The National Rifle Association - the most influential pressure group in the world?

We often call the President of the United States of America the most powerful person in the world. That person is the leader of the biggest economy, biggest army and largest nuclear arsenal on the planet so the title seems fairly safe. However, the tenure of Barack Obama has proven that the President is still held to account by his own nation and he has found dealing with gun control extremely difficult. In particular, he has met a constant counter-attack on any gun control measures that he tries to introduce by the all-powerful National Rifle Association (NRA).

That has lead me to ask myself, in a country were pressure groups are so influential, is there a more influential pressure group than the NRA in the world?

Could a pressure group wield this amount of power in the UK? You could talk about the influence of Trade Unions in the 1970s but real influence in the UK today comes from the media.

Here's a tremendous extended article from the BBC on the rise of the NRA. Also, the same information presented as a radio show is available as an mp3 to listen to.

The clip here is also a fantastic reminder of the approach of the NRA. It's an advert using an appeal from a radio talk show host called Dana Loesch.