A former US politician and life member of the National Rifle Association believes gun manufacturers are driving the view in the US that the right to bear arms is under threat.
A model walks the runway during the NRA Concealed Carry Fashion Show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in August. Photo: AFP / Joshua Lott
While the country is still reeling from last week's mass shooting in Las Vegas, in which 58 people were killed, resistance to controlling gun ownership remains strong.
Debra Maggart was a Republican representative in the Tennessee state legislature, but after opposing an NRA-backed bill that would allow people to keep firearms in their parked vehicles, the NRA supported a rival candidate in the Republican primary and she eventually lost her seat.
Before that she had received an A-plus rating by the NRA for her eight-year legislative voting record in the Tennessee General Assembly.
Ms Maggart told Nine to Noon she had supported 21 pieces of gun legislation put up by the NRA in the state over the years, but ran foul of them with just one.
The NRA then singled her out to send a clear message to political candidates across America, she said.
"If you go against us then we are going to come after you."
She said that the while the NRA promotes the idea that it protects the second amendment, which gives every citizen the right to bear arms, all it really does is support gun manufacturers.
"They are not about gun ownership, they are about promoting the interests of gun manufacturers because everybody in this country practically owns a gun and they want to sell more.
"After everybody has bought one or two or three, they have to create a market for people to buy more and they do that I think by scaring Americans into believing that someone is going to try and take your gun," she said.
Debra Maggart said while the NRA has only five million members out of a population of 323 million, it was wealthy and its influence very strong.
"It's not how much money the NRA donates to candidates, the issue is they have unlimited funds to use against someone in an election like they did to me."
