State Rifle Associations Do you belong and how acitve are they.

C

Colduglandon

New member
Just wondering how state rifle associations are in other states. We have GOAL Gun Owners Action League in Massachusetts. Without GOAL Mass gun owners would really be up the creek. The folks at GOAL have had a tough time getting gun owners active to protect their rights, but this year GOAL is giving us an opportunity to come together.
What made me curious was reading the bios for the folks running for the NRA board. Quite a few indicated they were involved in their state associations.

http://www.goal.org/

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In the shadow of Bunker Hill from the People's Republic of Massachusetts
 
Hi Paul,

I'm a Benefactor level member of the Texas State Rifle Association. The TSRA has received the “top state association” award from the NRA for the last six years running, I believe.

I am active in the association and promote the shooting sports and operate as an informal recruiter whenever I can. The TSRA is very active at the state legislative level and I hate to think what kind of crappy laws we would be saddled with without them.

Skyhawk
 
I belong to the NY State Rifle and Pistol Association. It does a tolerable job of covering state issues, although it is not timely in getting out breaking news on hot button topics and seems to have a slant towards shooters Downstate towards New York City.
 
I too am a member of the TSRA, and think highly of it. It seems to get a lot more done around here than the NRA (I'm paying off my Life Membership to the NRA).

You don't have to be a Texan to join Texas State Rifle Association, and they've got a great web site:

http://www.tsra.com/

TSRA has excellent networking of information, and has a more effective touch with our local legislature than folks like Tonya Metaksa do. (She came down here a few years ago and liked to've ruined our run for our CHL legislation, because of simple rudeness. It's great to be a pit bull when you need one, but we needed a show of respect here. That stuff may play back East, but down in Austin, doors get slammed to that attitude.)



[This message has been edited by Long Path (edited April 14, 2000).]
 
I'm a member of ORPA, the Ohio Rifle & Pistol Association. They do a good job of organizing competitive shooting events but they don't seem to do much politically. They don't have a website either.
 
Matt, I too belong to ORPA, and they sure DID have a web site...but I don't seem to have a bookmark for it and the list of state associations doesn't show it, so perhaps it is closed down...? :confused:

I agree, ORPA is ALL ABOUT competition. They do apparently have some people staying abreast of gun politics at the state level, but they seem to be, with all due respect, compromisers and NRA lackeys; they play the NRA tune and when NRA says jump they ask how high.

I have always belonged to my state organization wherever I've lived, and I think The California org. was among the best...although you have to wonder what with the Orwellian Big Brother gun laws they now have in place out there in the Granola State.

At any rate, I have belonged to ORPA for about 11-12 years, and have never felt the slightest urge to do anything with them. If you are not a competition shooter you are really not welcomed in ORPA. Their magazine (more of a newsletter) is fish wrapping. I belong because I believe I should, but I don't feel like I'm getting much return on my $25 a year... :(

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Mark
 
Matt VDW--I'm slow but not entirely dense. I just put together your "handle." :o Darn nice to see you, dude! :D How's every little thing in the central state?

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Mark
 
I have been a GOAL member for about 4 years now. They are a really great organization, but they seem to suffer from a cetain amount of apathy and lack of professionalism.

I attended the march at the statehouse protesting the A.G. (Does the A stand for A-hole ?) Reilly abominations. I was disappointed at the turnout. Of course I work about two blocks from there and that made it easy on me, but the publicity was poor. That and more typos and worse spelling than on TFL give GOAL a poor showing.

Additionally, I was wincing when Mr. Yacino was ranting at the poor cops assigned to the detail. As much as I am anti-authoritarian, it was unecesssary roughness as far as I can tell.

Still, I urge as many people as possible to join.
 
I just sent my check off to TSRA. I did it mainly so I could get a CMP Garand. If I like it, I'll stay. They seem to have it all together, so it may be worth keeping the membership up. I too just committed to a life NRA membership, so that will suck a lot of extra funds for a while.
 
I am also a member of the Texas State Rifle Association. These folks are highly organized and very active. Not only do they have a very strong lobbying effort but they actively support shooting sports, including that for the kids!

During legislative sessions (every 2 years in Texas) the TSRA will shoot out email alerts ona weekly basis (sometimes more!) warning us about very specific bills heading into committee or "the floor". They provide names, phone numbers, email links, addresses and fax numbers to all who "require" feedback from the citizens.

Alice Tripp is the TSRA's head lobbyist. I've met be before and she, of course, is one imposing lady. On top of that, she's a trap and skeet champion.

Don't mess with TEXAS.

CMOS

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NRA? Good. Now join the GOA!

The NRA is our shield, the GOA will be our sword.
 
BTW, I note that the Texas State Rifle Association endorses Bush for president. This endorsement carries a lot of weight with me, because the TSRA is as pro-gun as they come, and because it knows Bush's position on gun issues probably better than anyone else.
 
Member of the California Rifle and Pistol Association. I think it is important to have active state rifle associations as the NRA cant cover the unique challenges inherent to the different states.


[This message has been edited by Dave D (edited September 15, 2000).]
 
I'm a member of NYSRPA and unlike tcsd1236 I get the impression that the association does more for the upstate crowd. I guess that is just New York, which is really two different states.

NYSRPA is better than nothing I guess.

In NY there are so many RKBA organizations that they work against each other. Too many egos and blowhards. too bad we cannot all work together.

We really need a group hug here! ;)

Geoff Ross
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Paul Morceau:
Just wondering how state rifle associations are in other states. We have GOAL Gun Owners Action League in Massachusetts. Without GOAL Mass gun owners would really be up the creek. The folks at GOAL have had a tough time getting gun owners active to protect their rights, but this year GOAL is giving us an opportunity to come together.
What made me curious was reading the bios for the folks running for the NRA board. Quite a few indicated they were involved in their state associations.
[/quote]

Paul,

This is a pet peeve/personal crusade of mine. I strongly believe that every firearms owner and sportsman should belong to at least three separate organizations.

1. National level. Belonging to a national level organization helps support efforts in that arena to combat federal transgressions against firearms owners and Second Amendment rights. This used to be fairly simple when the NRA was the only national group. GOA does provide an alternative, however I personally feel that having two competing organizations only dilutes our forces. But is does provide another venue for those who cannot bring themselves to join and support the NRA for whatever reason.

2. State level. Every state should have an organization dedicated to supporting state-wide firearms competition, sporting uses, and political action. Since many of the oppressive laws we have seen are from state governments, you need someone in the state to fight them. This organization should be aligned with the NRA, not just from my personal preference but for the fact that the NRA is still the only national group which promotes firearms safety training, organized competition, and nation-wide grassroots activism. But the important thing is that there IS a state organization supporting that state's firearms owners and sportsmen.

3. Local. Every firearms owner should be a member of the closest range or club which supports shooting activities. Part of the reason is to insure the continuation of places where honest citizens can safely and legally shoot. Once you lose a gun range, you will almost certainly never get it back. The other is to associate with other like-minded citizens and provide local opposition to increased restrictions and restrictive laws.

We all need to support work at the local, state, and federal levels to protect our rights. The failure of a majority of firearms owners to do this is one of the big reason anti-gun forces have been as successful as they have been. We need to work just as hard as the anti-gun people are or our Second Amendment rights may soon be just a dim, politically incorrect memory.

Frosty

[This message has been edited by FPrice (edited September 15, 2000).]
 
I'm an active member of CSG. Citizens for Safe Government (Georgia's State affiliate of Gunowners of America) They are very active with protests, leaflettings, volunteer picnics and "shootouts" :D. we have several members all ready in the state legislature and more are running this time around :D
 
http://www.gonh.org/

Gun Owners of New Hampshire
I am not active now but I am a life member. They do get involved in legislative activities. They speak for gun owners and keep us focused as a group. They are affiliated with the nra
http://www.nhwf.org/
New Hampshire Wildlife Association also works with the legislature to protect our firearms rights.

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I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the
government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of
taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States
 
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