In an extraordinary move last Friday first reported by Mother Jones, the National Rifle Association laid into a group of open-carry gun activists in Texas for acting “downright weird” and “scary”—but less than 24 hours after our report, with the enraged activists cutting up their NRA membership cards, the gun lobby beat a quick retreat, insisting that Friday’s lengthy statement was all just a big “mistake.” What’s going on here? Mother Jones senior editor Mark Follman explains:

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