018 after this type of weapon was used in the mass shooting in parkland, florida. the nra celebrated the judge's ruling, saying it was written in a way that will "make it even harder to overturn, should the city appeal it" and that "the principles behind thruling will apply to other localities who are considering passing any similar counterproductive ordinances." none of this is new. despite increasingly regular mass shootings, the nra has pushed for gun rights since the

1970's and insisted that more guns, not fewer, would prevent gun deaths. the nra organized a rally in 1999 in denver after the columbine shooting. after the 2012 sandy hook massacre in connecticut, the nra called for schools to arm themselves. this comes as the nra is now actually in a deeply weakened state. it filed for bankruptcy last year after new york state attorney general letitia james sued them for fraud, saying the nra's chief executive officer, wayne lapierre, and other top officials broke state and federal laws to enrich themselves and their families. lapierre and the nra were major supporters of president trump. now president biden is calling on congress to pass new gun restrictions. in fact, calling on congress to pass an assault weapons ban. for more on the role of the nra and how we got here and what could happen next, we are joined by longtime investigative journalist frank smyth, author of the book "the nra: the

unauthorized history." former arms-trafficking investigator for human rights watch and has reported on the group for decades. welcome back to democracy now! frank, it is great to have you with us again. give us a history of the nra and how it is possible now after these two mass shootings in a week that the congress, at least at this point, the senate has made clear that they are not for gun contr. >> yeah, the nra is a history they don't want anyone to know about because for over 100 years, they were focused on improving marksmanship among military forces and later panding that throughout the guowning community of the united states. competitive target shooters and that alsounters. in 1977, they underwent

something they don't like to talk about but is known in their own floors, this cincinnati revolt. nce th, the n has put forth an etiology which says you can have a little gun control thout sacrificingll of your guns and a little gun control, even background checks, can precipitate slippers like to disarmament and all the way to genocide. and to support this theory, they distorted the history of the holocaust, falsely claiming gun control was a significant factor in enabling the holocaust and the or recently falsely claimed the early nra help defend freed slaves during reconstruction against the ku klux klan. these go beyond historical revisions and our fabulous inventions, but they allowed them to claim gun control is self is racist, not them, and

gun control is not only racist but actually genocidal. the problem is this is ridiculous and no holocaust scholar support this they or reconstructionist story, there story about prelaves. the problem is the modern nra, even as it is waning, even as it looks like it is going to dissolve as we know it and reincorporate in texas, even as it is being pummeled by thnew york attorney general lawsuit where the evidence originated from within the nra with oliver north, despite this, their ideology is something they have convinced the overwhelming majority of elected officials in the gop, especially on the national level come to believe, along with any if not most of the 74 million people who voted for trump's reelection. and that is the problem. they have convinced a great many people that even background checks which will appear supported back in 1999, by the way, but they convinced even

background checks post existential threat to the freedom and ultimately their lives and this is the obstacle the democrats in the biden administration and other gun reformers space going forward. amy: and yet the nra is at its weakest point ever. it declared bankruptcy last year. and you couple that with the overwhelming support -- republican, democrat -- at the grassroots level, even of the nra membership for gun control. >> the nra filed for banuptcy but this is the weight tried to escape the lawsuit by the new rk attorney general. the nra is weaker than it is never been in the modern era. the financial problems in prior centuries, b the gun rights movement and the nra is really the modern father of -- they gave rise to the gun rights

movement is stronger than ever most of part of the evidencfor this is theact we are now undergoi in the ited states something that is unprecedented. that is what the nra because the great ammo shortage. since last summer, since the black lives matter protests, people went out and not only about weapons, ammunition to the point that stores come online vendors, and retail stores, over source rain out of a munition starting last summer. the ammo shortage continued through 20 and now the nra expects that shortage the last through most of 2021. there are a great many people with a great gillette includes the republican party who believe their ideology. even though it is weaker, the gun rights movement is stronger than ever. the gun reform movement because of the parkland students is stronger than ever. setting the stage i think for in epic nala --battle.

amy: can you explain joe manchin 's position? he is not representing the overall feeling of the people of west virginia yet he has already stated he will not support two bells the house just passed around g control. >> joe manchin is trying to walk a very fine line as a blue dog democrat from west virginia. supported -- she was the co-author, the sponsor of the background checks bill that was proposed in 2013 after the sandy hook shooting. he supported that on the condition he included language that would make it doubly illegal for any federal official to compile new gun registries or lists of gun owners and gun

transactions. that is something that is a redline for the nra, for other people in the gun rights movement. so he backed the background checks bill thatut now it a different environment, dealing with a trump led gop. manchin is worried like others in congress that if he supports either of these background check bills now, he will get voted out of office. and that is a very serious concern on his part. and the problem is even though there is more support for gun reform now than ever before, the gun rights movement is invigorated and they see the combination of the pandemic as well as the black lives matter protests -- which i think put a great deal of irrational fear into the minds of many americans -- has led to a state where now the nra has gotten what it has always wanted, which is like an opposition from a great many people in congress to a and the

most the night and symbolic steps forward for gun reform. amy: i went to georgia senator rev. raphael warnock who was speaking on nbc's "meet the press" sunday after the shooting in the atlanta area that killed eight people, including six asian-american women. >> this shooter was able to kill all of these folks the same day he purchased a firearm but right now what is our legislature doing? they're busy here in georgia under the goal don't try to prevent people from being able to vote this i've they register. i think that suggests a distortion of values when you can buy a gun and create this much carnage and violence on the same day but if you would exercise your right to vote as an american citizen, the same legislature should be focused on this is busy erecting barriers to that constitutional right. amy: that is rev. warnock, who is one of two new senators from georgia.

if you can comment on this and also, we surprised are president biden saying he supports an assault weapons ban? biden, who was the point person's vice president for president obama come after the sandy hook massacre, the killing of all of these six-year-olds, to come up with legislation that would pass and the uimately were not able to accomplish any of that back in 2012, 2013. >> i don't think this is going to go well for biden for people in favor of gun reform the way this is going forward. in terms of the notion that you can buy a gun -- easier to buy a gun and you can buy one faster thanegistere about in georgia as well as other states, this reflects the nion th nothing should impede the ability of citizens to be able to buy arms, whever arms they want, is

easily as i possibly can merely by showing a drivers license and being able to establish residency and that they are an adult, 18 o21. that is what the gun rights movement once. they want no impediments to build a by firearms. going back to representative sullivan, the reason they with this firepower is they want to build a fight rebels as well as armed mobs. scenes from 1992 are still looming large for people under the gun rights community. they want to be able to fight government forces, including law enforcement. they want to have the same level of firepower as police do. that is why they won ar-15's. and they do not care. it is the price of freedom as far as they're concerned if kids get killed, first-graders get killed in connecticut are women and others get shot in atlta or people get killed in a supermarket in boulder.

that does not matter as long as they have access. most americans don't buy this but that is -- go ahead. sorry. amy: i want to go to rebecca peters. she led the movement in australia to change gun laws after a gunman killed 35 people in tasmania in april 28, 1996. this is so significant. you have a gun loving nation but the laws effectively ended mass shootings in australia. i spoke to her a few years ago. >> we had had in those days the series of massacres. get a massacre about once a year. each time there was an outcry, there was a lot of grief and anger and discussion about what should happen in pressure on the politicians but each time the politicians had said, well, this -- everyone agreed should not be a party political issue but neither of the major parties was prepared to move first.

i suppose the thing that happened was electoral makeup of the government favored as at the time. we had just had a new government elected. it was a conservative government. in a sense, it is easier for a conservative government to change the gun laws because the conservative party was seen more as the natural ally of the gun lobby. really, people die the same whatever party they vote for. we thought it was particularly courageous of the conservative prime minister to say "i'm going." ." to do this once and for all amy: explain over the two weeks and then the year what exactly the rules were that got past the people of australia and this massively traumatic -- well, i mean, numeral massacres in australia. >> the principal change was that

the ban on semiautomatic weapons , rifles and shotguns, assault weapons, and that was accompanied by a huge buyback. the initial buyback of those weapons, almost 700,000 guns were collected and destroyed. there were several iterations over the years and now over a million guns have been collected and destroyed in australia. also the thing is, sometimes countries will make a little tweak in their laws but you have to take a comprehensive approach. if you just ban one type of weapon or one category a person come if you don't do something about the overall supply, that basically, it is unlikely your gun laws will succeed. amy: where does the u.s. stand when it comes to gun massacres in the industrialized world? >> the u.s. has the highest rate of gun deaths under the industrialized world. the rates of gun deaths in the

u.s. are about 11 times higher than in australia and 15 times 20 times higher than in other developed countries. in terms of massacres, the u.s. has a larger number massacres even then countries in the developing world or countries in conflict. the number of mass shootings that occur in the u.s. outstrips any other country under the world. amy: that is rebecca peters who spearheaded the move in a matter of weeks, gun loving nation completely turns around and they end gun massacres in australia. frank smyth, if you can comment on this and if you can see that possibility and maybe we then, the issue of the filibuster, is that what we need, the end of the filibuster in the u.s. senate? >> i think what needs to happen here is the democrats and gun reformers need to start thinking strategically about this issue.

i don't think we had had an honest conversation about guns and gun policy in the united states for more than 50 years since president johnson raised the issue of gun registration. biden is put assault weapons ban an issue of registry exisng assaulweapons for those who want to keep them as part of his plan. but he is not discussed details. he has not expired to the american people how this would work, how this would not be afra to people's freedom ely to tear any genocide. the problem is the democrats have been trying to see what they can get past as opposed to tang a long-term strategic approach to challenge the propaganda that iseen put out by the nra for four years. the difference between the u.s. and new zealand and australia is the facwe have the nra and even as the nra is going down, it itheir idlogy that remains. in that has not been -- anthat has not been challenge the entire leadership of the gop has

bought into this ideology. i don't think in assault weapons ban is going to happen under this administration, not unless the democrats do extremely well under the midterms. yes, removing the fibuster would eliminate a barrier with republicans coulcome up with other ways to impede legislation. the problem is the democrats have finally got to the point where they put will gun reform -- still years away from getting it. amy: frank smyth, thank you for being with us, longtime investigative journalist and author of "the nra: the unauthorized history." democracy now! is lookin

. welcome back.

thank you for joining us again on nhk "newsline." we start this hour with a developing story. the japanese government says north korea launched two ballistic missiles on thursday morning. officials say they were launched around 7:00 a.m. japan time. they believe the debris fell outside japan's economic zone and say there is no immediate