NRA Enemies, Rolling Stone Friends
When the National Rifle Association's angry list of famous people and organizations that have lent "notoriety to anti-gun causes" surfaced the other week, we here at Rolling Stone took a keen interest – and not just because our magazine was itself singled out among the publications that have supposedly "assisted in the attack on Second Amendment rights." (The NRA has since removed the enemies list from its website. It lives on here.)
Like many in the media, we were initially wowed by the extreme lengths that the NRA is determined to hold a grudge. Why would any self-respecting enemies list published in 2013 include Motown stars the Temptations, 1980s Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton or 97-year-old author Herman Wouk?
But as we puzzled over the individuals deemed most threatening to the gun lobby, we were struck by an odd symmetry. In some cosmic sense, is Rolling Stone the yin to the NRA's yang? Literally dozens – and dozens – of the NRA's enemies have not only been profiled in the pages of Rolling Stone, they've been celebrated on our cover. 61 enemies in all.
Read on to see the NRA enemies from the worlds of music, movies, comedy and television who have made it to Rolling Stone's cover through the decades.
By Tim Dickinson
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Bruce Springsteen
RS 1153, March 29th, 2012
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Beyonce
RS 943, March 4th, 2004
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Britney Spears
RS 1067, December 11th, 2008
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Jessica Alba
RS 977/978, June 30th, 2005
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Alec Baldwin
RS 1175, January 31st, 2013
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Christie Brinkley
RS 397, June 9th, 1983
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George Clooney
RS 1144, November 24th, 2011
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Kevin Costner
RS 592, November 29th, 1990
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Julia Roberts
RS 686/687, July 14th-July 28th, 1994
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Sean Connery
RS 407, October 27th, 1983
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Richard Dreyfus
RS 192, July 31st, 1975
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Carrie Fisher
RS 400/401, July 21st, 1983
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Jane Fonda
RS 260, March 9th, 1978
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Jodie Foster
RS 600, March 21st, 1991
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Richard Gere
RS 446, April 25th, 1985
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Ethan Hawke
RS 703, March 9th, 1995
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Michael Moore
RS 957, September 16th, 2004
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Mike Myers
RS 814, June 10th, 1999
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Jack Nicholson
RS 1010, October 5th, 2006
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Sigourney Weaver
RS 553, June 1st, 1989
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Jerry Seinfeld
RS 691, September 22, 1994
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Lenny Kravitz
RS 722, November 30th, 1995
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Michelle Pfieffer
RS 638, September 3rd, 1992
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Jon Hamm
RS 1113, September 26th, 2010
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Robert Redford
RS 327, October 2nd, 1980
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Missy Elliott
RS 934, October 30th, 2003
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Susan Sarandon
RS 344, May 28th, 1981
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Martin Sheen
RS 303, November 1st, 1979
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Meryl Streep
RS 354, October 15th, 1981
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Courtney Cox and Lisa Kudrow
RS 708, May 18th, 1995
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Sharon Stone
RS 630, May 14th, 1992
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Jennifer Aniston
RS 878, September 27th, 2001
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Cameron Diaz
RS 894, April 25th, 2002
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Will Ferrell
RS 774, November 27th, 1997
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Jennifer Garner
RS 889, February 14th, 2002
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Conan O’Brien
RS 1117, November 11th, 2010
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Chris Rock
RS 1049, April 3rd, 2008
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Brooke Shields
RS 262, April 6th, 1978
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Jon Bon Jovi
RS 545, February 9th, 1989
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Melissa Etheridge
RS 709, June 1st, 1995
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Sheryl Crow
RS 747, November 14th, 1996
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Art Garfunkel
RS 145, October 11th, 1973
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Madonna
RS 1090, October 29th, 2009
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Natalie Merchant
RS 652, March 18th, 1993
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Bette Midler
RS 384, December 9th, 1982
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Bonnie Raitt
RS 577, May 3rd, 1990
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Sting
RS 1029, June 28th, 2007
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Shania Twain
RS 915, February 6th, 2003
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David Duchovny
RS 734, May 16th, 1996
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Drew Barrymore
RS 854, November 23rd, 2000