Latest Emails from the NRA Change in Tone

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Doc7

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I am wondering if anyone else has noticed this and is concerned by it.

I joined the NRA in winter of 2012 (unrelated to Sandy Hook, although I did get my membership card after that happened; I had asked for the membership for Christmas), about 6 months into my gun ownership career. I'm proud to be a member of an organization that so aggressively defends my rights in this area.

One thing I really liked about a lot of what I saw from the NRA, and which I have read both here and elsewhere, is that they were doggedly single-issue. They have one purpose - defend the rights of the American citizen to purchase and use firearms. They grade politicians on their firearm-related votes and nothing else.

The last couple of e-mails I've gotten from the NRA (during and since the conference) and in the latest copies of magazines I've gotten, there are frequent references to unemployment, ObamaCare, Benghazi, and many other topics that don't have anything to do with guns. Even though my political leanings fall into what seems to be the most vocal majority on a message board like this one and possibly the NRA membership as a whole, I still find this off-putting and counter-productive. I think these kinds of messages solidify the perception that the NRA is a right wing organization instead of what I think it really is, a firearms and nothing but organization.

Does anyone else get this feeling, or has it been this way a long time and I've only noticed it recently? I think we should be trying to win over more "liberals" (although I'm still recognizing the fact that many liberals ARE gun owners and NRA members) and people of all political backgrounds, colors, etc. If a Democrat who is thinking about purchasing a handgun to concealed carry is perusing the magazine rack and picks up an NRA publication, do we really think they will continue reading the magazine if the first article they read is a rant about Obama's failed social policies?
 
I donate to the NRA-ILA instead of just the NRA for this very reason. There is a positive to the way it is structured, think of it this way:

NRA = Kata

NRA-ILA = Randori

Or:

NRA = The Battle Cry

NRA-ILA = The Battle
 
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Are you sure you are a NRA member??.. Of course NRA members have to get into politics to keep the gun haters or administration from passing gun laws that effect us gun owners...
 
jem375 - I didn't say I'm not into politics. But why lump the gun issue with the other issues when it doesn't always line up? There will be plenty of times where a GOP candidate with an NRA "F" rating may be going against a Dem with an "A" rating. The NRA isn't about health care, foreign policy, or abortion rights. It is about the 2nd Amendment.
 
It wasn't the NRA that has tried to force healthcare professionals to ask gun questions from those seeking medical care.....it was Obamacare. Bengazi is about our National Security and protection of US Citizens home and abroad. If you don't think those things infringe on the second amendment and your freedom, better wake up.
 
I'm going to agree with the OP here; I want my NRA single issue, and totally committed.

Hell, I now want my NRA single issue and on the offensive--it's no longer enough to defend against attacks on the 2A, it's time to push for protections.
 
you noticed that email as well? I agree, they are a pro gun lobby and should stick to that.

ok, ok, ILA is the part that works with Govt and NRA is the part that works with shooters. Still single issue, stick to it and don't muddy the issue.

There are shooters out there that like some of the rest of the things this administration is doing and the NRA is actively driving them away.
 
I'm with the OP there. Lets keep it to guns and not to general republican issues. More people we get on both sides of the aisle to push for gun rights, the more secure those rights become. Its always dangerous to drive away potential support, and we need every Pro-gun R, D, or I that we can muster.

Lets look at the defeat of all the rescent anti-gun legislation. I'm sure it would have passed if it wasn't for millions writing their congressmen that they opposed any new gun control measures, be they republicans, Democrats, or independents. We needed them then, we need them now, and we WILL need them in the future when the gun grabbers make another push. Don't worry, we all know they will.
 
Glad to see a lot of people in agreement here. The next time I get a similar feel from an article I will write them a letter and see if I get any useful feedback from the organization. I'm not interested in making waves, but I'm paying money to be a member of and support a gun rights group, not a conservative think tank.
 
This is part of the reason I try to focus more on local or state groups that promote 2A. VCDL has done quite a bit for Virginia in the past few years; it's nice to directly see the work my donations help advance.
 
The last couple of e-mails I've gotten from the NRA (during and since the conference) and in the latest copies of magazines I've gotten, there are frequent references to unemployment, ObamaCare, Benghazi, and many other topics that don't have anything to do with guns.
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Don't know 'bout the unemployment and Benghazi blurbs, but I've seen numerous discussions about items in ObamaCare that could very well affect your gun rights.
Some folks can only connect the dots and get a straight line - others know how to triangulate...

I still see folks (including the loony leftists on MSNBC etc) that are now attacking the NRA-ILA. In their continuing 'divide and conquer' strategy (which sadly some in the shooting sports / NRA are falling for) they love to point out that years ago, the NRA was about hunting, target shooting, safety, yadda yadda yadda. They never miss a chance to denigrate the NRA-ILA and point out how the NRA has strayed from its roots / original mission.

Talk about blaming the victim!

I'm sure the NRA would love to spend all its time / money on actual shooting related items - it's just that anti-2nd clowns like the pundits at MSNBC, The Brady Bunch, etc will not allow them to do so!
 
Johannes_Paulsen said:
Agree with Doc7. My personal beliefs skew libertarian anyway, but the right to keep and bear arms has to be non-partisan.
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ditto

Obviously there is going to be "some" blurring of the lines due to all the tactics used by the Antis, but that IS why they use those tactics. So the NRA really needs to be cognizant of that and not get sucked into peripheral issues that can be divisive for Pro-2A members of the main-stream Republicans, Blue-dog Dems, Tea Partiers, Libertarians or whatever.
 
I noticed it and it bothered me too, although as a relatively new NRA member I had assumed it was always the case. Honestly that's what has kept me from being an NRA member until recently.

Although I mostly lean to one party, there are some core plank issues I completely disagree with, so I don't donate to the party. To be honest, I'm suspicious of anyone who follows one party 100% and disagrees with 100% of what the other party promotes... Haven't you ever seen the pendulum swing? Because it certainly does if you watch it long enough.

I do, however, donate to other single issue advocacy groups that align with my beliefs.

I knew what I was getting into when I joined the NRA after the recent events, but I held my nose knowing it was a necessary check on those who don't understand or support the 2nd amendment.
 
I too generally agree with the positions the NRA is taking on other subjects but do NOT want them brought up in the first place by them.
 
I can't help but wonder if this isn't somehow related to the sudden increase in membership ... they may be playing to the feelings of a larger segment of the member body... I don't disagree with what I've seen, but I DO NOT LIKE SEEING IT in the NRA forum. Probably safe to say that the large majority of us disagree with Zero's politics... but the NRA is not a Barry -bashing club... WE HAVE A POSITIVE MESSAGE, AND WE NEED TO KEEP IT THAT WAY.

DO YOU HEAR US, NRA? KEEP THE RKBA MESSAGE CLEAN, CLEAR, AND UNCLUTTERED!
 
However......... Its tough NOT to be partisan, when one group is far and above taking shots at gun ownership.

ONE of the parties, regularly use words like :

Hicks, red-necks, idiots, paranoid, stupid............


They constantly tell lies about gun owners........


The people that hit me with...". YOU DONT NEED THAT" are by a vast majority ONE of the parties

Its like sport to ONE of the parties.......

Maybe its a bit too political, but sheeze................ If someone is offended by what he NRA says, they arent listening to what the other guys says about YOU....... Hourly...... Dayly.....
 
Dean, I don't deny that it seems to me that the majority of Pro-gun fall into one end of the political spectrum and the majority of Anti-gun fall into the other end.

I'll even agree with the statement that the 2nd Amendment is a litmus test for a person's views on a whole variety of individual rights vs government control, and again a lot of those situations fall into a certain political spectrum as well.

However, as we clearly saw with the outcome of the latest federal gun control legislation, we NEED both sides of the fence on our side. There are tons of venues and occasions at which those of us who are conservative can espouse those views. I don't think the NRA is one of those venues or occasions. Turning away a whole group of people is exactly WHY they call us "Rednecks" "hicks" "wrapped up in the American flag" etc - because even if they tried to relate to our gun views, turning it into a right-wing platform may prevent them from even reading more than a few pages in a gun magazine, then a few threads on a gun forum and taking a CCW class, and then becoming a card-carrying NRA member who emphatically defends his right to bear arms.
 
Not being sure what this was all about, I scanned my emails, and the closest thing I came up with was a link to this:
Things haven't been very good for President Obama lately. This week, Congress heard from witnesses concerning his administration's fatal failures related to the September 11, 2012, attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Not buying into the make-believe nonsense that Obama has improved America's standing among terrorists devoted to our destruction, jihadists recently attacked the Boston Marathon. The unemployment rate has decreased by only 0.4 percentage point since January.

And then there are the things that Obama really cares about. Perhaps symbolically, this week, Republican senators Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) defeated Obama and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) in a game of golf. Likewise, reporters have been suggesting that the defeat of Obama's gun control agenda in the Senate puts his political clout in as much doubt as his golf prowess.

Adding to the bad news for the Obama agenda, a report issued by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS-a component of the Justice Department) shows that firearm homicides in general, and violence at schools, have decreased substantially during the last two decades; the percentage of homicides committed with firearms has decreased; and only a tiny percentage of state prison inmates imprisoned for gun offenses obtain their guns from gun shows. As the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin characterizes it, the report is "wonderful news for the country and rotten data for anti-gun advocates."
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There's more of course, but the ostensible purpose of the email was to point to an NRA-ILA article about the BJS report. Perhaps it was a poorly chosen lead in to the BJS report to mention Benghazi or unemployment, but I don't take it to imply that NRA-ILA is deviating from its single issue focus on RKBA issues. Tactically, if not strategically, anything that undermines Obama is probably helpful to our cause. He has chosen to be the face of the latest assault on gun rights. If he and his administration should find itself distracted by questions about Benghazi, Obamacare, or anything else, that can only help distract from, and perhaps undermine, both his focus on gun control, as well as his credibility to get anything further accomplished in the remaining years of his presidency.

That is all I would read into this. If NRA-ILA actually starts lobbying, somehow, on other non gun related matters, then I would think it would be ill-advised and seen as a betrayal of the trust we put in it to pursue RKBA issues single mindedly.
 
It is concerning. There are plenty of Republican leaders who want to tie gun rights in with a general culture war. It's not a good idea for a lot of reasons.
 
Amen! If RKBA could be truly divorced from the partisan hackery and culture war, red/blue, nonsense, gun control would be deader than disco.

Here's hoping, someday.

Unfortunately, the way we do things is to pretend that "people like us" think what we think. And then WE are often daft enough to buy into whatever we're told "people like us" think!
 
I'm sure the NRA would love to spend all its time / money on actual shooting related items - it's just that anti-2nd clowns like the pundits at MSNBC, The Brady Bunch, etc will not allow them to do so!
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+1 It wasn't the NRA that changed the game - they are, simply put, needed to meet the challenges to your gun rights. What good is focus on target shooting, safty, etc., if your gun is taken away from you ?

DO YOU HEAR US, NRA? KEEP THE RKBA MESSAGE CLEAN, CLEAR, AND UNCLUTTERED!
Click to expand...

Tell that to MSNBC, CNN, and the anti 2nd amendment government officials. Tell them to focus on what this county needs, instead of trying to bastardize the 2nd amendment, so that the NRA can get back to core business.
 
I have not renewed

Last fall before the General election I was really getting torqued off with all the political articles in the American Rifleman, Most penned by the president and high officers within the NRA. I wrote to them and called, and said stick to the gun issues and the second amendment. The responses were zero.
I did as I threatened, and did not renew my membership. I have been keeping watch on them via my Son in law's copy of the magazine and it appears they still want to be politicians in areas NOT PERTINANT to the primary focus, the Second Amendment and gun owners rights. Until I see a change. Count me out.
I realize my position is not a popular one but I am a firm believer in the political system and I don't think the NRA is the vehicle to move political changes not pertaining to gun ownersrights. I am quite capable of contacting my legislators and do frequently to address purely political issues!
So if any NRA officers are reading this, lets get back to basics. Then I will renew.
 
Tactically, if not strategically, anything that undermines Obama is probably helpful to our cause. He has chosen to be the face of the latest assault on gun rights.
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I'm not so sure Obama has "chosen" to get into the gun battle - I think he's a more pragmatic politician than some folks give him credit, and I've got a feeling he's taken to heart Bill Clinton's views on the NRA / gun rights, and how that could affect your political career.
I think Obama has been dragged kicking and screaming into this debate (although I do know his history and stand on guns).

If he and his administration should find itself distracted by questions about Benghazi, Obamacare, or anything else, that can only help distract from, and perhaps undermine, both his focus on gun control, as well as his credibility to get anything further accomplished in the remaining years of his presidency.
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Bingo!
While some are thinking checkers, the NRA is thinking more along the lines of chess.

On another forum, we had a new member (troll?) whining about how stupid it was for the NRA to recommend guards in schools instead of just ? (I assume he wanted a line drawn in the sand?).
I told him (and others agreed) that when I heard the NRA come out with their recommendation for guards in schools, while it may not have been checkmate, it certainly was check!
Predictably (and the NRA knew this), the anti-2nd pundits for a while were stumbin', bumblin', mumblin' over how to handle the recommendation before they simply resorted to "do we really want our schools to be armed fortresses"?

Quite simply, the NRA called their bluff. Before the guards in schools recommendation, it was all about "the kids" and "our most precious resource". After the recommendation, it was all about not wanting to turn schools into armed forts and THE COST!
So...now that we have determined you HAVE put a price on your "most precious resource", we're just trying to determine what that price is?
(The guards in schools really drove the MSNBC pundits batty).
 
baz said:
Not being sure what this was all about, I scanned my emails, and the closest thing I came up with was a link to this:There's more of course, but the ostensible purpose of the email was to point to an NRA-ILA article about the BJS report. Perhaps it was a poorly chosen lead in to the BJS report to mention Benghazi or unemployment, but I don't take it to imply that NRA-ILA is deviating from its single issue focus on RKBA issues. Tactically, if not strategically, anything that undermines Obama is probably helpful to our cause. He has chosen to be the face of the latest assault on gun rights. If he and his administration should find itself distracted by questions about Benghazi, Obamacare, or anything else, that can only help distract from, and perhaps undermine, both his focus on gun control, as well as his credibility to get anything further accomplished in the remaining years of his presidency.

That is all I would read into this. If NRA-ILA actually starts lobbying, somehow, on other non gun related matters, then I would think it would be ill-advised and seen as a betrayal of the trust we put in it to pursue RKBA issues single mindedly.
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yep .. thats what I took from it . so "what he said ^^^^^^ "
 
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