If you for one moment believe that the NRA has always been on the side of gun rights, you can think again. Some claim that the modern gun control movement started in the late 1960s, and it wasn't the Democrats or liberals who started that, but rather then Governor of California Ronald Reagan and some of his fellow Republicans along with backing from the NRA who passed the first real gun control laws in that state, thus starting what would become and still is a shameful legacy of gun control laws rooted in racist policies.

To save me the time of having to go into details, I'll just link to this source here that could explain it all.-
[history.com]

Long story short... in 1967 at the start of the hippie/peace revolution, a black social activist group called the Black Panthers took one of their protests to the steps of the California statehouse armed with various weapons from pistols to shotguns, and the end result frightened the politicians so much that the Mulford Act was passed which prohibited the open carry of weapons and in particular doing so in the state Capitol. Don't kid yourself folks, such laws were passed to undermine the new black rights movement, and make it extremely difficult for blacks to be able to arm themselves in which to defend themselves from racist police officers and government agents. The Black Panthers also had the right idea on the Second Amendment, and believed stronger actions were required on their part in order to ensure the survival of all black people. The Panthers knew crooked politicians sought to keep them unarmed, and did what they had to to survive.

Anyone who is familiar with that bit of history could plainly see how racist such laws were, and knowing that is so, what does that say about the modern gun control movement, eh?? Such was racist back then and the same applies today. Unfortunately, the social justice activists of nowadays are quick to surrender their right to self-defense, complaining about a corrupt system that oppresses minority populations all the while not taking the appropriate steps in order to bring about actual positive change.

I'd bet anything that the cowardly politicians nowadays who are actively trying to undermine LGBT and reproductive rights would piss in their pants if more protesters openly carried like the Black Panthers once did, as that would be a direct challenge to their own power. On the other hand, those politicians aren't that afraid of people protesting who wear pink pussy hats or who dress up as a vagina or those who fly a rainbow flag, as the politicians know full well people like that pose no serious threat to their power, and the police would have a relatively easy time keeping such people under control. Small wonder why nothing much in that department has changed for the better. I know that may be hard for some to swallow, but it's the reality of what we're up against, and I'll take reality over wishful thinking any day.