Thoughts on the NRA

[ChromeKype]

I do not like talking about politics on hunting forums but our ability to hunt is unfortunately tied to it.

The NRA is an imperfect organization. But it is the primary organization that is fighting to keep our right to buy and own firearms. There is a reason that liberals hate it and want to get rid of it. Donations are the lifeblood of any political organization. Do I like giving money or getting phone calls? No. Can they spend our money more effectively? Absolutely. Will you keep your gun rights with out it? No. That is a fact. That is why I am an NRA member.

It is easy to find a reason not to be an NRA member. The liberal media works hard to provide you with that information, true or not. They want you to hate LaPierre. They are trying very hard to weaken the NRA. It is a very effective political organization. Don't loose sight of the bigger picture or be a pawn.

If you think the Constitution is somehow a guarantee...it isn't. It is subject to interpretation and we are one election and some Supreme Court appointments away from loosing some important rights. When Democrats say the Constitution is a living, breathing document, that is a dog whistle for it can be changed. If we get rid of the Electoral College, the Democrats will not be able to loose a national election and a few large states will drive our national policies, even more than they do now. If you don't think Democrats are trying to get rid of your gun and hunting rights, you are naive, IMO. It is an inconvenient truth.

I hate to be selfish but public lands don't do me any good if I can't hunt them. I am not going to drive 12 hours to hug a tree. I get it. I don't like everything Republicans or the NRA do either but I like Democrats, Antifa and Socialism less.

If I have to pick a dog in the hunt, the 2nd Amendment wins for me every single time. I want to keep my guns. Without it, other rights we take for granted will be at risk or easily taken away. Once they are gone we aren't getting them back.

This. I feel that lately many in the hunting industry have been pushing for the prioritization of public land over all else.
I love public lands and fight for them as this is how I hunt and fish but for me they will never be as important as the fight against abortion, my 2A rights, and free market capitalism.

So don’t ever ask me to vote for someone who wants to open up some more public land but

1. Doesn’t want me to own my AR
2. Wants to expand freebies for the lazy
3. Or someone who wants to kill more babies.


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[DWhitt]

This. I feel that lately many in the hunting industry have been pushing for the prioritization of public land over all else.
I love public lands and fight for them as this is how I hunt and fish but for me they will never be as important as the fight against abortion, my 2A rights, and free market capitalism.

So don’t ever ask me to vote for someone who wants to open up some more public land but

1. Doesn’t want me to own my AR
2. Wants to expand freebies for the lazy
3. Or someone who wants to kill more babies.


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100% how I feel!

 

[TheGDog]

If they didn't who do you think did?

NO ONE... not out here in CA. LITERALLY fr greater than 5 freaking decades. I know because I'm 51yo.

 

[Rich M]

Like I said, they act like heroes until it's their candidate in office. You may not care about a silly bump stock ban, but it's a precedent and another step. What's next? Pistol braces, suppressors, high capacity magazines, semi autos, who knows?

Got anything else besides bump stocks? NRA was against banning those... Imagine if the NRA didn't exist - how bad would it have been?

New Zealand is the place to watch - they had a shooting and banned a bunch of guns, been trying to buy em back for over a year now. https://www.newsweek.com/2020/03/13...ter-christchurch-mosque-killings-1492069.html

 

[brsnow]

Not sure how much influence the NRA has on the Supreme Court.

 

[Drenalin]

Australia is what the end looks like.

Not to be an alarmist, but Venezuela might be closer to what the end looks like. A disarmed populace opens up all kinds of scary possibilities.

 

[wind gypsy]

This. I feel that lately many in the hunting industry have been pushing for the prioritization of public land over all else.
I love public lands and fight for them as this is how I hunt and fish but for me they will never be as important as the fight against abortion, my 2A rights, and free market capitalism.

So don’t ever ask me to vote for someone who wants to open up some more public land but

1. Doesn’t want me to own my AR
2. Wants to expand freebies for the lazy
3. Or someone who wants to kill more babies.


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Are they pushing for public lands above all else or are they trying to make it so public lands aren't a partisan issue?

Everyone must prioritize which issues hold most weight for them. What drives me up a wall is people being so beholden to their political identity that they can't tell the people from their tribe they disagree on a certain issue.

As far as the NRA situation, it's hard to beat how Randy put it:

I know some will revel in this news. For me, it is a tragedy on all fronts.

The financial calamity this organization has brought upon itself is one thing, a repairable malfeasance. Betraying the trust, where many gave them the benefit of doubt in the face of questionable tactics and messaging, is even worse, likely not repairable.

The worst of all this is that they were entrusted with advocacy for one of our Constitutional Rights, on behalf of gun owners, and they couldn't resist the temptations of trust and power.

With a changing demographic that will likely increase pressures on 2A, having a group of self-serving tone deaf folks given the baton of this import 2A cause and pissing it down their legs is my greatest concern. I suspect we will need a strong 2A advocacy group more in the next ten years than we needed it in the last ten years. And now, we are left with this debacle, mostly self-inflicted by leadership undeserving of the responsibility they were given, and whose small-world view of the bigger world has left gun owners stranded in the face of huge political storms.

If the anti-2A crowd had only known how easy it would be to just sit back and let the human conditions of greed, powerlust, and lack of awareness take down the organization they held as their mortal enemy. All self-inflicted by many strategic and tactical mistakes. Give some people enough rope and .....................

So many lessons to be learned from this. Not just for gun owners, but for any group feeling attacked and in response places their trust too blindly in those who take advantage of that "circle the wagons" mindset so common among those who feel like a minority among a hostile majority.

When you play the game of politics as the NRA does/did, you better have someone looking over the horizon. You better have the best crystal ball in DC, both long-term and short-term. You make a lot of enemies. When you mess up, those enemies will be waiting. In that political environment, ignoring your weak flanks, disregarding the long-term power of demographics that drive the rhythm of political pendulums, is a recipe for failure.

It won't take a genius to do an autopsy of this fiasco to see how the patient died of self-inflicted wounds.

For 2A, not good news, but not a surprise.

 

[lyle_destroys]

Got anything else besides bump stocks? NRA was against banning those... Imagine if the NRA didn't exist - how bad would it have been?

New Zealand is the place to watch - they had a shooting and banned a bunch of guns, been trying to buy em back for over a year now. https://www.newsweek.com/2020/03/13...ter-christchurch-mosque-killings-1492069.html

Imagine if the NRA actually fought to repeal unconstitutional gun laws instead of just compromise on new legislation. Maybe they would call themselves, I dunno like FPC or something.

 

[Huntindog45]

They lost me years ago. will never give them another dime.

 

[Mosby]

NO ONE... not out here in CA. LITERALLY fr greater than 5 freaking decades. I know because I'm 51yo.

I get it. It is difficult to anything done when Democrats control all aspects of local and state government coupled with liberal judges appointed or elected over decades.

There was a small victory in May after the NRA filed a lawsuit to keep a gun shop open.

la-county-sheriff-will-no-longer-order-closure-of-firearms-shops

 

[gbflyer]

Former member here. Our little town passed a common sense ordinance to keep folks from discharging firearms within 100’ of a public road. The cause of this was some yahoos shooting moose almost in the school playground during school no less. Without any information other than a hearsay phone call from a local idiot, the NRA-ILA went on full offense.

F those folks.

 

[Billinsd]

Not to be an alarmist, but Venezuela might be closer to what the end looks like. A disarmed populace opens up all kinds of scary possibilities.

Or Central America or Portland, Chicago. Australia no way.

 

[Billinsd]

Former member here. Our little town passed a common sense ordinance to keep folks from discharging firearms within 100...Without any information other than a hearsay phone call from a local idiot, the NRA-ILA
F those folks.

You'd love California. We are overflowing with COMMON SENSE LAWS!!!

 

[Mosby]

Former member here. Our little town passed a common sense ordinance to keep folks from discharging firearms within 100’ of a public road. The cause of this was some yahoos shooting moose almost in the school playground during school no less. Without any information other than a hearsay phone call from a local idiot, the NRA-ILA went on full offense.

F those folks

The United States Congress enacted the Gun-Free School Zone Act (GFSZA) in 1990. You can't discharge a firearm in a "school zone". Federal law defines a “school zone” as on the grounds of or within 1,000 feet of a public, parochial or private school and includes public roads.

Those "yahoos" were already in violation of Federal law. Didn't stop them. Much like many of the "common sense" gun control measures that do almost nothing to reduce violence, crime, murder or shootings. What they do well is reduce the Constitutional Rights of people who actually have enough common sense not to commit crimes and follow the laws as written.

 

[Copen1822]

Got anything else besides bump stocks? NRA was against banning those... Imagine if the NRA didn't exist - how bad would it have been?

New Zealand is the place to watch - they had a shooting and banned a bunch of guns, been trying to buy em back for over a year now. https://www.newsweek.com/2020/03/13...ter-christchurch-mosque-killings-1492069.html

Um, really?

NRA open to regulation of bump stocks after Vegas shooting

The National Rifle Association says the 'bump stocks' device that the Las Vegas shooter used to turn semi-automatic rifles into fully automated weapons should be

www.wbrz.com

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[gbflyer]

The United States Congress enacted the Gun-Free School Zone Act (GFSZA) in 1990. You can't discharge a firearm in a "school zone". Federal law defines a “school zone” as on the grounds of or within 1,000 feet of a public, parochial or private school and includes public roads.

Those "yahoos" were already in violation of Federal law. Didn't stop them. Much like many of the "common sense" gun control measures that do almost nothing to reduce violence, crime, murder or shootings. What they do well is reduce the Constitutional Rights of people who actually have enough common sense not to commit crimes and follow the laws as written.

Like you, the NRA had no background on the situation or the local conditions. Instead of educating themselves they went after a mayor and council who probably own more guns per capita than most other folks in the lesser 48

 

[Rich M]

I only see it as a shit show and dividing of the enemy by the left.

How about the whole coupe thing with Ollie and Chris Cox. Have you got any info on that? I've not gotten much and actually looked for that.

 

[durangobrad]

Not to be an alarmist, but Venezuela might be closer to what the end looks like. A disarmed populace opens up all kinds of scary possibilities.

Would our rifles stand up to a fight against the government's fleet?



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[Drenalin]

Would our rifles would stand up to a fight against the government's fleet?

I think to pursue this line of thought would totally derail the thread, which was not my intent. Short answer is it depends on a lot of things, but we ultimately probably wouldn't put up much of a fight.

 

[TheGDog]

Would our rifles would stand up to a fight against the government's fleet?

You're not thinking right here friend. You're thinking too small. There's much more to a fight that standing toe-to-toe with rifles.

And numerically we have a HUGE advantage. Besides... who makes all the food? Hmm? Also... who makes all their armaments? Who works out all the technologies that they then later employ? Who mines for the materials in their nukes? Who provides them with all those perishable medical supplies? Who can go further upstream from their water sources and poison them? Where do their families all live? Hmm? And certainly we've all seen how easily a biological agent *could* potentially be introduced in among their ranks, yes?

To quote a Darth Vader line "I find your lack of Faith disturbing..."