Sorry, But I Just Can't Do It.

I came THIS close to joining the NRA this morning over all the progress they are making with expanded concealed carry across this nation... they really are an effective lobby and know how to twist arms and get things done. I truly appreciate their efforts.

But then I stumbled across this:

http://www.nraila.org/obama/

While its fun to think a more pro-gun Democratic challenger like Howard Dean or Russ Feingold might challenge Obama from the Left and upset him in the primaries, the reality is that if the economy keeps improving and unemployment dips below 7 percent by this time next year, Obama is going to win the nomination and be our candidate. By a landslide. And I know, flat out, that any money I give to the NRA this year is just going to be used against him next year, most likely being spent on attack ads, or worse: pimping whatever nutty Repuke candidate that manages to survive elimination, as the lesser of the evils. Even if it turns out to be Romney, who isn't exactly gun friendly either. But the NRA will probably give him a B+ anyway like they did that snake Kasich in Ohio, helping him defeat Strickland. And the ads will be repeated, day after day, all those weeks leading up to the election...

I'm just not willing to cut off my nose to spite my face. Yes, I know Obama is no friend of gun owners. I know he made some horrible votes as Senator in Illinois and nominated two anti-gun SCOTUS justices to the bench as President. But I just don't buy the NRA's assertion that if we let Obama have a second term, its going to be the end of the world for gun owners. For one thing, I don't see Congress being over-run by rabid gun control advocates next year. Most of the states in play are very gun friendly, and even most of the Democrats coming from those areas are likely going to be pro-gun, or at least not sympathetic to more gun controls. Harry Reid is still going to be Senate majority leader, and we all know how good he's been about keeping gun control bills from ever seeing the light of day. I just don't think Obama is going to have much of an opportunity to act out on his anti-gun impulses, if Congress never sends him any bills. Sure, there's a possibility of him nominating another SCOTUS justice, but Heller and McDonald are settled law -- I don't see the SCOTUS revisiting the issue, and quite frankly I won't shed any tears if Scalia (who just turned 75) happens to step down and gets replaced by a less corporate-friendly justice.

So where does that leave me? I think I'm going to donate the $100 I was thinking of giving the NRA to the ACLU instead, with a note (once again) asking them to reconsider their hypocritical stance on the Second Amendment. Because even though they still refuse to recognize the Second as an individual right (which even Obama has publicly done), its not like they are actively pushing for new gun controls. In fact, in many cases they are still defending gun owners, if only on First and Fourth Amendment grounds instead, when those rights are being violated.

In an ideal world, we'd have a strong progressive gun rights lobby that didn't cater to right-wing nut-jobs, so we could have our cake and eat it too. But the reality right now is that the NRA is so fixated on defeating Obama, that they are willing to make a deal with the devil and allow an authoritarian Bill-of-Rights-hatin' Republican to trample all over the rest of the Constitution, probably drag us into more wasteful wars and corporate welfare debt spending, all the while claiming to be protecting our civil rights.

Sorry, I just don't buy it.

My view on the ACLU is a bit different - I was a paying member for many years but quit in about 1994 when their position on the Second Amendment, which I agree is hypocritical, became clear to me. They call me a few times each year asking for money, and I always politely explain why I won't give them any until they update their view on gun ownership.

...that hold a much better view of the Second Amendment and actually defend ALL our civil liberties, unlike the national ACLU. Hopefully the national ACLU will get its act together on this issue.

EDIT to fix typo in title

...I'm also facing a dilemma when it comes to the NRA. I just moved to Evansville, IN and the only good outdoor shooting range that I have been able to find demands that I be an NRA member in order to gain membership. I haven't decided what I'm going to do one way or another yet....

I'm guessing the range gets some funding or something from the NRA. I don't like this arrangement.

My local range is the same way. As is the gun club.

I miss Milwaukee. There was a great outdoor range that was open to the public about 35 minutes W of the city. Great facilities and prices. *sigh*

As an NRA member you have liability insurance. Many ranges want that to indemnify them.

supports their very existance. :shrug:

I guarantee that the NRA will spend many multiples of your membership $$ sending you crap asking for more money. Your membership will actually cost them much more than you send them. Best of both worlds! You get to use the range, get a somewhat interesting monthly magazine and deprive them of a little money that they would otherwise spend supporting the Tea Klux Klan!

But the spin is that Obama would do any of this as President. His personal opinion, and his voting record as a Legislator, are starkly different from his now-established track record as POTUS.

So, ignoring Heller/McDonald, and all the settled laws passed lately, I *DO* take Obama at his word on this issue, and WILL continue to give him the benefit of the doubt.


I too have been wrestling with the idea of giving the NRA 25 bucks. I REALLY REALLY don't want to, but it is a requirement for membership at the only local gun range. Pisses me off.

Local chapters of the ACLU do support and defend the new rulings on the 2a. National level, it's dragging ass, but inertia is a bitch, neh? I am quite comfortable with my membership in the ACLU.

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They do more to spread free firearm safety education, for adults and children, than any other organization in the country. Probably more than all other orgs combined.

That said, their predominate single-issue rhetoric is horseshit, and goes beyond JUST supporting politicians that support the 2nd amendment.

That is one of pillars of the USA making it stand out as the greatest Nation in the history of Humanity.

Though I disagree with your conclusions, I appreciate your process. Excellent post.

Semper Fi,

It is a pleasure to see a well written anti-NRA post instead of the usual, "NRA sucks. Yup, Yup." and similar that we see around here. For myself, I tolerate much of their Republican support because it puts strong pressure on the Democratic Party to avoid gun control. Someday, maybe our party will drop the demand for a new AWB from its platform. For right now, the NRA is the only organization that is actually effective in pushing gun rights.

My wife is alive because she was able to get a shall-issue CHL and had her gun on her to prevent an attack on her. That legislation was NRA backed.

http://www.saf.org/

They are primarily focused on litigation and avoid the politics.

I donated to the SAF for one year, and there's only so much junk mail you can receive complaining about what "liberals" supposedly want before you get sick of it.

there are recycle bins for junk mail. Almost all of my junk mail goes there unopened.

(Clarification: "bacon" is spam--in the sense of junk email--that you sort of signed up for without realizing they were going to send you so many uninteresting messages.)

They send a lot of e-bulletins as well, which I'd skim only to find they were mostly uninteresting and often denigrating towards "liberals."

I'm not telling you not to donate; I'm just warning you about what to expect.

Money sent to the NRA is NOT used for political purposes. NRAILA is the political organization and funds are separate.

I joined the NRA in late 2007, when they were practically giving away five-year memberships in anticipation of the Democrats fielding either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama (hey, I supported Bill Richardson), and I did so holding my nose, metaphorically speaking. One person on another forum had pointed out to me, "hey, if every pro-RKBA liberal said 'I'd join the NRA but not until they change x, y and z, nothing's ever going to change; you want to change the NRA, it's going to have to be from inside."

So I'm giving it a try. It's a long-term project--five years before you even get voting rights within the organization--and I'm fully cognizant that I may not make a very large difference, but at least I'll be able to say I honestly gave them a try.

Find the one you like, including the Pink Pistols if you're gay.

Just stay away from the American Hunters and Shooters Association since it's an anti gun rights group faking as a gun rights group.

of joining the state affiliate of the NRA. Ultimately, I decided that the savings between buying a CMP M1 Garand vs. buying a similar rifle off of Gunbroker (or someother site) was significant enough that I decided to join.