Range forces members to join the NRA

[Citroen]

Mr. jcwit - please PM me with the necessary data and I will pay for your NRA membership. I appreciate your service to our country and would consider it a privilege to pay your dues in memory of my father who is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

If the money is all that is standing between you and membership, please allow me to remove that barrier.

John
Charlotte, NC

 

[starshooter231]

Ok so the range requires membership in the NRA, if you don't like it don't join that range. My range doesn't require membership in the NRA they do encourage you to join the NRA. The benefits to my club for having NRA members are lower insurance and they get $5 for every member that joins the NRA.
So that means lower costs in operating, and more money for improvements for the club.

 

[jcwit]

Citroen, we have a slight misunderstanding. I am a member of the NRA and have been longer than I care to remember and will continue to be for many more years GOD willing. Thank you for the thought though.

 

[plexreticle]

I don't really care for the NRA even though I've been a member for years.

Like em or not they do have the most clout and lobbyist for protecting our gun rights.

 

[MinnMooney]

Most ranges are private property and/or owned by a cooperative (which may be the membership). They have the right to make the rules and if the NRA helps with insurance fees or legal help then I think every member should belong.

 

[punchdrunk]

Easy. Join the NRA and join the range.

Or join a different range that doesn't require NRA membership.

Or go buy some land and do all the legal work and start your own range and make your own rules.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I will join the NRA (I'll even become a lifetimer) if Heller goes good I want the NRA to begin the process to get machine guns back, I know there will be hundreds of others but I want them at the forefront, they do that, they will have redeemed themselves from 922o, In my eyes.

For the record, the NRA helped fund the first ever challenge to 922(o) (Farmer v. Higgins, 907 F.2d 1041 (11th Cir. 1990)) and paid Stephen Halbrook to work the case.

Note that this case started in October 1986, so the NRA went to work immediately on rescinding 922(o). The NRA not only lost this case, it helped set some unfavorable precedent in the 11th Circuit.

It was results like this that have made the NRA extremely cautious and gun shy when it comes to lawsuits over the Second Amendment; not that you ever see their critics acknowledge some of these early cases.

So in this case, the NRA challenged 922(o) over 22 years ago.

I'd also add that few people start out as machinegun shooters right off the bat. Most people come to shooting through programs that wouldn't exist except for the NRA. Without NRA range programs and insurance, there wouldn't be a lot of places to shoot. If the NRA did nothing more than its competitive shooting role, it would still be serving an extremely critical function of keeping shooters from becoming extinct as a segment of the voting population. This is one of the main reasons the antis hate the NRA above all other organizations - they know if they can just put a chokehold on new shooters, they will eventually have the votes to legislate anything they want.

 

[kidcoltoutlaw]

Anybody who owns a gun

Should already be an NRA member unless they are a felon,

Thanks,Keith

 

[JohnBT]

"Everywhere I look it's nothing but "we're better and care more because we're NRA members"."

Everywhere? You're obviously not looking everywhere. Okay, you saved $35 in dues and sent it to the NRA-ILA. That's good. Why not join, too?

You can't blame it on other people. You chose not to join. Don't come crying that's it's somebody else's fault because you don't like how they talk and you don't want to be a member. Pure childishness.

John

 

[fletcher]

Everywhere? You're obviously not looking everywhere. Okay, you saved $35 in dues and sent it to the NRA-ILA. That's good. Why not join, too?

You can't blame it on other people. You chose not to join. Don't come crying that's it's somebody else's fault because you don't like how they talk and you don't want to be a member. Pure childishness.

John

My, my, aren't we a little hostile? Every NRA thread that pops up degenerates into this with spotty arrogance from a handful of NRA members, and much the same from a cluster of NRA-haters. I'm not blaming anything on anyone - it's pretty clear that I chose not to join a group whose members personally attack me for simply not being a member. Would you shoot at a range full of people that make the experience unpleasant for you? Probably not. Great way to develop an argument to encourage someone to join - It makes me happy to know that what I do donate to ILA goes to defend the rights of those that flame me for it. I choose to send my 2A support money to ILA because that way it can and will be used for the court cases and other legal action. I'd much rather the same money go there than to a membership which will be partially eaten with a magazine that I don't want in combination with similar overhead and other such things. I'm appalled at how un-THR some of the participants of this thread are.

Feel free to spew as much more BS as you want, I'm out of this thread. It's probably overdue for a lock anyways, and the noise is drowning out anything productive that may have been happening.

 

[Shadow1198]

Think about the math in that quote above, 40% of 302 million is actually just over 120 million, and the member rolls of the NRA are at about 4 million. What are the other 116 million or so doing to protect our rights? Just some things to think about.

That was exactly my point. I mean heck, if another organization comes along and takes up the torch from the NRA on the topic of protecting our rights, I'm all for it. The thing is, at this point in time the NRA is the only organization that has near the capabilities of really affecting an outcome in politics. If another organization comes along and does a better job, you can be sure I'll join. The NRA isn't perfect but, they're what we've got right now, so I say support them. I'd say a large percentage of that remaining ~116 million or so of gun owners are either whining about the NRA, joining other less effective organization purely out of spite to the NRA, and are busy being non-members and simply writing letters. I hope no one mistakes my position. I am the farthest thing from a "bandwagoneer". It just so happens the NRA is currently the most effective organization at protecting our second amendment rights, and I support them because of it. I didn't see the GOA or any other national organization sue New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin for unconstitutional firearms confiscations, and WIN in a federal court. I didn't see anyone else get the San Francisco handgun ban struck down, not once but TWICE, the second time being the California State Supreme Court. There were several other important things the NRA accomplished in the past couple of years, though for the life of me I can't think of them at the moment. Everyone just send in their $10 or $35 and stop whining.

 

[Defensory]

Posted by Grizfire:
Range forces members to join the NRA

I'm considering membership at a particular range. I noticed on the application form that you have to be a member of the NRA, and must submit your NRA membership number, in order to be a member at this range. It says they must do this for insurance purposes.

Does anyone know what these "insurance purposes" are?

I'm not a member of the NRA, but I'm cool with their purpose. However, it seems a little weird to be forced into political activism. Additionally, I'm not sure I'd want to submit my NRA membership number if I was a member.

I just want to go plinking, ya know.

NOBODY is forcing you to do anything you don't want to do. The range has private property rights and can require NRA membership if they wish.

If you don't want to join the NRA, you're free to find a different range to shoot at.

Gee, now wasn't that pretty simple?!

 

[42]

I will probably not join the nra in the uk due to how they operate and their attitude though I will support the libertarian party.

 

[JohnBT]

"My, my, aren't we a little hostile? "

You are confusing bluntness with hostility.

"it's pretty clear that I chose not to join a group whose members personally attack me for simply not being a member. Would you shoot at a range full of people that make the experience unpleasant for you?"

A range full of people? Not one person was friendly? I have been around NRA members my entire life. The ranges I have belonged to for years require NRA membership. I have yet to encounter any unpleasantness from any of them, either about my politics or anything else. In fact, as a group I've found them to be the most helpful, friendly folks around.

Maybe you just rub folks the wrong way.

John

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

It makes me happy to know that what I do donate to ILA goes to defend the rights of those that flame me for it. I choose to send my 2A support money to ILA because that way it can and will be used for the court cases and other legal action.

Money sent to the NRA-ILA is used to lobby Congress for better gun laws. If you want to support the NRA's attempts to file lawsuits and challenge existing gun laws, then the right organization is the NRA Civil Defense Fund. Likewise, if you want to support getting pro-RKBA candidates elected to Congress in the first place, send money to the NRA PVF.

I didn't see the GOA or any other national organization sue New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin for unconstitutional firearms confiscations, and WIN in a federal court. I didn't see anyone else get the San Francisco handgun ban struck down, not once but TWICE, the second time being the California State Supreme Court.

Actually, the Second Amendment Foundation played a role in both of those lawsuits and worked with the NRA. Which is a nice pairing in my opinion; because it matches the NRA's clout and money with a smaller group that has had better success in litigating gun rights.

 

[Hokkmike]

They are not "forcing" you to join the NRA as you are free not to seek membership at that range. It is merely a condition of joining up. My club has no such preconditions but many in the area do.

 

[SSN Vet]

Although I should add that I can easily shoot for free out on public land where I have easy access (in the summer).

that right is also being defended by the NRA...

every possible angle is being used by the Brady Bunch and their ilk to undermine you 2nd ammendment rights.....

banning firearms use on public land, banning "dangerous environmental contaminents, like lead", driving insurance cost through the roof, zoning ordinance changes, frivilous lawsuits designed to bankrupt firearms dealers... you name it.

 

[Lashlarue]

heir business, their rules. I find ranges that force you to use their ammo more bothersome.[1] You can't find which brand of ammo is most accurate in your gun, which many times is why you go to the range in the first place[2] You cant find which brand or size is the most trouble free. some guns are very picky about what you feed them..

 

[siglite]

My, my, aren't we a little hostile? Every NRA thread that pops up degenerates into this with spotty arrogance from a handful of NRA members, and much the same from a cluster of NRA-haters.

I've noticed that too. The irony is, that those who so aggressively promote/defend the NRA here on THR probably do more harm than the good they think they're doing. If one were making a decision on the NRA based on this thread alone, and no other factors, it'd be pretty easy to come to the conclusion that the NRA is full of arrogant blowhards that hate you. (I know better. You know better.)

Again, my stance on the NRA is completely neutral. I just want to point this out to some of the folks in here. And, I've noticed that some of the folks who in the past carried this attitude, have softened their approach.

And I'll be making a donation to an NRA-something this weekend. Because I'm going to be using NRA services.

 

[lmccrock]

I joined the NRA because I wanted an M1 from CMP, and the club required I join the NRA before I could shoot a qualifying match. That was in California. I never saw anything the NRA (actually, ILA) did politically there. The STATE organization was very active, and while the CRPA did not prevent the laws, they lobbied successfully so that Glocks may be purchased in CA now (the original legislation would have banned Glocks). Now I am in Texas, and I belong to the TSRA which is active politically.

Yes, in California, I carried petitions for ballot measures and got signatures and sent them in.

I am curious why so few go to the NRA annual meeting. I do not mean the Expo/Gunshow, but the actual meeting. I went when it was in Houston. The Expo was PACKED. The meeting had lots of empty seats.

Lee

 

[Hook686]

I'm amazed that so many belong to ranges/gun clubs that 'force' them to be members of the NRA. The gun club I belong to requires membership in the NRA, but forces no one to join. Seems like a simple enough choice to make.

The club requires $100 per year plus NRA membership. $60 is credited if one provides help on one club activity (typically a couple of hours effort). The NRA provides funds for range improvements and youth competion, which in turn opens the door at the CMP sales office.

The whole scenario strikes me as a bunch of pluses.

 

[Poper]

Fletcher said:
Every NRA thread that pops up degenerates into this with spotty arrogance from a handful of NRA members, and much the same from a cluster of NRA-haters.

A pretty arrogant statement in itself.

I'm not blaming anything on anyone - it's pretty clear that I chose not to join a group whose members personally attack me for simply not being a member.

We are not attacking you. We sincerely wish to add your voice and all other gun owner voices to ours to take full advantage of the force multiplier that comes with sheer numbers and the most recognized organization in defence of our Second Amendment rights.

Fletcher also said:
I'd much rather the same money go there than to a membership which will be partially eaten with a magazine that I don't want in combination with similar overhead and other such things. I'm appalled at how un-THR some of the participants of this thread are.

Why do folks insist on ignoring the fact they can decline the Magazine and can request NO promotional mailings be sent them? That might go a little ways toward soothing their conscience.

NRA is the 800 lb. Gorilla. Belonging to JFPO, GOA or (place your State here) Shooting Association is a big help, too, but adding your name to the roster to help increase the attention getting clout of the 800 lb. Gorilla certainly can't hurt.

I, for one, am grateful for the things the NRA has done in the past, continues to do today and will do in the future. And I will continue to support them regardless of naysayers.

As a side note, my younger brother is an avid hunter. About 4 years ago he took off on a anti-NRA rant at the hunting cabin. When he finished, I said, "If it wasn't for the NRA's efforts resisting PETA and the anit-gun folks, we probably wouldn't be hunting right now." He was pretty quiet when he realized it was true.

Like it or not, the NRA is the most effective 2A proponent organization we have. Adding my voice to theirs certainly cannot hurt.

Just my 2 cents.

Poper

 

[Titus]

The irony is, that those who so aggressively promote/defend the NRA here on THR probably do more harm than the good they think they're doing. If one were making a decision on the NRA based on this thread alone, and no other factors, it'd be pretty easy to come to the conclusion that the NRA is full of arrogant blowhards that hate you.

Amen. I'm not sure why so many seem to think that subtle or not-so-subtle passive-aggressive insults are a good recruiting method. How many new members do these threads produce versus how many people confirm their desire to not associate with members of the Association?

 

[dm1333]

Well Titus, I offered a free membership for one year. The only stipulation was that at the end of the year the person who took the membership start a new thread here and write a thoughtful paragraph or two on what they thought of the NRA.

I'm just putting this out there again. Anybody here on THR who thinks the NRA is part of the problem or is just sitting on the fence deciding to join or not can take me up on this offer. If you are in the military remember that they are still offering a one year membership for free. I think. Nobody seems willing to take me up on this offer so I think the answer to your question is none.

 

[Titus]

Thanks for putting that offer out there! It seems to be easier to give away free renewals than new memberships but it's worthwhile to make the effort.