No offense intended but it's hard to know what to say about the NRA to gun owners who are not members, whose focus is on their own state, and who might not be familiar with current national issues or their history.
Here's a link to the NRA Civil Defense Fund report on some specific litigation in which it is involved in California. When you've finished, you might want to broaden your view and look at the NRA support for
specific litigation in other states too. My contributions and that of other NRA members help to support NRA litigation in all states. I'd never considered the possibility that I could focus my money exclusively on
my home state and let other states fend for themselves.
The NRA informs its members about many key issues. I've seen many messages in this forum and other gun forums in which non members either don't know what's happening or seem to know only what they read in these forums.
I'd be embarrassed not to know about the gun confiscations in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and I'd be embarrassed not to know that the police confiscating those guns did not ask nicely or issue receipts, but other people obviously aren't embarrassed. The NRA was an immediate source of information and continues to pursue a law suit against New Orleans. What happened in New Orleans can happen in California--especially because the California Highway Patrol was active in confiscating those guns.
The major national Second Amendment case is
Heller v. DC, which you might have seen discussed in messages here and elsewhere.
The NRA is the only national pro-gun organization to file an amicus brief in that case.
What you're asking is hard to address in general terms within the confines of a forum message. It's flatly impossible to address in specific terms and be comprehensive. The NRA is what stands between gun owners and the gun grabbers. The gun grabbers know it and say it. They don't want you or anyone else as members of the NRA. Each and every NRA member is their enemy.
It's probably almost pointless to try addressing your questions here because forum messages tend to make everyone's contributions look and seem alike, with a low signal to noise ratio. What non NRA members say about it can look as authoritative as statements by people who participate actively in the NRA. Brighamr's overview is correct: it's what you'll see in any bunch of messages about the NRA in a gun forum, and it's what you should expect. You've been given what you requested. Whether it's in any way useful is a decision you'll make. Doing real homework--not asking for opinions--would be more useful.
Do some homework of
your own, which really isn't the same as asking a bunch of strangers for their opinions, and then think about what the situation for gun owners in this country would be right now if there were no NRA or if the NRA were weak. When you've done so you should be able to decide whether you want to carry your own small part of the burden or leave that for others to do for you.
The situation reminds me of an old cartoon in which a little boy is shown asking his grandfather "What did you do in the war, Grandpa?" and the grandfather was a draft dodger. But not everyone feels as I do. Let your conscience be your guide. In the beginning I was an NRA annual member. Then I became a Life Member. From nearly the beginning I contributed additional money. Soon I became a frequent contributor. I take as active a role as I can.
