It is because spaghetti is a food, not welding equipment. Right? So simple even your average gun rights advocate can get it?
So please, by the love of all that is holy, explain to me why you say you hate so much the NRA and therefore your only support will be for the Second Amendment Foundation. I cannot understand the train of thought that led you to that decision. Was there ever a train or you just went Thomas out of stupid outrage.
The NRA takes care of the Legislative and the election side. Tries to do its job in the hall of Congress and in election time, trying to guess which candidates will support. We are talking their area of operations is mostly the Executive and the Legislative. The Second Amendment Foundation deals almost in exclusive with the Judicial part. Lawsuits and challenges in court. And although sometimes they will offer opinion and help at legislative level, their strength is on the court battles.
So, when I hear somebody foaming at the mouth against the NRA (90% is because they read a third-party article telling them it was bad) and saying that they only support the Second Amendment Foundation from now on, I have to question how really dense this person can be. For all his talk about Civics and the meaning of this and that, does he understand what are the different branches of government?
And hey, I know NRA has tried its hand in lawsuits and has not fared well or deep. In fact in some they plain sucked which is why they should stay away from courts unless is a direct challenge to something to do with the organization like Cuomo pressuring banks and insurance companies against the NRA.
I know you are having mental hemorrhoids, but please, don’t say stupid shit just because it is the latest Keyboard Warrior fashion. Use your brain, it will appreciate it.
What I’d like to see the NRA do to pound the point home of the importance of their lobbying work is to maybe have one of their people who hits capitol hill make a video of their day. Sort of a “day in the life of” type thing. I’ve never seen any videos or even photos of NRA-ILA folks meeting with Representatives or Senators or even aides for that matter. Less effective groups like GOA take advantage of this by posting pictures of their people meeting with various members of Congress. How much good GOA’s meetings do can certainly be debated, but they are creating visual evidence that they are in fact actively lobbying. I haven’t seen the NRA do that, and it’s to their own detriment.
I realize GOA wasn’t discussed in this blog post, but it’s the same gist as why people support the SAF instead of the NRA.
You make good points, and they do a lot we never see. That said…
It is possible to hate the sin while loving the sinner. That’s a good approximation of my feelings re the NRA at the moment.
Some of their recent statements, decisions and actions have been, shall I say, not to my liking. That doesn’t mean I hate the organization, or that I will stop supporting them, but at the moment I am not very happy with their leadership.
I think it’s pathetic and disgraceful that only 6% of gun owners support the NRA, I base this on the very loose estimate of 100 million gun owners and very close estimate of 6 million NRA members.
Come on, people! You don’t have to like it, or even advertise it, or even get the magazines. For less than a carton of cigarettes or a couple of cases of beer you can be an NRA member for one year. Think about if only 5% of you who dislike the NRA, many for the wrong reasons as Miguel so clearly points out — if only 5% of you sent in your $35 to join up, the NRA would nearly double to 11 million members. I would like to see 25 million members. Congress can’t ignore 25 million voters. And you don’t have to quit the GOA or whoever to join NRA. Join as many organizations as you like. it helps. it really does.
Oh, and yes, you must vote! As was pointed out in another post, “not voting” or “protest voting” is not getting us anywhere.
Finally, the RINOs who think that gun owners are only a small part of their constituency should wake up when they see the new numbers that I am asking for, and stop trying to assuage the Demons in Congress. It is a losing game, and they should know it by now, but…well, the smartest people in the world rarely run for office. We have a few good and hardworking folks on Capitol Hill, who can twist arms and get votes—but is is much easier if they can point out to a recalcitrant RINO, “Oh, by the way, there are 900 thousand NRA members in your district, and right now the NRA is not pleased with your voting record.”
Please, this may be our last chance, since the Demons are very clever about getting in office and staying in office. And they don’t give two shits about the Constitution. And they follow the likes of Clinton and Schumer and Pelosi in lockstep. And they have billions of dollars available from Bloomberg and Soros et al.
We don’t have any billionaires, and I don’t know why. So we have to make every vote count, and every dollar count.
The only way we can do that is to stop arguing with each other about correct methods. The Demons love that. They are following the “divide and conquer” approach, and our side is doing the dividing all on our own, without much help from the Demons. (Of course, they could be financing trolls to mold opinions, which has been proven to happen in many cases and many countries recently.)
If you have read this far, I hope that I have made my point and convinced you. You can join a dozen groups, just make sure that one of them is the NRA.
I am frequently disappointed in organizations. Being made up of people, they sometimes go the wrong direction. If only they could be perfect, like me!
The organizations have a louder and more lasting voice than the individual. They just won’t be perfect. Join several, cheer them when they move in the right direction, chastise them when they don’t but do not stop because the opposition will not. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; ring a bell for anyone? Still, unfortunately true.
Wow, I’ve been fighting against gun control for 30 years and have seen how the NRA repeatedly betrayed gun owners and tbh the second amendment. You sound like Charlie Brown, “she won’t pull the football this time”.
Yes I have supported them in the past. However, when they once again betrayed gun owners I walked and vowed not to return until it was proven beyond a reasonable doubt that they had changed their stripes. It won’t happen because it is not in their best interests for the gun control boogeyman to be vanquished. But you go right ahead and keep paying them while begging your betters not to oppress you too much more.
For the record I do point to the NFA of 1934. However, I also point to the GCA of 1968, the Hughes Amendment to the FOPA of 1986, etc…, etc… ad infinitum.
Oh and BTW the NRA did support the NFA.
http://jpfo.org/articles-assd02/nra-supported-nfa34.htm
In case you decide to not read or immediately dismiss that secondary source. Here’s a cited source straight from the horse’s … mouth.
“The NRA supported The National Firearms Act of 1934 which taxes and requires registration of such firearms as machine guns, sawed-off rifles and sawed-off shotguns. … NRA support of Federal gun legislation did not stop with the earlier Dodd bills. It currently backs several Senate and House bills which, through amendment, would put new teeth into the National and Federal Firearms Acts.” —American Rifleman, March 1968, P. 22
So, not stupid, not ignorant, just not a quisling.
You got it all out of your chest, Greggy? Feeling better now?
Now google The Cincinnati Revolt.
I’ll be here waiting for your apology.
I wish the NRA website would allow comments and respond to them where feasible. I think HP’s point about the GOA’s media savvy would be a great read for a NRA rep.