I’m standing outside the press room here at the NRA Annual Meeting, and there is a series of portraits hanging off the rafters showing various influential NRA members with their firearms. But if you look for a minute, you notice a distinct trend going running through these portraits. With one notable exception. Can you spot it? . . .
NRA needs a chief diversity officer. . . . . just sayin. . . . .
Yep we need a serious outreach to urban.communities
Because riflery is a common hobby in those communities?
Matt, you hit on part of the problem. Many of the people living in the big cities never leave the big cities and are only exposed to bad uses of the gun. Turn on the TV in NYC, LA, Detroit and the really safe city of Chicago (Because of all it’s gun laws) and the news is filled with murders, assaults and robberies. The people are inundated with bad uses of firearms and violent crime touches many of them and they can’t differentiate between good and bad uses of guns because all their exposed to is the bad. That a hundred million law-abiding gun owners didn’t kill anyone today is a tough sell in those cities and those are the people who vote against conservatives in elections.
NRA needs to stop calling black people urban and have someone on the wall that doesn’t look like my parents.
I thought they’d finally gotten their heads in the game when they brought on Colion Noir, but it looks like that was only a brief flash of brilliance before going back to being unintentionally exclusive.
Because lawful gun owners are a diverse group? I live in Chicago and i’ve only ever seen 1 black guy at my local gun stores/ranges, and his gun (a Sig 556 pistol with a 30rd pmag) violated the Cook County AWB in several different ways.
Everyone but the Nuge has a shotgun.
Charlie Daniels appears to have a scoped rifle, and WLP has a musket of some kind.
And the guy on the left in the 4-person picture appears to have a levergun.
But yes, their choice of firearms is about as innocuous as possible, but also about as diverse as the people pictured.
Btw is that karl malone from the utah jazz in the last photo?
Yes, it sure is. Who would have thought..
Finally, uncle Ted!
Yep, that’s what I’m going with.
Shotgun, Shotgun.
Yes, I noticed too – all shotties, 1 AR, 1 bolt gun, one lever-gun. …and a lot of OFWGs
Grandpa shotgun, grandpa shotgun, grandpa shotgun, grandpa shotgun, grandpa shotgun, grandpa shotgun, grandpa shotgun, zebra AR-15, grandpa shotgun…
Zebra AR… LOL.
I always thought Karl Malone was white.
Is it that Ted Nugent is the only one holding a modern sporting rifle?
Yeah the AR stood out.
Men woman, no kids, no woman of color. Of course uncle Ted..
It’s missing a photo of Crazy Joe Biden with a shotgun. 😉
Until someone starts louding telling people that the 2A doesn’t have a damned thing to do with “sporting” “hunting”, whatever, we are always going to be at a loss.
One guy (2nd to last on left) has a lever gun, the woman next to him looks to have a target rifle, and the guy right of Ted has a scoped rifle. But yeah, WAY too many Biden shotguns in those pictures.
I wonder what it says about me that the first thing I noticed was “shotgun, shotgun, shotgun, shotgun, shotgun, shotgun, AR15” and the second thing was “token black guy” -sigh-.
Token NBA player.
Is it a token black, gay NBA player?
Hmmm. In retrospect, hiring Joe Biden to arrange the decor may have been an error.
+ 1000! 🙂
all are middle age or older but 1?
Sorry. Those women aren’t middle aged.
True, from the looks of them they passed middle aged about 15 years ago.
Except for the first and last photos, I don’t recognize a single person.
*facepalm
Karl Malone looks a lot like Jesse L. Martin
Seriously needs more black people.
And really needs more Hispanics too.
Also more women.
So basically what a lot of people (including TTAG) have been saying all along.
why? so you can feel good?
No. So you will feel bad.
So the Second Amendment stays safe, electorally speaking. Duh. It’s so blindingly obvious it’s practically written in the sky in burning letters.
Anonymous says:
“Seriously needs more black people.
And really needs more Hispanics too.
Also more women.”
All they have to do is join. Nobody’s stopping them. People on here, not to mention the rest of the world, are MUCH too hung up on “race” and so called “diversity,” both of which are Trotskyite constructs. We’ve allowed them to define the parameters of the debate, the definition of the terms used, and now we are blindly, mindlessly, parroting their own idiotic concepts!…..Yep, we’re WAY through the looking glass now. Oops! Got to go, just saw the white rabbit…(maybe if I wait a while, a black or perhaps even an Hispanic one will come by as well!!)
Yeah, clearly what the gun rights movement needs is Cultural Marxism.
Or it needs good marketing to steal market share from the other side.
Romney got absolutely slaughtered in these demographics. If he had lost them somewhat less badly, we would have been talking about President Romney’s response to Sandy Hook.
In the same way, the more people are introduced into the gun culture, the better. These will be people who will not respond from ignorance the next time someone does something bad with a gun.
There would not have been a Sandy Hook shooting, Colorado Theater shooting, or Boston Marathon Bombing if there was someone else in office. And before some of you flame me for stating the obvious, you know you already thought it before reading my post.
Lacking young people. All shotguns…Ted has evil stripe gun (KISS-style). One black dude. NRA better start posing with real battle style weapons and get over the ‘hunter’ image. I and my gun-friends don’t hunt.
I find it odd there is only one AR, and no handguns. Also the one token black guy is barely helping. I mean…are they trying to enforce the stereotype that only white republicans are NRA members? And Ted Nugent being the only one holding an AR is definitely not helping! Go to a 3-Gun Contest, take pics there, find those kids who shoot better than 99% of grown men, find those pink pistol people or whatever. In fact try and make it feel like they couldn’t find anyone who matched the usual gun nut stereotype. Maybe get someone in a gay pride rainbow shirt with an AR. It would help.
The NRA probably want’s to low-profile handguns. I did a research paper on murders in Minnesota over the last 10 years of available statistics from the BCA and handguns were involved in over 50% of the murders…rifles of all kinds…3%. It’s the weapon of choice for gangs, robbers, intruders etc. mainly because it’s concealable and readily available on the street and relatively inexpensive. We probably want to stay away from that one.
WLP has a wheellock. Haven’t heard much of a call to ban those.
Biden will include wheellocks in his next bill. Except for crazy uncle Ted they’re all carrying traditional sporting weapons. I’m assuming they do this so as to present a less threatening front to soccer moms.
Actually, wheellock pistols were the target of the first firearms bans, back in the early 1500s.
First Austria, then the Holy Roman Empire in toto followed by the rest of Italy banned them.
They were small, easily loaded and most importantly concealable – no other firearm could be hidden in clothing in whatever position for however long, then pulled out and fired with no preparation.
They were therefor an assassin’s dream come true, the scary evil guns of their day.
Why, that set of pictures looks like it could be the US Senate’s Democratic delegation.
Oh wait… no it doesn’t. Want to know why? Because the NRA’s picture up there has a black man in it.
Where are the 18-35 year olds? Largest growing demographic is younger adults and women, isn’t it?
Huge opportunity missed by not including a more diverse group of people. Forchristsakes, would it have been that hard to at least include a photo of Mr. Colion Noir? We’re making it far too easy for them to paint us as old, fat white guys. Marketing fail …. at the worst possible time.
No handguns. It’s not just about hunting.
Well…they ARE the National RIFLE Association after all…lol. Maybe we need a National Pistol Association too?
Seriously, from the photos, it should be the National Scattergun Association…except for Uncle Ted…:)
I’m guessing that only one of the people has a decent jump shot.
And just the one gay guy.
Hmmm. I’m thinking the very activist NRA member, B. H. Obama isn’t on a poster. Here’s why –
(Ripped from TTAG, 01 April, 2011):
Obama Joins the NRA
Posted on April 1, 2011 by Brad Kozak
DATELINE: WASHINGTON D.C., April 1, 2011 – President Barack Obama has joined the NRA. In a carefully-worded statement that will be released to the mainstream media later today, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney stated that the President is now a Life Member in good standing of the National Rifle Association. “The President has always supported Americans’ right to keep and bear arms,” Carney said. “While there are have been significant policy differences between the Obama administration and the NRA, the President sees this move as a reflection of his desire to seek consensus on a controversial issue for the benefit of all Americans.” Carney also said his boss would also be joining The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, PETA and the Sierra Club. When asked for a statement on this stunning turn of events, NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre said . . .
“The President has been somewhat at odds with the goals of the NRA, specifically that all citizens should be free to exercise their God-given, Second Amendment rights to gun ownership and self-defense.” LaPierre continued, “At the same time, the President has refused to heed calls for a renewal of the so-called assault weapons ban, signed legislation that allows Americans to carry guns in out national parks and on Amtrak trains, provided they give Amtrak two day’s notice and store the guns locked and unloaded in the baggage compartment.”
Chris Cox, head of the NRA’s Washington lobbying organization was unwilling to be quoted on the record on this stunning development. Under the Freedom of Information Act, TTAG has obtained transcripts of some of the meetings between the NRA and the White House that shed light on a decision that some would say is the seventh sign of the approaching apocalypse, or at the very least, proof positive that Hell has frozen over.
The transcripts suggest that the change in the President’s position began at the so-called “Beer Summit” where Obama interjected himself in a dispute between a black college professor and a white police officer. After reviewing outtakes from the press pool, the NRA noticed that the President doesn’t, as the saying goes, hold his liquor very well. This knowledge opened up a new direction for a strategic gambit that became known within the NRA’s political action committee as “Operation Down-Low.”
Operation Down-Low began over a friendly game of Horse at the White House, between members of the Fox News White House detail, the Secret Service and the President. After several beers and bumps, the President was encouraged to consider the option to offer an olive branch to the right and join the NRA. The following morning, it was made clear to the President that he had indeed bet Fox News correspondent Wendell Goler that if he lost, he would join the NRA.
Goler won the game by three points. While the President strongly protested, NRA negotiators pointed out that there was video of both the bet and the game itself, and that the President would lose his core constituency of black voters if word got out that he not only welched on a bet, but did so with a fellow homeboy.
NRA-ILA head Chris Cox was willing to comment on the rumor that Mike Huckabee had been asked to step aside as keynote speaker for the NRA Annual Convention’s Celebration of American Values Freedom Experience in favor of the President. “While we would love to have a sitting President speak at the conference, it’s simply too big a security risk,” Cox stated. “We have a strict policy of no guns at the Convention, the Exhibits, and the keynotes, we explained to the President’s security detail that NRA members are not our concern here.”
He continued, “Every serial killer and assassin in the United States over the last 100 years has been a far-Left loon. While we have faith in our own membership and fully realize they are law-abiding, gun-owning citizens, we simply can’t be responsible for what might happen, should some Leftie wing-nut decide to take a pop at the President during the keynote. Even though we and our members would be innocent, all parties acknowledged that the mainstream media would crucify us, and not let little things like facts get in the way of their story.”
Cox concluded, “We told the President that we would not invite him, because as much as we’ve disagreed with him in the past, none of us want to see him dead. Plus, the thought of “President Biden” scares the ever-lovin’ crap out of us.”
The President plans to address the nation on his membership later this evening. While he will be a member, the NRA spokesperson we contacted told us we should expect no change in White House policy regarding guns. “Just because he’s a member of an organization, doesnt’ mean he’s one of us,” stated an NRA spokesperson on condition of anonymity. “Look at it this way…he’s so busy playing ‘community organizer’ for Libya, we don’t think he’ll have the bandwith to screw around with the 2nd Amendment now, but if he does, we’re ready for him.
For real, it’s Uncle Ted. And my, what he’s holding isn’t even that scarey looking.
Obama would be more likely to join NAMBLA than the NRA.
Much more likely.
At least there’s one.
Speaking of there being only one, if I joined the NRA, would I be the only member that didn’t own a shotgun? Good grief.
I do not own a shotgun, and…
“There can be only ONE!” 😉
The pictures illustrate why our rights our doomed: It’s all about hunting and sport shooting. Personally all I care about is the martial aspect of owning and shooting guns. Sure, training is also fun, but I don’t own any fine shotguns nor do I have any interest in them.
+1
The NRA and people in general need to stop running from the true purpose of the 2A.
Younger man, women, women, women, black man.
The rest of the pictures are pretty much old white guys.
Thanks for the invitation NRA. I totally want to hang out with old white guys and their shotguns.
Hey, we have the best bourbon. Doesn’t that count for something?
Love it keep it up!
The NRA needs a new EVP to replace WLP. He’s done a decent job but its time for someone who is more polished and with better debating skills. It’s obvious they need a new marketing strategy too. These “I am the NRA” posters are just awful.
Yeah, the NRA only added 650,000 new members this year. Its marketing must suck.
Wow! That’s nearly as many people as join each new third-rate online game every year. Color me impressed!
Truly, 650k isn’t anything to brag about anymore with how connected people are over the internet.
650,000 dues paying members vs. 650,000 slackers playing keyboard masturbation. Yeah, I see your point.
That sort of generalization is exactly why the NRA and supporters have a bad public image, Ralph. 🙂
They added more than that. Last I heard, it’s more like 800K new members since last Deceember. They’re up to 5 million members.
Only Ted Nugent has then Zebra Camouflaged AR-15, all others have Classic Expensive Skeet Shotguns, That Ar-15 is what I would want to be seen with, Thanks Ted. !
I SERIOUSLY considered a snow-cammo make-over for my AR!
Go TED!!!
Gotta have one for winter varmint hunting.
Unbelievable
They need a pic of Nutnfancy & his son in their gear, pics from an Appleseed, Pink Pistols, etc..
It’s almost as if they are doing this on purpose. Time for another overthrow of the NRA leadership.
C’mon NRA… not even one token Asian? Or someone who’s happa Asian?
I am the disappoint.
And yeah, dere be a whole lot of shotties in those pictures. More rifles plz?
only one AR15??
Small wonder America equates the second amendment with hunting, it is what the NRA displays. Now we can see where Joe Biden gets his speaking points from. “You don”t need an AR-15, get a Double Barrel Shotgun.” No one need wonder where the idea that OFWGs are the typical gun owner comes from either. The NRA mindset has obviously not evolved with the rest of the country. Talk about shooting oneself in the foot.
Buy a shotgun…buy a shotgun. Looks like they listened, except the Nuge
They need to take a clue from trendy modern marketing like Chevy, Charter, ATT, Pepsi, Mc Donald’s , Allstate, Big Pharma, and all of the brokers on Wall Street, ect, ect ect. …..and use their target audience THE everpopular look alike, well to do young African (Un)American Family complete with 2 tween girls from the Lil “White House up the block.”
So by your logiv, by having more black people in thier ad’s, they are equating themselves with Obama? I wonder of you saw me at a carbine course what you would think, or beaded mr to cover your ass while we searched a cargo shop.. Stop prepetutating the stereotype. I assure you I love guns (& not milti-thousand dollar over-unders) as much as you do. Been in a firefight against extremists with you precious rifle? Thought not. Racism needs to leave this whole conversation RIGHT NOW, lest you give the grabbers all the ammo they need. Wake up, man. If we shared adjacent lanes, you would want to ask about my rifles, and race would absolutely not be an issue. I am making the assumption you’re not a white supremacist, by the way. Don’t perpetuate the left’s stereotypical view- you’ve no idea how much content you are providing them. Realize- you set the fight of our God given rights back by pushing racist ideals. Have a lovely day, gentleman who clearly dislikes folk of my skintone. Hope you come around, good sir. Remember- we all love a well finished firearm, which can come in any color under the sun. Never thought I could be so civil over such things, but I realize that there is a need to bond together, now more than ever.
I was just saying, (in the ulmost sarcastic tone) who is their target auidence? and their is NO wrong with the subset who has gathered for glaumor shots.
I love gins the RKBA & 2nd Amd. Rights.
The Real the comedy factor is how one groupwants to outlaw all guns for the” safety of the kids,” and we just want to have the ability to defend ourselves and family.
An egregious lack of diversity. In ethnicity, age, gender and guns.
One reason I will not join the NRA. Very awkward. I would join if I could over throw the leadership/mindset, but they have guns…
Alright, I need to explain something about the shotgun image you people are slagging on here:
Yes, there are lots of AR’s sold in the US. The number of people who use those AR’s in serious shooting sports… is probably in the at most 1+% of those owners. Let’s say there’s 5 million AR’s in private hands. 1% would be 50,000 serious shooters. I don’t think there’s 50K serious AR shootists out there. Most people buy AR’s and then use them in a desultory manner.
Want to know where you find the highest number of casual and high-level competitors? Shotgun sports. There are more people in shotgun sports (not just hunting) than in all rifle disciplines combined. Go out to the ATA Grand American and look at the number of people there sometime… and then realize that is just trap shooting. That doesn’t include skeet, 5-stand, sporting clays, Annie Oakley shoots.
OK, want some more figures? Here’s some more figures for you: The 2013 Grand American trap shoot is expecting:
– 7,000 shooters
– 100K+ spectators
– 120 trap fields, spanning over three miles
– 1,000 camp sites
Shall I keep going? No other event with rifles – not Camp Perry, not anything – can match that level of participation. Camp Perry comes the closest, with about 6,000 shooters.
At the state level, state-level ATA shoots are very well attended. The Wyoming State Trap shoot usually has over 500 shooters here, with people coming from all over the Rockies and midwest. The last time the state trap shoot came through my town, there was over $13K in prize money split up. There isn’t any state-level competition in rifles or pistols that comes close to having 500 people show up in Wyoming. And, remember, we’re the state with the highest proportion of people who own guns, over 60% of households have guns here. The closest rifle competition that has more than 500 people show up is the Quigley Shoot up in Forsyth, MT, with about 600 people showing up to shoot Sharps, Borschardt and High Wall black powder cartridge rifles. Most of those single-shot rifles are worth at least two tricked-out AR’s. Some of the iron sight sets on those rifles are the price of your Glock.
Oh, and one other detail: Let’s talk about the prizes for being the top trap shooter at the Grand Am: $100K. There’s a $50K prize for the winner of the ladies-only class. I know of no rifle or pistol disciplines that offer money remotely approaching $100K prizes for being the highest overall shooter.
Our local trap shooting league started this past Wednesday. There were, oh, 20+ shooters there, braving what passes for spring here. My shotgun (a Browning over-n-under) was one one of the cheapest in the rack. Most guns there were probably in the $3K to $8K range, including new Cesar Guerini’s, a Fabarm semi-auto, Ljutics, Browning BT-99’s, etc. Guys who own a rather inexpensive hunting rifle, a mundane carry pistol and some .22’s will own a $5K trap gun. I see it all the time. There’s a shotgun range in most all small towns here in Wyoming. If you want to shoot 3-gun, IPSC/USPSA, benchrest, etc – you usually have to drive hours to one of only a couple locations in the state. Only shotgun sports provide a local competition that everyone can shoot every week during the summer without getting in a car and driving for hours.
Money talks. There’s lots of money in shotguns and shotgun sports.
Okay. I will tell the government that we only need shotguns for sport/competition. All other guns will be outlawed. Thanks for the help. Even Japan allows shotguns…
I wonder where the closest old white guy is… I need to borrow his shotgun so I can win $100,000.
Would those stats and figures have anything to do with shotgun shooting sports being a long standing tradition whereas rifle and 3gun competitions are a recent trend? Additionally, you’re limiting your scope to competition shooters only. There are many more non competing gun enthusiasts. Demographics are regional; you cited Wyoming and Montana. This being a “national” meeting, representation from diverse ethnicities and age groups would be more accurate.
And yet not one word in your post has anything to do with the purpose behind the 2nd Amendment.
Aaaaannnnnnnd… you youngsters are just as dense as I’ve come to expect.
Aside from the obvious….that only one person appears to be holding a firearm that is NOT a shotgun…there is only one African American.
Perhaps, given the images, the NRA needs to change its name to:
The National [Generally] Old White Guys’ Shotgun Association
Not true.
It appears to me that LaPierre is holding a wheellock, and one man is holding a lever action rifle as well as The Nuge is holding an AR-15.
Karl Malone appears to be holding a nice pump shotgun.
Looks more like a Shotgun Club than a Rifle Association. Are their PR people really that lame?
Are those influential Board Members or just influential members? If it’s just board members then that might be one of only a handful of black board members. You can hardly blame the NRA for who gets elected. If it’s just members then yeah, they need to break out of the mold.
Some of them are board members (LaPierre, Nugent, Malone and others), Chuck Heston has passed on, Charlie Daniels is a member, but not a board member. So I think the pictures are a combination of members and board members.
Last I knew, just 7% of the NRA membership elects the board. Most NRA members are too lazy to vote in the elections.
Sounding like your mother, Nick.
So what’s the “right” answer? It’s kinda like those pictures in Highlights magazine that says find 10 differences, but I can only find 8. Arrgghh…
Quite a few old dogs (respectfully), but only one canine.
I really wish white people would stop being fags about diversity. You guys hate yourselves for winning and engage in serious ethnomasochism. Imagine Genghis apologizing for the Mongolian Empire?
But if you need some coloreds go with East Asians, especially Koreans. Koreans are scary. Just try robbing one if you doubt me. They also have money, social capital, and attractive daughters. Beats kidnapping black people to press them into the NRA.
– Mostly shotguns, 1 lever, 1 modern rifle
– one black dude, one woman
Need diversity in the people and the firearms.
It’s a damn good start. Much as many don’t think too much of diversity as a concept, it’s going to be necessary quite soon. Demographic shift is happening, and gun enthusiasts have a terrible stereotype to combat (namely, that ALL gun owners are old white guys; it’s bunk, at least where I live, but stereotypes are slow to respond to reality) if we’re going to keep this string of victories going indefinitely. After all, this war is never going to be over.
The NRA seems to be lead by pragmatists, and I say good on them for trying to stay ahead of the curve. Damn glad I joined in the wake of Sandy Hook.
All are dressed for outdoors and sport except for the guy dressed for work and wearing a tie.
I think the first thing we should all be asking ourselves, is why do we care? How is it we’ve been trained to immediately run to the fact that everyone is white, minus one dude? Are we falling prey to the liberal agenda of white/American guilt? I should feel bad about who I am? Hell no… if the majority of NRA members are white, I in no way feel guilty about that. This isn’t Augusta National, there are no NRA prohibitions about who can be a member, so fuck you and your guilt trip.
I like the cut of your jib, sir.
I actually noticed the lack of Rifles in the National RIFLE Association posters long before I realized that Karl was the only black face. That said, Karl is a good candidate for the job. When he was in Utah, Karl used to come up to Idaho quite a bit to hunt and shoot. One of my neighbors when I was a kid told me how he used to loan Karl guns when he came up to visit his in-laws and got bored and wanted to go do some pest control.
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