Nra

So you start writing letters fellas, alot of them, you'll need to.
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Good, but not good enough. You need a lobbying presence in Washington D.C., and the NRA is it. Simply stated, the NRA has the power and influence to directly affect legislation, and the NRA's ability to lobby is unmatched by any other organization. There is a reason that the Brady Bunch, Bono, and some Democrats rail against the NRA and not against other pro-gun groups.

What do I do to protect my rights? I own guns. I buy more guns. I teach my children to shoot. I regularly (when in the states) take my friends to the shooting range and give them the opportunity to practice and shoot weapons that are new to them. I teach other people the value of firearms ownership and the second amendment.. I do a lot more good than the NRA and a lot less harm.
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Still not enough. You can buy and shoot tons of guns in your lifetime, and it still cannot serve as a substitute for effective lobbying of those who actually pass federal legislation.

One final comment: I know that the NRA has compromised in the past. But sometimes you have to compromise. When an American President is murdered with a firearm, the writing may be on the wall -- restrictive firearm legislation is going to be passed. The question then becomes what to do. You can either refuse to compromise (and save no rights when the legislation passes), or you can lobby to compromise and at least save some of your rights. On the other hand, there are appropriate time to refuse to compromise. For example, legislation was recently enacted which protects gun manufacturers from silly lawsuits by cities who argued that the manufacturers should be liable for the use of firearms by criminals. The Democrats proposed a compromise: they would allow the legislation to be enacted if the Republicans agreed to another "assault weapons" ban. The NRA lobbied the Republicans to reject the compromise, and to simply pass the legislation. It passed. Think that the legislation is no big deal? Ask the gun manufacturers, who were spending tens of millions of dollars in attorney fees and costs to defend against those stupid lawsuits. The NRA may not be perfect, but it is extremely effective.

Ask the law-abiding citizens in New Orleans about gun confiscation by the government, and they can tell you a thing or two about who went to Federal Court and successfully obtained a Court Order to stop that foolishness.
 
Don't forget the mention the NRA was instrumental in getting 40 states to pass "right to carry" laws, now they are pushing "castle doctrine laws", 6 states so far have adopted them. The NRA eddie eagle program has been very effective in teaching young children gun safety, the NRA has 35,000 certified instructors teaching safety classes and ccw classes to thousands of adults, and the NRA actively supports shooting ranges and clubs. With 4 million + members donating money and signing up, they have a lot of money to lobby congress with. The gun rights agenda has made a lot of progress in the last 4 years, and the NRA has been a big part of that. I generally support what the NRA is doing and I'm proud to be a member. I even got a really nice NRA logo'd shooters cap for signing up.:D On a final note, Wayne LaPierre is no "softy" when it comes to gun rights, he's pretty firm in his stand.
 
I'm an NRA member, but when the Indiana legislature passed the lifetime CCW permit and the Governor signed it, the NRA was NO PLACE TO BE FOUND.
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As long as some states don't have shall-issue, as long as Ohio requires plain view in cars, as long as there are places that ban 11 round magazines, NRA should not be spending limited resources on a CCW system that's already one of the best in the country.
 
No Liliysdad, I will thank you for enabling the NRA when they have finally compromised the last of our firearms rights away..

apparently you are ok with giving up "some" of your rights..but if you never get any back that have been taken....then eventually they will all be gone. Why? Because the anti freedom crowd will never stop unil all of your rights are gone. Little by little they are succeeding. The NRA may be slowing it down, but by compromising they are enabling the antigunners as well.

Give your money to the NRA. Today they may save your right to own your hunting rifles..but in exchange you may have to give up all of your ugly man killing "assault rifles." But you'll still have your hunting rifles....and when the anti gunners come for them...well you can't keep them by giving up your "assault" rifles now..because the NRA already gave them up...Thanks NRA. So...now they give up our hunting rifles..so we can keep our airguns..and so it goes....it won't stop until we have not weapons or until we are all criminals because we've ignored the laws that said we had to turn our guns in to the government. And when that day comes...don't blame me...you have the NRA the money which enabled your own demise.

Maybe in the end I'll be an outlaw..but I'll never give up my guns..and I will never allow someone else to do it either. Perhaps I'll have nothing..but I will always have the knowledge that I held the moral high ground. I wouldn't cave in to tyranny. And as history has shown...freedom is more important than even life itself...
 
Whining

Boy, what a lot of whining. Although couched in the language of individual rights, and freedom, all the NRA bashing I've read in this thread constitutes one childish attitude. "If you don't play the way I want, I'll take my ball and go home!"

Some of you need to wake up and smell the coffee. And grow up in the process.

For over 130 years the NRA has been the largest pro gun organization in the nation. For most of that time, the ONLY national one. Generations of shooters got their hunter safety instruction as a result of the NRA and its local members. For most of its existance, that was what the NRA was about. Safety training, firearm instruction and promoting the shooting sports. And the NRA continues to be the largest organization doing those things today. For about the last 40 years, the NRA has also had to lead the fight to preserve our 2nd Amendment rights.

To the gentleman who was pround of teaching others gun safety and shooting, but refuses to join the NRA, congratulations, you are doing a worthwhile thing. The same worthwhile thing NRA members were doing when your grandfather was a child, and are still doing today.

To the gentleman who seemed so upset because the NRA "gave away his rights", I have some news for you. The NRA didn't give away your rights. POLITICIANS TOOK THEM!!!!! Using the power that WE the PEOPLE, GAVE THEM.

For those of you upset that the NRA didn't stop the NFA of 1934, are you aware that the original NFA act included HANDGUNS instead of silencers? And that, at that time, the NRA was not a political organization?

Do you recall that the AWB of 94, that you say the NRA "compromised" on, was only passed by ONE vote? And this in a Democratically controlled administration with a clear anti-gun agenda?

It is a fact of life in these United States that once enough politicians get it into their heads that that have to pass legislation to be seen as "doing something" about a problem, they WILL pass something. NOTHING will stop them.

The best that can be achieved is to shape what they pass. Anti-gunners have bills already made up, just waiting for the time they can introduce them with enough support for passage.

Every "compromise" that the NRA has made, for decades, was to head off, or gut the worst provisions of these bills.

Yet you refuse to support them, because they did not achieve total victory?

You are in effect saying that you will not contribute to patching the dam holding back the flood, because the dam leaks.

So when the leaks have eroded the dam enough that it finally bursts, you can drown, content with the knowledge you had the moral high ground.
 
"But you'll still have your hunting rifles....and when the anti gunners come for them...well you can't keep them by giving up your "assault" rifles now..because the NRA already gave them up...Thanks NRA."

Huh? Would you like to try explaining what you're getting at? When did the NRA give up assault rifles or anything else? The NRA doesn't vote on legislation or sign bills into law, so you simply cannot blame anyone but the politicians for any of the bad laws we have or that we used to have.

John
 
First and foremost, my last post was an example of what I believe are things to come..not things that they have already done. What they have done is support legislation like the Gun Control Act of 1968. Thank you NRA.

If they hadn't supported the GCA68, it may have still passed. It probably would have passed. BUT IT WOULDN'T HAVE PASSED WITH THEIR HELP! And no claim could ever have been made that the GCA was endorsed by "the largest gun rights organization in the United States" or worse, the members of the NRA.

Are the members of the NRA a bunch of gun banning commies? No. I believe that most of you are completely sincere in your desire to preserve our right to keep and bear arms. But by being tied to the NRA, you are being tied to the things that they support, like the GCA68.

The NRA, like any other organization, either speaks for it's members or it doesn't. They don't speak for me.

Anyway, I do have better things to do than bash the NRA....like withhold my money from them. But better than that, I teach others about the RKBA, how to shoot, take them to the shooting range, buy guns, give guns as gifts, let other people shoot my guns, teach my children how to shoot, and support "no compromise" groups like GOA and JPFO.

But still more importantly, I'm in the army. I joined with the intent of defending your rights...and I won't compromise when it comes to doing MY job.
 
"If they hadn't supported the GCA68, it may have still passed. It probably would have passed."

You got that right, it would have. And it likely would have been stronger/more restrictive without the negotiation that took place. What they supported was the weakest version they could get.

I understand that you think the NRA should have taken their ball and gone home, but that would have left the antis in control of the playing field - total control. Rather than half a loaf we'd had none at all. The ongoing negotiations, ongoing even to this day, provide a moderating influence on not only the elected representatives, but also the lobbyists and voters.

If you see all of this as a sell out and the members as fools - so be it. FWIW, you're wrong about both.

John
 
Any of you folks notice that the NRA took out a full-page ad in the USA Today last week that put the locals' feet to the fire about gun confiscation?
/proud member of NRA and ACLU.
 
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