Forums banding together

[Bret4207]

Hi, I'm Bret, a moderator on castbooilts.gunloads.com. We're trying to get all the various gun and hunting forums together to form a grass roots push for our gun rights. The recent Zumbo debacle showed what we can do. So I'm asking you to please join us and get something going. I'm hoping we can distribute info among the boards and get the memberships active. NRA, etc. Should be doing this, but they aren't. Maybe if we start getting active they'll work with us instead of just begging for our money. The current site is at http://www.stopguncontrol.info/forum/index.php It's just starting and we hope it'll fly. This isn't a power struggle among the boards and we don't want that. I'm hoping the Moderators and Webmasters can advise the groups as opposed to having all the memberships involved as it seems there'd be lees problems that way. Please stop by and join us in this.

BTW- I'm just a regular guy trying to help get this going. So any help you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks

[jh45gun]

I will post this at several of the gun forums I go to. Thanks.  Jim

[Bret4207]

Thanks Jim. How about some of you other guys? Care about your guns or not? All we need is for you to help notify all the other websites you go to. Cut and paste the message I sent. Stop by the site and see what we're trying to do. Give us a little help here guys! We did it for Zumbo, we can do it for ourselves.

[Brett]

Well to be honest with you Bret your backhanded remark about the NRA not carrying the ball left a bad taste in my mouth.  If you were an educated and involved member of the NRA I think you would have a great deal more appreciation for all of the time and effort the NRA puts forth on behalf of us gun owners.  Am not saying that you have a bad idea I'm just saying don't cut off your own nose to spite your face.

[Redhawk1]

Brett, I got the same impression here. I was turn off by this post to be honest with you.

TprBrt,
I am an active Life Endowment NRA member, DSSA life member and I have my hands in legislative actions and gun rights in Delaware. So some of us do our part. And the NRA has done a lot for us gun owners.

[jh45gun]

Well guys first off I am a NRA Member and always will be as I feel they have the most power to help us in the gun fight. But before you get on your high horses on trooper brett consider this. What is the NRA under 5 thousand strong out of how many gun owners? and how many post have ya all seen on the net about folks who used to belong to the NRA and get tired of the constant asking for money or how the bigwigs of the NRA run the show??? Now before ya all jump on my butt I do not mind the asking for money I know it cost cash to fight a war and that is what we are doing just as Bush has to ask Congress for money all the time to fight the war on Terror. AND  I do not have an issue with the big wigs of the NRA though I think it could be some what better but we all cannot be perfect.  Bottom line is I think  Trooper Bret knows the NRA and us as members are doing our part. I just think he sees that we have an opportunity here and we should make use of it. If you have read any of my back post on the NRA you know I support them.   Jim

[williamlayton]

I guess I see things differently.
I think it is good that a number of different groups go at the same concern. This also shows the folks on the hill that there are a number of diverse groups in favor of less gun control.
This diversity should allow differnt thoughts and attempts too fight the same fight.
It also keeps one group from being in control--and none of us want one group in control of our freedoms.
the NRA does a lot of good and has over the years, but others have also entere into this frey and done good.
The worse thing we can do is argue about who does the best.
It is not about power or glory but about a cohesive front.
Blessings

[Brett]

Like I originally stated I have no problem with the other Bret's idea of banding sportsman's forums together, In fact I think it's a good idea.

I just thought he should be advised not to knock the efforts of the largest and most powerful pro 2nd Amendment organization bar none when fishing for support or much of his effort will be counter productive.

I invite you all to check out the NRA/Ila web site and see for yourselves what the NRA is doing to protect our 2nd Amendment.  Read the NRA News section, see what legal battles the NRA are involved in by visiting the ILA section, check out all the programs and benefits the NRA offers its members (these perks alone are worth most of the money I have contributed) and check out Wayne LePierre's blog.

http://nra.com/

[Redhawk1]

There is a lot more groups then the NRA.  There is the SCI, 50 Caliber Association, and numerous State and local pro-gun groups. At our gun range you must be a NRA member to join, and I think it is a great idea. So we already have a bunch of gun right support systems out there. So there is not a one and only gun rights group out there. The NRA happens to be one of the biggest.

My problem with TprBrt post is this statement.
"I'm hoping we can distribute info among the boards and get the memberships active. NRA, etc. Should be doing this, but they aren't. Maybe if we start getting active they'll work with us instead of just begging for our money."

The NRA has done a lot for our gun rights and alerting us of what the anti-gun groups are up to.  Sure I don't always agree with everything the NRA does, but who else is going to step up to the plate for our gun rights?  One large group with millions of supporters is a lot better than a bunch of small groups.

What gets me is, these gun owners that don't belong to the NRA. 90% of them don't even belong to any organization that supports gun rights. They want to leave it up to other to support these groups.  They want to complain about them and in my opinion they don't have a right to. There not even a member.

It is like complaining about the President and not ever voting.

[jh45gun]

I agree about the complaining but it is a fact that many former NRA members quit because of the constant begging for money or they did not like the direction the NRA was going and in most cases they figured the NRA was not tough enough. Where am I basing this from yes our own gun forums and the internet. Just bring up the NRA in a discussion and you will find some former members who state the above reasons are why they quit. Just think of what we could do if even half the gun owners of the US belonged to the NRA instead of the fraction of us that now belong. The way I look at it the more members we can get there in one group the better and maybe if the NRA checks it out they could use it for recruiting. The folks at the NRA I would bet have broad shoulders I am sure they have heard the criticism before and if they have not then maybe they should. A little  constructive criticism never hurt anyone. Like I said I do not mind the begging for cash I know it takes money to win a war. Some unfortunately do not look at it that way and too bad as if you do not like the begging for cash there is no law that you have to pay more than your dues anyway so I do not know why it bothers some, but it does.

[Dusty Miller]

I advocate belonging to as MANY gun organizations as you can afford.  It has been said that Jews in America have influence FAR beyond their numbers because they tend to belong to SEVERAL pro-Jewish organizations.  Whenever a lobbyist for a Jewish cause calls on a Senator or Congressman he can always state that he represents X number of Jews, and each lobbyist actually can put up big numbers because the memberships heavily overlap. Gun owners need to do the same thing, it makes our ranks look much fuller than they actually are. 

[Bret4207]

First off- for those that think I'm bashing the NRA, no. I'm a Life member, have been since 1974. Also a member of GOA and the NYS Rifle and Pistol Assoc. IMO NRA should be doing this, but they aren't. So instead of complaining about it, I'm trying to take a pro-active approach and get this going. Then if we can make a big enough splash and get their attention maybe I can hand this effort over to them. I'm completely aware of all the work NRA does. It's important work, but they are missing the boat on this grassroots type stuff. NRA is a bureaucracy in itself and that causes friction and lost members. If you took my post to be bashing the NRA I apologize for the misunderstanding. I want them to do this. I have a job, family, farm, etc. Not a lot of time or money is available, so if they want it, they can have it. If you check out the links provided you'll see I utilize NRA-ILA's  email service. They've got the resources, they just haven't seen the opportunity.

The important thing is to try and get people up off their duffs and to send an email or letter or make a phone call. It just isn't happening. If you guys have a better idea, by all means, let me know and give me a hand. My motives are sincere, my knowledge about how to go about this is rudimentary at best. So rather than worrying about any supposed slights, lets get beyond that and get this going.

[Cement Man]

+1 for what William Layton said.  I am a member of the NRA also, first joined in 1962.  There's nothing sacrilegious about saying that the NRA isn't perfect.  If you are a member you have a right and even an obligation to make constructive criticism.  All I see here  is a suggestion to supplement what the NRA does, and it appears to me to be a sensible one.  The NRA is undoubtedly a strong force that has been the leader in preserving our rights.  On the other hand, a lot of people send in there dues, read the magazine and do nothing else.  The NRA is our big horse for sure - but they have also been successfully and WRONGLY painted to the unknowledgeable masses as the big villain who is responsible for gun crimes.  It's wrong and we know better, but perception is reality.  I think a good tactic to neutralize some of the wrongs is more grass roots strategies that demonstrate the numbers and diversity of gun owners and their opinions.  The Internet is a powerful tool.  It is used against gun owners every day - overtly, and implicitly in the media.  It's also extremely cost effective.  If you can post here, you can voice your pro-gun owner opinions for free.  So using the power of the net makes perfect sense.
I think it is a great idea.

[Bret4207]

Thanks Cement Man. If anyone checks out the forum at the website you'll see where I'm trying to go with this. I had hoped that I could just contact Administrators and Moderators and get them to posts the alerts, but I got pretty much no response anywhere, so I posted in the public forums and it's moving along.

We NEED to do this guys. There's still momentum left from the Zumbo issue. There's another site geared toward hitting the sponsors and manufacturers. Mines geared towards the political end. I need your help on this to get it going. Tell your friends, tell your family. Do it and get the ball rolling.