Who among us are not NRA Members...and why?

[pills]

To think this would have stopped Cho is laughable at best. I think the NRA is caving to save face. The question is then what will they cave on the next time?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269142,00.html

Another reason to bail on the NRA and support the GOA.

[jhm]

Its comments like If you arnt a member of the NRA you arnt welcome at our club / If you arnt a member of the NRA you are riding on the shoulders of the members / and of course the you must be a HUNTER / Go forward with your membership drive comments but I have been there and will not be coming back, what am I missing ?  From those comments NOTHING!!   JIM

[dukkillr]

Its comments like If you arnt a member of the NRA you arnt welcome at our club / If you arnt a member of the NRA you are riding on the shoulders of the members / and of course the you must be a HUNTER / Go forward with your membership drive comments but I have been there and will not be coming back, what am I missing ?  From those comments NOTHING!!   JIM

I thought the same thing.  Nothing will bring people to your side of an argument faster than insulting those with a different but perhaps not opposing perspective.  Another poster around here proudly proclaims average hunters to be "fudds" with a negative connotation.  It's always seemed simplistic and divisive to use such language.  I cannot fathom how he believes he's advancing his agenda.  I won't be bullied or insulted into someone else's view, and I doubt many others will either. 

[alsaqr]

 "I won't be bullied or insulted into someone else's view, and I doubt many others will either."

Neither will i be bullied by a bunch of anti-NRA folks.   You get on this site and give aid to the antis with your criticism of an organization to which i have belonged for 50 years.   

[Graybeard]

The only ones giving aid to the antis are those who wasted their money by giving it to the NRA rather than to some of the other organizations who are actually doing something useful rather than just compromising and aiding the antis in getting legislation passed. If more folks like yourself would wake up to that fact we'd all be better off but forge ahead with blinders on if you wish, after all you're only aiding and abetting the enemy by doing so.

[alsaqr]

Looks like support for the Second Amendment is like support for the troops, non-existent. 

[Graybeard]

Supporting the NRA is supporting the antigunners who want to do away with the Second Amendment. If you'd do your research you'd be able to understand that.

[NONYA]

The NRA bigwigs WANT you to believe they are helping you,they are getting rich of your ignorance.

[Tackleberry]

Just completed sending my last payment in for the ELP and am now a full life member.  $750.00 dollars later, I do not believe that the NRA is perfect. I believe that sometimes the NRA is viewed as unwilling to yield to compromise. I believe that the NRA sometimes supports the fringes of the sport that the majority of us will never be members of or care about (ie: supporting legal sporting use of .50 cal BMG ). I believe they drive me crazy with request for money for legislative action (endlessly it seems). I believe that the NRA is viewed as a wing of the Republican party by some.  All that may be true...I also know that there is not another organization that "scares" a politician as much as the NRA. Whether Republican, Independent, or Democrat, the politician knows that they will be graded by the NRA. Whether they care or not is up to them, but I think they all acknowledge that the NRA means voter power and is a force to be reckoned with. If ALL gunowners were members of the NRA (that would be about 80 million Americans) imagine the power we would have over our elected officials to quite screwing around with law abiding gun owners and the 2nd amendment once and for all. 80 million vice 3 million members would be very powerfull indeed. Whatever the perceived or real faults of the NRA, there is no other force that does what it does. So I say join the NRA, make your voice heard.
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water or cut your nose off to spite your face..it is the best and really the only thing we have that FIGHTS for our gun rights. It's not perfect.
I am proud to be a life member and will work to make it a better NRA. Charleton Heston is still my President.
David Berry

[Grumulkin]

The only ones giving aid to the antis are those who wasted their money by giving it to the NRA rather than to some of the other organizations who are actually doing something useful rather than just compromising and aiding the antis in getting legislation passed.

So what are these other organizations of which you speak?

[cherokee75]

I was surprised to so all the anti--NRA postings.  I have let my membership lapse but have been planning to rejoin.  After reading both the pros and cons, I think I will wait and read up on the NRA and other organizations.  As was posted previously, what are some of the other organizations I should look at?  Also, some people have mentioned about doing research on the NRA.  Where can I go to do my research.  I did not see any sources or links in regards to all the research people have been doing.  I am just curious.

[Graybeard]

CCRKBA  http://www.ccrkba.org/

Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership  http://www.jpfo.org/

Gun Owners of America   http://www.gunowners.org/

There are numerous other you can find if you really look but those are probably the three largest.

For Hunting protection the Safari Club International is the place to look. Plus a whole passel of species specific organizations.

The NRA only wants you to think they are important and are on your side.

[beemanbeme]

I have been a member of the NRA for a long, long time.  Seldom have I been in total agreement with them but close enough to stay with them.  When I had a problem with them I took it direct to them. 
And I will say this about this whole thread (the parts I've read anyway): You don't make your pup look any better by bad mouthing the other fellows dog. 

[Land_Owner]

We are all of us all the time
Coming together and falling apart.
The point is, we are not rocks.
Who wants to be one anyway,
Impermeable, unchanging,
Our history already played out.

                            John Rosenthal

Now I've thrown a rock or two and got hit a time or two too.  This is neither the time nor the subject for rock throwing.  Put 'em away.  Save 'em for the common defense when there are no other alternatives.  We can get along or can "Get!" along.  I'm OK, You're OK, but we don't know about Them. 

I still believe we're all on the same page here with regard to the RKBA.  Implementing that action is the undercurrent of this thread.

[jhm]

Well I will say this and I am thru.  The whole post started out wrong, (quote)  Who among us are (NOT) NRA Members... and Why?  Almost as if there is something wrong by not being a member, As I stated earlier I was a member for several years and NO LONGER am and I have my reasons for not being a member and I  dont feel as if I owe anyone a REASON as it is mine to do with as I see fit,  JIM

[*ROCK-MAN*]

Well,You folks could just all pack up and move to TEXAS.Thats whereI live and yes I am a hunter first and foermost.But every time I go to the local range I see brothers shooting semi-auto and yes even some fully auto weapons and I like that.And yes we can legally carry concealed weapons.And no it's not illegal to hunt with those semi-auto weapons like some states I will not mention.In my humble opinion this is due to the people of TEXAS and not the NRA.Yes I was a member of the NRA for a few years but I got the feeling all they wanted was peoples money.In fact it seemed to me like they spent a lot of money trying to get all the members money?Call me anything you want but I have a housefull of guns and all I can say is GOD BLESS TEXAS
Rock

[nomosendero]

Well,You folks could just all pack up and move to TEXAS.Thats whereI live and yes I am a hunter first and foermost.But every time I go to the local range I see brothers shooting semi-auto and yes even some fully auto weapons and I like that.And yes we can legally carry concealed weapons.And no it's not illegal to hunt with those semi-auto weapons like some states I will not mention.In my humble opinion this is due to the people of TEXAS and not the NRA.Yes I was a member of the NRA for a few years but I got the feeling all they wanted was peoples money.In fact it seemed to me like they spent a lot of money trying to get all the members money?Call me anything you want but I have a housefull of guns and all I can say is GOD BLESS TEXAS
Rock

We have pretty much the same lack of restrictions in Arkansas as you enjoy in the great Republic Of Texas. When Klinton was Gov. here he kept his
Liberal, Socialist Democrap mouth shut & the Queen of Chicago's too, big job on this one subject. The reason is simple, any attempts to try gun control here is a career breaker. But a Federal ban would be trouble even in the Republic of Texas (affectionately stated as a Rep., I have some roots there). Fed. so called "law", That is what will get States like TX, AR, OK, WY, MT & others I did not mention. If the Socialist Democraps the Prez & keep the Congress, we will lose it all, regardless of the NRA & all the other good groups that Graybeard mentioned combined.

[billy_56081]

  I think all here should join. We should band together here on a forum, and shape the NRA back to a more grass roots butt kicking political power. All here, no matter member or not cannot dipute the political clout the NRA brings to washington D.C.. I too must agree that the NRA has had some waywqrd times but it is still the LARGEST, most POWERFUL pro gun orginization there is. And money and name are what counts in D.C. whether you like it or not. If GBO cannot get people elected to the board of the NRA. Our cause is lost and we may as well surrender our arms.

[Dusty Miller]

 I hope we don't get buried whilst we are busy arguing amongst ourselves.

[jhm]

Dusty you know we dont argue on GBs site, its just one of those topics that over the years some have joined the pro side of it and saw the truth and left and then there are the ones who have joined and havent seen the truth YET, but no argument, Its kinda like the ford VS chevy pick-up coments, never ending, and to top it off I have even heard that their are some who will actually say that they drive a DODGE, they say it quietly and not always in public but it has been said they do,  Im not going to say what I drive but will give a small hint its is a 2003 HD 2500 Puter in color I believe it has a 8 cyl GM motor with a bowtie emblem in the grill.      JIM

[jamaldog87]

i never join because to me it look like the care more about rich people having the guns they want(mini-guns, Full-auto, pass 50cal) then hunters and people that have some guns.

[pills]

McCarthy Bill Rammed Through The House
-- Deal between NRA leadership and Democrats leaves most Republicans
in the dark

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm

Thursday, June 14, 2007


Wednesday started out as a routine day in the U.S. Congress, with
Representatives attending congressional hearings, meeting with
constituents, perhaps devising clever new ways to pick our pockets.

At 8:30 in the morning an email went out to House Republicans
indicating that a gun control bill, recently introduced by Rep.
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), was on the Suspension Calendar (normally
reserved for "non-controversial" bills).

Many Representatives didn't see that email until it was too late.
Less than three hours later, the bill passed by a voice vote. The
bill in question, H.R. 2640, is a massive expansion of the Brady Gun
Control law, the subject of many previous alerts by Gun Owners of
America.

Its passage in the House is a case study in backroom deal making,
unholy alliances and deceit. A sausage factory in a third world
country with no running water has nothing on today's U.S. Congress.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that a deal had been
struck between the NRA leadership and Democrat leaders in the House.
The headline read: "Democrats, NRA Reach Deal on Background-Check
Bill."

Red flags went up throughout the pro-gun community. Who was party to
this "deal," and how many of our rights were being used as
bargaining
chips?

The McCarthy bill, at the time, looked to be going nowhere. The
general consensus among pro-gun Congressmen was that any gun bill
offered by McCarthy was simply DOA.

After all, if there were such a thing as a single issue Member of
Congress, it would have to be McCarthy. Rep. McCarthy ran for office
to ban guns; Hollywood made a movie about her efforts to ban guns;
and she is currently the lead sponsor of a bill that makes the old
Clinton gun ban pale by comparison.

Even many Democrats wouldn't go near a McCarthy gun bill. They have
learned that supporting gun control is a losing issue. Enter Rep.
John Dingell (D-MI), the so-called Dean of the House, having served
since the Eisenhower administration. Dingell is also a former NRA
Board member, and was in that capacity tapped to bring the NRA
leadership to the table.

The end result of the negotiations was that this small clique among
the NRA leadership gave this bill the support it needed to pass.

But why was it necessary to pass the bill in such an underhanded
fashion? If this is such a victory for the Second Amendment, why all
the secrecy? Why was a deal forged with the anti-gun Democrat House
leadership, keeping most pro-gun representatives in the dark? Why
was the bill rammed through on the Suspension Calendar with no
recorded vote with which to identify those who are against us?

For starters, it would be a hard sell indeed for the NRA leadership
to explain to its members what they would gain by working with
McCarthy. If this legislation had gone before the NRA membership for
a vote, it would have been rejected. For that matter, if it went
through the House in the regular fashion, with committee hearings and
recorded votes, it would have been defeated.

Consider also what the bill is: GUN CONTROL! The lead sentence in an
Associated Press article accurately stated that, "The House Wednesday
passed what could become the first major federal gun control law in
over a decade."

The bill's supporters can talk all they want to the contrary, but
forcing the states to hand over to the federal government millions of
records of Americans for the purpose of conducting a background check
is certainly an expansion of gun control.

This is a bill designed to make the gun control trains run on time.
Problem is, the train's on the wrong track. We don't need greater
efficiency enforcing laws that for years we have fought as being
unconstitutional.

Sure, there are provisions in the bill by which a person who is on
the prohibited persons list can get his name removed, but not before
proving one's innocence before a court, or convincing a psychiatrist
that he should be able to own a gun (though most psychiatrists would
be more likely to deem a person mentally defective for even wanting
to own guns).

Sad thing is, this bill, which spends hundreds of millions of your
dollars, will do nothing to make us safer. More gun control laws
will not stop the next deranged madman. What will stop a killer is
an armed law-abiding citizen. In the wake of the Virginia Tech
tragedy, we should be considering removing barriers that prevent
honest, decent people from carrying their lawfully possessed
firearms.

We don't know where the next shooting will occur; that's something
the killer decides. So whether it is in a school, a church, a
shopping mall or a government building, we should urge our elected
officials to repeal so-called gun free zones and oppose more gun
control.

Instead, we end up with a bill supported by Handgun Control and Sarah
Brady, Chuck Schumer, Teddy Kennedy, Carolyn McCarthy, and the rest
of the Who's Who of the anti-gun movement, and all the while the NRA
leadership maintains that this is a win for gun owners.

This is a Faustian bargain, which will repeatedly haunt gun owners in
the years to come.

But you should realize why they had to do it this way. Your activism
has resulted in an avalanche of grassroots opposition against this
bill. Gun owners have raised their voices of opposition
loud-and-clear, and many congressmen have been feeling the heat.

The fight is not over. They still have to run this through the
Senate. Already, there is a small cadre of pro-gun senators who are
ready to slow this bill down and do everything they can to kill it.
To be frank, a bill that has the support of all the anti-gun groups
and the NRA will be tough to beat, but we will continue to fight
every step of the way.

Although we've suffered a setback, we want to thank all of you for
the hard work you've done. Your efforts derailed the McCarthy bill
for the past five years and we would have prevailed again were it not
for the developments described above.

Be looking for an upcoming alert to the U.S. Senate. GOA will give
you the particulars of the bill that passed the House, and we will
provide you suggested language for a pre-written letter to your two
senators.

Stay tuned. There is more to come.

[Graybeard]

I have been warning you people for years now that THE NRA IS NOT OUR FRIEND. I know it seems to keep falling on deaf ears but the NRA leaders have been in on the passing of every single piece of bad and anti gun legislation in the last ten to twelve years. They tell you they are fight FOR your rights and then they sell you down the river every time it counts. This is just one more time in a LONG LONG list of times.

It's time folks wake up and realize the NRA is the ENEMY not our friend. If we don't then they will eventualy sell away all our Constitutional RIGHTS and then it will be too late to wake up.

There is a concerted effort underway in this country and indeed the world to remove the US Constitution and replace it with UN control. It's well funded, well planned and well backed by those in power in the US Government. It's really a matter of when not IF they will succeed due to such under handed practices and the help of the NRA.

[buffermop]

Be careful of that Wayne LaPiere dude.Saddam started out the same way. Candidate for dictator.

[countryrebel8174]

  I think all here should join. We should band together here on a forum, and shape the NRA back to a more grass roots butt kicking political power. All here, no matter member or not cannot dipute the political clout the NRA brings to washington D.C.. I too must agree that the NRA has had some waywqrd times but it is still the LARGEST, most POWERFUL pro gun orginization there is. And money and name are what counts in D.C. whether you like it or not. If GBO cannot get people elected to the board of the NRA. Our cause is lost and we may as well surrender our arms.

you sir are the reason we will lose our firearms with statements such as this "Our cause is lost and we may as well surrender our arms." the second ammendment was made to protect us from a tyrannical government, and if they TRY and take our arms/freedoms then they are tyrants and they should be met with force to protect this country and the constitution and bill of rights. i will never give up my means to protect myself and my family, you do as you wish.

as far as the nra goes, i could never support an organization that would side with democrats to pass a gun ban, even if it is for mentally ill people(do we really want our government deciding who is mentally ill?) this goes along the lines of the law abiding citizen not being able to buy a weapon but the criminal will still be armed. do you think for one second that cho or whatever his name was couldnt have gotten a weapon illegally if he so wished to carry out his attacks! besides the only reason the nra supports such an evil bill is because they are using the v tech shooting as a reason, and the nra doesnt want to look like the big bad gun rights guys that supports crazy people shooting college students. i can understand that, but to give an inch, is still losing an inch and siding with the enemy is unexceptible. in all reality though if at least one person would have been armed, lives would have been saved that day... so no i do not support the nra, i support the bill of rights and i will defend them by all means necessary

[Land_Owner]

Read HR 2640 here:  http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c110:3:./temp/~c110tzwjQo:e585: 

Before you denounce anyone and everyone related to HR 2640 first READ HR 2640.  Mentally deficient people should be worried that HR 2640 wants to "identify them" under NICS. 

I freely admit that our Government keeps far too much information about each of us.  Additionally, this bill is initially laced with inflammatory (to me) "Brady Bill" and anti-gun rhetoric.  Getting past that, the bill closes what appears to be a missing link in the NICS.

Perhaps the fundamental issue isn't really HR 2640 but the NICS itself.

This bill is fallout from Virginia Tech and sends the wrong message.  No mountain of paperwork is EVER going to stop mad men (and women).  The lawful continue to suffer the deeds of the lawless. 

Creating more Government seems to be the issue at hand here.  And that is NEVER a good thing for the law abiding...

[pills]

Did you hear about the 916,000 folks who got arrested for attempting to purchase a firearm and were denied because of the brady?

(1) Approximately 916,000 individuals were prohibited from purchasing a firearm for failing a background check between November 30, 1998, (the date the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) began operating) and December 31, 2004.

 

I think it is a bunch of crap. When a man (or woman) is denied their right to firearm ownership for any felony and misdemeanor DV it is crap. A kid @ 19 who goes mail box bashing and gets caught, pleads out to a fine and probation is denied the right to own a firearm for the rest of his life that is crap. If a guy and his old lady get into it and it escalates and the police get called and they both get arrested for DV they can NEVER own a firearm again. That is crap.

Say I have a mental problem. Do you think I am going to go for treatment and risk loosing all of my guns? I can answer that and tell you know. As stated before.

No mountain of paperwork is EVER going to stop mad men (and women).  The lawful continue to suffer the deeds of the lawless.

I say it is just another step the gun grabbers are gonna take before they say "We tried legislation the only thing left is confiscation." Kinda has a scary ring to it...

[Redhawk1]

I have been sitting back biting my tongue. It is sickening to me to see people here down the NRA and make it out to be some kind of conspiracy.

Graybeard, please for everyone here, we know you don't belong to the NRA but you list alternatives to the NRA for gun rights, Who do you actually support and belong to? My guess is none of them. Also any of you that sit here a bash the NRA, exactly what have you done for our gun rights except wine and complain about everything. I belong to several organization that support gun rights as well as the NRA. I donate money and my time to support gun issues and gun rights. WHAT DO YOU DO?

I am a proud member of the NRA and will always be a proud member, I am just appalled at the real lack of support at a gun site such as this one.

[beemanbeme]

I'm gonna jump on the Redhawk bandwagon here.  My question, as I've spot read thru this thread, has been why does it have to be "either/or"?  Why can't it be "and"?  There isn't a law that sez you can only belong to one pro 2nd amendment group is there?  It may seem a splintering of effort to have several of these groups but perhaps each splinter addresses a different facet of our concerns.  Something a single group, trying to provide a total umbrella , has a hard time doing.

One comment he made, we should all attend: money AND TIME.  There's a little more to defending our rights than sticking 10 bucks in an envelope and dropping it in the mail.  How often, when the newspaper or TV has printed or aired a biased or incorrect article have you thought "I ought to Email them a strong response. Oh well, somebody else always does."  What happens when someday somebody else doesn't?  Perhaps with enough Emails the media will start vetting their articles a little closer.  Maybe the general public, the fence sitters, the just-don't-knows will start getting more accurate information.  And it all started with an Email from you.

[Graybeard]

You actually know FAR LESS than you THINK you know. I am and have been a voting LIFE MEMBER of the NRA since many of you on here were in diapers or not even born. I just refuse to give them anymore new money until LaPierre is HISTORY there.

What orgianizations I belong to and support are really no one's business and in this day and age I don't happen to think it wise to state all affliations publicly.

I have been sitting back biting my tongue. It is sickening to me to see people here down the NRA and make it out to be some kind of conspiracy.

Graybeard, please for everyone here, we know you don't belong to the NRA but you list alternatives to the NRA for gun rights, Who do you actually support and belong to? My guess is none of them. Also any of you that sit here a bash the NRA, exactly what have you done for our gun rights except wine and complain about everything. I belong to several organization that support gun rights as well as the NRA. I donate money and my time to support gun issues and gun rights. WHAT DO YOU DO?

I am a proud member of the NRA and will always be a proud member, I am just appalled at the real lack of support at a gun site such as this one.