The nra is as much a problem to the efforts of RKBA as the brady bunch. It's a shame most members of the gun community prefer to blindly mail off a check rather than research where their money is actually going and what an organization does besides provide lip service.
Again, the sheer ignorance and institutional paranoia among some of us is hard to grasp.
But I reckon these are also the same folks who who subscribe to the
National Enquirer, believe every Elvis sighting report they read, and secretly desire to change their place of birth on their birth certificates to Roswell, New Mexico.
It is also another reason why my wife and I are no longer GOA members. When a supposedly pro-rights organization can exist solely on creating conspiracies and innuendo against its larger brethren rather than on its own merits, then while its mission may be admirable, its credibility is not.
Again, if anyone doubts the effectiveness . . . call up any congressional staffer and metion GOA, then mention NRA--see which one evokes instant name recognition. See which one the congressman respects/fears more.
And as far as having a "Democrat" on the NRA's board, so what? The NRA has given "F's" to Republicans and the NRA is not about political parties--it is about civil rights.
One of the staunchest pro-gun senators to ever come out of Texas was once a Democrat--Phil Gramm. He later switched to the Republican party, but nobody here in Texas would have objected one damn bit if he'd been on the BoD or anything else with the NRA.
When it comes to guns, there ARE party lines--but there are also one helluva lot of Democrats that vote the way their constituents expect them to vote in favor of the Constitution.
Does anyone honestly think we'd have all the CCL laws and Castle Doctrine law in the states we do WITHOUT support from Democrats? Likewise, does anyone also honestly think that ALL Republicans voted in favor of ALL pro-gun laws in ALL states?
Individual efforts are great--but just because I'm an NRA member does not mean that I can't, or no longer write letters and correspond with my elected officials. But my letters also carry more clout when I let the congressman know I'm an NRA member--he/she knows there are millions more who think like me on the issue of "no more gun laws" and that we historically vote as a block.
Were it not for AOPA (Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association), not one general aviation pilot or airplane owner has any doubt that we'd be overwhelmed with user fees, more restricted airspace, more restrictions on where we can fly and when, etc.
And flying is not protected by the Constitution--the right to keep and bear arms IS protected.
I'll never think for one minute that the NRA is perfect or even close to it or that everything they have done has worked out wonderfully to all of our advantages.
But I'll also look at their track record and see that they've overwhelmingly won more for us than they've lost.
Jeff