Why should I re-join the NRA?

The NRA is the 800# gorilla in the fight to keep our gun rights. There is no need for you to join. Just ride the coat tails of members like me as do the majority of gun owners. When an oppressive gun law is passed be sure to gripe and complain about it but don't join and add your voice and dollars to the fight.

The complaint about unsolicited mail is unwarranted. One simple phone call is all it takes to stop it. Is the DVD such a big deal? They tell you if you don't want it you can send it back in the provided mailer or just keep it as a gift.

I've been a long time member as well and have seen very little of what "they" (we) do directly. I have also lived in the rural west most of my life. Then, one day, while visiting a more politically contested population area I saw the NRA and opposing forces in action. I came to the conclusion that where I lived gun ownership was a foregone conclusion and nobody fought over it. Being exposed to the TV, radio, and billboard ads was a wake up for me. I was glad I was a member of the NRA. The dues really don't bother me. The tremendous amount of junk mail I received did. I got my name on the stop sending list and haven't had much more than renewal notices in ten years or so. I do contribute fairly regularly through the roundup program.

An often overlooked fact is you don't have to be a member to do an NRA Round Up donation, or to send money to the ILA.

SafetyChain, have you received a Midway (huge) catalog or their periodic small catalog?
Ever received a Brownell catalog?
Do you think they would "waste" profits on something that did not solicit enough sales to pay for the catalogs and more?

Member for a lonnnnngggg time. Shoulda bought a lifer. Too old now.

Here's a suggestion. Can you donate to the NRA without revealing name, phone number and addresses? I understand getting membership info, but what the NRA mails out is ridiculous. It's just as bad as getting into a spam list. I also do not support everything the NRA does. I wish there was a simple one time anonymous donation system setup, so I can give money when they're actively doing something for the 2nd amendment.

NRA for a darn fime magazine American Rifleman or American Hunter worth the price of admission. NRA for legislative action. SAF for judicial action.

Unlike some e-mail chain letter alarms, the NRA does not alert me to bills that have no chance of ever getting out of committee.

Also I like the opportunity to vote for both Ted Nugent and Roy Innis for board of directors.

Besides, ever since I let my NRA membership lapse because (in part) I fell for Brady BS about death threats from Leroy Pyle,* I have made a point to find someway to renew my membership every year since.


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* 13 Oct 1991 Leroy Pyle lost a law enforcement assistance postion at NRA because he spend a lot of his time campaigning on Second Amendment issues rather than on LE assistance. 18 Oct 1991 Sarah Brady sent out a letter: "One NRA board member, Leroy Pyle, is so crazed by my role in advocating handgun control he says about me 'somebody [should] slip into the house one night and slit her throat.'"

The actual quote, it turns out was somewhat different:

"Mrs. Brady is a director of Handgun Control Inc. and wife of former Reagan press secretary James Brady, who was critically wounded in the asssasination attempt on his boss: That ugly cackler. She pulls her husband around like a pulltoy on a string. My friends and I say that if that ever happened to one of us and our wife did that, somebody would slip into the house one night and slit her throat." quoted in: Osha Gray Davidson, Under Fire: The NRA and the Battle for Gun Control (Henry Holt & Company 1993)

Pyle may not have been a perfect spokesman, but he did not actually threaten to slit Sarah Brady's throat.

Old lifer...

Hey, Red Cent--The NRA has a special deal on Life Memberships for those over I think 65. They know they won't have that member forever so you get a break. I am far from rich myself, and when I became eligible for the elderly Life Memb. I signed up. They even let you pay for it in installments if you want.

Don't know about everybody, but being a Life Member feels special to me. I'm glad I did it.

Never too old! Never!

jeeperjohn: I have been a life member for over 30 years. ...Right now I will personally guarantee you that if it were not for the NRA and their legislative work you probably would not even be able to own a pistol and rifle rights would be severely curtailed.

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I dare say most of those like jeeperjohn, who have a long-term perspective on the matter, favor supporting the NRA. In another 30 years, it would be a shame to say "I wish I had".

jeeperjohn: I have been a life member for over 30 years. ...Right now I will personally guarantee you that if it were not for the NRA and their legislative work you probably would not even be able to own a pistol and rifle rights would be severely curtailed.

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And that is the fear playbook they have been running for the last 30 years. Even with all the gains we have made they continue to paint a picture as if we are on the edge of the cliff. The reality is that we are not even close.

Just do it. I guess I have very little patience for folks who whine about the NRA. They're our best option for preserving our rights. I get junk mail all the time from companies I don't care a thing about. If I have to throw away a few things from the NRA every month, it's a small price to pay for freedom.

At least some of your money is going toward unsolicited DVDs being sent to members homes. If you keep it they bill you if not you have to package it back up in a mailer and send it back....

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And you are not responsible for paying for unsolicited DVD's. So don't.

because they have the most powerful lobbyists in DC for our gun rights. That is the #1 reason that I can think of. No money, no lobbyists. No lobbyists, no political pull. Please join and stay joined

would you be willing to accept spam and junk mail if it meant keeping your gun rights ? Me too. That's trivial stuff that can be worked on and voted on within. As for the larger fight, that is FAR more important than some spam or dvd's!!!

Edit: well put Red Cent. If they didn't get a certain ROI on their mailings, they wouldn't do it. I can't even FATHOM that anyone would NOT join, knowing they singlehandedly have the DC clout that keeps us above water. Come on now!

I did not plan on it but it is wasting money on so many levels. I know what the DVD cost. I owned a company that manufactured DVDs. The real cost is the abuse of the bulk mail system. The more crap organizations like the NRA send into the system at a reduced rate the more consumers and businesses have to pay.

I'd just send my membership money to the NRA-ILA. I see it doing more work there than subsidizing shooting instruction and magazine subscriptions.

Edit: well put Red Cent. If they didn't get a certain ROI on their mailings, they wouldn't do it. I can't even FATHOM that anyone would NOT join, knowing they singlehandedly have the DC clout that keeps us above water. Come on now!

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Believe it or not some people who enjoy owning, shooting and even carrying guns are not one issue voters. They do not see everything through the lense of a single issue. This might or might not put themselves at odds with the people and things the NRA supports in their persuit of our gun rights.

It amazes me constantly how myopic a view so many THR members take on politics. I personally do not let one issue dominate my choices. YMMV

rellascout: all it takes is ONE bill to put half of what you cherish on the brink. It may not be high on your voting priorities, but please don't try and tamp down or counter the need.

Just do it. I guess I have very little patience for folks who whine about the NRA. They're our best option for preserving our rights. I get junk mail all the time from companies I don't care a thing about. If I have to throw away a few things from the NRA every month, it's a small price to pay for freedom.

At least some of your money is going toward unsolicited DVDs being sent to members homes. If you keep it they bill you if not you have to package it back up in a mailer and send it back....

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And you are not responsible for paying for unsolicited DVD's. So don't.

Craig...I could care less about your lack of patience. If you want to support them that's your decision. My decision is not to. Period.

There is no need for you to join. Just ride the coat tails of members like me as do the majority of gun owners.

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Please. Sending money to the NRA isn't the only way to stand up for the RKBA. For instance, you can donate to the SAF or the more hardline GOA. Heller was sponsored by a lawyer from the Cato Institute, and it was the SAF who sponsored McDonald. The NRA initially declined to assist Dick Heller and George Lyon (another plaintiff in the Heller case), and even jeopardized Heller's chances for success with some of their actions.

The best way to defend RKBA isn't through political channels, but to make it clear that you mean it when you say, "from my cold, dead hands."

rellascout said:

And that is the fear playbook they have been running for the last 30 years. Even with all the gains we have made they continue to paint a picture as if we are on the edge of the cliff. The reality is that we are not even close.

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To what, precisely, do you attribute those gains? If to a broad cultural shift in understanding, the NRA serves at the least as spokesmen and vanguard. I suppose I am trying to understand how you are using the words "we" and "they," above. I have added emphasis to draw attention to what I mean.

rellascout: all it takes is ONE bill to put half of what you cherish on the brink. It may not be high on your voting priorities, but please don't try and tamp down or counter the need.

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Sorry I am not motivated by fear. The Brady bunch and the NRA run the same playbook appealing to different ends of the spectrum but in the end all they are both doing is pedaling fear. They are two sides of the same coin. I do not vote using a myopic lense. I refuse to let a single issue cloud my reason and judgement. YMMV

To what, precisely, do you attribute those gains? If to a broad cultural shift in understanding, the NRA serves at the least as spokesmen and vanguard. I suppose I am trying to understand how you are using the words "we" and "they," above. I have added emphasis to draw attention to what I mean.

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WE= the citizens of the United States of America

THEY= the leadership and marketing machine of the NRA.

Not scared, and myopic is not the same as focused. I CHOOSE to focus on this particular issue. As for most of the remaining issues, as your sig says, meet the new leader, same as the old. As for gun rights, NRA has the biggest stick in DC. Fund it.

I don't get that much mail from them. I wish they would do a little more publicly rather than just lobbying in D.C. Apparently, they have commercials and stuff but I have only seen them as youtube vids. They might have political commercials on stuff like Outdoors Channel, but they are just preaching to the choir there.

If my membership fees help get some representation in Washington then I'm all for it, but I still wish they would do more on a local level.

The only donations I give them is through Midway USA.

I just wish NRA would do something about repealing 922r and the Hughes amendment. I'd become a life member and give $$ to ILA.

I'm already a member of GOA and JPFO.

If you like guns/shooting/hunting it all ties together...I can't understand why a gun owner would'nt want to join the NRA. It was taught as a kid that one day I would join the NRA. I can remember my ole man talking about the antigun nuts in the late 1960's and antigun doctrine is alot worse here in 2011. It seemed like it was a lot easier to dismiss the antigunners as the nuts back then becuase the networks and the press was'nt near as anti as they are now. You really can't afford to not join the way I see it...