NRA bashing and preaching to the choir

[hillbilly]

I've read several threads and numerous posts in the last few days that still continue with the NRA bashing.

Even at the very moment of one of the biggest pro-gun victories in history, the NRA bashing continues.


How many times did I read gloom-and-doom pessimistic gun owners whine and moan about the AWB?

How many times did I read these doom-ninnies ominously say over and over "NO gun law in the history of the US has EVER gone away, and the AWB won't go away, either."

How many times, indeed?


And now that the AWB is dead and gone, they still bash the only organization that caused the AWB to die.....the NRA.

Yeah, what has the NRA done for ME lately? I mean besides killing off one of the worst gun laws ever implemented, I mean what HAS the NRA done for ME lately???????


I read another poster who said that he's mad because the NRA only preaches to the choir. He was mad that the NRA seemed to work only at persauding the gun owners out there, and not all the antis.


I hate to tell you all this, but the NRA preaches to the choir because it's the freakin' choir that's the problem here.............

Do the math, boys and girls...........

There are something like 80 million gun owners in the US.

If the NRA could get only one-fourth of those gun owners, only 25%, to do their civil rights duty and join the biggest firearms civil rights organization that's ever existed, then the NRA could get any law expunged that it wanted to.

IF the NRA could get only 10% of American gun owners in its ranks, it could get any gun law expunged that it wanted to.

If you want silencers legal with no tax stamp, if you want easy-to-buy machine guns, if you want any other rights back, or any other bad laws expunged, join the NRA and get every other gun owner you know to join the NRA.

An NRA with 8-million members would be completely unstoppable.

An 8-million-member NRA would get any law it wanted expunged.

Already, the Antis howl about the overwhelming power of an almost 4-million-member NRA. An NRA twice as big as it is today would be the Anti's worst nightmare

Did you not read or hear Feinstein's breathless gasping over the NRA's power when her last attempt at renewing the AWB got hosed after they Dems attached it to the Lawsuit Preemption Bill?

DiFi was absolutley dizzy with rage and despair when her legislative baby went down to the tune of about 80 votes in the Senate.

But what do some of the allegedly smart gun owners on THR do in the face of the AWB's death, and the all Antis' howling and whining and crying about the power of the NRA ?

They grumble and complain about how useless the NRA is, what a lousy organization the NRA is, how inept the NRA is at getting the message out..............

Go figure.

hillbilly

 

[FPrice]

hillbilly...

"Go figure."

Some people just don't like the NRA (I am NOT one of them). Some reasons may be valid while others are completely off-the-wall. No organization can be everything to everyone (well, the Democratic Party tries, but we see how useless that is) the best they can do is try to stick to one basic thing and do it well.

When faced with NRA-bashing I just try to calmly remind folks that the NRA is like them (the basher), generally pretty good but with some warts and faults mixed in with the good.

It doesn't work all that well, because bashers generally want everyone else to be perfect (like their perception of themselves) but it gets the point across.

 

[Shooter 2.5]

The reality is not everyone on this board is a conservative gun owner. There are a lot of posters voting for kerry. Getting rid of the NRA is one of the ways to eliminate support for the Republicans.
There are also the non-members who have no idea what the NRA does until they decide the NRA should "Do Something". Sorry, but the ad campaign "I'm the NRA" answered that. The members are the NRA. If there is a failure, it's up to the individual member to help set it right. Also, non-members haven't the right to order anyone to do anything. Put your money and efforts into the fight and then have a voice. Otherwise, sit on the sidelines and ****.

Reality wise, the NRA could never do anything until the anti-gun dem party lost power. It's all in the votes from the Senate and Congress. Get rid of the anti-gun dem party and gun control becomes history.

 

[Brett Bellmore]

Having been at the Philly convention, and seen first hand what DIDN'T get reported in the Rifleman, the bylaws violations, the sliming of Knox from the podium, the anonymous fliers being distributed to smear him, the mike being shut off when he tried to defend himself, somebody who tried to record the things they were doing actually being ASSAULTED by a goon squad, I purely despise the people in charge of the NRA. I know they're not to be trusted, because I know they've got no compunctions about lying to us. "For our own good", to be sure, but lying still.

But the NRA itself I like. After I calmed down, I even bought a new sticker for my truck, to replace the one I'd torn off in disgust when I left the convention.

It's just sad; As effective as the NRA is, an NRA run by honest people could be so much more effective.

 

[KMKeller]

only organization that caused the AWB to die.....the NRA.

I'll have to call BS on this. The NRA, while doing it's part, is by far not the only organization that caused the AWB to die. There are many others out there, GOA, JPFA, CCRKBA, SAS, SAF, etc. that were very vociferous and accomplished much. To claim this victory for the NRA solely, is ludicrous.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I've said it before.

However, think it should be said again.

Both women and the NRA have pi$$ed me off at times.
However, I do not like the alternatives!

Hillbilly is right. The AWB died because the dems lost so many people after they passsed it the first time. They didn't have the balls to try it again.
This was due to the NRA.

I give Christmas/birthday gifts of NRA memberships to about everyone I know. Even the pinkos. Drives them crazy

Oh, and yes, I'm a member of GOA and JFPO. Need to find the link to the 2nd Am. A, missed them in my join up procedures.

 

[KMKeller]

And the phone call, fax and letter writing campaigns to every rep in the US was for naught? Hardly.

Sorry guys, but claiming that the NRA did this all on their little lonesome is highly disingenuous and discounts years of effort on the part of a great many people across this nation.

This was a team win folks, nothing less.

 

[Cool Hand Luke 22:36]

Even at the very moment of one of the biggest pro-gun victories in history, the NRA bashing continues.

The doomsayers have past NRA fumbles to point to, that's true, but hopefully the way the NRA has held the line in at least the past several years will convince the doubters that the time for such suspicions are past.

 

[KMKeller]

CHL - Just this week, I came due to renew my NRA membership. I did so with a Lifetime membership and treated my 8 year old son to the same.

 

[Atticus]

"CHL - Just this week, I came due to renew my NRA membership. I did so with a Lifetime membership and treated my 8 year old son to the same."

Which means you'll soon be bombarded by the NRA to join (again) and or renew your membership.

The NRA is the best game in town....but I get pretty frustrated when they waste so many resources preaching to the choir...or should I say annoying the choir. I renew every 3 years - and every time I do- I feel like I just signed a contract to have people call me at dinner time and ask me why I an NOT a member...."and would I like to be?".
Yes recruit the inactive 80MM who are NOT members....just don't call me, email me, or send a letter to me (or all three) every week...while telling me that your money is in short supply.

Regarding Neal Knox- If he is so popular and so opposed to the leadership and direction of the NRA - why doesn't he start his own organization? Or has he? I don't keep up with Neal.


People always complain about NRA bashing...but there is a difference between bashing anf legitimate complaints. What if your insurance company, utility company, etc, sent you a past due notice every time you made a payment?

 

[JohnBT]

www.nealknox.com

 

[hillbilly]

Shooter 2.5, just one question.

Exactly WHY did all those anti-Democrats lose their elections?

Let's see.....now which multi-billion dollar organization was it that campaigned furiously against every single one of those candidates?

Who was that who spent money on TV ads and door-to-door campaigns and literature and other ways to remind voters whom to vote against in each and every one of those races the Dems lost?

I think that would be the NRA.


And while other posters have pointed out that many many groups worked for the AWB, the math doesn't lie.

If you add all the other groups together....JPFO, GOA, Pink Pistols, etc, etc, their money and manpower added together do not equal the money and manpower of the NRA.

Does the NRA always do exactly what I personally want it to do?

No way.

But they are the biggest and most well-armed (politically speaking) group out there on our side.

Don't like the NRA?

Tough. Join the NRA anyway and then join another group more to your liking.

But keeping your freedom is worth $35 a year.

hillbilly

 

[morganm01]

What gets me is that I never see NRA or GOA membership cards in a gun stores.

The NRA offers a $10 commision to them for each new sign-up. But still there are none.

 

[Thumper]

Outstanding posts, hillbilly. Well said.

 

[cracked butt]

The NRA offers a $10 commision to them for each new sign-up. But still there are none.

Could be the simple fact that most of the regular customers are already NRA members.

 

[Shooter 2.5]

Hillbilly,
Thanks for adding what I didn't. The NRA is responsible for getting rid of a lot of anti-gun politicians. Did they do it alone? No, they didn't, but they are the ones that get noticed in the media and by the politicians.

Now back to the results. The only way the NRA was able to do anything was to get more votes in the Senate and the Congress. They started two elections ago. That's when they mentioned that the Assault Weapons ban was going to be a hot item. They didn't start last month when a lot of poster suddenly woke up to the fact the ban was up for consideration.

Let's do a little reality check here. If all of the 80 million gun owners suddenly started voting their Second Amendment Rights, we wouldn't have gun control. We also wouldn't have the dem party as a bonus. That would make the third party voters very happy.

We made some progress. We can do better after this election if the gun owners start voting their Rights instead of pretending the dem party isn't after "their" guns.

 

[RevDisk]

NRA has its place. I understand that its loyalty is to its core demographic, hunters and such. My interests lay moreso with the GOA and JPFO. Ergo, I will give some money to the NRA, but more to GOA and JPFO.

I don't call this "NRA bashing", I call it "personal choice."

 

[Skofnung]

Ok.

I am an NRA member. I send them membership dues every 3 years and I send them donations when funds permit.

I maintain that they preach to the choir too often.

I maintain that they need a new PR campaign.

I maintain that their resources could be better spent.


Hillbilly,
Do you honestly think that they are above constructive criticism? They have done a passable job this last go around, but what is the enemy of the great? The good.

I pay my dues. If they don't do the job that I think they should do, shouldn't I be able to bring it to their attention? That does NOT make me a "basher" of the NRA.

The NRA has problems. Everything has problems. The question is, what is to be done to make the problems go away?

 

[YammyMonkey]

If you don't like the way the NRA is run, you could always try to run for a board position, or help promote someone whose beliefs are close to yours while he/she runs for a board position.

Just an idea.