Portland School Board Member Joins the NRA

Mike Rosen says it's an attempt to advocate for gun control from inside "the belly of the beast."

Mike Rosen, one of the newest members of the Portland School Board, joined the National Rifle Association over the weekend in the wake of last week's mass murder at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., out of frustration that the powerful gun lobby has blocked gun-control efforts.

"If they're one of the most powerful lobbying organizations advocating against gun control," Rosen says, "why doesn't the gun-control crowd join and take it over?"

Mike Rosen

Rosen says he knows it would take many people like him doing what he did—maybe millions—to have an effect. "It's a long row to hoe, " he says.

But he took the unconventional route—his $25 contribution got him a camouflage tote bag— because traditional approaches haven't worked, he said.

Monday, Rosen joins the rest of the Portland School Board in one of those more traditional approaches. The board will introduce a resolution at its regularly scheduled Oct. 5 meeting urging state leaders to work harder to promote gun control.

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