It's time, stop stalling, join now

Lots of educated, experienced, and plain smart people here. Other than the NRA, which group has the best track record for taking on the anti-gun groups? 2nd Amendment Foundation? Gun Owners of America?

As much as I want to, I just don't have the time to do the research. Many here have already done it.

Whats your opinion?

I'm going to donate to THR just because they allowed this thread to run:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ouse-dems-pass-gun-control-bill.885256/unread.

I hope it keeps going. I will join a 2A organization, but want one that has some clout. I've given my stimulus money to people that need it more. But the last one went to a regional 2a forum like this that lets us discuss strategies against the current anti gun push.

I'll join and put 300.00 to a good organization that has a good record.

Who's with me?

I belong to several gun rights organizations already. Also it is time to take a non gun owner that might show intrest to the range (I do this as well). Dont forget to urge those that you know that perhaps have stated they don't bother vote that they need to step up and have their say at the ballot box instead of muttering to themselves about how things turned out this last election, every time. Friendly discourse by an average person (you) that states your point in a convincing and factual way without raising your voice or getting into a shouting match will win over those on the fence more times than not. That said, I will not waste my time debating a loud emotional anti. I am too civilized for that!

Hmm, thanks for starting this thread. I think I will give both my sons NRA 1 year memberships. Not sure why I never did this before but this thread sure helped get me thinking on it

I love the Second Amendment Foundation (Mas Ayoob has been the president, and Alan Gottlieb, its founder, is a tireless worker for the RKBA). It's local to me (headquartered in WA), has a great lobbying arm (the CCRKBA) and I believe, more members nationally than GOA (although GOA has a good track record for lobbying Congress as well). GOA is known as being the "only no-compromise" gun rights organization and was famously supported by Rand Paul. But SAF seems to promote more educational efforts and frankly, have a broader appeal to more people.

I still believe every RKBA supporter should belong to all three of the organizations, though -- NRA, SAF and GOA.

Really, which organization does not matter, not nearly so much as actually taking the action.
Choose a National one you are ok with, and a State one, too, while you are at it.
Give them money.
Rinse & Repeat.

After the above, rational & reasoned discussion of the foibles of the various organizations might be mete; but only after a person has acted in a concrete way. (Arguments about ideological purity never actually achieve anything other than disunity and upset--and are scary effective at breaking up successful organizations.)

SAF is good also the Firearms Policy Coalition is doing a lot of good. Your individual state gun rights organizations are another place to help out as they have been doing a lot more since the NRA has been AWOL.

We can't just sit back and let someone else pay the way, everybody needs to do their part. If you can't constantly be calling your reps and senators, donate to one of the 2A organizations and help them do the talking for you.

"Really, which organization does not matter"
I will never give the time of day to the NRA.

I know a lot of folks feel some kind of way about the NRA, but honestly, now isn’t the time for division. I get it.

The last MAJOR assault on our gun rights was back in 2013 or so. Luckily, a narrow Republican majority in the House existed, due to the earlier Tea Party movement in 2010. So we had a tiny pro gun foothold in Congress, which allowed us to retain control of the House Judiciary Committee, allowing us to kill any legislation before even reaching the floor for a vote. That is the ONLY reason we don’t have the Obama-Biden wish list of gun control right now. We no longer have that. The first two years of Obama-Biden was spent on Obamacare, which passed easily because they had the whole Congress. Then the Republicans took the House in 2010-11, and we got lucky. We don’t have that now. They WILL go after gun control immediately. They’ve said they would. The narratives, key phrases, and “fear words” are already being set up and used in order to prime the public, and Bills are already being pre-positioned. It will come fast, and anyone who doesn’t think so is dreaming.

Back during that time, NRA membership shot up by the millions. This bolstered our message, and encouraged House Reps, and the Judiciary Committee, to remain true to cause. The huge number of NRA members blew the press away, worldwide, and left no question about how we felt. There was no bickering amongst ourselves about the NRA then, just a huge increase by the millions, all united, with one message: Leave gun rights alone. This popular movement caught everyone by surprise. It was just enough to hold off legislation, reducing the Obama-Biden efforts to a large amount of EO’s, but no permanent real damage.

The anti’s (specifically Bloomberg) learned from that and declared war on the NRA, once they realized how powerful they (we) were. That power came from numbers and money. Nobody cared about the GOA or other groups then, because they weren’t as big or powerful. All of this current “anti-NRA” debate is a result of the anti’s efforts against the NRA, to include the N.Y. case, (tacitly pushed by Bloomberg). It appears to be working.

Before, folks on this forum had the attitude of “I don’t care what they do with the money, as long as they do their jobs and secure our rights”. Now it’s more of “we want every cent accounted for, or another lobby can secure our rights”. Well, maybe, but I doubt it. Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.

DC is dirty and all about money and connections. Sad but true. The NRA is the most powerful and successful lobby for gun rights. It would be great if we didn’t need one, as the constitution is pretty plain; however, as we’ve seen, and continue to see, anti’s and politicians don’t care about that. Hence the need for a powerful and well connected lobby.

All the negative NRA press over the past several years is the direct result of the Bloomberg / Anti campaign against them. This action from NY is driven by that. Period. We have no legislative advantage now in Congress. They hold both chambers. The best we can hope for is flipping some Dems to the side of “good”, and keeping ALL the Republicans in either the Senate or the House during a floor vote to hold off any legislation, because it WILL make it out of committee (either Senate or House). That is going to take a powerful Lobby, like the NRA. It doesn’t matter what kind of suits LaPierre wears or what kind of plane they fly in, as long as they get the job done. They are more than just a pro 2A YouTube channel, which is why they are being targeted.

But, definitely get active!

I buy a hunting license every year. And I have a concealed permit in two states to cover most of the nation. Revenue to the state might be a better guarantee.

Yo Mama said:

It's time to join a gun rights organization. It's time to speak to your family about joining a gun rights organization. No more waiting, or excuses. I don't care what you think about what group, doesn't matter anymore. Join a different group. Join some organization that fits you. Get the 30 or so dollars together and do it. So many great groups out there. We will have to stay together on this more than ever.

There is no reason to wait, get searching now for your group, join today, start talking to anyone who will listen, and get the numbers it is going to take to weather this storm to come.

Click to expand...

So which organization do you belong to?

We need to let our representatives how we feel and how we will vote. Write your congressman and tell them. There are millions of responsible gun owner and our voice needs to be heard to shout down the vocal minority.

Any of the major pro-gun organizations benefit from our monetary support, and membership numbers of each is more important today than ever! Membership numbers is what the anti-gun politicians fear the most and that is why NRA is the one mentioned the most by news media and politicians alike.

They all do good work, there are others, but these are the ones I'm familiar with along with their membership numbers.

According to the NRA, their membership reached 5.5 million total members in 2018, a record high
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association#Membership

GOA claims >100,000 members
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_Owners_of_America

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) is the lobbying affiliate of the SAF. As of January 2015, both groups reported having over 650,000 membershttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_Foundation

Forgot JPFO, Alan Gottlieb, CEO; last reported membership number I could find was 7000.

Texas State Rifle Assn.
Founded in 1919, the Texas State Rifle Association is the largest firearms and shooting sports organization in Texas with 40,000 members. From article dated 2014:
https://www.ammoland.com/2014/10/te...ation-names-dubois-as-new-executive-director/
Hopefully all of the above membership numbers are on a rapid upward spiral!!

Regards,
hps

My advice is to join the NRA first, add others as time and money permits. You will never hear me criticize or vilify any pro-Second Amendment organization, no matter how much reservations I might privately have about any one of them. This is not the time for division or airing petty differences; it is the time for circling the wagons and preparing for defending against the biggest assault on our God-given Right to Keep and Bear Arms this country has ever faced.

Good source is PopVox.com for lobbying information on many subjects, free to set up account for yourself based on location and they add your name to contact your reps in Congress on gun legislation. No a "gun" lobby, but lets you contact them without them saying only gun owners are behind it. I found out on a Sooch00 video on Youtube

Yo Mama said:

NRA, AZCDL, and Kniferights

Click to expand...

Thanks. I've always done the NRA but have been looking for something else as a secondary.

Yo Mama said:

How does paying the state help with gun rights activism?

Click to expand...

It doesn't help at all. And this is a time where we need to support these organizations.

Let's not do another NRA war - however, don't forget your state organizations as they do a great deal of the local work. One of the threats that actually have come to fruition have been on the state level. State level action is more likely than national legislation, IMHO.

By now, most of us know the NRA situation and berating those who are on either side of the controversy accomplishes little.

GEM said:

Let's not do another NRA war - however, don't forget your state organizations as they do a great deal of the local work. One of the threats that actually have come to fruition have been on the state level. State level action is more likely than national legislation, IMHO.

By now, most of us know the NRA situation and berating those who are on either side of the controversy accomplishes little.

Click to expand...

Absolutely!

This is the time to circle the wagons, not for infighting, which just advertises our weaknesses.

If you cannot support one organization or another, I get that, but we will all be better served to support whatever organization we feel comfortable with and keep our criticism to ourselves. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but pulling the load together is far more productive than leaving gaps in the line of defense. Now is the time to tell us which organizations you support, not the ones you do not.


Here is an example of what our state, and even local organizations do for us. Our Texas Rifle Assn. is now monitoring some 200 firearms related related bills which have been introduced in this legislature!

As GEM said, the focus has shifted recently to state levels, but they are emboldened on the national level as well, and I'm sure they are aware of, and promoting any strife within our ranks.



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Premier Firearms Association In The Great State Of Texas!
Greetings!

HR 8 and HR 1446 have passed the US House of Representatives.

HR 8 requires universal background checks for all transfers outside your immediate family, and HR 1446 enhances the scope of those background checks; it changes the law from a "Shall Issue" to a "May Issue" for the transfer of a weapon by the FBI.

By way of example, right now the FBI is required to give your FFL a response and that has to happen within a maximum of 3 days for a background check. Under this heinous bill, an FFL could wait up to a month to hear back from the FBI... or NOT AT ALL! As I understand it, there's no recourse for the buyer; you cannot contact the FBI to make an appeal directly. Therefore, you would have very limited recourse if this happens to you.

The summary of the bill and the text to HR 8 are here.

The summary of the bill and the text to HR 1446 are here.

Please call US Senators Cruz and Cornyn and make your opinion known on these bills and also, if you are an FFL or know one, make sure they are calling too.

Senator John Cornyn's office can be reached at (202) 224-2934

Senator Ted Cruz's office can be reached at (202) 224-5922

Thank you so much for all your help! Hit reply if you have any questions.

Andi Turner
Legislative Director
TSRA

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Fortunately, thanks to a lot of hard work by TSRA officers and staff combined with favorable government leaders from our Governor on down and including the legislative bodies, many, if not most, of the 200 bills are pro-gun.

Regards,
hps
NRA Benefactor, TSRA Life, SAF, CCRKBA, GOA

TSRA did good work. When I was there, I wrote an article for their journal and they asked me to testify on campus carry. I did and got on TV and in the papers with my rhetorical skills. Haha -