The GOP and their political apparatus can always be counted on to run for cover and hide when the going gets tough. They are, at best, fair-weather friends to the Second Amendment. The great source of NRA’s power is derived from its membership, to harken back to an old post on the sources of NRA’s power. In addition to its membership, there’s a much larger pool of people who are influenced by NRA’s opinions but may not be currently paying dues (and thus not counted as members). I’ve seen polls suggesting this is as many as 33 million people.
So how much does ALEC turning chicken shit hurt? That depends entirely on NRA’s membership. If members stay active an engaged, this is at worst a minor setback. If NRA membership buy the notion, peddled in the media, that there are no threats to gun rights, that we’ve won, already, then this is a harbinger of the pendulum swinging back, NRA losing influence, and the insanity of groups like CSGV and the Brady Campaign carrying the day.
“So how much does ALEC turning chicken shit hurt?”
Can you translate this more for us?
You’re assuming ALEC had much influence with getting gun bills introduced, which I doubt.
NRA can draft “model” gun laws, then give those drafts to legislators who in turn have the state bill drafting commission write up the actual bill. Your taxpayer dollars are already paying for this service.
I believe what Sebastian is referring to is the reported “fact” that ALEC was instrumental in getting the Stand-Your-Ground law introduced and passed in Florida. I don’t know the history, so put fact in quotes. If true, I don’t think it’s a terrible thing, but rather a good idea for an organization to try to move similar legislation in multiple States.
The announcement he links to would lend credence to the idea that they are trying to distance themselves from non-economic (to include self-defense law) issues. The trigger for such an announcement would appear to be the Zimmerman/Martin case.
ALEC isn’t really a big deal for us. You must remember that the real target wasn’t gun laws. It was things like Voter ID and their free market laws. The Zimmerman/Martin shooting was just a convenient story that the hard Left could pay CSGV and Brady to gin up controversy over. The hard Left progressive orgs got what they wanted out of this. ALEC is dropping out of Voter ID, so they will stop paying the gun haters. Once again they are cast adrift to raise their own funds.