A Curious New Gun Group-Or a Scam?

[Red Wind]

Got this "Alert" from the NRA-ILA this morning. A Gun group claiming almost 200,000 members that few people have ever heard of before.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune investigated.

When a new pro-gun group surfaces, unfortunately, I've become somewhat suspicious.

I've seen a few crop up over the years that were focused on fundraising but little else.

I recently received an email from 2AO — the "Second Amendment Organization" — that announced they'd kicked off a fundraising campaign for the victims of the Charleston church shooting.

Problem is, I'd never heard of the 2AO, nor had any of my contacts at several longstanding pro-gun organizations. Several readers had questions about the group, too.

 

[MAKster]

Bryan Crosswhite, the founder of this group was interviewed on the NRA website so I doubt he is a fraud. Just another group looking for a niche.
http://www.nranews.com/home/video/c...to-mayors-about-gun-rights/list/channel-guide

 

[barnbwt]

Well, if they're first move is to savage the NRA <cough *NAGR* cough> they are probably a front. If they also draw from that shallow well of anti-gun verbiage in their announcements, they are assuredly a front (as was AHSA). If they position themselves as a 'sportsman' anything these days, that is also a marker for a front.

The 'investigation' seems to have revealed this group are at worst flaky hucksters, and at best ineffective (by which I mean, they aren't doing much worth mentioning). I get the impression of a well-intentioned group backed by a wealthy benefactor starting out and struggling to find visibility and contacts in a very crowded field. Which means they are in "hustle membership/cash while no doing much" mode.

They appear to seek to get 'outdoor industry' businesses counted by NAICS regulations, which is one heck of an obscure topic to be seeking public donations on. Supposedly gun and gear businesses are not tallied for purposes of measuring regulatory impact. The other 'projects' look like typical pro-gun boilerplate media projects that likely tout the name of the organization as much as the second amendment.

I think my money's better spent with the NRA-ILA, and I bet the NRA itself is funneling a lot more money at this lobbying effort than these fool's can, assuming it's a worthy cause. My foil-dar is going bananas that this is really a proposal to require gun stores to undergo needless income reporting to the OMB or IRS as a condition of their classification. Would love to hear small business owners' thoughts (those who are familiar with NAICS)

TCB