Sure what they do is good but only in as much as that it's better than the virtual zero that anyone else does.
I think we as a group need to reform the NRA.
Let's DO it!
I think that with a lot of work we can reform the NRA to be like the gun rights groups that are completely ineffectual because their stance is considered radical by virtually everyone including a huge majority of gun owners...
Is that what you meant?
I know, I know, it's a real bummer when practical reality intrudes into the world of idealism. BTDT.
The bottom line is that the NRA is effective
because it does not take radical stances and is therefore perceived as being reasonable. Like it or not, "reform" of the NRA (as it's being discussed here) would have the predictable side effect of destroying it as an
effective gun rights organization.
Progress is being made, and that progress will breed progress. Continued progress will allow the NRA to slowly strengthen its stance on gun rights and therefore make even more progress. Taking a look back at what's happened over the last decade or two will confirm what I'm saying. Imagine telling someone in 1980 that it would be possible to get a license in the majority of states that would allow one to carry a concealed handgun. Now, in TX, it's even explicitly legal to carry a handgun in a vehicle concealed WITHOUT a license--something that hasn't been true since the late 1800s. In addition, the restrictions on TX CHL holders have loosened since the inception of the program about 12 years ago and the deadly force laws in my state have been revised to be much more pro-victim. I expect that trend to continue.
Some of the stances the NRA is able to take today would have been considered radical just 20 years ago. But the progress over those years have changed public perception positively. We can talk about federal gun bans expiring, states passing Castle Doctrines and loosening carry restrictions. Those things were virtually unthinkable in the early 1980s. Disappointment now means not getting all the positive gun laws passed we desire--before it was impotently watching one negative gun law after another passed.
Of course, we could always reform things, marginalize the groups that have been largely responsible for that progress and see how long it takes our enemies to capitalize...
Before anyone starts calling me anti-gun, I'm talking about practicalities here, I'm not stating the way I believe things should be in an ideal world.