Amanda Suffecool

By John Petrolino

The world of everything guns has been rapidly shifting from male dominance to a symbiotic sharing between males and females alike. The accidental advocate, Amanda Suffecool, didn’t wake up one day and say to herself “How can I immerse myself in the Second Amendment and have my life revolve around it?” Like many, Suffecool’s answer of the call to become an advocate happened gradually and through happenstance. Recently, Suffecool announced she’s running for a spot on the National Rifle Association Board.

Suffecool took some time out of her busy schedule to chat with me about her journey in the firearms industry and as an advocate. When I say busy schedule, I don’t mean to diminish the work that any of us do, but she had to hang up on me during a call once to answer a call from her Congressman. She took it all in stride, calling me back to pick up right where we left off in our conversation. 

Suffecool isn’t your ordinary Second Amendment supporter. The engineer often describes herself as “a woman of a certain age” which brings with it a certain mystique. She’s the holder of a patent related to her work in manufacturing, specifically on heat transfer in catalytic reactors.

The relation of Suffecool’s excellence in her former trade as an engineer and her work on Second Amendment-related issues has much to do with another strength of hers, her communication skills. The Kent State graduate holds a BS in Manufacturing Engineering and has spent her career solving problems.

Suffecool doesn’t have a “moment” that she can put her finger on when it comes to her journey. About being thrust into the world of firearms, she said that she actually decided to become a firearm instructor before her home state of Ohio enacted concealed carry.

She explained . . .

I was the plant manager of a window and door company…when the management of the company imploded. I found myself at a career crossroads. Rob [Campbell] (Suffecool’s brother, cohost of their radio show, and business partner in many things) took me on a road trip he already had to go on, and drug me along. We had four hours to chat. He told me that there was a career opportunity with Ohio standing on the edge of passing concealed carry. I told him there was no money in firearms training. He disagreed.

Initially she said that she took a few days to write a business plan to prove Campbell wrong. She crunched the numbers and proved to herself that the prospect of becoming an instructor was actually doable, and she thrust herself into the firearms training business.

Since going into business in the Second Amendment world, Suffecool has been all-in. In addition to training, Suffecool and Campbell had a gun shop, and then were pulled in new directions. More motivated her than making money and she rapidly immersed herself in everything Second Amendment.

The communication skills she used so well in business also serve her well in the world of gun rights advocacy. She told me that she had a knack for being able to bridge the gap between engineers and customers, sifting the jargon out and speaking to her customers in a language they can understand. She put those skills to work in the gun world, too.

When Suffecool and Campbell had an opportunity to appear on a radio show to answer questions about firearms, they were a natural fit. She leaned on her expertise in breaking down and simplifying complex concepts, and communicating them in a manner that anyone could digest. Campbell, her brother and partner in the venture, has a near encyclopedic knowledge of everything guns. The pair complement each other well when they share the airwaves.

That opportunity to answer a few questions about guns on someone else’s radio show eventually led to the duo beginning their own program, Eye on the Target Radio. Suffecool’s show is nationally syndicated and runs every Sunday for two hours. The show is also simulcast via Facebook, Youtube, and runs on the Opslens television network app.

A natural progression for Suffecool’s work involved the creation of a not-for-profit called REALIZE Firearms Awareness Coalition. REALIZE aims to . . .

…educate citizens as to the historical intent of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, to enable citizens to accurately relate and defend aspects of the U.S. Constitution, to enhance public awareness and support for responsible gun ownership, and to emphasize firearms education for women who facilitate the transmittal of constitutional awareness and gun ownership to succeeding generations.

Through REALIZE and with the connections she’s made, Suffecool has hosted successful concealed carry fashion shows, many featured at NRA Annual Meetings. Suffecool has taken her show on the road, showcasing the many different styles of carry and how an individual can build their wardrobe to more effectively carry and conceal their firearm. The show she hosts has been featured on Vice News, as well as HBO, and have been unveiled in several cities across the nation. Suffecool also penned a book on the subject.

To date, with different shows, programs, and personalities moving about and out of the industry, Suffecool is the only female host of a nationally syndicated Second Amendment radio show in the nation and the only woman seated on radio row at the annual NSSF SHOT Show.

Through her work in the industry and efforts to preserve the Second Amendment, Suffecool has amassed several honors. She told me that she was awarded the 2017, 2019 and most recently the 2022 Defender of Liberty Award by the Second Amendment Foundation. Suffecool also was awarded the Amm-Con Making a Difference Award. Amm-Con, or the Alternative Mass Media Conference, is an event hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation that brings Second Amendment media members together to learn from one another. In 2019 at a Gunsite class she was attending, she won the Challenge Coin for the 250 Class while shooting a SIG P365.

Suffecool’s is also is heavily involved with the DC Project. The DC Project is an all women cadre of volunteers who work to educate legislators in Washington, DC. The group has annual meetings with lawmakers and engage with policy makers in their own home states. Suffecool holds an Advisory Board seat as the Southeast Regional Director, and has been instrumental within the organization.

When I look at the future of the Second Amendment, I see more women on our side like Amanda Suffecool. Suffecool’s name was called at the 2022 Second Amendment Foundation Gun Rights Policy Conference to receive her third Defender of Liberty Award, and it brought into sharp focus how important women like her are to our cause.

If you were to stop Suffecool to sing her praises, she’d more than likely brush you off after a heartfelt thanks, then remind you that there’s more work to be done and suggest you keep your focus.

Suffecool and dedicated women like her are the advocates that are increasingly leading the gun rights movement now. She’s charted a course leading to success and has cast a mold which we can emulate in our work as advocates. When it comes to the successes she’s found in her life, Suffecool told me, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

To learn more about Amanda Suffecool, visit her Eye on the Target webpage and tune into her weekly show. She’s also established a Facebook page dedicated to her run for the NRA board.

 

John Petrolino is a US Merchant Marine Officer, writer, author of Decoding Firearms: An Easy to Read Guide on General Gun Safety & Use, USCCA certified instructor, and NRA certified pistol, rifle and shotgun instructor. You can find him on the web at www.thepenpatriot.com on twitter at @johnpetrolino on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thepenpatriot/ and on instagram @jpetrolinoiii

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73 COMMENTS

  3. Not sure what this article is all about. Is it just a long resume submission? Why?

    Background may, may be important, but what makes this person a good candidate for the NRA board? How wired-in with other board members is she? How wired-in is she with NRA leadership? Precisely, what are the things the candidate thinks she brings to the NRA board that weren’t there before/aren’t there now?

  4. I spent some time visiting in-depth with Amanda in Dallas a couple weeks back. I found her to be knowledgable of the 2A issues and more than willing to roll up her sleeves and get to work.

    • Did your in-depth vist include a word about abolishing Gun Control like its sidekicks slavery, Jim Crow, etc?

      Until the 2A is taken off the 24/7 hotseat and Gun Control is placed on the hotseat 24/7 someone’s gender, resume, qualifiers and yada yada don’t mean much to me.

      • “Did your in-depth vist include a word about abolishing Gun Control like its sidekicks slavery, Jim Crow, etc?“

        Hell, no. WHY?

        Regardless what some may post around here, I cannot name an NRA BOD member who would be considered, by the vast majority of cognizant Americans, to be either pro gun-ban proponents, nor racist.

        Obviously (to me), it didn’t need to brought up in the discussion, much like it didn’t need to be injected here.

        Unless you have some reason to believe everyone you encounter is hopelessly racist from the start, what’s the point? Of course, if you always start off with that assumption, many may consider your viewpoint racist as well…

  5. Good luck to her. I’ve listed to Amanda on the gun podcasts for almost 10 years now. She’s great. The NRA board is filled with degenerate scum and villainy. She should be cautious.

    • Would that you could actually back that statement up.

      You may disagree with some/many, whom you likely have neither met nor could name, but your charges, publicly, could leave you open to legal action.

      • If you believe that it’s just Wayne. If he was gone, things would be back to normal. Then you are clueless. The board allowed the NRA to fall into the position they are in now.

        • James would have brought her NYS suits regardless of who was in the EVP chair. It’s what she originally ran on and that’s readily available for all to see. She’s actually had little success in any actual legal “wins” other than tying up money that traditionally went towards lobbying, legislative activity and influence, but also towards the training, competition and numerous other programs that NRA encompasses- programs and activities that none of the other gun groups even think about, but for which there is a need. That’s the true affect of the NYS suit- no legal outcome ever necessary- just keep it up as long as possible. If one is able to also turn some 2A, or even casual gun owners against NRA, as evidenced by some commenters here- all the better for Leticia James, Bloomberg, and other would-be tyrants bent on eradicating the US Constitution and our God-given rights. After all- why should the US be the only nation so blessed?

          Were this same amount of state-sponsored, mostly unwilling taxpayer support and force directed only at say, FPC, SAF, NAGR, or state orgs like NYSRPA, those groups would have ceased to exist after a month or so. And WLP, Sonja Rowling, Jason Ouimet, the NRA Officers and Exec Council and BOD could all disappear tomorrow and the suit, and efforts to negate the 2A would continue.
          Not even the most ardent NRA hater could really dispute that.

    • THree cheers for the sarcastic marsupial!!!

      (And I back his views on all three issues/questions).

  7. I took her ccw class a few 4? years ago when my wife finally decided to get her permit. The classroom part was good lots of basic safety and general how different guns work. Covered the laws and do’s/don’t of cc very well.
    The range time was much more extensive than any of the classes I’ve heard of in this area. Way more then firing 25 rounds at a target and if you don’t shoot anyone you pass. Even a little shooting from the hip. Fired at least150 rounds.
    Don’t know what she can do to help straiten out the nra but I wish her luck and will be voting for her. Been a lifer for 42 years, don’t know if voting really helps but it can’t hurt. and it’s free.
    Not a dime till wayne is gone.

  8. She sounds ok. The nod from SAF is big +. Nothing for Negotiating Rights Away until old Wayne is out…

  9. “Nothing for Negotiating Rights Away until old Wayne is out…”

    Didn’t the NYS AG bankrupt and dismantle NRA, already?

  10. The NRA is a non-factor and the states know it.
    Since Wayne wont step down nobody is scared of the NRAs “power”.
    Why do think a bunch of states are pushing anti 2A agendas?
    They KNOW the NRA is in disarray and is just Wayne LaPierre and friends personal bank.
    The NRA used to strike fear into their hearts and now they laugh.

    • This. The most recent things they have done involve President Bush and Trump (for personal financial gain), suing Fan Francisco multiple times, and sued again for personal profit so we can obtain “surplus weapons”…

      This is a multi million dollar organization that claims to be pro 2A. What they really are is pro political profit and backing one side of a failed system – but only if it generates them revenue.

      They are fucking useless.

    • WOW are you confused.

      The NRA is the only gun rights org that the Progs in DC and the MSM have even HEARD of. Stop being a pawnof the CNN coven.

  11. That’s great.

    Now list something the NRA has done for us in the past 10 years.

    Read that again: DONE. FOR. US…

    Not for themselves.

    The answer is nothing.

    • Not sure to whom you directed this, but can you say “Bruen”? NYSRPA May have been plaintiff but it was run via NRA Legal at a cost to NRA members upwards of $2.2 million. This from the current Prez of NYSRPA. NRA has also joined in the action to further clarify and enforce Bruen.

        • Yes- as with Bruen, the majority of the costs and language. There are, of course, others, at present at least 15 ongoing NOT including the James BS. The MT guy only asked for someone(?) to “list something the NRA has done for us in the past 10 years”. “something” infers one thing, not plural.

        • I can already carry, I went through a colonoscopy to get my concealed carry license and again for my renewal. I go through a complete background check every 14.8 days in my state just to make sure I’m still a good boy. That’s a NICS, court records, DUIs, orders of protection, EVERY 14.8 days.

          That being said my carry EDC has a 16 round magazine. On April 10th I either have to change that magazine to a 10 round, modify a $45 magazine to hold one less round or carry a different handgun that only holds 15 rounds. It seems to me that my state isn’t afraid of Bruen or just is choosing to ignore it. Where is the NRA in all of this? Spending money on anything but the unjust laws that were passed in my state and are being proposed in other states.

          Everyone loves to say how “Bruen” is the most wonderful thing that SCOTUS has passed but for some reason some states are just ignoring it. I also get to register some of my weapons with the state in 300 days but that would be a very long statement so lets just concentrate on magazine limits for now. It seems to me that I have LOST more RIGHTS after Bruen then I ever have in my life.

          The NRA is not challenging this law in my state but other gun right groups are, two on a state level and one federal but there might be more. The $2.2 million on Bruen? Wayne LaPierre makes that in two years is worth 20 million and IF the NRA can ever get rid of him he gets a 17 million dollar bonus.

          I would like thank the NRA for running away from every 2A fight in my state, funding most of the Bruen decision and eroding my second amendment rights. I would like to give Wayne LaPierre a gold sticker for losing a discussion with a 11 year old girl on the Sunday morning news, the same little girl that Dana Loesch put in her place a few weeks later.
          I watched Wayne LaPierre lose an argument with a child and that’s just sad.
          Here’s how the NRA wasted 43 million dollars:
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exLYnhs_kCw

        • This guy gets it… but you may offend some of the bumper sticker fighters on this forum. Bumper stickers they bought of Amazon too…

          Keep in mind these are the same idiots that admit you are throwing your votes away unless you vote republican. The same idiots that put trust in their system for the past 50 years rather than actually fight for our rights. Any GWOT baby knows these boomers fucked our country into oblivion and they still defend their stupid fucking decisions. So by all means, support the failed NRA the same you support the failed everything else. The rest of us would rather support real change or take it by force – which again, you don’t support either lmfao.

        • In answer to Rob S and the MT Actual: the case of blue states ignoring Bruen at this time only supports the notion that small lawsuits by SAF, FPC and others really accomplish little more than fundraising opportunities. Filing a suit costs little and a first level action won will surely be appealed up the ladder. Taxpayer funding vs privately sourced, and now we’re talking real money. Add to that the fact that under Biden there will never be any US Marshals sent out to, say, CA or MA to see that Bruen is enforced.

          It takes nearly, or more than a decade to run a case through SCOTUS, as well as millions of dollars and an army of lawyers. The fact is that most suits/challenges will never reach SCOTUS, let alone a serious appellate court.

          NRA is already joined in the case to clarify Bruen and onboard with ISRA in IL, as ISRA is the NRA state affiliate, just as NYSRPA is.

          I’d hope to be the last to ridicule any organization’s attempt at maintaining/regaining Constitutional guarantees in what is a constant upstream swim in the largest states, while in states like Iowa the liberties have become commonplace and are gaining. Trying to steer the entire country, when the majority of the population now resides in 4 or 5 states is difficult and takes time.

          If Bruen, as the MT poster claims, “in reality, Bruen did fuck all”, demonstrate anything any other organization has done that has accomplished more.

          On the other hand, during the 2022 election cycle, Iowa Firearms Coalition, with the help of NRA’s legal team and language passed an amendment to Iowa’s Constitution codifying the US 2A and demanding the application of Strict Scrutiny in evaluating any firearms laws or propositions in-state. It passed by a 2 to 1 margin- 10K more votes than the victory margins of Sen Grassley or Gov Reynolds. We are now guaranteed a real weighing of the facts, not lip service as the vast majority of states use. Even IL claims 2A for its citizens. Yeah. Right.

          NRA is obviously not for everyone. Many around here see no need for anything other than actual 2A activity, nor short-term news fodder. They even cheer on the actions of James, et al. Oh, and I’m certain Rob would’ve been an absolute hero in a set-up interview with “an 11 year old”. Like it or not, however- the defeat, at any cost and by any means, of NRA is the object of the Leftist’s desire and they take glee in all those 2A “purists” cheering it all.

          To quote Taylor Swift(!): “It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero”.

        • “In reality, Bruen did fuck all.”

          Hhhmmmm.

          Were you thinking that if the SC declared 2A to be absolute, the response from gun controllers we see today would not have happened?

        • “In reality, Bruen did fuck all.”

          Really? Tell that to those in San Fran currently pushing the paperwork for their carry licenses…

      • “NYSRPA v. Bruen”

        Financial backing is not the same as being lead plantiff. NRA needs to put NRA as the lead in every attack on gun laws. Only the “insiders” of pro-2A groups understand that the NRA underwrites law suits. Virtually everyone would recognize NRA as a litigating warrior to be feared.

        As to “financial backing”, why is NRA not a co-plantiff, outright?

    • “NRA is already joined in the case to clarify Bruen and onboard with ISRA in IL, as ISRA is the NRA state affiliate, just as NYSRPA is.”

      Just because an organization is a “state affiliate” does not mean that the NRA throws any money or attorneys towards any case. The NRA may have with NYSRPA but could you possibly show me some proof that the NRA has done one thing with ISRA? Money? Attorneys? Any help at all?

      “State Associations are independent organizations affiliated with and recognized by the NRA.”

      It might just be me but I cannot find the NRA being mentioned in any lawsuit against Illinois or agents of Illinois in any lawsuit filed. If you could supply some proof the NRA are “onboard” that would be very helpful.

      Like or not Wayne LaPierre did get his ars handed to him by a tween, it was not setup and was remedied by Dana Loesch (remember when she worked for the NRA?) a couple of weeks later.

      “To quote Taylor Swift(!): “It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero”.”

      You should have stopped before quoting that, well at least we know that you are a “Swiftie”.
      I actually had to look up the proper way to spell “Swiftie”.
      The NRA and Swift v. Ticketmaster.

  13. Why do they even mention her being an engineer? Is that supposed to reflect positively on her intelligence, experience or, what?
    Nothing personal against anyone here that might be one, but I’d worked most of my adult life with engineers and can tell you, that title has absolutely nothing remotely to do with intelligence.

    • Indicates (or should) one that understands logic, cause/effect, the scientific method. And, perhaps, unintended consequences.

      As opposed to the MBA, a Lawyer or one with a lowly BA degree in some drivel.

      • Some of the people with the least amount of common sense. I’ve known were Engineers. I worked with them on the DOT. They couldn’t pour piss out of a boot without a diagram and a plan study.

        • “Some of the people with the least amount of common sense. I’ve known were Engineers.”

          To repeat as nuasem, “Amatures built ‘the Ark’, engineers were responsible for Titanic.” (and, “Galloping Gerti”).

    • Yes, it reflects positively on her intelligence. Engineering, physics and math majors are always at the top of the IQ studies by major. Social work and education majors are at the bottom. Education and social work majors are full of women. Very few go into engineering.

  14. Oh boy,we might some new blood on the NRA board of directors. Yippee Ki Yay … it’s kinda like getting on a bus taking a field trip to Chappaquiddick – with Ted Kennedy at the wheel.

  15. Much to-do about women and guns.

    When I was growing up, all the women in my family were familiar with guns. I mean, all of them. They weren’t much into the hunting trips, and roughing it in the woods, but they knew the proper response to prowlers, and other problems that might call for a weapon. Big Sister eventually retired from the State Police, so I guess she was competent enough to hang with the big boys.

    It’s just funny to me. I always presumed that a chick might be armed, so that was just one more reason to never hassle a female.

  16. I’ve no comment on the lady as I don’t know her or of her. I do know the NRA however since 1980 and I no longer support them. It is not the same organization as it used to be. Twice they’ve sold out completely and not back to back either. The 90s debacle was the public view start of the decline. The current administration of it has destroyed what was left.

  17. It’s sad that a commentary about a lady who has a long & storied history of fighting FOR gun rights who is trying to run for a seat on the Board of Directors of the NRA has turned into a bashing of the NRA.
    We can’t change things until we change the BOD of the NRA. And instead of constantly harping about what someone thinks is wrong or right about the NRA,, why not focus on what we can do to make a difference & make a change in the NRA BOD?

    I’ve known Amanda for a few decades. She’s a strong fighter for gun rights, for protecting the Second Amendment, and especially about educating as many people as she can about firearms. She has also spent a lot of time training ladies in the use of guns, and how to carry them etc. I chuckled when she told me of her first “fashion show” that she was producing years ago that was going to highlight how to carry a firearm. While it was to help ladies,, she surprised many by including male models in the live show.
    My point is this; She’s the type of “new blood” we need on the BOD. She’s smart, articulate, educated, and would be a good addition to the BOD. Let’s give her a chance.

    • “We can’t change things until we change the BOD of the NRA.”

      What, specifically, can the BOD do, that the current leadership cannot veto? I have yet to see any candidate for the BOD who identifies what it is they can encourage, that will set NRA on a different course.

      Many of us will pay attention when we read: “A renegade group of NRA BOD members announced their plan to overthrow the current leadership, and turn NRA into a giant wrecking ball against gun control laws everywhere.” Until then, BOD members are as useful as Buffalo Bob’s Peanut Gallery.

  18. The fact that she is female does NOT interest me. I have NO desire to focus on such things as possible items for considering someones job qualifications. Being an engineer doesn’t impress me either. I see nothing in this article that suggests to me that I should start shouting the praises of the NRA.

  19. Wayne and the entire board should be forced out. Without their golden parachutes.

    The NRA will not get a penny from me. I am still a life member but I no longer carry their card in my wallet. All the NRA is now is a grift. They take your money and spend on everything but furthering gun rights. They probably secretly want more gun control because then they can thump their chests and ask for more money saying the sky is falling. Still in a weird since they’re almost the same kind of blood dancers the media is.

  20. Don’t know anything about the woman, other than the article above. She may be a great person, a great defender of the 2A, and a great POTG. I hope she is. I. DON’T. CARE. I stopped caring about the NRA when they refused to clean house, and get rid of the pack of thieves, headed by Wayne the Thief, and consisting of the entire Board and second-tier ‘management’. They are all welcome to continue fleecing the gullible Fudds who support them.

    Until Wayne the Thief is shown the door, with his “Friends of Wayne” board members right behind him, that organization will never see another penny of my money. IF she is a legit “reformer”? As the saying goes, “rotsa ruck, lady”. Until Wayne the Thief is out, and his merry band of grifters with him, they can pound sand.

  21. Amanda and I have been friends for 6 years. She is a dynamo of 2A activism. She is a genius level thinker. If anyone can straighten out the decomposing NRA, she can.

  22. @Craig in IA
    “…ISRA is the NRA state affiliate, just as NYSRPA is…”

    Not all that interested in “affiliates”, but in having NRA play smash-mouth in the courts as the lead plantiff (or co-lead). If NRA has huge influence in congress, it should have the same name recognition/influence in the courts. As with the inability of the demented to not call attention to Trump, they would loudly shout “NRA” as the prime enemy in overturning gun control laws.

    Trust me, people in Upper Snowshoe, MI, would sit up and take notice of the 800lb gorilla in anti-gun control lawsuits.

    Note: NRA claims to be the oldest civil rights group in the country; training, safety, education, merch, raffles, certifications are not civil rights issues. A strong civil rights group lobbies, and litigates directly.

    • Sam,

      The NRA was, at one time, the premier firearm and firearm safety training organization in the country. And while their classes (the ones I’ve taken) are usually good, they could stand to update their curriculum, and reinvigorate their focus on firearm training and firearm safety. It’s really their “brand”. Other than ‘throwing money at the problem’, and a few times when they flat sold us out, they’ve been remarkably ineffective with their lobbying efforts. The original AWB ban passed over their ALLEGED opposition (whatever opposition they offered was extremely tepid), they endorsed damn near as many ‘gun control’ bills as they’ve opposed, and they are WAAYYYYY too quick to go for a compromise, and tout it as a ‘victory’.

      If they stuck to training and safety, they’d be MUCH more effective, and they could leave the smashmouth to the people willing to do it (and who do it at least semi-competently). But no matter what, Wayne and the 40 Thieves have GOT to go. They’ll never again get a penny of my money until that happens.

      • “If they stuck to training and safety, they’d be MUCH more effective, and they could leave the smashmouth to the people willing to do it…”

        We agree. My first position is that if NRA wants us to believe it is a civil rights organization, then it needs to act like one, and abandon everything else.

        If the NRA wants to be the premier training, safety and education organization for gun owners, then it needs to abandon politics.

        People who believe the NRA is worth supporting should be asking just what, exactly, is the result of NRA spending.

        And, if NRA is going to financially back anti-gun control lawsuits, NRA needs to be the lead, not leaving it to “affiliates”.

        • “If the NRA wants to be the premier training, safety and education organization for gun owners, then it needs to abandon politics.”

          It is, and has been, in that position already.

          In any event, I’d say it wouldn’t be intelligent for NRA to take much stock in what non-member people suggest, particularly those who rally only for its demise.

          Seriously, and not pointing fingers at Sam, if the keyboard warriors spent 1/3 the time contacting elected officials, attending state legislative sub-committee/committee hearings, and networking with anyone who could help achieve the goal of a live, strong 2A, as opposed to pile-on bashing of an organization that they’d never spend $35 to join, we might see some actual movement in a more positive direction. We’ve managed to do quite well in Iowa and other free-thinking free states. NRA cannot change thinking in, say, CA, IL, MA, et al. Only those who live there can do that, and that’s the way it should be in this republic. This is one of the reasons NRA is often not lead plaintiff- it denies the Left their most celebrated bogeyman and keeps the focus more on the state itself.

      • “The original AWB ban passed over their ALLEGED opposition (whatever opposition they offered was extremely tepid)…”

        Having been much involved in the early 1990s, it was obvious to anyone with any political sense at all (sans the Knoxs, Pratts, etc.) that the “AWB” was going to pass regardless. The sunseT, as well as the “AWB definition” amendments were the poison pills. Days after passage, the same guns with cosmetic changes were back on the shelves in most states and today, the dreaded and demonized AR platform is the most popular firearm in the US.

        Without those amendments, and following the demands of the “no compromisers”, firearms ownership in the US would likely be much different in the US- many more restrictions everywhere, little defensive carrying, and few choices concerning repeating firearms.

        • “Having been much involved in the early 1990s, it was obvious to anyone with any political sense at all (sans the Knoxs, Pratts, etc.) that the “AWB” was going to pass regardless.”

          Fabian tactics have their limits. Defeat of the enemy in detail is the goal. There are, to be fair, arguments that “better than nothing” is sometimes a rational outcome; but not as a constant strategy. The fact that the NRA could only muster enough influence to arrive at “better than nothing” is telling. If NRA was really politically effective, the vast majority of legislators (wherever) would be in constant fear of NRA ending their political careers.

          In current times, smaller organizations are using “take no prisoners” tactics (law suits) to actually defeat gun control laws, not attenuate them.

  23. @Geoff “I’m getting too old for this shit” PR
    “Speculated to be the girl :

    I’d bang that like the dinner bell at the Ponderosa… ”

    Your superlative wording notwithstanding, “She does scrub up nice” is sufficient to convey the thought.

  24. @Craig in IA
    “In any event, I’d say it wouldn’t be intelligent for NRA to take much stock in what non-member people suggest,…”

    Makes sense, NRA doesn’t put much stock in what members suggest.

    My money is my vote. I don’t want to spend my money on a proven failure. There is a reason NRA membership has been, and remains, approximately 5 million members. There are an alleged 100,000,000 legal gun owners in the country. NRA attracts only 5%, annually.

    I have worked with national non-profits; seen the “ethnocentricsm” up close (“Give us, and only us, more money, and we can really do something”).

    Why give money to a self-described “nation’s oldest civil rights organization” that does everything but defend civil rights? NRA has a valuable place in things other than politics.

    NRA is resting on its laurels of 60yrs ago, when I was learning to shoot while a Boy Scout. When membership in NRA rises to 10 million, and produces a track record of blocking and overturning gun control laws, I would be tempted to join.

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