Gun “Groups”

[Mtnboy]

I’m a Member of over half a dozen “conservation” orgs but I haven’t been a Member of one dedicated to guns since I decided the NRA wasn’t worth my money years ago.

So...I know they’ve been talked about before...but what groups are out there today that are worth giving my money to fight for our 2A rights?

 

[rdbse]

Gun Owners of America
National Shooting Sports Foundation

 

[menhaden_man]

GOA | The only no compromise gun lobby in Washington

The only no compromise gun lobby in Washington

www.gunowners.org

 

[swehrman]

I'd second the recommendations for GOA made above and add the Second Amendment Foundation.

Second Amendment Foundation

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is dedicated to promoting a better understanding about our Constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms. To that end, we carry on many educational and legal action programs designed to better inform the public about the gun control debate.

www.saf.org

-- Scott

 

[caesAR15]

I drafted up a fairly detailed post about this subject in the general forum not long ago. I'm going to copy and paste my comments about the various 2A groups, hopefully, it provides some useful insights. Here's a link to my original post.

Who to follow/support:​

Save the Second - don't be deceived by what appears to a small social media following, Save the Second is a leader on the NRA reform front. Rob Pincus, a fairly well-known firearms instructor, is arguably the most well-known within this organization. I've trained with Pincus, I've spent hours with him discussing the state of the NRA and reform efforts, and hold him and the rest of the Save the Second leadership team in very high regard. Note: Pincus won't sugarcoat things. He can be brutally honest, so if your feelings are prone to be hurt easily, consider yourself warned (this applies to all things, not just NRA matters FYI). Look to Save the Second for honest information as it happens on what's going on with the NRA.​

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Firearms Policy Coalition - this is where my money goes now. They're doing the Lord's work on the legal front throughout the country. They're filing proactive, Pro-2A lawsuits almost weekly in states across the country. Adam Kraut, mentioned above, moved on from attempting to reform the NRA and linked up with FPC guys. They're doing outstanding work in the courts, an area where the 2A fight is slowly morphing too.​

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Second Amendment Foundation - Alan Gottlieb and his team have been fighting the good fight for decades outside the NRA wire and do a bang-up job. Supporting 2AF with your time, money, or talent is far from a waste.​

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Your state-level 2A org - I've got a real soft spot for these folks, they are me in essence. These groups are often woefully underfunded, understaffed, and undervalued, yet their work is critical. The NRA largely leaves these groups to fend for themselves - last I knew they had 2 NRA staff members assigned to their Clubs and Associations division. 2 staffers for 50 states' worth of organizations... to me that's just bonkers. I'm biased, but I believe the states are every bit as critical as the federal level. A word of caution on state-level groups, however: there are several states where you have do-nothing groups that talk a big game about 2A rights, fundraise off of their tough talk, but fail to ever deliver any results. There's this weird family act (based out of Iowa, sadly) run by the Dorr family that starts 501c4 political action groups, takes people's money, and really does much of nothing. Last I knew they were active in Iowa, Minnesota, Georgia, Ohio, Wyoming, and probably a few other states. Point being, just because someone says the things you want to hear doesn't mean you should just throw them money when they hold their hand out (and the Dorr family most definitely will). Do a little research, ask around.​

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I personally don't support Gun Owners of America. Anytime there's a family element (Larry Pratt and son Erich Pratt both hold leadership positions within GOA) within an organization my suspicions become heightened. GOA is another group known for their tough talk, and while they do some things their rhetoric to victory ratio is off balance in my opinion.​

 

[brocksw]

I'm a member of Second Amendment Foundation as of recently. Debated quite a bit between FPC and SAF, ultimately FPC was sending me multiple emails a day asking for nothing but money and I got a little annoyed. Perhaps they're the most effective group out there, I'm not sure. The rhetoric they use reminded me of the criticisms of the NRA. Extremely inflammatory and every piece of gun legislation is the end of the world and the 2a. I understand their mission is to focus on 2a stuff and the left does the same with their own subset of issues as well, but there's loads of horseshit bills that get introduced that will never go anywhere. I don't want to pay those groups to waste time on stuff that's not ever going to go anywhere....or at least not focused on wasting my time with it as well. Bills with 1 congressman introducing them, with no cosponsors, that get referred to committee right away and will be DOA, are not worth flooding my email with money asks to the point of ridiculousness. That's just my experience, I could be way off in my brief and small sample size. I'll try out SAF for a year and see how I like it.

 

[BRTreedogs]

My main complaint with nra was id send them $25 and they would sent me $50 of mailers trying to get me to send more money.
If they would just use the original $25 to fight the fight id be all for it.
I've not contributed any for several years and feel guilty about it I just don't know who to support

 

[rclouse79]

I may have to join GOA. I was a member of the NRA years ago and they drove me away by constantly calling asking me to give them more money in addition to my yearly dues.

 

[Vegas03A3]

Thank you for the lay of the land @caesAR15

I watched a lot of Rob Pincus videos and tried to implement what I could into my training when I was new into defensive carry. I hadn't heard of ST2nd until your post and will definitely be looking more into them.

From a Nevada perspective, I'll chime in that the state-level groups have a real good probability of being run by folks most like their members. NV Firearms Policy Coalition is a shining example. Even though NRA lobbyists pulled up stakes in our last couple legislative sessions, FPC stayed in the fight.

Be well, stay safe, harvest enough!

 

[Pdog06]

Thanks to all for some good insight of the various groups. This is a topic that should be near the top of all gun owners lists.

I too was one that has been an NRA member for years but stepped back due to the pressure for always wanting more money right after you give a donation or renew your membership. I still go with a group of 20-30 guys and gals to a few of the local Friends of NRA dinners and drop a few hundred worth of donations on raffle tickets(only won twice so far but oh well). But still haven’t renewed my membership and have been looking at some of the avenues mentioned above, so this info is very helpful.. thanks again

 

[BryanAustin]

I’m a Member of over half a dozen “conservation” orgs but I haven’t been a Member of one dedicated to guns since I decided the NRA wasn’t worth my money years ago.

So...I know they’ve been talked about before...but what groups are out there today that are worth giving my money to fight for our 2A rights?

You should search for a local State group. I was a member of Georgia Carry when I lived in Georgia. Unfortunately I had to move to NC. Georgia had the best group to get gun laws changed, and they did.

 

[daziggle]

Gun Owners of America
National Shooting Sports Foundation

GOA is my choice as well