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    | The Very Strange Case of Two Russian Gun Lovers, the NRA, and Donald Trump Submitted by: 
			
Mark A. Taff
 Website: http://www.marktaff.com
 | 
			There 
				is 1 comment 
			 	on this storyPost Comments | Read Comments
 |  
    | Now attention is focused around a middle-aged Russian central bank official and a photogenic young gun-activist from Siberia who share several passions: posing with assault rifles, making connections with Republican presidential candidates, and publicizing their travels between Moscow and America on social media. Alexander Torshin and his protégé Maria Butina also share an extraordinary status with America’s largest gun lobbying group, according to Torshin: “Today in NRA (USA) I know only 2 people from the Russian Federation with the status of ‘Life Member’: Maria Butina and I,” he tweeted the day after Donald Trump was elected president.
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    | Comment by: 
     PHORTO
     (3/8/2018) |  
    | "Does this odd pair indicate anything more than a far-flung association of international gun rights advocates?" 
 Nope. As usual, Mother Jones is reaching, fabricating intricate convoluted conspiracies where none exists.
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              | QUOTES
                TO REMEMBER |  
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                      | Some of the worst abuses of government force in recent years were precipitated by technical and victimless gun-law violations. For example, the BATF claimed that the Branch Davidians possessed machine guns without paying the required federal tax and filling in the proper registration forms. So a tax case worth less than $10,000 led to a 76-man helicopter, machine gun, and grenade assault on a home in which 2/3 of the occupants were women and children.  — Dave Kopel and Dr. Michael S. Brown, Prohibition Fever, NationalReview.com |  |  |