Will Victory Defeat Us, Ever

[230RN]

I don't. The President can't pass laws buy himself and there is no where near enough votes in Congress to pass new gun regulations. The Senate might have been able to pass a straight background check bill if they hadn't tried to tack on the useless assault weapons ban. Either would have been dead in the House.

I guess you haven't heard the phrase "with or without Congress."

I remember a comment by a minion of Clinton's to the effect of "Executive Orders are neat. You write one, you publish it in the Federal Register, and if nobody objects, it becomes the law."

 

[larryh1108]

I don't. The President can't pass laws buy himself and there is no where near enough votes in Congress to pass new gun regulations

The point is, there may have been enough votes in Congress if there weren't some more intimidated by the NRA than the president. I think the UBC failed by 6 votes. If there was no NRA politicing for our rights, those 6 votes could have gone the other way and we'd have UBC and the start of registration. The NRA is enough of a deterrent to make it difficult for the antis to get all they want.

 

[MagnumDweeb]

A lot of people don't like the NRA, but I have to wonder what other groups there are out there that are as organized and as effective as the NRA. To be perfectly candid I'm working on my own rights group and am in the planning stages while I educate myself on Super PACs, campaign contributions, etc.. But I'm also an NRA member and I donated $50 to SAF at the beginning of the year, and I use Calguns Amazon store for whenever I buy things off of Amazon (they have a shampoo I like [severe dandruff] on Amazon that's cheaper than what it can be found for locally, and I ordered a bunch of odds and ends to the tune of over $200).

I'm saying not to just belong to the NRA, but if you think you can not belong to the NRA and belong to other groups and have a similar effect, you are mistaken.

We need to keep organizing, we need to keep growing, every county should have a gun rights group, every state should have a gun rights group, and they should be active. People should be getting out there as ambassodors of gun ownership. Taking folks to the range, taking part in charity work (I donate to a local food pantry every month to the tune of $50 and help with events such as 5k runs and car washes), writting our politicians.

We need to become more while we have the momentum. We have to work RKBA from all sides and angles.

 

[230RN]

A lot of people don't like the NRA, but I have to wonder what other groups there are out there that are as organized and as effective as the NRA. To be perfectly candid I'm working on my own rights group and am in the planning stages while I educate myself on Super PACs, campaign contributions, etc..

Sorry, but I don't understand that. Wouldn't your effort be better spent in physically and mentally working for already-established RKBA organizations which you mention?

I just can't help thinking that all you would be doing is generating another splinter group, which divides and dilutes our efforts.

I apologize in advance, but that's the first impression I got from your remarks.

I recognize that "specialty groups" got together here in Colorado to boot two and forced-to-resign a total of three Colorado State Senators here in Colorado, and I applaud that kind of thing, so I wonder if that's what you meant by "my own rights group" or if you are targeting a different right or political issue.

Terry

 

[MagnumDweeb]

Sorry, but I don't understand that. Wouldn't your effort be better spent in physically and mentally working for already-established RKBA organizations which you mention?

I just can't help thinking that all you would be doing is generating another splinter group, which divides and dilutes our efforts.

I apologize in advance, but that's the first impression I got from your remarks.

I recognize that "specialty groups" got together here in Colorado to boot two and forced-to-resign a total of three Colorado State Senators here in Colorado, and I applaud that kind of thing, so I wonder if that's what you meant by "my own rights group" or if you are targeting a different right or political issue.

Terry

I see how it could be read that way. My apologies, I'm typically on THR during my mental breaks from work while I'm at work (lawyer, read the same document a dozen times to make sure it's good before it goes out), so it could have been better articulated.

What I meant is, I'm still an NRA member and will keep renewing each year no matter what, and I'll keep cutting my $50 check to the SAF (they get results) every year. But while doing all that, I have a form of RKBA activism I really want to try that hasn't been done before (it's in some of my old posts and things have changed a little in California so I have to think of a new hook in the meantime, it's a long complicated bit).

Still even if my thing was successful, I can't see the sense in abandoning the NRA. In fact, what I'm trying to cook is a down and dirty (but legal) engine for RKBA activism that goes right down the line of lobbying and playing a role in elections (as well as supporting good lawsuits). It just puts control of it directly in the hands of the folks making the contributions via majority vote (and some votes require two-thirds BTAS). The idea is to give the donee/beneficiary a legitimate sense of voice and influence in the operation so as to induce more activism (that is not of just the cash kind, and when I say cash I mean as little as $3 a year, the whole operation will be volunteer). I originally wanted to tackle just California (to start and create a reproducible model for success) because of the Sheriffs and may issue when it came to CWP, but that may be changing soon.

So I'm not looking to dilute so much as add to the body of RKBA groups. Also I've had folks who like my idea but refuse to belong to the NRA because they consider them to soft and not aggressive enough. I plan on being brazenly and publicly aggressive (though law-abiding).

 

[JSH1]

I think the UBC failed by 6 votes. If there was no NRA politicing for our rights, those 6 votes could have gone the other way and we'd have UBC and the start of registration.

UBC was 6 votes short of passing the Democrat controlled Senate. Even if it had passed the Senate UBC was dead on arrival in the Republican controlled House. To become law a bill must pass in the Senate, House, and be signed by the President.

 

[230RN]

MagnumDweeb, Post 30...

I see how it could be read that way...

OK, thanks. My concern was that a new group would discourage Person X from joining the NRA and making it the 801-pound gorilla.

If I'm not mistaken (too lazy to check it) the cheapest NRA annual membership is $30 if you decide not to get the publications...? Or maybe that was $10?

This is meant to be for, say, several foks in a household who are members, so there is no need to receive multiple copies of the publications. Thus it swells the membership numbers, thereby making it the 802-pound gorilla.

I believe there's also a discount for military Service members.

Over the years I've noticed one of the single biggest objections besides that Person X doesn't agree 100% with the NRA (which is kind of silly), is the solicitations they send out in the mail.

Which is also kind of silly, 'cause you can opt out of getting those solicitations. (I'm a life member and a long time ago I "opted out" and almost never get anything besides the American Rifleman every month.)

The main thing is to increase the raw membership numbers. Not "artificially," but actually.

After all, it has been joked that legislators can't read.... but they can count.

Terry