Why I'm Not Renewing My NRA Membership

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jcsturgeon

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Hey guys,

The NRA has been after me to re-new my membership. In one of their most recent mailings, there was a plea from Wayne LaPierre asking if there was anything about the NRA that was causing you not to renew. For me, there is, and I responded, through the NRA website to him:

Mr. LaPierre,
You asked for feedback from former members who are having reservations about renewing their membership with the NRA. I wanted to do you the courtesy of providing that feedback.

I am not much of an outdoorsman, but I am a gun owner and I cherish the right to bear arms guaranteed to all Americans by the constitution. That premise is something which I am sure is shared and accepted by every one of your members. The argument then becomes how best to defend these rights. It’s at this point my feelings on the matter, and that of the official position of the NRA become incongruous.

More and more I see the NRA as a partisan organization, pitting Republicans against Democrats, conservatives vs. liberals. While this may be a very effective way to drum up donations from fearful people, I believe that method of defense is incredibly shortsighted. The second amendment applies to all Americans, black, white, liberal, conservative, rich, poor etc. Instead of painting second amendment issues as things that all Americans can relate to, the NRA seems content to divide people for short term financial donations.

Examples of this kind of divisiveness can be found in every magazine printed by the NRA or in every speech given by its officers. The articles written in your magazines attack opponents of the right to bear arms with vitriol as do the pre-formatted letters intended for members to forward to their congressional representatives. Painting the argument in simple terms like “gun grabbers” vs. “defenders of freedom” does not only a disservice to your members, but to the cause in general.

I would think it much more effective to the long term defense of the Second Amendment to treat those who have reservations about the right to bear arms with respect. Attempt to educate them. Attempt to convert people to shooting sports rather than make enemies.

It’s only $25 to renew my membership, and I am sure the NRA will be able to sally forth without me. Still, I will be keeping an eye out for the kind of culture change that could entice me back to active membership.

Regards,
jcsturgeon"
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I think this forum has it right when it comes to framing issues of Second Amendment Rights. That is, general political discussion is disallowed, and unfounded fears are challenged. I can come to terms with the fact that a majority of gun owners are going to be politically conservative. With that being said, painting the issue as "us vs. them" only ensures that the status quo is maintained. I'd love to see a Second Amendment advocacy group conduct themselves in a open and non threatening manner, but I haven't seen it yet.

Just wondering who else may feel the same way, and who might disagree.
 
I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment expressed in OP when it comes to the Second Amendment as a rights and human issue and not a political one. And yes, the NRA is scaremongering people. But every political lobbying organization does.

But, the NRA supports Democrats all the time. In fact, most posts here are people not renewing their membership because the NRA supports Democrats.

And we aren't just talking blue-dogs, we are talking Harry Reid and John Dingell, both supported over very conservative candidates in the last election. John Dingell, in fact, used to be a director of the NRA.

The NRA has long been about gun rights and only gun rights. It just so happens that more Republicans than Democrats support gun rights, so more money goes to Republicans. But the NRA doesn't care which party a candidate is from, they never have.

Also, as a disclaimer, the NRA screws up a lot of stuff, but this is one thing that I don't think people can criticize them for.
 
I agree with the OP that political decisiveness is not the way to go.

An organization such as the NRA can be successful without supporting these rifts.....I'm a card carrying Democrat, and I love my guns....

They do support some Democrats, but do cater/lean towards the repubs....by choice.

Somebody has to do what they do is all I'm sayin....as long as the racial, socio-economic, and other personal subjects that have nothing to do with the right to keep and bear arms is kept under control. Maybe TFL can loan them a moderator....
 
Portraying 2A rights as a conservative issue limits the people who are willing to lend support. There are people in both parties and people who differ on other issues who value their right to firearms for the protection of themselves and their families, hunting, and target sports. Alienating people who differ with you on other issues does not serve your central issue.

OP did a good job in his letter to Mr. LaPierre.
 
Thanks to the OP. Your letter to La Pierre is factual and to the point.

This kind of talk from the NRA is a fairly recent thing. It comes across as racist, nonsensical and divisive.

i've been an NRA member for over 50 years and have been actively involved in gun rights issues since 1968. For the time being i have stopped all donations to the NRA. My donations may resume when, and if, the NRA staff stops this divisive trash talk.
 
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jcsturgeon,


Please take your anti gun, anti gun rights efforts elsewhere.

I support the NRA and other pro gun efforts.
 
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There is no other pro gun national organization that packs anywhere near the clout that the NRA does.

Like it or not, the democratic party is a left leaning, anti gun party, that wants to take away your right to privately own firearms.
 
I do support the NRA, even though I do not like the rabble-rousing rhetoric in their propaganda, because they are doing at least a modicum of work in the preservation of the 2nd Amendment-assured right to keep and bear arms. That said, I do not agree with them on all points, and I do not generally know enough about the inside information to form a solid opinion about their activities.
the NRA is scaremongering people. But every political lobbying organization does.
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Bingo! Make extreme statements! Polarize the masses! Let their ignorance keep them enslaved! I personally believe that the Courts should prosecute any political candidate or office-holder who makes false statements for falsifying government records.
They do support some Democrats, but do cater/lean towards the repubs....by choice.
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Possibly because the Democratic Party has used gun control as a political rallying point for several decades? Maybe because over the last 40 years the Dems have nominated candidates with anti-gun records during their time in office? But remember what you learned in your Government classes in High School: Congress passes laws, not the executive branch.
Portraying 2A rights as a conservative issue limits the people who are willing to lend support. There are people in both parties and people who differ on other issues who value their right to firearms for the protection of themselves and their families, hunting, and target sports.
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Agreed, but conservative has nothing to do with Dem vs Repub politics. THe parties themselves have polarized liberal vs conservative, not the NRA. But I do agree that both the NRA and the respective political parties use those words as meaning almost the same as Dem or Rep, even though there are conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans in the voter population.
The divisive trash talk from the NRA is a recent thing.
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I will have to disagree with that. Do you remember Harlon Carter? Anyone who did not wave the pro-gun flag was labeled as anti-gun, court decisions were portrayed as anti-Constitution, and judges were attacked instead of the juries who handed down awful decisions. Political rhetoric is always an "us vs. them" thing, challenging people to take a side, preferably "our side". Sometimes it works, but the hard-line stance often backfires because you exclude the people who are undecided or lukewarm.

So choose which is the lesser of the two evils in your mind, the NRA or the political machine.
 
Could it be they blame liberals and/or democrates because liberals and/or democrates are usually leading the charge for more regulation that restrict gun ownership?
 
"An organization such as the NRA can be successful without supporting these rifts.....I'm a card carrying Democrat, and I love my guns...."

Unfortunately it is the Democratic Party itself, as the standard bearer for gun control in the United States since World War II, that has laid the ground rules for the game.

NRA is only playing within those groundrules.

For decades gun control was a foundation of the Democractic Party's national stance.

Virtually every gun control bill and law passed has originated in and with the Democratic Party.

To jump up and say "OOOHHH! NRA's being divisive by picking on the Democrats!" is incredibly naieve as to the facts.

The ONLY thing that caused the Democratic Party to abandon, to some degree, gun control as a party platform was the 2000 election debacle when Al Gore lost two or more traditionally Democratic states (including Tennessee, his home base), primarily on the issue of guns and gun control.
 
76 Democrats in the US house voted against the AWB. 38 house Republicans voted for the AWB. The AWB passed the US house by a vote of 216-214. The Republican minority leader voted for the AWB.

At least two Republican representatives changed their votes after "The Gunowners Champion", Ronald Reagan, joined former presidents Ford and Carter in shilling for the AWB.

The Democrats had an anti-gun plank in their 2000 platform so we elected Bush. Bush and the Republican ran congress did a net nothing for us.
 
I'm letting my membership expire because I'm tired of getting a magazine every month telling me about Obama's secret plans to usurp our freedom.

Obama is not very good at what he does, but he has done more for the rights of gun owners than W did.
 
Jcsturgeon:

I disagree with you. Are you sure that you're not an anti-gunner posing as an NRA member. Politics is a nasty and full of non truths that the NRA doesn't engague in. Whether you like it or not the NRA puts forward the truth. If you don't believe it just compare the gun owning restrictions of the 1950's with current restrictions. Like it or not the NRA is the most powerfull pro gun loby in Washington. You letter to the NRA stating your concerns is warranted but to relinquish your member ship is supporting the anti-gunners.

Semper Fi.

Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
Just wondering who else may feel the same way, and who might disagree.
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I completely disagree - same reasons as explained by Mike Irwin. The Democrats have a long history of pushing gun-bans and attacking our-2nd Amendment rights. Sorry, I just can't leave the political history out the stripping away of our 2nd Amendment rights. It is what it is.
 
Unfortunately it is the Democratic Party itself, as the standard bearer for gun control in the United States since World War II, that has laid the ground rules for the game.
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Personally I see the NRA as a single issue organization, and yes they are guilty of hyperbole just like many other organizations. However, at the end of the day they are generally correct in their assessments of the overall situation. I understand most of us do not vote based on a single issues, but it is difficult for me to see how a logical person could not see the difference in Parties when it comes to the 2A. As previously stated the NRA just plays within the existing parameters.
 
Even as a voter who tends to lean a bit to the left, I have to admit that the Democrats are usually the primary authors of proposed gun-control legislation.

Still, Thallub's data on the voting record for the AWB shows that neither party is totally blameless here.
 
jcsturgeon,

I agree with some of your points, but I'm not withdrawing my support from the NRA because I think that the work they're doing is important enough, and they're effective enough at it, that I can set my personal distaste aside. I realized a long time ago that I might have very little in common with a fellow gun/RKBA enthusiast except for our shared goals in those specific areas, but that's enough common ground for me.
 
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