This study examined how two opposing advocacy organizations, National Rifle Association and Moms Demand Action, legitimize issues related to gun violence. Through topic modeling and social network analysis of tweets from both organizations, this study analyzed how advocacy organizations dealing with controversial issues use communication to achieve certain types of legitimacy. With the consistent outbreak of school mass shootings, this study also explored the communication strategies employed by advocacy organizations to manage issues and enhance legitimacy to garner policy initiatives. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

中文翻译：

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合法性、问题管理和枪支辩论

这项研究探讨了两个对立的倡导组织——全国步枪协会和妈妈需求行动——如何使枪支暴力相关问题合法化。通过对两个组织的推文进行主题建模和社交网络分析，本研究分析了处理争议问题的倡导组织如何利用沟通来实现某些类型的合法性。随着学校大规模枪击事件的持续爆发，本研究还探讨了倡导组织为管理问题和增强合法性以获取政策举措而采用的沟通策略。讨论了研究结果的理论和实践意义。