The NRA-ILA and your wallet......

Just curious, does anybody actually send those pre addressed post cards in to the government representatives that the NRA mails out
Sometimes - yes/sometimes - no.

Overall (I've said this before and I'll keep saying it), I believe the NRA, as the "600 lb. gorilla" has a significant presence in D.C.
I use them, they use me, and I'm quite happy with the arrangement.
When I consider it worthwhile,, from a political standpoint,, to "swell their numbers",, I join them for a year.
When I don't, I let my membership lapse.

I'm no fireball of ambition but even I can muster the energy to toss their junk mail when it comes...
<in reality I just put it in a plie on the dining rooom table and let my wife toss it ;) >
 
What do they do?

I joined the NRA years ago. After a few years of paying dues and getting swamped with solicitations and calls for money, I begged them to stop.
Finally I stopped paying dues and started throwing their mail in the trash.

Now I'm probably going to get a lot of flak for this but I don't see where that NRA has done nothing to help gun people.
The gov did the assault weapon ban,gun rights are slowly being taken away. We are all worried one day that we will have to give up our guns.
States have set in force some ridiculous laws(NY Calif. etc.)
Nothing has changed. What difference have they made? The idiotic laws just keep on being put in place.

Kind of reminds me of todays unions...but that's a different story.

Just my humble opinion that they're taking money and doing nothing.
Sorry to all the staunch supporters of the NRA, but this is impression I have.
 
Too bad an Illinois court doesn't do the same.

Funny thing is, the Bill of Rights applies to only the federal government, not the states, except so far as courts have interpreted the first 10 Amendments to be held to the states by way of the 14th Amendment. The United States Supreme Court has NOT yet incorporated the 2nd Amendment into the 14th Amendment, which means it does not apply to the states. This is the reason that the 2nd Amendment policing powers are therefore enforced under the 10th Amendment, which gives states the power to regulate all laws not specified in or excluded from them in the Constitution.

Bottom line - your right to bear arms is not granted by the federal government (unless you're in Washington D.C. or other non-state American territories). Your right to bear arms is granted by the State statutes and constitutions, and is therefore subject to the will and regulation of the state legislatures. Ironically, we have quite a few municipalities that have "outlawed" handguns, including obviously, Chicago. Maybe us poor Illinoisans haven't given the NRA enough cash yet.
 
Bottom line - your right to bear arms is not granted by the federal government (unless you're in Washington D.C. or other non-state American territories). Your right to bear arms is granted by the State statutes and constitutions, and is therefore subject to the will and regulation of the state legislatures. Ironically, we have quite a few municipalities that have "outlawed" handguns, including obviously, Chicago. Maybe us poor Illinoisans haven't given the NRA enough cash yet.
Dude, rights are not granted; that defies the very definition of a right. I don't believe in some "creator" that imbued us with rights, rather that self preservation is an instinct that all living creatures have evolved and the right to defend one's life is a natural extension of that.

But the BoR doesn't grant anything. It's designed to protect the rights it lists.
 
That's pretty deep, philosophical thinking, but the truth is, your rights only extend as the 3 branches of government allow them to. The Bill of Rights are law made by the founders of America for Americans. It is not common to man. It is not divine or part of what is commonly referred to as "natural law." It's values and protections do not protect any fundamental "rights" of mankind, but rather, the fundamental rights of what the founders wanted to sculpt America. It is a guidebook that acts as the law of the land. Low and behold, most modern law is not interpreted by what they were thinking in the 18th Century. Scalia is part of a dying breed, unfortunately. Today's laws are interpreted as to how they applies in modern life. The sacred Bill of Rights will continue to change over time.

Your 2nd Amendment rights in 200 years will be unlike your 2nd Amendment rights today. They may become more confined, or they may become more loose. Per the Constitution, your "rights" are protected at the will of the Legislature, which secures the legal abilities to alter the Bill of Rights as it deems fit. The Constitution grants the Congress the ability to amend each and ANY part of the Constution in one of two ways: (1) The first method is for a bill to pass both halves of the legislature, by a two-thirds majority in each. Once the bill has passed both houses, it goes on to the states. This is the route taken by all current amendments. Because of some long outstanding amendments, such as the 27th, Congress will normally put a time limit (typically seven years) for the bill to be approved as an amendment (for example, see the 21st and 22nd), and (2) The second method prescribed is for a Constitutional Convention to be called by two-thirds of the legislatures of the States, and for that Convention to propose one or more amendments. These amendments are then sent to the states to be approved by three-fourths of the legislatures or conventions. This route has never been taken, and there is discussion in political science circles about just how such a convention would be convened, and what kind of changes it would bring about

The Constitution and Bill of Rights will not always look the same. They change now and then through Amendments and bench interpretations. Perfect example is the 8th Amendment, which partly protects you from "cruel and unusual punishments." What was fundamentally protected when the Salem witches were burned at the stake or drowned? Is it "cruel and unusual" to lock someone in a room and fill it with poisonous gas? Is it "cruel and unusual" to stand someone on a stool, wrap a rope around their neck, and dangle them until they suffocate? I'm not advocating what is "cruel and unusual," but only mean to point out that our Bill of Rights changes with society, and there is NOTHING in the Bill of Rights that you have a fundamental, natural "right" to unless Congress says so.
 
Back
Top