Established in 1975, Gun Owners of America believes that even the far-right National Rifle Association is too moderate and open to compromise on the issue of gun rights. GOA has emerged as a vocal opponent of gun violence prevention measures thanks to its close alliances with Republican lawmakers and its tendency—unlike the NRA—not to go into hiding after mass shootings.

GOA is currently under the leadership of Erich Pratt, but it was led for decades by his father, Larry Pratt, now the Virginia-based group’s executive director emeritus. Under Larry Pratt’s leadership, GOA became a bridge between conservative lawmakers and the radical anti-government militia movement, linking guns to issues such as Christian nationalism and opposition to immigration reform. Much like the NRA, GOA promotes bizarre conspiracy theories and racial rhetoric in order to stir up panic about crime waves and imminent government seizures of firearms.

And from an associated article at the same site:

GOA has circulated a petition to its members claiming that Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, “would reverse your ability to own a gun” and “hates the Second Amendment,” basing its claims on exceedingly thin evidence. While these attacks on Garland’s record have been widely discredited, several Republican senators have pointed to the judge’s supposed disrespect for the Second Amendment as a reason to oppose him.

GOA’s general counsel, Michael Hammond, brought these claims to an op-ed in USA Today on Sunday, which GOA followed up with a video claiming again that Garland “hates the Second Amendment” and that if he gets on the court “good people will go to prison for exercising their constitutional rights.” Obama’s nomination of Garland, the video warns, is “the most significant step in his sordid trail towards transforming our nation.”

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/gop-taking-supreme-court-orders-from-radical-gun-group/