I Am The NRA (And You Should Be, Too)

1. That’s right JWTaylor! You need to stop whining and sign up!

2. There is absolutely no rule in the charters of any Second Amendment Civil Rights organization that dictates that you must chose one… and only ONE of them, to be a member of.
   The NRA serves one other purpose: they are that main hate-magnet for the Bigots. They absorb the majority of the atracks. And in so doing give freedom loving Americans a flag to rally under whether you agree with all they do or not.

   • It’s more more like the NRA is the paper tiger that gives the anti-gun movement a rallying cry to attack the entire 2nd Amendment knowing the NRA will back down and sell us out in order to protect their money flow…

     • The only word I can come up with for that response is “stupid”. I thought about “ignorant” but I have a pretty good feeling the poster above has a hard anti-NRA bias.

       Had it not been for NRA, guns and personal liberties as we know them today would’ve been a thing of the past after the Clinton Admin. The antis were so certain they’d killed us off with the Brady Law and Semiauto “ban”. Had Pratt, Brown, Knox or any of the other reactionaries been in command it would have pretty much ended there and the momentum would’ve been all gun banners. NRA leaders were smart enough to craft language into the bills that were certain to pass to sunset after 10 years; narrowly describe in-writing what constituted an “assault weapon” and allow states to create their own laws pertaining to background checks rather than throw a wide blanket rule, among other very intelligent and clever devices that eventually poisoned the intentions of those trying to ban firearms. I can still remember Difi’s and Chucky’s reaction when the very ARs and AK clones they thought they’d banned were suddenly showing up new at shows and in stores with cosmetic differences, and that there was a never-ending supply of over 10 round mags available if one wanted to pay the price. In states like my own, as long as I had a CCW or permit to acquire handguns I could walk up to the counter as before and walk out with my pick- handgun, rifle or shotgun without the dealer/store having to call NICS since I’d already been checked out and my permit proved it. (More states ought to adopt that one.)

       It’s an understatement to say I’ve been very fortunate to be able to hang with some very upper echelon folks in NRA who came of age during the time that NRA evolved from simply being a target shooting and safety organization. It was also the same time I was graduating from college, entering the work force and becoming a shooter, collector and firearms activist. I feel honored to have been a part of helping shape NRA from that little safety organization, where one actually needed a sponsor to join, to its becoming the premier and most feared (and hated) lobbying group, pound for pound, dollar for dollar in the US, even going far out on limbs for those who hate the organization, simply because their rights are also those of all Americans, and God’s people everywhere.

       But WTH? Do nothing and bitch. Keep the money to yourselves. Or go ahead and spend some money on some “zero-compromise” bunch. Note in the end, however, that none of those “great organizations”, all of which could all hold a joint convention in a large high school gym, has ever run a bill from start to finish in the US Congress, has no clout or even familiarity with people in high office, and wouldn’t be able to become the doorman in the NRA. Most of those “organizations” are run by angry little guys that wanted to be big fish in NRA’s pond but were tossed back by the NRA membership.

       Hey- I get to listen to Trump and Pence this weekend in Dallas, wonder who the Pratt/Browntards will get for their convention speakers?

       • My friend, it isn’t about yesteryear. It is all about “what have you done for me lately?”

         Reputation is all about work done in the past, it is not the work itself. Look around at how many mega companies tried to survive just on reputation. NRA is not immune.

         Frankly, I do not care how much our current “rights” and privileges are due solely (or jointly) to the efforts of the NRA. We are here, now, today. What is the NRA doing now?

       • Craig…… The numbers are supposed to show something like 100 million gun owners in the U S . They also show only 5 million more or less in the NRA. I belong to the NRA, Second Ammendment Foundation , Texas State Rifle Association etc. In any group there are the few that carry the weight of the many free loaders.

       • Sam- I guess history is lost on you, as well as a majority of those around here whoare like little kids when it comes to things they want and cherish: I WANT IT NOW AND I’M NOTABLE TO LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE TO SEE THAT GIVING A BIT TODAY MAY MEAN A MUCH BETTER FUTURE TOMORROW.

         There’s no putting Constitutional rights payments on a credit card- either pay for them now or lose them, unless you have a strategy for the long-term, like a home mortgage. I’ve outlined above but a few of the ways NRA, and very intelligently crafted legislation and manouvering on non-legislated regulations have been overturned later to the advantage of all Americans and the preservation of the Constitution for which we stand.

         I get it about “bump stocks”, also about many of the restrictions found in the NFA. While NFA was actual legislation, the slide fire device was the product of deregulation by the ATFE (I believe you and most others around here know that) and fact is, there are more than a few states, Iowa, for one, in which they were already illegal due to state statute that forbids modifications, trigger “cranks”, the old BTF(?) “Activater” that had the bikini-clad chicks “bump firing” SKSs 20 years back, etc. (IA law, BTW, does not ban possession, only selling or using. How do you like that one?) Anyway, long story short, it was ATFE’s regulation and not Congress’s, and it is up to them to make additional changes.

         (To be completely fair- FOPA ’86, which curtailed the manufacturing and sales of new Class III weapons for private citizens was actual legislation and contained a late hit, stab-in-the-back amendment allowed by Bob Dole upon passage of a bill that really wasn’t a raw deal for gun owners, in a time when the momentum, politically, was against the Constitution. That momentum was turned following the Brady Law and Semiauto “ban” and has continued with shall-issue concealed carry in most states, among other liberties returned too numerous to mention here.)

         Now, if you and the others that think bump stocks are such a great thing, set about organizing your people and convince the rest of gun owners out here that they should be legal and anyone that desires should be able to own one, whether they buy it or make it themselves. Ditto the same on Class III firearms.

         Main problem is- under today’s circumstances you’ll never convince even 5% of Americans who are elligleble to own firearms that these are worth going to war over, politically or actually. Is this, in principle, counter to the Founder’s concept of the 2nd Amendment? Yes, and actually against the original concepts in the decision in US v Miller. Unless, however, there is some swell in public support for bump stocks or Class III firearms, NO sane organization will place a lot of political or financial capital towards reinstating them. Lots of groups with little power will go out and shout about it to anyone who will listen but it won’t do a bit of good other than add to the lifestyle of their leaders.

         Best bet? If you think there are millions of people out there who side with you on this one, get them ALL to join NRA and stay in for 5 years. Then, when there are 10 million more NRA members, you and your bunch can go to the Annual Meetings and take over the organization and do what ever you want with its money. That’s pretty much what Harlon Carter and a few other NRA Board members did back in 1971 after the effects of GCA ’68 really started to settle in. Good luck. Seriously.

         • TLBIRIA

           I do not care one whit about bumpstocks, slide fire, or fingers in belt loops. What I do care about is erosion of freedom. Whether you want a bumpstock, or don’t, there is only one question: does it relate to the freedom to own firearms? If “yes”, it is a pre-existing natural, human and civil right, predating but enumerated in the constitution. A true constitutionalist does not pick and choose those rights for which to agitate/fight.

           As to impatience, today does not wait for yesterday. Yesterday is summed completely in the statement, “It is what it is.” Question now is, “What are you doing today so that you don’t have to do it again tomorrow?” As in, “What have you done for me lately?” So, I do not care at all about what NRA did for “gun rights” fifty years ago. I care what NRA is doing about circumstances today. But the nuance is that I live in the real world, and I understand that change takes time. HOWEVR…I do expect to see a roadmap for how NRA intends to recover the ground they lost, and a timeline. I will hold them accountable for that. When NRA (and every other “gun rights” group) publicly announces that they will tolerate neither one step back, nor permit the status quo to remain quo, then I will spend money on those organizations.

       • Sam- no one owes you any road map. You don’t even belong to the NRA. Wow…

         • Marketing and sales are designed to make a product sell well to the public. Some call it “packaging the message”. Some call it advertising. Whatever the term, if you want my money, you (the selling entity) have the responsibility to tell me how I am improved through buying your product. One of the ways to do that is to understand the marketplace, and provide a clear statement of the benefits of your product. Telling me, “It’s all good, trust me” doesn’t get it done.

           What you are selling here is that gun owners owe allegiance to NRA leadership, without regard to actual benefit to the potential member. When the seller is telling the buyer, “You just don’t get; give me the money”, something is very wrong with the seller*.

           *I worked for three different “Dot bomb” companies who used this technique; none survived.

       • Sam I am is a cheap ass hillbilly that covers his stinginess with excuses. Sam would not spend a penny even if it meant that the entire Second Amendment would be lost. That’s the way cheap ass hillbillies think. If this Moron new anything at all about the NRA he would know he would not own any guns at all without all the hard work and millions of dollars the NRA has spent down through the years. What does this Moron think they are doing now just vacationing and living it up. As the NRA has said they and everyone else is now in the fight of their lives and to say I am to damn cheap to spend the few dollars it takes to join is about as stupid as Sams Neanderthal Ancestors only I think his Neanderthal Ancestors were light years more intelligent than this Moron.

         • ” If this Moron new anything at all about the NRA he would know he would not own any guns at all without all the hard work and millions of dollars the NRA hass spent down through the years. ”

           Interesting you think past good behavior justifies current failings. Doesn’t matter how we got here, what matters is where things are going today and tomorrow. Let me know when you go into court and successfully argue that all the good work of the NRA in the past is sufficient justification for overturning a gun control law because without the NRA, we wouldn’t have the right to be restricted in the type handgun we can purchase.

           Better yet, let me know of a time your employer saw that you were no longer performing at a satisfactory level, but because of all your good work in the past, your boss decided to neither fire your, or hold back a raise.

       • At Sam… “What you are selling here is that gun owners owe allegiance to NRA leadership, without regard to actual benefit to the potential member.” No- that’s not what I’m “selling”, nor is it what NRA is doing.

         Avid non-NRA members may not realize that the organization doesn’t use money from the little $30 membership cost to do battle- that only covers the magazine and other membership services. At NRA’s level of spending to do battle, which is infinitesimal as compared to big labor or Soros, Bloomberg and others, it is absolutely necessary to raise additional funds and these are earmarked for various categories: ILA for legislative issues (LAWS if you don’t understand that), PVF for political candidates, on through to Foundation if one is seeking a tax write-off non-profit that uses interest for grants in many areas.

         What I’m “trying to sell” around here is the notion that other than a very short reaching soapbox on which to vent and not have to be accountable, bashing the NRA has zero effect and actually gains support for the organization when people who don’t have all the facts and history are made more aware of it. I’ve also said before that if people don’t like the direction of NRA, they should join for 5 years, then they will become voting members and can attend the next annual meeting and take it over- remaking it in their own image. Having done that, however, and after 5 years of actually hearing directly from NRA rather than soundbite mentality from rabid, anti-NRA wannbees on various internet sites with black helicopters hovering over their bunkers, most come to realize the big picture and become educated on how things actually happen in the real world. I’ve also said around here many times that one does the best they can AT THE TIME, always staying in the fight, and that people and forces within the American government will always be trying to take away our ability to defend ourselves if only to keep us from becoming equal to the elitist who try to be our “betters”.

         Cisco- I can’t speak to Sam personally but I’ll allow him his opinion- free country and all. I’ll never change anyone’s mind using those tactics, not the person I’m addressing nor (and especially) those observers on the outside who are unconvinced at the time. Words have meanings and I try to choose mine carefully, although I know I sometimes get a bit bravura at times for effect…

         • “Avid non-NRA members may not realize that the organization doesn’t use money from the little $30 membership cost to do battle- that only covers the magazine and other membership services.” Oh wait….I did the “math”. 5million members, $30 membership results in an insignificant $150,000,000. The magazine and the web site cost that much annually? That is a scandal in itself.

           Yes, we are aware of this. Which means NRA should stick to pandering to major donors, and just give out free memberships. Oh wait, even having a free membership would mean affiliation with, and endorsement of an organization that is not willing to take a stand against any erosion of second amendment protections.

           At the bottom of all this, what you are selling is a Fabian victory. Just like the Republicrat Party: “We can never really win, but you will lose less, slower than with the other guys”.

           Sales lesson: You do not make money, you do not achieve sales success by telling your potential customers they are idiots for not seeing the great value you are presenting. You do not generate repeat customers accusing people who challenge your product of being motivated by hate. You do not expand markets by refusing to see “objections” as opportunity, rather than personal rejection. Just look at the NRA itself. Why are they stuck at 5million members? There are 95million other gun owners who are not buying what NRA is selling. Why is NRA ignoring that bold truth? What is NRA doing to penetrate that untapped market? When you cannot break out of a narrow segment of the buying public (95million non-member gun owners), year after year, it is not the buying public that is acting dumb.

       • Well, Sam, like it or not, you (and your crazed NRA bashers) sure aren’t making much on YOUR sales pitch. Open your eyes…

         Take my challenge- get all of your soapbox militia together, join up, wait the 5 years to be vote-elliglble and take over the NRA. Maybe you’ll be the one to actually accomplish it.

         I’ll be glad to send you some application books, free caps, stickers/decals, the works.

         • You are certainly aware that the NRA board established rules that prevent a coup by the members.

           I am not trying to make a sale. Your responsibility is to sell me the idea that the NRA is worth the time and money. I am not making the pitch that it isn’t, I am lodging my objections, which you fail to address. Nobody pays for a product for five years on the hope that magic will happen, and the product will operate as promised. It is the NRA needs to address the market, not the other way round. A concept I do not understand how you continue ignore.

       • Sam- I’m not trying to sell you anything. Not trying to convince you to join nor the folly of standing on the corner shouting at the Devil. The ones I’d rather affect are those who don’t know much about the differences in facts v opinions being stated here in this debate. Honestly, unless one is a total bumbling idiot, it’s going to be pretty tough to convince them that the NRA is any of the things you and some others around here represent them to be, or not to be. If so, the MSM, the politicians, the limp-wristed bedwetters, the co-opted school kids and their teachers (already covered) and everyone else wouldn’t be pulling and hoping for NRA’s total demise. NRA’s membership (and fundraising) would not be at record levels, can go on and on here but have already spent enough bandwidth on this. Don’t join, don’t look at what’s happening despite your efforts, and keep fighting your lonely little fight. Yours is easy to win since you’re only shooting at straw men that you yourself are creating.

         Me- I’m in Dallas and having a great time. Hope you can crack a smile sometime soon.

         • “Me- I’m in Dallas and having a great time. Hope you can crack a smile sometime soon.”

           You have been extolling the virtues of NRA, with the intent to increase membership. That is a sales job.

           Me – I’m not in Dallas, smiling and laughing about it all day.

       • (Sam) “You have been extolling the virtues of NRA, with the intent to increase membership. That is a sales job.”

         (No- I do my membership drives at gun shows and we’re very successful there.) I won’t even try to change your mind- your dislike of the NRA is quite similar to the illogical fear and hatred gun-banners have for private citizen gun ownership. Talk is cheap, though, the rights maintenance and “improvement” isn’t.

         WTH? I guess we need spectators as well…

         • The list of failures of NRA to defend the second amendment has been posted, in this thread, at least three times. I note you ignore the actual history.

           I have no problem with people sending money to NRA; free country (so far). I have a severe disagreement with people who try to tell me that we must accept some degradation of rights because, well….it is really hard to defend rights, and sometimes you have to give up a little in order to preserve the rest, until it come times to give up a little more in order to defend a little less.

           “Cold dead hands” doesn’t do much to advance the political football, but it was a great rallying cry to motivate members. Unfortunately, Moses is gone, and the rallying cry of NRA has become, “Yeah, well, we’re better than nothing.” (much like the republicrat party).

       • And yet again, Sam, considering all the BS and facts in this paricular thread, you make statements and offer absolutely no plan or organization to actually put your “sacred” principles into place or motion.

         Cynical criticism with no solutions offered, suggested or implied. It’s pretty common on TTAG and they are extremely simple to post.

         THERE! I showed ’em!

         To come up with viable proposals that the majority of Americans, gun owning and not, would actually line up behind takes an enormous amount of reasoning as well as the grasp of history that you claim proves NRA culpable for all the 2nd Amendment ills of our nation. And of course you’d NEVER be a member, even if only to seek to change its direction. You may well be able to quote historical events but obviously know nothing of how they came about.

         I’m glad I can leave my bunker any time I want.

         • It is not my job to support the NRA. It is the NRA’s job to prove they are unalterably opposed to any erosion of RTKBA, from firearms, to artillery, to munitions, to whatever a person can afford (including accessories).

           The purpose of the second amendment is to provide an armed obstacle to the kind of government we have today, the kind of courts we have, the standing army and police. That means the acquiring of “weapons of war”, whatever those are (in war, anything that can cause injury or death to the enemy is a “weapon of war”).

           NRA made itself unaccountable to the membership. The only way I can hold the NRA accountable is to withhold my money, and encourage others to do so.

           The opposition believes that your financially pipsqueak organization somehow defeated Soros, Bloomberg, Gates, Thiel and other zillionares to steal the election from Hilary. The opposition thinks NRA is the big gorilla that controls elections. Act like it.

       • “It is the NRA’s job to prove they are unalterably opposed to any erosion of RTKBA, from firearms, to artillery, to munitions, to whatever a person can afford (including accessories).” How’d you come up with that line of baloney?

         You don’t even belong to the organization and yet claim to know what it’s “job” is? NRA has many jobs among which is spending more money on firearms safety and training than all other groups, pro and anti-gun combined. NRA also funds grant money for special range projects and educationally-acceptable scientific research in many areas that affect firearms and their owners. In addition, and this is obviously the only area which you claim some knowledge, as weak as it may be,, NRA lobbies local, state and national legislative bodies through NRA ILA (Institute for Legislative Action, begun in 1971), often operating through NRA-affiliated state organizations (remember that word- state) and to promote Constitutionally-friendly candidates and office holders through NRA’s Political Victory Fund (PVF).

         “NRA made itself unaccountable to the membership. The only way I can hold the NRA accountable is to withhold my money, and encourage others to do so.”

         Uh- open your eyes- membership is on a rapid increase yet again and NRA broke all previous attendance records at the Annual Meetings in Dallas first weekend in May. Go on and try to convince yourself… I think you can get some meds for that. In any event, your little encouragement doesn’t seem to be working too well.

         “The opposition believes that your financially pipsqueak organization somehow defeated Soros, Bloomberg, Gates, Thiel and other zillionares to steal the election from Hilary. The opposition thinks NRA is the big gorilla that controls elections. Act like it.” Financially pipsqueak doesn’t translate into fewer voters, and votes are how elections are won, in case that one’s been lost on you and your little tribe. While NRA may actually only hold around 5.5 million members (yeah, that’s tiny compared to the other “gun” organzations out there), when people are blindly polled, about a third of Americans claim to be members and even more claim to agree with NRA’s policies. Biut once again, voters who take seriously NRA’s policies and warnings did defeat Hillary and there’s no way you can prove otherwise, unless you go to the witch herself. She’s been coming up with all sorts of reasons that even the democrats are nervously laughing at, although you may agree with them.

         Hey- keep up your little battle, it must make you feel good somehow.

         • I was unaware NRA was/is a religion; absolute faith, no heresy.

           The NRA offers membership. They want to attract members. I am a potential member. I have standards for whom I support financially (and I stated the standards NRA must meet to attract me as a member). When an organization (other than a religion, I guess) wants to attract membership, the organization is obligated to prove the value of the proposition. Not yesterday, but today and tomorrow. I have no obligation to join an organization that does not meet the standards I set.

           What I see/hear is, “We’re the NRA. We used to be a big deal in protecting the clear statement of the second amendment. Today, we are providing a means whereby your second amendment protections erode more slowly than would otherwise be the case if we hadn’t been a big deal in the past. Give us your money so we can continue to slow the slide of “gun rights” into oblivion.”

           If it were possible that an engaged membership could turn out an obsolete Board of Directors, if the NRA leaders could be dismissed by the board or membership, I would be willing to join on the potential to correct the direction of the organization. Neither of those propositions is available.

           I do note, however, that you completely ignore the multiple postings of the litany of events where NRA was culpable in directly acting to restrict the RTKBA. Why is that?

     • Joe is it painful to be so stupid?

   • If you join the NRA they speak for you, they broker your political capitol and any support for other orgs is a fart in the wind.

     If the NRA fits your views that might be fine, but it’s oafish to assume everyone wants in with you. And I know some NRA members have no self awareness, no idea how crass they are. It’s pitiful.

     Anyway I want to send a different message to politicians and antis; no compromise.

3. The title “I am the NRA” just caught my eye
   I have been trying to get a shirt with
   I am the NRA
   I am not a terrorist
   I am not a criminal
   I will defend your rights even if you will not
   screen printed on back big and bold, but nobody locally will do the job.

   • You’re not trying very hard – or actually haven’t tried at all.

     • There are 6 places within 40 miles that do print screening listed none would do the job. I have looked online so far the of min 6 shirts at 30 to 40 dollars each is out my reach. I am retired I will have my house paid off in few months maybe then.
       I went to an anti-gun rally with a sign that read the same. After being pelted by fruit, eggs and ??? the sign was pulled from my hands and between people, never saw it again.

       • Search on – custom screened tee shirts

   • If trying just a little harder doesn’t work, I’d wager someone online would do it.

   • http://www.zazzle.com

4. Below is a list,too long,of Negotiating Rights Away since 1934 ,the list of accomplishments is also a list of Infringements the NRA signed off on.

   History
   1791: The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified.
   The amendment reads:

   “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,
   the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

   After That
   1871: The National Rifle Association was formed by Union Army veterans Col. William C. Church
   and Gen. George Wingate.

   After that, they start going the other way

   1934:  http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/nfa.htm

   1939 http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/gca.htm

   1968: http://www.atf.gov/pub/fire-explo_pub/gca.htm

   1986:  http://www.constitution.org/2ll/2ndschol/46hard.pdf

   1993 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5087/text

   1994 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5087/text

   What is a inalienable individual right and what is a privilege?
   What does “shall not be infringed” plainly mean?
   Does the NRA support the unalienable individual right of the individual to keep and bear arms that shall not be infringed by government or does the NRA support government privileges?

   The answer to those three questions prove my point. The are self-evident. Do you understand what self-evident means? No further discussion is required.

5. the NRA wouldn’t have to be filing a lawsuit against the California Ammo registration fiasco if they had stepped in earlier and helped with the signature raising for the ballot referendum. Couldn’t be bothered. I get that they want to fight in court and make a big splash, but that particular fight is going to be tied up for 10-15 years in delays and appeals. I should spend the rest of my life waiting for the NRA to win back something I had originally, in a long drawn out court battle? meanwhile, I get older, more restrictions.

   I understand the difference between winning the battle and winning the war but ffs, fighting battles WINS the wars.

   standing by while everyone you claim to represent goes all in to stop bad legislation and then saying “we’ll fix it in the 9th circus.. then when we lose we’ll fix it at the SCOTUS” is dangerous

   • A ballot referendum in California for the ammo thing was doomed to fail. Better to spend that money in the courts.

     This coming from a Californian. We just don’t have the numbers here to pass something by majority rule.

6. When was the last time you did something to actively support gun rights?
   ~Last weekend.
   Do you attend rallies?
   ~See above.
   Write letters to your senator?
   ~Absolutely.
   Make phone calls?
   ~Not so much. To whom?
   Are you a member of the NRA?
   ~Just renewed last month, taking me over the 20 continuous years.

   Good artilce, Kat.

   • “When was the last time you did something to actively support gun rights?”
     Friday. I drove an hour to visit a primary candidate for my congressional district (FL-6) to see his stance on repealing the NFA. He still needed to read my letter about about it but his staff gladly talked to me about my request, and they expressed genuine personal interest in it (Staffer said the bump stock ban annoyed him).

     “Do you attend rallies?”
     Never heard of one in my area.

     “Write letters to your senator?”
     Don’t have a senator. My *state* has senatorS and I’ve written both of them, however useless Nelson and the NRA endorsed Rubio are.

     “Make phone calls?”
     All the time!

     “Are you a member of the NRA?”
     Nope! Quite proud of that fact too.

     • If you don’t like the NRA, then join one of the other groups such as GOA. I did some of the things you mentioned and finally joined the NRA mostly just to piss off the Liberals. NRA runs hot and cold, but they are the 400 lb pro gun gorilla in the room and Progtards hate them.

       • The NRA is a rabid gorilla that has hurt us far more than our enemies. Like all rabid animals, it needs to be put down. Also: I AM a GoA member.

       • More like the paper tiger that the left loves to attack because they know the NRA will surrender…

     • If you do not like how the NRA operates, may be you should join and vote in members of the gov. board that will support the same things you do. Simple as that; a board filled with folks that do give an inch will not give an inch. Have to be a member to vote though.

       • “… join and vote in members of the gov. board that will support the same things you do. Simple as that; a board filled with folks that do give an inch will not give an inch. ”

         Haven’t we had this conversation? Board is impervious to votes of the membership, and tightly controls who may be elected to the board.

         Your recommendation is a bit curious. Are you of the impression that up to now, the membership has not been “woke” about the NRA direction?

       • Sam doesn’t know diddly. Sidelines whiner.

         • About what?

7. N.Y. sucks for gun owners . especially for AR-15 platforms and the like. It is also one of the hardest states to obtain a pistol permit. Law abiding citizens should not have to jump through months worth of wasted time to be told “no permit for you” oh and featureless AR-15 only or welded magazine , permanently fixed. I call that a violation of my 2nd amendment rights. What’s the NRA doing about the injustice to New Yorkers ?? Now they are having Trump and V.P. speak at their annual convention. WTF NRA ??

   • “It is also one of the hardest states to obtain a pistol permit.”

     It’s because your stupid asshat neighbors who needed a job (your state “government”) fucking hate you and don’t trust you.

     And they’ve gone a long way (almost irreparably so) to convincing the rest of us.

     Why don’t you try to fix that shit. I mean, as long as we’re talking intolerable fucking absolutes where POS (D)head NYr/NYCr MFrs [from their piss ant small realm of assholism are also trying to F with the rest of us, with impunity].

   • “What’s the NRA doing about the injustice to New Yorkers ??” Wrong question. You should be asking why New Yorkers allowed this injustice to happen in the first place? There’s an obvious answer to this question which should be cautionary for those of us who live in “free” states.

     • No. Wrong 2x.

       1) The NRA’s silence on NY’s / NYC’s f’ing with their citizenry IS A FING PROBLEM, AND is very telling, and f’ing bullshit [THE NRA ASKED / AND ASKS, FOR THE FING JOB]. The collateral damage (from their lack of push-back) means the evil POS (D)head MFrs, in their piss ant fiefdom don’t feel f’ing scared for their lives to try to F with the rights of the rest of us.

       2) We know what went wrong in NY / NYC, it’s a bunch of decent people failed to kill off their communist incursion. That we ask the good people of NY to rectify IS ONLY A FOREWARNING THAT THE PROBLEM SHOULDN’T FALL TO US TO RESOLVE.

       • As a NYer, the problem is that NY is a state that is actually controlled by a city (NYC)….a city that actually elected a communist as mayor—Bill DiBlasio. This is a prime example of the tyranny of the majority.

         Most of upstate NY is quite conservative and pro gun. NYC and the neighboring counties, which account for the voting majority, are democrat/leftist; some good people there, but they are drowned out.

         BTW….I’m NRA Benefactor Life, GOA Life, NYSRPA Life….then I ran out of $$$ 😉

   • I think you mean your part of NYS. My whole family most of my co workers and neighbors all have carry permits. Ya a bit of paper work,a couple hours more work then my Fla, and Utah permits . but then again NY doesn’t require training or class time like those two states, and up,to the safe act, I never had to renew for over 30 years.

     But yes overall NY is not freindly to gun owners

     • And yes, NY/NYC skobbs the knob of communism.

8. I’m a member of the NRA, GOA, and FPC and have donated to all of them in the last six months. I reserve the right to criticize them when they fail to represent my interests, which the NRA has been doing a lot of this year. I do so because I care.

9. No Can Do , Here’s Why ………..
   This ;
   The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations.

   ———- Leads to This :
   ATF has now determined, based on its interpretation of the relevant statutory language, that these bump-stock-type devices, which harness recoil energy in conjunction with the shooter’s maintenance of pressure, turn legal semiautomatic firearms into machineguns. Specifically, ATF has determined that these devices initiate an “automatic[]” firing cycle sequence “by a single function of the trigger”

   I will be keeping ALL my Rights and Freedoms , not just what the David Hoggs , Trumps , Giffords or N.R.A. say they will …” ALLOW ” … me to keep this week.

   https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=ATF-2018-0002-0001

   • Have to wonder if Hillary will run again since pod kids are aligned with her on 2nd Ammendment as in the Australian solution

   • Agreed I don’t expect the nra to win every time but I demand they stand on the side of the 2nd any compromise makes me distrustful of them

     • I DEMAND THAT THEY NEVER TAKE THE OTHER SIDE.

       EVER.

       Especially without preamble or provocation.

       Ever see the gun-grabbing POS Fing MFn (D) do that?

       OK.

       Gotta be at least as fervent in your cause as the enemy.

       “Regardless of which selection you make from the above choices it is logical, for your minimum level of Security [12], to employ a two-prong Clausewitz-ian [13] strategy, in developing a defense. First by considering that 1) the best strategy is always to follow your first instinct until you are certain that you are incorrect, and 2) that never can it be assumed that a possible adversary is interested in anything other than your immediate and total destruction, and that a hope for a negotiated peace is devoid of anything of any promise. To which the author also humbly adds: to that which can be labeled “enemy” should always (regardless of any and all other contrary experience) also be labeled focused, tireless, fearless, insidious, fathomless, relentless and hungry.” [J.M. Thomas R., TERMS, 2012, Pg. 182]

       • The Carthaginian gambit is best overall.

       • If you are not a member your opinion has NO relevance.

         • “If you are not a member your opinion has NO relevance.”

           From what I keep reading here, it’s the same if you ARE a member.

       • “If you are not a member your opinion has NO relevance.”

         Says the whiney CVNTx claiming the NRA is “for all gun rights” “so why don’t you jump on NRA bus with the restive us.”

         Real good sales pitch there.

         If you are an NRA member, your opinion about the NRA has NO relevance.

     • So what are you tards proposing NRA do, since they can’t even interest YOU into being a part?

       Gather the entire membership with guns and march on DC, or Sacramento, or some other haven of gun banners??? Stupid!

       There’s a way to do things properly in the US, all prescribed in the very same document as the Second Amendment. No amount of armed insurrection is going to win, and it will never turn the uniterested majority to our side. Brains, guys, brains. Being a damn reactionary is worthless in modern society, such as it’s become…

       • “So what are you tards proposing NRA do, since they can’t even interest YOU into being a part? ”

         You must be joking.

         What should the NRA do? Really?

         How about declaring “Not one inch more”? How about vowing to politically destroy any candidate for any office, regardless of party affiliation, who supports any increase in gun control, and who does not pledge (and perform) to work to undo all the gun control laws already on the books.

         Howz dat?

       • The NRA has NO votes and relatively little money. Explain how your simpleton plan works 100% of the time.

       • “How about declaring “Not one inch more”? ”
         And that declaration would do what? Again- you expect the NRA (which is human beings and not some animated entity) to then back that up with armed insurrection rather than to work for legislation???

         “How about vowing to politically destroy any candidate for any office, regardless of party affiliation, who supports any increase in gun control, and who does not pledge (and perform) to work to undo all the gun control laws already on the books.” Uh- we already do that- open your eyes. We don’t ask for “pledges” since in politics they mean nothing. We do actively work to remove those who work against the Constitution. NRA is also very good about backing those who support us. That’s an issue with some, since there are a few high-profile pols on the left side who do support the RTKBA.

         • “Uh- we already do that-”

           I will infer from your statement that “we” means members of the NRA who are on the board, and can make things happen at the national level. If that is so, how did NRA get so squishy on “my cold dead hands?”. Why did NRA make public announcements that appeased only gun control addicts? You (the “we”) may be “working”, but where is the national announcement that you will withhold all funds from politicians who compromise a millimeter on “gun rights”? Where is that statement? Where is the follow through.

           The game has changed. Politics is no longer a gentleman’s club. It is bare knuckles, smash mouth combat. There in no longer any room or time for the old school give-and-take. Because the people on the other side are all “take”.

           Man-up NRA. Put a few political scalps on the wall, then ask for money to get more. I am not talking about armed rebellion. I am talking about steadfast resistance to gun control, and a big banner leading the charge of all gun owners to leverage politicians to ensure our rights are protected.

       • “So what are you tards proposing NRA do, since they can’t even interest YOU into being a part? ”

         How about the NRA stop being part of the problem. If not, they should waste more of their energy fucking off.

       • Sam- you don’t have a clue to the gains or programs or anything else NRA has accomplished, will accomplish, is planning for the future- zip. All you get is the BS some other self-appointed big shots and “legal experts” provide around this site trashing the only effective gun rights association in the world, none of whom are members, almost all of whom claim the NRA ought to do more. Again- HOW?

         We’re pretty damn effective with only 5% of gun owners involved, paying the ticket and pulling the weight for the rest of you. If you have the answers- post them, start (yet) another group, which will, in the end, spend more time bitching about what NRA doesn’t do than actually doing anything to promote the Second Amendment, the US Constitution and the institutions provided therein. Talk about having no plan.

         And Joe, since you can’t even use decent language, how about providing some proof for your little unsupportable rant?

         • “Sam- you don’t have a clue…(about)…will accomplish, is planning for the future…”

           Which is my point, entirely.

           The sales pitch seems to be, “You can’t have everything you want, so just pay up and take what you can get.”

           I want militant radicalism protecting my constitutional rights (not talking violence, but unrelenting pressure to remove all the gun control laws, all the politicians friendly to gun control, freedom for the “weapons of war” currently restricted to government entities. These are my wants. Can your organization deliver, or not? What in your past performance would persuade me you can do it?

           The responsibility for selling the product rests with the seller, not the buyer (which you/NRA do not seem to quite grasp. So far, you guys are acting like a deep state agency of the government, unaccountable to the people who trust you.

       • “I want militant radicalism protecting my constitutional rights (not talking violence, but unrelenting pressure to remove all the gun control laws, all the politicians friendly to gun control, freedom for the “weapons of war” currently restricted to government entities. These are my wants.” OK- you want radicals, who’ll do what ever it takes, at any cost. Problem is, whackos like that garner zero public support, especially from those who are not involved in 2nd Amendment issues. They’ll just scare the hell out of normal people and turn them to the other side. That’s when all will be lost, and not just the 2nd Amendment. Those were always the tactics of the communists in taking over vast amounts of real estate around the world and exactly how the democrat party is operating today under their neighborhood organizer system.

         I’ll stick with intelligence, using the proper channels, realizing that while it took nearly 70 years in the US to bring us to the brink of losing the 2nd altogether, I understand also it’s taking time to restore things. Parkland aside, gun owners in general are far better off today than they were in 1986, or 1993. Maybe your state has gone to hell but if the citizens aren’t interested in doing anything about it, why should a national organization spend time and money? On the other hand, look at what GSL and NRA are doing right now in Illinois. It ought to encourage you but again, you’re so jaded by your own bias and hatred you can’t see it. NRA isn’t missing your $30 too much…

         • “OK- you want radicals, who’ll do what ever it takes, at any cost. ”
           – Not at all; not implied.

           “They’ll just scare the hell out of normal people and turn them to the other side. ”
           – You think the anti-gun mob isn’t successfully scaring the public now? It is a basic tactic.

           “I’ll stick with intelligence, using the proper channels, realizing that while it took nearly 70 years in the US to bring us to the brink of losing the 2nd altogether, I understand also it’s taking time to restore things”
           – First, yes. That sort of namby pamby thinking allowed the erosion. How is that same thinking going to turn things around?
           – Second, we don’t actually have time. If you are on landing approach, and are 10 degrees left of center, you cannot just make a ten degree heading change back to the right and be on course (you will overshoot the opposite direction. It takes a ten degree turn back to centerline, then a ten degree turn to be lined-up on centerline, again. In essence, double the effort. I do not see NRA making double the effort to get rid of all the gun control laws. While NRA is slowly trying to stop the erosion, the end result of stopping is a point of further erosion. Once stopped, then the pendulum must be swung all the way back to the other side. Time to stop the erosion (70yrs?), time to swing back (70yrs?)

           “…if the citizens aren’t interested in doing anything about it, why should a national organization spend time and money?”
           – Now you have gone from selling the NRA to blaming the public. You really do not understand sales campaigns, do you?
           – But you did identify the real issue. We the People allowed this all to happen.
           – A national organization is needed as a regimental flag, a rallying point. However, “…if the trumpet give an uncertain sound who shall prepare himself to the battle?”(1Cor14:8)

           When NRA becomes abandons being the uncertain trumpet…that would be leadership.

           Oh, accusing potential customers of hate is a dandy way to increase sales and win you Salesman of the Year. Such an attitude mirrors the disdain and disgust the anti-gun mafia holds for POTG.

           BTW, it is not my $30 you are missing, it is the other 95million $30 you are not receiving.

       • Sam I am is the best friend the Gun Ban people could ever have. He is both cheap ass, ignorant and full blown bat shit nuts. His rants this time are so bizarre I do not even think he could ever fathom any of it. When will this Neanderthal even begin to realize that if we had had no NRA either back in the day or in the present none of us would own even a bow and arrow. Ranting that the NRA is not perfect makes about as much sense as firing General George Patton because he did not please everyone all the time. You fire or destroy the very Man who is the only one capable of winning the war in the end not just concentrating on the battles lost. I used to think it was just Sams cheapness but now I know its more ignorance and stupidity.

         • “When will this Neanderthal even begin to realize that if we had had no NRA either back in the day or in the present none of us would own even a bow and arrow.”

           When the alleged sole defender of 2A rights sides with gun control fascists on anything, that defender no longer commands respect for past work.

           Having it your way, the NRA could decide that the right to bear arms is restricted to .22 revolvers alone, any you would think the NRA did a fine job because they did such a fine job back in the day. Where is your red line on supporting an organization that doesn’t support your values?

           Blind adoration of an organization leads to all sorts of mischief.

       • Craig in . . . who cares

         If I have to list or delineate (again) where the NRA has equivocated or capitulated on gun rights, that’s an unworthy waste of my time.

         It’s like telling F’ing POS (D) why they’re POS. It’s a waste of time, but I do it because they waste so much of their time trying to shit on conservatives and Conservatism that (they should be made to develop terminal constipation, but) there needs to be some constant push-back.

         “When I want my men to remember something important, to really make it stick, I give it to them double dirty. It may not sound nice to some bunch of little old ladies at an afternoon tea party, but it helps my soldiers to remember. You can’t run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn’t fight its way out of a piss-soaked paper bag. … As for the types of comments I make, sometimes I just, By God, get carried away with my own eloquence. ” – Gen. Gorge S. Patton https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_S._Patton

       • @ Sam you are

         You forgot to mention, that the NRA is THE GOVERNMENT’S and ANTI-GUNNER’S safety net,
         NOT
         OURS. A few of us are ready to fuck their shit up right now. All of them.

         As soon as we can get this stupid drug-out ‘conversation’ about immutable rights over with we can fuck each other up with abandon, and go after each others’ kin, friends and property after that. This “talking about it” shit has only made the inevitable battle more bloody. If it’s war, let no one call it different, and war never really ends.

         “Let us not hear of Generals who conquer without bloodshed. If a bloody slaughter is a
         horrible sight, then that is a ground for paying more respect to War, but not for making the sword we wear blunter and blunter by degrees from feelings of humanity, until some one steps in with one that is sharp and lops off the arm from our body”. (Clausewitz “On War”, pg. 345).

         “They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But
         when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we
         are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual
         resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.” (Patrick Henry Speech to the Continental Congress March 23, 1775) Emphasis added.
         [http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/henry.htm]

         • “If it’s war, let no one call it different, and war never really ends.”

           War, as a concept, an act is eternal. War as a specific settling of irreconcilable difference can be quite effected, and limited in duration. It seems, however, that those irreconcilable often lie only dormant for a period. But there are examples of elegant solutions. Carthage, for instance. The Romans finally tired of “settling” things, and applied a permanent solution. Today, there is no ambassador to the United Nations representing the nation of Carthage.

10. But bump stocks are not protected by the Second Amendment, because they are like machine guns (which are also not protected by the Second Amendment)

    • The issue is with the word “like”. Jerry Miculek is “Like” a machine gun. Bob Munden is faster than any machine gun. A gatling crank is “like” a machine gun. A binary trigger is “like” a machine gun.

      If your goal is to ban things that are not machine guns because they’re too fast for your preference, how long is it before single stage triggers become illegal because they make shooting faster than a two stage trigger? isn’t that the literal argument behind banning a bump fire stock? It makes the gun shoot faster?

      How long before some idiot argues that semi autos should be banned? Afterall, they’re alright partway to a machine gun already. The word “automatic” is part of their title and functional description. They’re far more “LIKE” a machine gun than a lever action. And you’ve already set down the legal precedent that it doesn’t have to BE a machine gun. Just “like” one.

    • @barnbwt

      Wait..What?

      Explanation please?

      • Don’t ask me, ask the NRA

    • What a load of [self-censored].

      The 2nd Amendment explicitly protects the weapons necessary to win a war. If you think machine guns do not fit that definition, I have to wonder where your head is.

      • “The 2nd Amendment explicitly protects the weapons necessary to win a war. ”

        . . . AGAINST YOUR OWN FUCKING GOVERNMENT. Read Paragraph 2 of the Declaration of Independence.

        The Second Amendment DEMANDS “PARITY OF ARMS” with your government. It doesn’t have to “provide” them, nor make them “affordable”, but as soon as it appears that they are working to make them even possibly unattainable, that is AN IMMEDIATE SIGN OF TYRANNY FROM OUR FUCKING AHOLE NEIGHBORS WHO NEEDED A JOB (OUR “GOVERNMENT”).

        Does that mean they’ve already gone and done tyranny?

        You’re fucking-A right.

      • Ask the NRA what hole its head is shoved up (I’d start your search with Trump). I know that mine isn’t in the same place, at least.

    • Well, I’m definitely speaking in the sarcastic, but this is the exact stance of the NRA, people. They’ve never defended machine guns, from the 1934 NFA in which they freaking wrote the law’s crummy description of MGs they are now in favor of broadening after nearly 100 years (“one action” of the trigger will now mean “one pull” courtesy of the Donald), to the utter lack of support for Hollis v Holder a couple years ago which challenged the Hughes Amendment, the ATF’s ability to Indian-give NFA approvals, and sought discovery information on the MG registry (which has still never been audited but grows every year despite being ‘closed’)

      The NRA has never believed that machine guns deserve protection under the second amendment. And that failing is finally sprouting and causing them to lose their support for other categories of weapons (keep in mind that high capacity magazines make semi-autos just as scary as bump stocks)

11. Hurry, shovel YOUR money into the NRA. Ole Wayne, Chris and their leg humping followers need new suits for the Dallas Convention. Can’t be looking shabby in front of the media and POTUS. Oh and Wayne’s Gulf Stream needs a new paint job. Heck with the new paint, a NEW jet would be better. Open them wallets boys and girls.

    • Bingo.

12. The NRA gives up real estate that other people have fought for GCA (pick one). They’ve given up real estate that they’ve already won (bump stocks).

    They claim they speak for the majority, then shrink and whimper, making the majority look weak.

    I don’t need any more rah-rah.

    F em

    • OK- so who fought for those things that NRA “gave up”? Certainly none of the groups you might be associated with. If so- name them. (This is starting to get to be a 1st grade argument.)

      • @ Craig in POS (D) land.
        “who fought for those things that NRA “gave up”?

        OUR FOUNDING FATHERS, OUR “FRAMERS” AND A FEW FEEBLE PERCENT OF THE CITIZENRY OF THE U.S. COLONIES.

        All gave some, some gave all. https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/02/how-was-the-revolutionary-war-paid-for/

        IF WE GOTTA DO IT AGAIN, LET’S GO, AND I’M OFFERING BOUNTIES AND FUCKING TAKING PELTS.

        “(This is starting to get to be a 1st grade argument.)”
        YOU ARE FUCKING-A RIGHT. The fact that it’s even “open for discussion” IS A DAMMNABLE, DAMMNABLE, DAMMNABLE, OFFENSE !

        • Yep, right down to the profanity since you really have no argument… As per exactly who fought for the “things NRA has given up” I could sure find some folks a lot more recent than the Founders. People I’ve actually met and all of whom are/were active NRA members. I know none of them still alive today who would blame NRA for the events for which you speak, I’m sure those who have passed on wouldn’t, either. Just the legends in their own mind seem to want to do that, though they can point to nothing they themselves have done in the positive. But- go on with your profanity rant- probably the best you can do.

13. they do a lot that pisses me off; fear mongering, cherry picking easy battles, lack of financial transparency for members(what EXACTLY is my fees being spent on?)
    but they have stepped up to the plate as of the last several years so i’m starting to forgive their past missteps ( like not opposing the 1984 AWB)
    I started a Life membership a few years ago so i am pretty late to the part as well seeing as i’m almost 40 now. (shudder)

14. Excellent ! Thank you for preaching the gospel !!

15. When did we become http://www.thetruthaboutshillingforthenra.com?

    I’ve done a hell of a lot more than bitch on the internet, or pay for a little card. I’ve spent a couple of decades fighting for gun rights, including directly lobbying my congressional members, state house and senate leaders, Governors, and yes, directly speaking to Presidents. I’ve put a ton of time into it, and not a little bit of money.

    The “granite” support you speak of is soapstone.

    I’m too young to remember their support of the NFA or the Gun Control Act of 1968, both NRA supported, but I do remember the Brady Bill. I remember the NRA saying they were for instant background checks, and that they supported most of what was in the Brady Bill. Of course they sued later but by then the cat was out of the bag. I remember lobbying state house member for the Texas LTC and having the NRA’s support of the checks thrown in my face by the opposition.

    And that’s when I stopped supporting the NRA.

    After Sandyhook, I was waiting for yet another waffling, weak knee’d statement from the NRA. Instead, I got exactly what I had hoped for, a strong, unequivocal response.

    I joined back up again in the hopes that I had found an organization with a renewed commitment to the 2A, a commitment I never lost, nor stopped working for. I took classes, attended fundraisers, co-sponsored benefits, spoke to legislators with their talking points, everything.

    Then came their push for the bump stock ban. They chose to speak out against the 2nd Amendment there, when they could have completely stayed out of it. That’s the least they could have done, instead, they turned their backs on our civil rights. At the time when many of use were lobbying for the HPA and National Reciprocity, it seemed like a familiar sour tune from the NRA. Stabbed in the back again.

    The results were immediate, and disastrous.

    Finally, when our president said “take the guns first, due process second”, and they stood by like it didn’t even happen, when they enabled that kind of behavior which only emboldened our opponents, when they walked out of that meeting and said “no he’s all good, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for, forget he said that”, I lost any and all respect for them.

    My vocal and financial support for the NRA will return when they choose to become the “granite” supporter of our Second Amendment rights you claim them to be. Not a moment before.

    • Realpolitik much, JW?

      • Garrison Hall, – “Realpolitik much, JW?”
        I appreciate the laconic question.
        Yes, as a matter of fact I do, but what the NRA does is not that.
        For instance, when we first started pitching concealed carry in Texas, in the early 90s, what we wanted was permitless carry, or constitutional carry. What we would settle for, that time, was concealed carry. The next time, what did we pitch? We pitched permitless carry. What would we accept? Open carry. What did we pitch for next? Permitless carry. What would we accept? A dramatic reduction in the cost and limits on the LTC. What will we pitch for next time? Permitless carry.
        See what happened? We demanded a lot, and accepted getting a little more. That’s how Realpolitik is done. It’s not about caving in to how much you will give up, it’s not about giving in on your principles for no GAIN.
        It’s about how much you will accept to gain, knowing that this is only an incremental step.
        Politics, like football, is a game of momentum. The NRA, of past, and again of late, has ceded that momentum.

        • If you stacked a few up like kindling, and slapped the shit out of any protesting whiners, they’d be the ones’ asking you for sh_t.

          This ‘common good’ sh_t has to capitally cost more to the people fucking with it.

          POTG have not ‘moved’ (we are not the ‘movers’) in this “argument”. It’s the fuckstained (D) selling fake ‘society’ that has. And what they are selling (INCLUDING GUN-GRABBING) has ALWAYS proved to devolve into tyranny, ruin, and human chaos.

          Why risk your life/limb/peace and quiet for that immediate fight? Only because it’s coming eventually.

    • I popped back in to support your comment… Spot on! I’ve been around a good while as well. I’ve carried regularly since I was a teenager; all the while witnessing how the NRA operates. I was a member long ago.

      When/if the NRA does come around, please pay extremely close attention to the fact that the NRA supports privileges and not the exercise of the unalienable individual right to keep and bear arms. The organization would have my support it corrected this major fatal flaw in its organizational thinking. If it doesn’t understand the difference between privilege and right, choosing to support the latter over the former, it will never be fighting for what is moral and lasting.

      “After Sandyhook, I was waiting for yet another waffling, weak knee’d statement from the NRA. Instead, I got exactly what I had hoped for, a strong, unequivocal response.”

      There were 13 points in the NRA Sandyhook statement that I could not support. They indicated more support of privilege over the exercise of an unalienable individual right. Supporting government privilege is to the determent of a natural right. What government gives, government takes away. What G-d gives, only G-d can take away. NRA most often only supports what government gives and thumbs its nose at what G-d gives.

      Carry on.

    • Well said JWTaylor.

      Quotes below are from the NRA’s home page:

      “Our rights are under attack like never before. Join today.”
      What are they saying-Join, send them money to fight the attacks.
      What do they then do (in some cases)-foster or support the attack.

      “Tireless defenders of your second amendment rights.”
      What are they saying-Join, send them money, and they will tirelessly defend your rights.
      What do they then do (in some cases)-foster or support the attack.

      The lack of correspondence between what they say and what they do is significant. But, they always come back with their hand out. I’m not the first to have said it on this forum, sure looks like a bureaucracy more worried about sustaining itself than its mission; some times their very actions lead to the need to fight (and ask for more). Maybe we are too simple minded to understand the 5 dimensional chess game.

    • This is why we will eventually lose the fight. Shit like this half-wit statement. The leftists are able to put aside their differences to further their causes, overall. We will fight each other and they will win the war. Maybe the right is too stupid to own firearms. Definitely too stupid to keep them. Join all of the gun rights groups. The NRA does more good than harm. And because the left considers them the spawns of Satan, that should be reason enough.

      • “This is why we will eventually lose the fight. ”

        FU, This is why we will eventually lose the “conversation”. Ya know, the conversation? The one where the NRA is our “voice” at “the seat at the table”?

        Again FU.

        When it finally breaks out in a “fight”, a lot of gun-grabbing MFrs are gonna feed worms, and a LOT of their friends and kin are gonna have hate rained down on them and have their shit burnt and bulldozed. And it’s going to seem to them like it came outa left field.

        But oh well, as long as we’re all trying to fuck with each other with impunity. They started it.

        • Just keep on fighting the wrong enemy there chumly. Stupidity at it’s finest. And I hate to tell you this, but if the fight gets real, your fellow citizens aren’t going to join you at the firefight. They will, most likely, be too busy or not willing to sacrifice their comfortable lives. Nobody will eat worms except those that try to make a stand. Not your Grandpa’s America.

        • “but if the fight gets real,”

          When the fight gets real, just make sure you ain’t near me.

          My coalition of the willing (even if it’s just 1) won’t spare you a bottle of water.

      • “We will fight each other and they will win the war.”
        I don’t think you know who “each other” is here. Anyone who is advocating the reduction or removal of the civil rights of myself or my fellow Americans is not one of us. They are not one of “each other”.
        I don’t care what the history of your organizations is, or what you call yourself. When you push an agenda that is contrary to the foundations this nation was built on, you are one of them.
        It is our duty to push back on them.
        Again, when the NRA does right, they get cheering and money from me. When they don’t, that support is withheld and the criticism is deserved.

        • ^^^ This. ^^^

          • Indeed.

        • Woot

16. Yeah I’m a NRA member. They did a GREAT job after Newtown. Now not so much. Put the screws to Trump. No accommodating fudds. Do your damn job…

17. JWTaylor:

    Great job at virtue signaling.
    Pretty good whining as well.
    Now give up, shut up, and go wring your dainty hands like the little girl you are.

    • Give up? You must be a member of the NRA.

      • Wait, did you just reply to Jackass? Oh jeesh. Don’t let the MF’rs get you down.
        : )

      • LOL savage burn by Mr. Taylor.

18. The NRA does some things I don’t like and doesn’t do some thing I would like to see them do.

    That said, what scares pols straight is membership numbers and that’s something the NRA has that the other groups don’t. Join the others for sure but be aware that in the present the NRA is the best friend you can have. They might not be perfect but what organization is?

    • That said, what scares pols straight is membership numbers and that’s something the NRA has that the other groups don’t.
      Yeah, the NRA leaves something to be desired, but the Progtards hate the membership numbers and that is why they really target the NRA.
      Love GOA, they just do not have the throw weight.

      • Knowing 5 million people will vote for one of the two designated options the major parties feel like giving you scares them? Knowing you’ll vote that way for lip service alone, even if further infringements are made? That doesn’t scare them, it emboldens them.

        • “Knowing 5 million people will vote for one of the two designated options the major parties feel like giving you scares them?” Well, if you don’t like the 2 major political parties perhaps you should go out and start one. Then see how many people you can get to line up behind you and your principles.

          For all practical purposes, that’s what Trump has done. Sure, a lot of you can’t tell when he’s trolling you, especially the complaints around here about “taking the guns first”, which he obviously didn’t believe and said only to get the left to show their cards. He’s done nothing to harm gun owners or the Constitution- that was the last guy, remember? (I doubt it…) For all the whining, Trump doesn’t play by the rules those 2 parties have been dancing around with and won’t. Both parties are taking shots at him and none of it’s sticking. Rather than complain, sit back and see how it can be done, especially when you appeal to a broad majority of people of many cultures and backgrounds who just love America. Sometimes I have to wonder if some of the haters around here actually do. Many can’t see the forest for the trees they’re so deep in their negativity.

          • “Many can’t see the forest for the trees they’re so deep in their negativity.”

            Oh, I do indeed see the forest; it’s being clear-cut by professional bureaucrats and politicians.

19. There is an update on the NRA – Yeti kerfuffle –

    https://www.nraila.org/articles/20180427/nra-statement-on-yeti

    Who’s lying?

    • Coolers and Stickers and PR spin , is more important to NRA than the real issues.

    • Worst case, Yeti cut them off the payroll. Pfft, maybe Yeti did it for the wrong reasons, but end of the day it makes sense to me, I don’t support the NRA either. Now Yeti’s getting more bad attention than if they supported an anti-gun org. Hmmm, once they get a taste of your money the NRA seems to feel entitled

20. A fine engineering and construction firm can successfully build 10,000 bridges around the world. But let one fall, and the reputation can never be recovered.

    • That’s one way to see it. The other is, you can only sell your integrity once.

21. The NRA-ILA took my money for years. When I cashed in on the ILA promise to help defend me on an ileagal weapons charge( 94 AWB, SKS folding stock, pistol grip ,bayonet, after market 30 round mag, all purchased in 1991) the ILA bounced me from one “won’t take the case” lawyer to the next. Fuck the lieing bastards, I’m not helping pay for their fresh lobster, caviar, and private jets. Compromise, fuck that

22. I live in Massachusetts, so forgive me if I see the NRA as a big joke that gets nothing done.

23. “The NRA was founded in 1871 by a couple of Union vets disappointed by their troops’ marksmanship. Ironically, the organization was officially formed thanks to the granting of a charter by none other than the state of New York.

    During World War II NRA members […]”
    1871 straight to World War II? Excluding that half century of NRA history isn’t suspicious at all…

    “Here’s the thing. If you aren’t fighting for gun rights, you’re part of the problem. […] saying you own guns but don’t think people should own ARs is traitorous to the heart of the Second Amendment.”
    Good, first step is admitting the NRA has a problem. Wait, this isn’t admitting the NRA has (or IS) the problem? Oh…

24. …this post reminded me to re-up.

    Done, and done.

25. The NRA sucks fat donkey balls, and have been doing so even before they formed the NRA-ILA. Now, they’re at sucking bull balls level; the only reason anyone gives them a pass such as yourself is because the are the most recognized ‘gun rights’ (I use that term very loosely) organization. Yet, even that hurts 2A supporters, as it dwarfs the brand awareness of all the other national and local 2A organizations out there which make the general public thinks that it is only the NRA lobbying and not average citizens that are fighting their ‘common sense’ regulations. If the NRA disappeared tomorrow, nothing would change in the gun rights sphere except the progressives wouldn’t have a boogieman to point at in the gun debate, actually making it harder for them to convince ignorant folks to join their side.

26. The NRA and me have been fighting for gun rights since before many of y’all were filling diapers. Now, we don’t have to agree on everything. Heck, we don’t HAVE to agree on anything. But the NRA trains a lot of resources at the right targets and has been doing so for a long time. That’s work that needs to be done. Now, I know what you’re thinking, did he fire six shots or only five. No, I mean what about silencers and national reciprocity? Well, we’d be like the rest of the world, begging authorities for airsoft pistols, if the no one had picked the freedom side of the fight so many decades ago (that would be in the 70s, for you whipper-snappers).

    Reagan sayeth, “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor.”

    • Someone who disagrees with you 100% of the time is not a friend and ally – a 100% traitor.

      Just governments gain their powers from consent of the governed. The Constitution enshrines the powers consented to. This is the core, the ONLY belief of America. To disagree with this is to disagree with the very concept of America. The NRA (and Reagan for that matter) does not respect this and thus has seized and seeks to to seize arbitrary power. They are 100% my enemy and the enemy of all who desire freedom.

      • Nanashi

        I couldn’t have said it better or more succinctly,well put sir.

      • Are you currently a member? Do you vote for members of the board that will vote the way you believe?
        If not then STFU! I have been a Benefactor member for years. I don’t agree with everything the NRA does, but I will definitely give them my support in the war against the anti-gun mafia. I may not like Trump, but Hillary as the alternative makes supporting him desirable. Support the NRA instead of supporting the anti-gunners for the same reason. Or at least join a similar pro gun organization.

      • Curious what happens when the 51% that disagrees with you gains power and you have no one to fight for you…….it won’t help that you don’t consider them just.

        • You are arguing from the false premise that the NRA fights for me. This requires intentionally ignoring their blatant and repeated team killing.

    • “Well, we’d be like the rest of the world, begging authorities for airsoft pistols, if the no one had picked the freedom side of the fight so many decades ago (that would be in the 70s, for you whipper-snappers).”

      Yeah? Maybe if we didn’t pay people a lot of money to talk fancy to our ahole neighbors who needed a job (our fucking government) we would bury the MFrs in our way like we did ~ 240 years ago, and the world would be better off. But no, by all means, let’s keep “talking” about it.

      “Reagan sayeth, “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor.” ”

      THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS,
      IF NOT MY OUTSPOKEN FRIEND,
      ALSO MY ENEMY.
      If being my friend fucks them up with their friends, tough sh_t, tie a pork chop around your neck, because THAT IS YOUR FUCKING DOG.

27. Fuck the NRA, not only do they not support gun rights, they don’t support other rights.

    The NRA backs Extreme Risk Protection orders Which violate multiple right.

    Fuck them.

28. Never another dime to that corrupt and greedy organization. The NRA’s main focus is preserving their power and money by pushing a divisive political agenda to instill just enough fear in their diminishing base to make sure they keep opening their wallets, all the while alienating the vast majority of people that would otherwise be far more active in the support of gun rights. They do this by supporting and pushing new gun control to be passed whether through Congress or an unelected bureaucracy and then claiming they’re the only ones fighting for our rights and attacking the “other.” The NRA lies to our faces while stabbing us in the back and then begs us for money and support, and, like every other corrupt union, viciously attacks anyone who dares speak out against them. The NRA needs to be replaced now.

29. I’m not a big fan of the NRA, but I will become a member, purely so I can put a bumper sticker on my car and troll the leftists in my neighborhood. Have they done stupid things, made mistakes, etc? Sure. So have I. I’ve done plenty of things I regret, and I know I’ll do plenty more before my time is up. We learn from our mistakes, or forget them, and move forward either way.

30. For those who are anti NRA but love firearms, then I again suggest that you join and vote for members of the governing board that believe the same way you do. If you don’t vote then you have nothing to bitch about.

    • A libertarian should know that there are things you can’t get by voting. The NRA is Fudd/GOP territory. When RKBA fundamentalists join they don’t take over, they get taken over.

    • I would *love* to do that, if it didn’t involve giving money to the same people working against me. Might as well donate the Kamala Harris (like Trump did) and ‘work from within’ to change her tune, for all the good it’ll do.

      There will be no 1970’s style convention revolt; the NRA changed the bylaws to ensconce themselves and make that kind of uprising impossible.

31. I think TTAG forgot the “sponsored content” and red text.

32. You know, I really get and mostly agree with what you’re saying. I think we should all be NRA members, and therefore be able to vote in the NRA elections. But look, the NRA flat out royally fucked this all up after parkland and Vegas. They completely divided the pro gun movement and made us all turn on eachother for it. It didn’t hold Trumps feet to the fire, either. For that, they need to pay in these elections. They need to recognize that this level of incompetence can not be tolerated. I haven’t seen enough to leave the NRA just yet, but I will if this continues. If they keep up this behavior they will permanently cripple themselves. I don’t blame those that have already turned, but, I don’t think it’s that dire yet. The NRA is still strong and influential, and they need to start acting like it. Because what’s taken place over the past few months looks like weakness and cowardice.

33. No.

34. Good article, Kat. The anti-NRA concern tr0lls are already losing their minds.

    • It does seem to have created a stir… 😉

      • “Good article, Kat. The anti-NRA concern tr0lls are already losing their minds.”

        Is it just this blog, or is it systemic to gun people that any disagreement is met with name-calling, and aspersions cast upon character?

        The NRA isn’t getting the job done (protecting us from further intrusion into our constitutionally protected rights, and ridding us of all existing gun control laws). If you disagree with my assessment, ok, fine. However, I find little value in arguing with the Taliban.

    • Each use of the word ‘tard’ or a variation on it in here is in a pro-NRA comment. Stay classy.

35. I support the NRA and NRA-ILA for all the reasons Kat mentioned. I am even willing to trust their judgement on picking battles and occasionally compromising to achieve the bigger goals.

    However, I am most frustrated when Wayne LaPierre embraces any and every Trump whim, including eliminating net neutrality and denying human-caused climate change. Regardless of how any of us feel about these particular issues cannot we agree on one tenet the NRA should hold to?

    Focus on gun rights!

    • “Focus on gun rights!”

      That is what people are doing, what the NRA is not doing.

      Picking battles, especially non-definitive battles is playing defense. Wars are not won by defense. You attack and destroy the enemy. In this case, the entire gun control mafia.

36. you left out the other things the NRA has done.
    Fought for the NFA in ’34,
    pushed for the ’84 Firearm Owners Protection Act, that included the Hughes Amendment,
    helped write the ’94 AWB, to “limit the scope” instead of standing against it,
    just last year, they called for the ATF to “look changing the definition of what is a machine gun” (paraphrasing a little there).

    too sick an tired of the NRA “compromising” where we loose a little each time.

37. None of the organizations are perfect, including the NRA.

    But, membership dues are a pittance. When it comes to preserving our Rights, I’m happy to “hedge my bets.” So, I am a member of all of them. Well, maybe not ALL (there may be some I’m not aware of). I am a Life member of the NRA and SAF. I am also a member of the GOA.

    I was not happy with the NRA’s acquiescence on the silly bump stock ban. But, again… I cannot expect perfection. The NRA has done some great things and is DOING some great things. Maybe not ALL the things I’d like. But, for $35 / year??? They do WAY more “bang for the buck” than my professional organization does (health care)! I no longer pay the annual membership, since I became a Life member, and then Endowment member. I’ll upgrade to Patron when I can.

    When I hear my progressive friends and acquaintances blame the NRA for the deeds of sociopathic miscreants like the animal in Parkland, Florida… I PROUDLY tell them, “I AM THE NRA.”

    Then I ask, “Please explain how someone like me (with a doctorate degree, small business owning job creator, law-abiding, tax-payer) is responsible for this mass murder…. by a psychopath KNOWN by MULTIPLE law enforcement agencies and who TOLD them he was going to do it???”

    Yeah…. blaming the NRA is blaming ME. There is only one descriptor for people who are that profoundly lacking in the logic department: MORONS.

38. You know, you’re right. Thanks for reminding me how this helps. Just bought a lifetime membership. And I’m gonna go become an NRA pistol instructor…to start. Great article.

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