Some gun rights groups are spending resources attacking NRA rather than attacking gun control. It’s times like these that we realize our worst enemy is ourselves. And note how they have pre-thrown Harry Reid under the bus before we even know what he’s going to do with Feinstein’s bill in the Senate. If I were Reid, there would be a lot of reasons I wouldn’t want it to see the light of day, and a big reason I wouldn’t is that I can read, and I still want to be majority leader in 2015.
I’m not in any way suggesting that now isn’t the time for constructive criticism, or talking what strategies work. But infighting is not going to be helpful. The fact is that when we’re dealing with untested candidates, all we have to go in is what they’ve promised, and one reason Casey, for instance, lost his endorsement and had his grade lowered (I’d note Santorum had it in the 2006 race, when Casey gained his seat) is because Casey already made some moves that indicated he might be a liar.
I cannot answer for the group in question, but in the past we have had threads regarding the way the NRA would ride roughshod over dissidents in our own camp, rather than taking the time to either win them over, or just to “agree to disagree” on specific issues or tactics. That may be the energy-saving tactical approach to winning, in the short term, but even if 99 out of 100 dissidents then just shut up and go away, the one remaining will be an implacable enemy for the rest of their days, for the long term. I don’t know if that is what is at work here, but I would not discount it. (And yes, it too is short-sighted as tactics go.)
I don’t always agree with the NRA on everything, but fighting among ourselves is hardly worth the time and effort.
Dudley is a clown.
On Casey as liar; dated, but still relevant IMO:
“Why the gun owner vote didn’t do enough for Casey in Pennsylvania”
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=3456
“Little that Casey did during his campaign helped to assuage suspicions regarding his sincerity about gun rights. From the very first, he demonstrated a desire to stand a bit distant from many gun rights groups, except for those he thought he absolutely had to accommodate, or those that he thought would serve his purposes while asking no hard or non-negotiable questions.”
Hey, look- I’m a GOA man. 100% no compromise. But now is not the time for that. Especially when the NRA hasn’t even made any compromises lately! We can debate the gun rights strategy later, after this passes, or at least when they start compromising.
Isn’t this a ONE PERSON “movement” on social media? You know, an “association” that could have their national convention in a phone booth? I sent Manchin a email the day he spouted his “lets talk” statement. I imagine others did also. Seems he walked it back the next day. Reid? Who knows. He seems to be showing signs of alzheimers or at least his speechwriter is.
Actually it’s more. They’ve been operating since 2007 and a couple or so weeks ago I got a big 9×12 inch envelope with the return address “SENATOR RAND PAUL, POST OFFICE BOX 702, FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA, 22404”, although it was really “Mailed From Zip Code 20101”, and it was from these losers.
Two glossy sheets printed on both sides with 3 color pictures, plus a normal paper sheet in 2 colors (black and blue) one side with “survey” and begging sections, plus a no postage return envelope. All with “Rand Paul”, the hook on this was the UN’s return to trying for that small arms treaty although it listed Team Obama’s other RKBA sins. Envelope had a generic Hillary quote on it in front, only on the envelope flap was the logo for the org.
It was unusual enough that I saved it, I’d never heard of them before but they’ve obviously got a non-trivial budget. They say they’re a 501(c)4 org, and a quick check with the usual sites has IRS 990 forms filed for 2007-2010.
Looking at the 2010 one, name and address of principle officer is one Dudley Brown, PO BOX 27, WINDSOR, CO 80550. Not exactly a small time operation that year, contributions and grants of $1.65 million that year, $432 thousand the year before. Almost all that money was spend on “EDUCATION OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS ON THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS”, $1.33 million, $137,110 on salaries that year, none the year before.
OK, Dudley Brown is Executive Director, reported an average of 62 hours worked per week (!; almost everyone lies starting above 45 hours per week), but only got $33K. Non-compensated officers are David Warrington, President, Christina Jeffery, Secretary, Tom Campbell, Treasurer.
Other people mentioned in previous years (and those list their addresses): 2007: Kathy Tate, Director-at-Large, 2008: Lucius B O’Dell, role not mentioned but he claimed 50-60 hours and got $10K, Dudley Brown 15-20 hours and no compensation (it was $5K the year before and $3K the next, no one is officially making a lot of money off this, but we know how that game can be played).
Expenses each year, 2007 $64K, 2008 $138K, 2009 $413K, 2010 $1.55 million.
Their 2010 contributions came from “Federated campaigns” (not dues, events, etc.) Total expenses for the year that stand out are Internet Marketing at $557K, Mailing $486K, Direct Lobbying $119K, and Telemarketing $52K. They ended the year with $150K in cash, up from $47K at the beginning.
I’m pretty sure they got my name and address from my 2012 political contributions, perhaps a data broker cross-referenced a list with gun people, I haven’t been getting anything of the latter nature by snail mail for a while.
(Side note if you’re looking at 990 forms, the website has this: “The Foundation Center has been notified of an IRS processing error affecting electronically filed
Forms 990 for filing years 2007, 2008, and 2009. (Note that Forms 990-PF and 990-EZ are not
affected.)” That doesn’t affect this org since its forms for those years were 990-EZs and were paper in the first two years anyway.)
Think of all the issues that Reid has either enthusiastically supported or at the very least quietly rubber stamped a lot of people wanted to believe meant electoral disaster for democrats – Obamacare, no budget for going on 4 years, exploding debt, chronic double-digit unemployment, just to name the most obvious. All these and more would have inspired sane voters to drive him from office years ago. I hardly think it’s completely out of the question that Reid could look at trying to confiscate every privately owned semi-automatic firearm in the country and say “yeah, I can weather that storm.” Especially if he does it 2 years before the next Senatorial election.
I hear you. That’s why everyone is on a knife’s edge. The smart politics say something, but everything we think of as smart politics has been turned on its head.
I think the issue is that the media still has a lot more influence that we would like to imagine.
So you would prefer Majority Leader Schumer?
Dudley’s NAGR e-mails are filtered into the bitbin right at my server. NAGR does exactly nothing active to support gun rights and all Dudley seems to do personally is send links to news that is at least three days old along with a request to send him money. Get bent.
Speaking of reading, when I started looking through the ban proposal on DiFi’s Senate page I ended up being up until OMG-thirty destroying her “proof” of the effectiveness of the 1994 AWB. Got up and made it pretty later this morning and am sending both electronic and dead tree versions to Casey, Toomey, and Barletta. I’ve also publicly posted my work and am offering it for anyone who wishes to forward it to their local Congresscritters.
http://pc3c.org/files/feinstein_fisking.pdf
I knew that the “proof” was going to be bad, but I didn’t think it would be as terrible as it was. It seriously pains me to see people who apparently “earned” doctorates engaging in research methodology that would have gotten me held back in high school…
I like your blog. As a dem gun owner it is one of the few the gun blogs that I read because you seem intelligent and don’t default to the “gawd darn Kenya socialist gonna take our guns mode”.
One thing we do disagree on (besides general party affiliation) is the nra. Since Heller, the nra, to me at least, has seemed more interested in scaling up membership by appealing to the tea party than doin any real activism for us. I live in dc and the two people who have done the most to advance gun rights in the last decade are a lawyer pushing a case that the nra initially opposed and a reporter asking the most simple questions while the nra kept giving lip service to the issue but doing nothing . They were too busy giving gold plated rifles to Sarah Palin and selling out Harry Reid to appease these new members.
But that was then. we need to look forward. The onus is kn the nra to show that all the dues, all the faith their membership has given them is worth it.