Doc7
Member
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 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?