Paladin, the protagonist. Your basic 1960s TV Good Guy With a Gun (Will Travel). 
No. The point of the show was that the kid was a wimp being taken advantage of before Paladin taught him how to use a gun. Then the power went to his head. It is about how absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Actually I suspect the guy would want to lock up the guns of everyone else. Anyhow, back then the NRA did Communist things like teach gun safety. It was before they were taken over by the nuts.
There were a lot of TV series and movies in the 60’s that idolized gunslingers. I wonder if this contributed to America’s favorite obsession.
Really? What makes you think he would “have joined right up”? Seems to me like you are painting with a very broad brush, and you’re using the wrong paint to boot.
Bingo.
And to the best of my knowledge, the NRA still teaches gun safety and isn’t run by nuts.
The 4 main Nazi parts were played by Jews. (Schultz, Klink, Hochstetter and Burkhalter) And all 4 of those guys served in the US army during WW 2.