NRA Stickers on Car. Good Idea or Not?

[Twiki357]

I think a lot of it depends on the area you’re in. I’ve had an NRA sticker on my truck ever since I escaped from california 13 years ago. Never had a reaction to the NRA sticker, pro or con, or any other stickers other than all the “thumbs up” on the “Impeach Obama” sticker that been there since November 2007.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Who has had their tires slashed or windows bashed in?

Who knows somebody who has had their tires slashed or windows bashed in?

Who has seen a verified report, etc, of this?

I keep seeing it mentioned but even though I have spent a bit of time on forums and around people in real life, I have never heard of this outside of these threads, and then, it's never been something that actually happened.

You do realize that most cases of vandalism never have so much as a suspect, let alone a confession or honest motive. Slashed tires, sugar in gas tank and a smashed window ALL happened to a coworkers car. It happens. It really doesn't matter what the motive is. He was specifically targeted by someone with a vendetta. His car suffered the consequences of that vendetta, and while one specific individual WAS suspected, nothing was proved, no arrests were made. All repairs came out of pocket until the sugar in the gas tank wrecked his engine, which made the repairs cost more than the cars was worth.

A lot of vehicles get damaged, deliberately. An NRA sticker might be enough to motivate an anti gun idiot to vandalize my vehicle. Not worth it. Why give thieves or vandals a reason to try to damage my vehicle?

 

[housepainter]

Its all about blending in. If you live with leftists then it's Obama & Coexist stickers. Live in a red state ? NRA & Coexist (gun logo's) stickers.

 

[Pushrod]

We discuss this every few months.

The conventional wisdom is "no, don't advertise."

The counter points are, a) "I'd rather they knew to go bother someone else," and b) "I like to show my support for RKBA and identify with other like-minded folks."

And the practical reality is there are A LOT of NRA stickers on a LOT of cars out there.

There's really no answer. Do whichever feels right to you.

Unfortunately I won't put one on after a buddy of mine had his car vandalized by some scratching an 'X' in the paint beneath where his sticker was on the back windshield. There was no way to tell for sure that was why they did it, but it appeared to be the reason.

 

[psyopspec]

@housepainter

Its all about blending in. If you live with leftists then it's Obama & Coexist stickers. Live in a red state ? NRA & Coexist (gun logo's) stickers.

I can't tell if you're being facetious, but even for me living in one of the most liberal parts of the country this would be going overboard a bit. It's one thing to choose how to express oneself politically, and another to misrepresent one's views to blend in with what's in vogue around you.

Believe it or not, the vast, vast majority of people of every political stripe aren't going to care either way about stickers on your car. They're going to be too busy sipping coffee, heading off to work, and attending to their own lives to have the bandwidth to criticize and NRA sticker or give imaginary brownie points for an Obama sticker in Provincetown or elsewhere.

 

[Sav .250]

More of a personal choice.............

Displaying an NRA sticker seems to bring out paranoia in some..........J s/n.

 

[chipcom]

I don't put anything on my daily commuter...but my old Dodge pick-em-up is full of NRA and firearms related advertising.

 

[plodder]

Call me a contrarian (because I am), but all things being equal, if you were a young thug, vandal or thief; which vehicle would you be more comfortable in breaking into: The one with the "Stand & Fight" NRA bumper sticker, or the "Hillary 16" bumper sticker?

Not that bumper stickers advertising bravado provide a shield against all ill-will, but if I were in the midst of vandalizing a vehicle I would rather the COEXIST wimp catch me than the arch-typical red-necked NRA troglodyte.

 

[psyopspec]

@plodder

Only true if one subscribes to the notion that rational thought patterns apply to what are often irrational actors.

 

[jrdolall]

I live in a shack, drive a 25 year old Toyota, don't have satellite TV, don't have stickers on my car, etc, so people won't target me as having something worth stealing. I don't let my wife have those initial decals on the back window because a thief will know her initials. How about the little stick people and pets? Now they will know how many people are in the house and if we have a guard cat.

Do you have an alarm system but refuse to put the little sign out front in fear of someone knowing you have something worth stealing?

Obama supporters have no problem with showing their unwavering support but I don't think anyone in my area breaks into the cars because of that support. Flips them the finger maybe.

Again, if you don't want a sticker on your car that's fine. I don't allow my kids to put all their crap on their cars. Around here you are about 1000x more likely to have your car vandalized based on your college football team than your NRA bumper sticker. BTW...mine says "Alabama Alumni" and I have never had anything done to it despite living in Barn country and NO HATE goes deeper than Bama/Auburn.

 

[Mr Woody]

Was married in the mid 70s and the wife has always wanted an NRA AND a Harley Davidson sticker on the back of her car. That way she figured one sticker would tell the bad guy she was armed and the other would say no one would ever find the body.

She has never had any interest in actually carrying even though she has grown up around guns and is a proficient shooter. Never heard any negative comments about the stickers.

 

[dmurdach]

Just traded for a new vehicle. NRA sticker was on it within hours of getting it home. I am proud to have the right to own and don't really care who knows.

 

[45_auto]

A lot of vehicles get damaged, deliberately. An NRA sticker might be enough to motivate an anti gun idiot to vandalize my vehicle. Not worth it. Why give thieves or vandals a reason to try to damage my vehicle?

Why not be smart and play the odds? More people are pro-gun than anti-gun:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/21/politics/gun-control-poll-americans/

If you don't have an NRA sticker on your vehicle, it might be enough to motivate a pro-gun idiot to vandalize your vehicle. More pro-gun than anti-gun idiots out there, why give those pro-gun thieves or vandals a reason to try to damage your vehicle since it doesn't have an NRA sticker on it?

 

[TimSr]

I've never heard of a base of vandalism conclusively linked to a bumper sticker, but as USAF mentioned, it's rare to have vandalism conlcusively linked to anything. When you walk out to your car, and see the big key scratch, and report it, does the report say it's due to an NRA sticker? I did find where somebody had freshly spit on my truck near a pro gun sticker. I did not report it. Let's face it. When it comes to vandalism, violence, and breaking the law, the anti-gun people have a history that makes pro-2A folks look like saints.


The bigger question for me is that if can conclude that hatred of an NRA sticker was the motive for the vandalism, does it then become a federal hate crime?

 

[chipcom]

The bigger question for me is that if can conclude that hatred of an NRA sticker was the motive for the vandalism, does it then become a federal hate crime?

Pfft...Obama would probably invite them to the White House and pin a medal of freedumb on them.

 

[OilyPablo]

Definitely sign and bumper sticker shenanigans went on in the Seattle/King Co. during the I-594 battle. I had bumper stickers peeled off (and yard signs stolen) - so I wasn't afraid of that exposure then. Deeper in the heart of darkness people had stickers spray painted over. No we didn't call police. We are a tolerant lot.

Seems like the car marking and following home from ranges is mythical, but left wing intolerance in the Seattle area is alive and well.

 

[OilyPablo]

 

[bannockburn]

I prefer not to advertise I own guns so no NRA stickers on my vehicles.

 

[zxcvbob]

Around here, any kind of conservative issue yard signs, bumper stickers, etc. targets you for vandalism and false police reports by the liberal progressives. We've been the victim of it a couple of times. (Yard signs stolen. Next day, police complaint about our dogs barking, even tho' the dogs were inside the house with the windows closed and curtains drawn. My theory is the thieves could hear the dogs inside the house while they were stealing the sign)

I don't have an NRA sticker because I don't want my truck keyed again. When I still drove a nasty old 3/4 ton rust bucket, it had a NRA window sticker. If anyone ever keyed it, I didn't notice. (I miss that truck )

 

[Warp]

You do realize that most cases of vandalism never have so much as a suspect, let alone a confession or honest motive. Slashed tires, sugar in gas tank and a smashed window ALL happened to a coworkers car. It happens. It really doesn't matter what the motive is. He was specifically targeted by someone with a vendetta. His car suffered the consequences of that vendetta, and while one specific individual WAS suspected, nothing was proved, no arrests were made. All repairs came out of pocket until the sugar in the gas tank wrecked his engine, which made the repairs cost more than the cars was worth.

A lot of vehicles get damaged, deliberately. An NRA sticker might be enough to motivate an anti gun idiot to vandalize my vehicle. Not worth it. Why give thieves or vandals a reason to try to damage my vehicle?

Why? Because I don't believe that that is a thing, and because I am not afraid to hide the fact that I own guns and support the Second Amendment.

I support what I believe in.

@plodder

Only true if one subscribes to the notion that rational thought patterns apply to what are often irrational actors.

I think the majority of crime could be described as rational. The main reasons people don't commit crimes are either moral or not wanting to suffer consequences if caught. If you don't have a personal ethic that prevents you from damaging a person's vehicle with malice, and you either are certain you won't be caught or think the consequences if caught are bearable, then I would opine that punishing a person who believes in/supports something you dislike is in fact rational...or at least could be argued to be/considered rational. Why do people break the speed limit, particularly when they aren't even really in a hurry? They could be punished, it's illegal, it's dangerous, but basically everybody does it...I don't label everybody as irrational for it.

 

[HammsBeer]

There is a Lexus suv driving around town with the entire back covered in dozens of liberal ranting stickers. I'd love to slap a pro-gun sticker in that mess and see if she ever notices.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Why? Because I don't believe that that is a thing,

Well, I do believe it. I've seen the 'tolerance' of some so called liberals. They are not above defacing someone else's property to prove a point. They feel justified through their righteousness and superiority.



[/quote] and because I am not afraid to hide the fact that I own guns and support the Second Amendment.[/quote]

So operational security is driven by fear? By not decorating my vehicle like a teenage girl decorates her locker with a bunch of stickers, I must be afraid to show my support for what I hold dear?

I support what I believe in.

As do I. I just don't feel the need to advertise it.

 

[Warp]

So operational security is driven by fear? By not decorating my vehicle like a teenage girl decorates her locker with a bunch of stickers, I must be afraid to show my support for what I hold dear?

I just don't consider an NRA sticker on my car to be breaking operational security.

 

[DeepSouth]

Why give thieves or vandals a reason to try to damage my vehicle?

Why live in fear of something that will likely never happen?

Why not stand up for what you believe in, even if it means one day you MAY have to make an insurance claim?


I was raised to believe "you have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything."

 

[USAF_Vet]

And yet you think its based in fear. Why?

I personally don't like slapping a bunch of stickers on my car to prove I support something, or to advertise a personal brand preference. I prefer less visual clutter. I own a S&W, but I don't have a sticker for it on my car. Am I afraid?

Another case that supports my lack of desire to advertise my personal life. A buddy at work is a big Detroit Red Wings fan. His $6,000 Snap On toolbox is decorated with various Red Wings stickers. Someone, apparently not a hockey fan, deliberately and childishly defaced his personal property, specifically targeting the Red Wings stickers. I too have a lot of money invested in my toolbox, and I have little desire to have it vandalized by some moron who doesn't like what I like.

Again, it's not about fear. It's about not advertising my personal preferences to a bunch of random strangers who are largely unpredictable and irrational.

I can stand for something without showing it off.

Guess what, I didn't change my Facebook picture to a French flag, or a rainbow flag like so many others did as a useless show of support for whatever the cause of the week was.