Category: Gun Rights Organizations

I’m going to start an open thread here on the topic of how to improve the National Rifle Association. People from NRA read this blog, so there’s a good chance your suggestions will be seen by people who can influence the direction of the organization. It’s your chance to give feedback. If I think your suggestion is particularly good, I’ll post it front and center as an update.

I’m going to ask that people offer serious suggestions, and not just engage in NRA bashing. Feel free to comment on other people’s suggestions, but let’s try to limit the topic to improving NRA.

Go!

Highlighted suggestions are below the cut.

Continue reading “How to Improve the NRA”

I’m disappointed to see Kim isn’t renewing his NRA membership over the whole Joaquin Jackson fiasco. Not nearly as disappointed as I am over what Joacquin Jackson said in that interview, and I will keep that in mind when his seat on the board comes up for a vote again. Kim says:

Looks like it’s going to be another year (or more) before the NRA sees any of my money, or my support. You NRA members may want to contact them with your thoughts on the subject. (I think that one of those NRA begging letters returned in the postage-paid envelope with a message scrawled in red ink saying: “Not Another Penny Till You Change Your Position On Assault Rifles!” would be a decent touch.)

Except NRA never changed their position on the assault weapons ban or magazine restrictions, and pretty much distanced themselves from that idea when they put out Jackson’s admittedly deficient statement on the whole matter.

Jackson is only one of 76 board members at NRA, it seems hardly fair to punish the entire organization over the action of one of them. It doesn’t make much sense to me either, because by allowing our memberships to lapse in NRA, or refusing to join the first place, we lose the one thing that would allow us to actually fix this situation; our right to vote for NRA board members. If you are unhappy with Jackson because of what he said, don’t vote for him next time. Quitting NRA because one of their board members said something stupid is like tearing up your voter registration card because your Congressman did something to piss you off.

Stay in the fight, and vote the bastards out!

SayUncle says he’ll join the NRA.   I hope he’ll join us in Louisville next year.   I had a great time last year, and it was a lot of fun to get to meet other bloggers like Sam and Denise, Dave Hardy, Dave Kopel, Michael Bane, and Cam Edwards, in addition to some other great minds of the gun rights movement like Steve Halbrook and Robert Cottrol.    Plus it’s one of the only places you’ll get to do things like talk with exhibition shooter Tom Knapp about the crappy weather as you’re heading from the hotel to the exhibition floor.

It’s a good time.  If you’re an NRA member, you should try to make it to at least one convention sometime.

I hate being a cheerleader for the NRA. I would love to be able to sit down with pro-gun people, and have a reasonable discussion about things that I think the NRA could be doing better, things I wish they wouldn’t do, and things I wish they’d pay more attention to.

But all too often I get the sense that a lot of people are more interested in flinging poo at the NRA than they are at fighting gun control. There’s even an active contingent of pro-gun people out there who believe that flinging poo at the NRA amounts to fighting gun control!

To me the NRA is like an annoying little brother; he sure does annoy you sometimes, and you wish he wouldn’t go off and get himself into trouble that you felt compelled to get him out of. But when the chips are down, family is family, and you do what you have to do.

To the extent that the pro-gun movement is a bickering family, we’re healthy, and I don’t worry. But as soon as it turns into the Hatfields vs. McCoys, we’re in serious trouble. Too many people want to make this a feud, and it gets tiring. I can think of no better way to enable a resurgent anti-gun movement than to spend energy fighting each other.

Tom King of the NYSRPA has a new blog over at Albany Times-Union, where Robyn Ringler also blogs.   This follows up on Scott Bach of ANJRPC getting a blog along aside Bryan Miller.  It’s good to see the leadership in two states that aren’t friendly to gun owners taking up the banner and keeping the gun control folks on their toes.

Great find on the part of Thirdpower, who comments that Tom will probably allow free comments, unlike Robyn.

A lot of people on forums have been pointing out this video by Joaquin Jackson:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=uSGySNLyACE[/youtube]

Jackson released a statement through NRA about this video here, where he says:

In the interview, when asked about my views of “assault weapons,” I was talking about true assault weapons – fully automatic firearms. I was not speaking, in any way, about semiautomatic rifles. While the media may not understand this critical distinction, I take it very seriously. But, as a result, I understand how some people may mistakenly take my comments to mean that I support a ban on civilian ownership of semiautomatic firearms. Nothing could be further from the truth. And, unfortunately, the interview was cut short before I could fully explain my thoughts and beliefs.

…

But that comment should never be mistaken as support for the outright banning of any ammunition magazines. In fact, such bans have been pursued over the years by state legislatures and the United States Congress and these magazine bans have always proven to be abject failures.

I can accept that people misspeak at times, but that’s one hell of a misspeak! Folks have been calling for Jackson to be fired, or for the NRA to do something about him, but they can’t. Jackson is a board member. He serves on the board because NRA’s voting members have elected him to it. All we can really do is not elect him to another term when his term is up.

Others have called for the Zumboing of Jackson, which I don’t think makes sense. Jackson is not an outdoor columnist, or television personality. He has no sponsors. Plus, Jackson isn’t quite the hunting icon that Jim Zumbo is. Zumbo’s statements were dangerous precisely because of the audience he reached; an audience the anti-gun people have been trying to woo and pretend to speak for. Jackson represents law enforcement, and law enforcement have never been consistent RKBA allies.

I’m inclined not to get too worked up over this incident, and to consider both Jackson’s statement here, and his clarification when he’s up for the board again. Don’t get me wrong, I think what he said on Texas Monthly was pretty bad, but so have some of the accusations flying around about Jackson being anti-gun, or being a liberal gun controller. Let’s keep what he said in mind when elections come around, but let’s not get unhinged over this.

I noticed this NRA press release that was put out Friday:

So, what can you do to counter this PR stunt? Of course, any type of pro-gun counter protest would be covered with the media’s typical anti-gun bias, if it was covered at all. But there is a way we can speak directly to the American people to set the record straight on gun bans, gun rationing, and other anti-gun proposals.

Through a massive and coordinated blitz of letters to the editor of our local newspapers in the days and weeks leading up to the August 28 demonstrations, we can speak directly to American citizens and our elected officials with the facts straight from the mouths of voting constituents.

This isn’t a bad idea, really, in the days and weeks leading up to the protests on August 24th, except for one thing. The date on the release says:

Friday, August 24, 2007

It’s a little late to get letters into the editor out for inclusion by next Tuesday. This release should have gone out weeks ago. Then there would have been time.

SayUncle points to another potential false flag operation.  A quick look at the TRCP, and I don’t think that this is another AHSA, meaning, I don’t think this is a group that intended to push gun control, and founded by anti-gunners.

It would appear this group is funded largely by the unions, probably in order to weaken NRA, yes, but not because TRCP necessarily want gun control, but because the NRA supports Republicans, who are anti-union, more than Democrats.

This is a group to keep an eye on, because, as I’ve said before, a weak NRA mean disaster for our cause.  Whether that weakness from because of groups like AHSA or TRCP is of little matter.  You can bet TRCP will steer away from the gun issue if it’s not something that will affect hunters.  If they are successful at stripping away NRA members, particularly in states where unions are still somewhat relevant, like Pennsylvania, it could be the best thing CeaseFire Pennsylvania or the Brady Campaign could ask for.

We talked a month or so ago about the NRA arming kids, in that case, 16 year old Katie Bush, who is a trained sharpshooter.  Well, the NRA is continuing its dastardly plot for teaching our nation’s children the safe and responsible use of firearms.  Their treachery clearly knows no bounds.

Congratulations Garrett Cranney, the award is well deserved.