How powerful is the NRA and where is it headed

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Freetacos

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Has the NRA been gaining or losing momentum over the past couple of decades? Are splinter groups emerging which are splitting up the pro-gun voter base or are pro-gun people more united than before?

Do you feel that the NRA is lobbying effectively or should they make changes in their approach?
 
I feel the NRA is headed in a steep decline. I think our gun rights nationwide are generally increasing, but don't feel that's due to the NRA.

I like the NRA enough to have a friendly conversation while trying to pay for my ticket into a gunshow, I don't like them enough to drop admission into their club. I feel my gun rights are better served with another couple of magazines or some ammo.
 
A few years ago I quit renewing my membership. Not because of any philisophical differences, but because of one single aspect of their operation. I got tired of the constant barrage of solicitations, mail and phone, for more money. I realize they need money to do what they do but the requests became so frequent that I felt somewhat harrased by it so I just quit.
 
The NRA is still a well funded lobbying organization and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. I'm also turned off by the constant barrage of begging for money!! In many ways they are resorting to the same scare tactics and fanatical arguements that the anti's use!!
Nevertheless, they are our best line of defense to protect our rights.
 
I got tired of the constant barrage of solicitations, mail and phone,
Click to expand...

Getting off the solicitation list is as easy as giving them a call or, If it is still there, doing an opt-out on their website. Worked quite well for me.
 
I'm was a member for about 20 years - I'm not now because of very limited disposable income. I pick up the American Rifleman at the range where I do my volunteer range master duty and from what I read and see they're doing pretty well. They've had great progress at the state level in getting CCW legislation moving and passed - and on a local level they gave us a grant to put electricity in at our range. On the national level I also believe they were helpful in keeping the AWB ban from gaining any traction in Congress and they were very active in protecting gun makers from lawsuits designed to put them out of business. They also got involved in the illegal confiscation of gun after Katrina - this was important. The magazines have gotten better, I read them cover to cover (even the ads) - it's the only exposure I have to gun magazines so I enjoy them a lot.
 
The NRA

Reality check...

The NRA is a lobby group. Lobby groups are negotiators. Negotiators are people who speak in a another's behalf. Negotiations by there very nature require compromising. Compromising is not what one does with an inalienable right. Why would you pay a man to bargain away what is not his to bargain away in the first place? When you give another person money that they did not earn, they will surely not spend it as effectively as would the person who had. Words have less power than action. If gun owners were to gather as the Illegal Aliens did, well you would see the government would perk up and listen. I wonder what would happen if only a million gunowners show up at the Capitol. Peacful demonstrations of the people in mass get attention. The sad thing is that in our capitol you cannot exercise the "Inalienable Right".
 
A million gun march would be viewed as a threat and would be dealt with as such by the authorities. But It'd be one hell of a week to watch on the news...
 
Here we go again, the same hackneyed complaints seem to show up with regularity on this and other boards.

Just as Limbaugh has his "Seminar callers" we have out NRA bashers with their same tired "they compromise too much" or "They send me too much mail"

This stuff must come from a playbook somewhere, wonder who would want this regurgitated with regularity?

As to the original question, just whom do you think the antis are referring to when they whine about the "Gun Lobby"?
 
I can only speak for what I've seen the NRA do in Wisconsin. While I see what the NRA does nationally, I don't know what deals are being struck.

The NRA has been playing increasingly hard here over the past several years. We had two Republican candidates for attorney general, and the NRA came out and backed the one who was most pro-gun before the primary, which surprised me.

Our NRA lobbyist explained that the NRA wanted to send a strong message to RINO's that their watered-down support of gun rights would no longer be tolerated.

The NRA-backed candidate won.

Also, the NRA is spending tons of money here to help Mark Green defeat anti-gun governor Jim Doyle. And they're helping other candidates as well. They're running TV ads, radio spots, and newspaper ads.

With all of the court challenges that the NRA has mounted in the last couple of years, combined with some pretty straight talk, I'd say the NRA is getting much better.
 
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The NRA did take a stand for New Orleans gun owners rights. Don't know if the citizens got their guns back.The GOA and the JPFO are very strong on their stance about gun rights. check them out. :)
 
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One only has to look to Florida to find just how valuable the NRA is to lawful gun owners.

I am very grateful to an organization who has successfully lobbied and supported my gun rights in this Great State, and whose efforts have have led to the passage of several Pro-Gun laws.

They deserve, and they receive, my moral and my financial support, because there are precious few others who will actually get off their butt and do something to support lawful gun rights.


There is an important mid-term election coming up. Thanks to the efforts of the NRA, I know in advance the voting records and the positions of each candidate on gun laws.

And I will get off my butt and vote.
 
In Congress the NRA is the proverbial 900 lb gorilla. They also do organizing and stuff at the state level. Join whatever floats your boat or what your ideals are of a gun owners organization are. Plus if you are not interested in mailouts from the NRA you can opt out. The way I look at it the more gun owners organizations roaming the halls of Congress who represent millions of law abiding gun owners/voters is good.
 
I am a life NRA member.
I don't agree with everything the NRA does but I like my right to own firearms. No one is better or does more IMHO.

It is estimated we have 80 million gun owners in this country. The NRA has just a few million members. If we all would join or at least another gun/hunting group our Representatives might pay better attention to gun issues. We are way to lose nit of a gun rights community and the threat to our rights is very real.

If you want to support other gun rights or hunting groups I think you should. But every gun owner should belong to one or another.
I belong to two but if a better group comes along I will join that also.
 
"If we all would join or at least another gun/hunting group our Representatives might pay better attention to gun issues."

Absolutely! Just be careful, though, who you join, because the gun-grabbers have begun the practice of making up pseudo-pro-gun groups. Here's one:

http://www.huntersandshooters.com/

If you poke around that site, you'll uncover their true agenda soon enough.

I urge California shooters to join the California Rifle and Pistol Association, who delivers a big bang for the buck when it comes to politics and lobbying:

http://www.crpa.org/

Tim
 
Humans have this amazing ability to speak on their own. As such I choose to use that ability. I am perfectly capable of speaking my mind and I don't not need some DC based organization to do it for me. When I looked into it NRA memebership was $30/year, about the same cost as a few boxes of shells and gas to drive a friend to the range.
 
I definitely respect the question posed in this thread. I am actually not an NRA member, and I have chosen not to become one.

While the NRA has done an incredible amount of work to support gun owners across the country, I am discouraged at the negative publicity that seems to surround the NRA. Particularly, it seems to me that the great silent majority in this country view the NRA as a fanatic organization. The NRA has developed a connotation toward being populated with blood thirsty war mongers and merchants of destruction, and I am disinclined to become affiliated with that kind of negativity.

Now, I favor gun ownership as much as the next man. I think every responsible homeowner should keep a firearm around. But, I don't feel that it is a God-given right that every five-year-old should be able to purchase a rocket launcher without a background check. The stance that the NRA has taken in the past that there should be virtually no regulation of firearm manufacture or sale has lead it to develop a reputation as a "fringe" group, and I do not want to be a part of that.
 
That's pretty funny samurai, A lot of people dislike them because they comprimise too much (supposedly they think it's some things shouldn't be infringed") or because they won't comprimise enough (Give away more ground).

So what do you think they should do background checks for? Just assault rifles? Just pistols? Or how about just for ammo? I've got it! Background checks only for felons!

And what about guns that some old coot WAY far away thinks is too scary. Can my rifle be this long? Or can it hold this much?

Wrong. Shall not be infringed. The reason they seem fringe is because they seem to think that it's a slippery slope when you start putting restrictions on things. (Seems that when given an inch, some folks want a mile. Go figure.)
 
Q: How can I reduce the amount of mail I receive from the NRA?

A: Simply email us at membership@nrahq.org or dial 800-NRA-3888 and request to be placed on the "Do Not Promote" list. This will significantly reduce the amount of mail you receive without affecting important mailings, magazine service, or your membership renewal.
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I don't ask for much around here, but can we get a STICKY on this? ;)

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"Humans have this amazing ability to speak on their own. As such I choose to use that ability. I am perfectly capable of speaking my mind and I don't not need some DC based organization to do it for me. When I looked into it NRA memebership was $30/year, about the same cost as a few boxes of shells and gas to drive a friend to the range."

Nothing keeping you from speaking your mind and supporting our hired hands at the same time. I understand that $30 is a lot of money to some people, while others spend nearly that much by noon most days on coffee, newspapers and lunch (and 28 ga. shells.)

You know that federal law prohibits groups like the NRA from using dues for political lobbying, don't you? That's why the NRA was forced to create the NRA-Political Victory Fund (PVF) and NRA-Institute for Legislative Action (ILA).

John
NRA Endowment Member
Member www.vcdl.org

P.S. - I'm always amazed at how the NRA ends up portrayed by many gun owners as either too shrill for decent company or too soft on the gun grabbers.
 
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