What do you think about the NRA?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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The Sticks, Northeast PA.
I feel the NRA opposes any gun regulation as a "slippery slope", which will lead to all gun confiscation. That opposition has lead to multiple holes in our ability to enforce gun laws. Background checks are a shame, when or if they are enforced. That opposition still allows anybody to buy any fire arm with out much interference. And the NRA's only answer to gun violence is to add more fire arms into the mix.
 

I think that the NRA and many other organizations were of great value when they first started. They gathered together like-minded people and gave them a voice/representation at a time when it was difficult for individuals to be heard on various issues. As they've grown they've developed their own voice that IMO does not accurately represent the membership base. Our ability to be heard/represented has also changed over the years and IMO organizations like the NRA do not have the same value that they had years ago.

I think eventually these organizations will need to reinvent themselves or fade away.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I feel the NRA opposes any gun regulation as a "slippery slope", which will lead to all gun confiscation. That opposition has lead to multiple holes in our ability to enforce gun laws. Background checks are a shame, when or if they are enforced. That opposition still allows anybody to buy any fire arm with out much interference. And the NRA's only answer to gun violence is to add more fire arms into the mix.
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I agree with you. I think they have made the mind set for their followers that if there are gun regulations all guns will be taken away from anyone. I wish they would realize gun legislation would do good for our country since there are so many murders and multi murders now a days. Also, people would still be able to have and buy guns but it would be harder for those who should not have them. It just is common sense imo!
 

I was an NRA member years ago, but found other interests since.
Gun confiscation failed in London, so now they are confiscating knives. Confiscation was favored by both Hitler and Stalin. Tight gun laws have been a failure in Chicago and elsewhere. Lunatic control is what seems to be lacking.
 
Sad example of an organization that was originally fine, going completely off the rails. And their political power is frightening.
 
Aunt Bea said:
I think that the NRA and many other organizations were of great value when they first started. They gathered together like-minded people and gave them a voice/representation at a time when it was difficult for individuals to be heard on various issues. As they've grown they've developed their own voice that IMO does not accurately represent the membership base. Our ability to be heard/represented has also changed over the years and IMO organizations like the NRA do not have the same value that they had years ago.

I think eventually these organizations will need to reinvent themselves or fade away.
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Exactly.
 
The NRA is but one of many that do exist in the US. Plenty of Amendment 2 supporteres and NRA is not alone nor a majority of persons in the fight.

[h=1]Membership, interest in gun rights groups soar in the weeks after the Florida high school shooting[/h] Mar 5, 2018 4:23 pm
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The Daily Mail reports that Google searches on NRA memberships have soared in the weeks since the deadly Florida high school shooting. (Getty Images)
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Sarah Taylor Staff Writer
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Membership, as well as interest in learning information about joining gun organizations — such as the National Rifle Association and other grassroots organizations — has increased dramatically in the weeks after the deadly Parkland, Florida school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
[h=3]What are the details?[/h] According a Friday Time article, many pro-gun and pro-Second Amendment groups saw surges in membership in and interest after the school shooting, which left at least 17 dead and injured many more.
Patrick Parsons, head of Georgia Gun Owners — which is a local independent gun rights org — said, “As soon as anti-gun attacks started coming in on Twitter, Facebook, and in the media, we began to hear from people who didn’t even own guns who wanted to join up or contribute out of solidarity in defense of the Second Amendment to the Constitution.”
Parsons told Time that the group’s membership — which hovered around 13,000 — gained 1,000 new members in just two weeks following the deadly shooting.
Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, said that the association, which reportedly has over 4 million members and supporters, may have grown over 30 percent over the last week alone.
The outlet also reported that the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, an org which boasts a membership of approximately 29,000, received nearly 200 applications in the last seven days. According to Time, this is atypical, as the Connecticut Citizens Defense League generally receives approximately 15-20 applications for week.
[h=3]What else?[/h] Cleta Mitchell, a former Oklahoma state lawmaker who was on the NRA’s board from 2002 to 2013, addressed the companies who opted to sever ties with the NRA following the Florida school shooting in an email to Time.
“There is no one. NO ONE. Who joins the NRA for a discount on a rental car,” Mitchell told Time. “You can rest assured that the NRA will not lose a single member as a result of this.”
“If anything,” she added, “it should spur people to join the NRA as a means of demonstrating that we who believe in the Second Amendment will not be bullied by these left wing multi-billion dollar corporations.”
The Daily Mail on Sunday also reported that despite calls from both Democrats and Republicans to tighten gun laws, as well as the many boycotts of the NRA, searches for NRA membership on the Internet increased dramatically since the shooting.
According to the outlet, the search term “NRA memberships” is reportedly up 4,900 percent since Feb. 14, the day of the Marjory Stoneman shooting.
The NRA has at least 5 million members, but has yet to release any current membership numbers at the time of this writing.
TheBlaze reached out to the NRA for comment on whether they, too, received a large uptick in memberships in the weeks following the deadly school shooting, but the organization did not immediately return a request for comment.
 
Regardless of the original intent of the NRA, it has been corrupted to an unofficial arm of the firearms industry whose main aim is to promote the sale of firearms and related gear. Any restrictions on guns will affect their bottom line and that is their main concern. I don't think they much care about their members (except to promote the sales of their products to them) or the victims of firearms violence.
 
Arguments against NRA are mostly empty and lacking of any truth.

NRA is the most well known but hardly the only voice out there. I do not see their membership to be large enough to be a majority. They have been a large voice b but not a majority. They have had well known leadership and good advertising but still short in total count.

I do not own or use guns but do see our Constitution as one of the best in the world and prefer to keep it that way. It is the people of this country that make the decisions, not our political parties.
 
rkunsaw said:
I've been an NRA member since 1969. If it wasn't for the NRA none of us would have guns. Instead of making laws against guns why don't we just make a law against murder. That would stop all the killing whether by guns, knives or any other means.
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Ahhhhhh I believe there is already laws against murder
 
Communism is not gone as some pretend. There is still China, Cuba, several south and central America countries, Chili for example. Plenty of communist style thinking going around this world and also plenty of such folks here in the US. They do hate the Constitution and want to see the US turned into a big hand out for the lazy that believe the US should just fully support those that prefer to see welfare from the government when if following the early ways of the US we were all for those that wanted to come here and create their own way of living. Which is not that of sitting around and demanding more for housing, food, medicine, and so on. Just so it is not based on rewards for working.
 
I feel the NRA promotes the 2nd Amendment to sell guns. PERIOD. I'm tired of NRA screaming that I want to take your gun out of your cold, dead hand. Why in hell do I want with your gun? It's just a scare tactic. How is a real background check before you buy a weapon, some how confiscating your guns? The NRA is quite happy to continue to allow the sale of any gun to anyone. If that leads to putting guns into the hands of people, who shouldn't own them; tough. If that leads to "gun violence", tough.
 
The NRA is not the only gun loving group in the US. Plenty more around trying to see that the honest gun owners do get proper and legal defenses and support for their love of guns.

Not one thing with owning a gun at all. Name one problem with the Swiss system. It is not the guns at all. It is the mind set that the US allows to develop among too many of our young folks, we also call most of them to be criminals or mental patients not in care.
 
rkunsaw said:
I've been an NRA member since 1969. If it wasn't for the NRA none of us would have guns. Instead of making laws against guns why don't we just make a law against murder. That would stop all the killing whether by guns, knives or any other means.
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Good for you rkunsaw, I've been a member on and off over the years. You're right buddy, if it wasn't for the NRA we wouldn't have guns or any protection of our second amendment rights in the USofA. Right on about making laws against guns because they will only affect the lawful gun owners who don't rob and kill people with their firearms. If they get smart they could cut down on the shootings especially in public places. In schools they should have armed guards, protect the grounds and buildings, use a dedicated entrance and exit every day, check the people coming in instead of letting any joe wander in off the streets and for God's sake allow concealed carry for the people who are trained to have a permit. Make soft targets hard, just makes good sense. The shootings won't stop until the gun grabbers wake up and smell the coffee.

fuzzybuddy said:
I feel the NRA promotes the 2nd Amendment to sell guns. PERIOD. I'm tired of NRA screaming that I want to take your gun out of your cold, dead hand. Why in hell do I want with your gun? It's just a scare tactic. How is a real background check before you buy a weapon, some how confiscating your guns? The NRA is quite happy to continue to allow the sale of any gun to anyone. If that leads to putting guns into the hands of people, who shouldn't own them; tough. If that leads to "gun violence", tough.
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Funny how the gun control advocates always start these talks on message boards. <grin> The NRA does promote the second amendment, and there's nothing wrong with that at all, that's why they have so many members. Members who know gun safety and obey the laws. I own hand guns and rifles and have never in my life killed anyone or used my firearms to commit a crime. They DON'T do it to sell guns, fake news.

"Myth 1: The NRA represents gun manufacturers.
One of the most pervasive myths about NRA is that it represents firearm manufacturers. It doesn't. It represents firearm owners. Firearm manufacturers are represented by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Yes, manufacturers often contribute money to the Association or raffle/contest prizes to one of its many programs, but NRA—at its heart—is a non-profit civil rights organization. As for firearms manufacturers, their size and cash reserves are grossly overestimated by those who oppose gun rights. A firearm is an extremely durable product with a very long service life, and is a big-ticket item for most consumers, limiting sales. Unless a firearm manufacturer is also a defense or law-enforcement contractor with domestic and/or foreign government contracts, it is typically a small operation; certainly nowhere near being a Fortune 500 company"

"Myth 2: The NRA's power rests in how much money it gives out to candidates.
Many gun-control advocates seem to have trouble believing that someone would disagree with them on a subject like gun control and that, if someone does, it must be the result of greed. The truth is that the NRA's power comes not from distributing cash, but from producing votes. NRA members are politically informed and engaged, and vote in extremely high numbers. Moreover, many are single-issue voters who have arrived at the understanding that their opinions on any other subject are potentially moot without the Second Amendment backing them up"

"Myth 3: The NRA's influence is grossly disproportionate to its membership numbers.
This miscalculation is based on the actual number of paid NRA memberships. It fails to consider the practical realities of non-profit advocacy. Not every family can afford separate memberships for each member of the family. Many households have only one "official" member, but everyone in the home reads the NRA Official Journal and supports the Association in spirit. During times of economic hardship, organization memberships are often viewed as a luxury and are voluntarily suspended by annual members until things improve. Further, when the political situation is "good" for gun owners (for example, when there is a pro-gun administration in Washington), gun owners feel safe and often allow their memberships to lapse. And, of course, some people just aren't "joiners." They believe in the Right to Keep and Bear Arms but, for whatever reason, don't formally join advocacy organizations, though they vote in support of the Second Amendment. So, while NRA may have "only" 5 million members, each of those represents many like-minded folks who turn out come Election Day and cast votes in preservation of their rights."

"Myth 4: Polls show that most Americans disagree with NRA and want more gun control.
The mainstream press often cites polls showing Americans support gun control. Don't believe them. First, you have to know how the poll was conducted and how questions were posed. If asked, simply "Are you in favor of gun control?" a person on the street may say yes. However, if you pose the question "Do you favor more gun control legislation or the enforcement of existing laws?" that same person may favor the latter.
We also must consider whether we really want Constitutional rights determined via polling. The Bill of Rights protects the individual from "the tyranny of the majority." The Second Amendment doesn't say "Good poll numbers being essential to good public policy, the right of the people ... ." Are we forbidden from practicing a certain religion because it's not trending well? Do we give up the right to read a good book because it's fallen into disfavor among the majority?"

https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2017/3/19/4-common-myths-about-the-nrabusted/
 
BobF said:
Arguments against NRA are mostly empty and lacking of any truth.

NRA is the most well known but hardly the only voice out there. I do not see their membership to be large enough to be a majority. They have been a large voice b but not a majority. They have had well known leadership and good advertising but still short in total count.

I do not own or use guns but do see our Constitution as one of the best in the world and prefer to keep it that way. It is the people of this country that make the decisions, not our political parties.
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That's not quite accurate. The people vote. That vote goes to a political party. That political party can use that vote any way they wish. Once you vote you have no more say in the political process.
 
If there are laws against murder how could anyone ever be murdered? Surely everyone obeys the laws against murder the same as criminals always obey gun laws.
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Of course, there are always people who violate laws. But the gun laws we are talking about would be there for the purpose of making it a lot harder for angry, emotionally distressed, or totally insane people to get their hands on assault weapons. What on earth is wrong with that?

Fuzzy, your note is right on the mark. The NRA is interested in selling guns, period. No matter to whom or for what purpose. And by brilliant advertising, they have managed to convince a number of people that these tools have a kind of mystical rosy glow, they are sacred and not to be restricted in any manner, for any reason. It seems to me a kind of demented religion. We've got to give the NRA credit, they've found an effective means of mind control.

From the Games forum the other day, here's a quote that applies:

"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." Stephen Leacock
 
Sunny said:
Of course, there are always people who violate laws. But the gun laws we are talking about would be there for the purpose of making it a lot harder for angry, emotionally distressed, or totally insane people to get their hands on assault weapons. What on earth is wrong with that?

Fuzzy, your note is right on the mark. The NRA is interested in selling guns, period. No matter to whom or for what purpose. And by brilliant advertising, they have managed to convince a number of people that these tools have a kind of mystical rosy glow, they are sacred and not to be restricted in any manner, for any reason. It seems to me a kind of demented religion. We've got to give the NRA credit, they've found an effective means of mind control.

From the Games forum the other day, here's a quote that applies:

"Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." Stephen Leacock
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Yep, they convince the people, gun owners and non gun owners that we do have a Constitution that assures folks for doing something. It does not matter which party seems to be in control. Our Constitution is still our true leader. We really should insist that after the election that our government should be run by the rules of the Constitution and not those of some loose minded political party.

We really need to follow our Constitution and not just the ideas of certain folks.

Want to change our Constitution there are rules for doing that.
 
Within the NRA, you have a problem. Is the NRA an organization of gun enthusiasts or a gun manufacturer's lobby group? Most of the lobbying is paid by the manufacturers. The enthusiasts provide a one issue voting bloc. Together they have successfully thwarted all attempts to rein in gun violence. They are not concerned with the carnage of gun violence. And unquestionably, a fire arm brings with it the carnage of gun violence. You can't have one without the other. The goal is an unfettered right to own firearms, while freeing them from any responsibilities of gun ownership.
And BTW, I keep hearing that the NRA is the "ONLY thing" standing in the way of the government's confiscation of all guns, etc, etc. etc. Makes a good talking point. But somehow the 2 Amendment is the real "thing", not the NRA.
 

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