Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Know any gunwriters that aren't NRA?

That is where I am now.

I was like the earlier poster who bought the Life Membership on the $25 monthly plan -- I was a young sailor man then but I could see the value of the organization. $25 was a lot for me then. I still see the value, and I can see the warts too. I think all shooters should belong at some level. Folks need to notice that there are two distinct places to send your money: NRA and NRA Institute for Legislative Action. I do send the ILA $ for special purposes.

jim

Why don't you enlighten us? If you think executives of major corporations don't make millions of dollars you aren't aware of corporate America. I know of the many accomplishments made by the NRA. Perfect, certainly not. What organization or individual is. Every one is entitled to opinions. Have a great day.

Well, it looks like we will never get back to the original question.

But we're not talking about a corporation. We're talking about an organization that is dedicated to preserving our 2A rights. You want enlightenment? Read Feldman's book. If you can get past his whining, the substance is worth consideration. I don't expect the NRA to be perfect, but I DO expect them to do the job that they purport to do.

Like all big organizations, they have fallen into a malaise and are resting on their laurels. They don't take on the big challenges or rock the boat because they like being the big dog in DC. They don't want to threaten their status. For these and other reasons, I send my money to local groups that defend the 2A. They are affiliated with the NRA, but I can effect them directly with my opinions and donations.

The silver lining is that the Gang of Three that are running for President may well force the NRA to shake off the rust and get active again.

I look at it like the NRA is our "prize fighter" that's doing the big fighting for us. You have to feed it, train it, and do a lot of maintenance on it to keep it in fighting shape. Yeah, they mail a bunch of crap, but I just throw it away and keep my quarterly donations ( I am a life member ) going in religiously. Take care.........

We wouldn't be hashing this over on this board if it wasn't for the NRA. Get real about politics, and (re)join the NRA. Warts and all, it's all we've got.

I'll second that!

I took my Life Membership around 89-90 when I was a Junior, on my dime. There was a lot of solicitation at that level. I upgraded to Endowment about 7 years ago and, as others have said, rarely see anything other than the monthly publications. This post got me to thinking about what the NRA does, I wish it where more, so I decided to upgrade to Patron. I'm just a blue collar worker, with a bunch of kids, so I'm pretty sure that most can contribute.

For those of you who bich about the junk mail, give me a break! I bet you have not stopped shopping at all the local establishments that send you unsolicited advertisement! If you enjoy shooting and firearms, and don't belong...YOU SUCK! FAKE and PHONY are words that come to mind. Not a statement of fact, just my opinion. If we cast off everything that was not to our complete satisfaction we would not watch TV, have a wireless phone, drive a car, read any publication or book, etc, etc. So take your forthcoming weak-arsed argument about your pet peeves with the NRA down the hall to someone who gives a schit. If you can put up with imperfection in most everything that you pay for in the other parts of your life, you should be able to in this case. I don't mean to be offensive here, just trying to give a little food for thought about all the weak arguments some make. Where it not for the NRA, I do believe this to be a FACT, however unprovable, you would not be able to legally own any firearm at this time.

edited to add: I don't know any gun writers. Felt a strong urge to express my feelings on the matter.

Well-said, if not elegantly.

Regarding the NRA naysayers: It is always interesting to read the notions of those looking for every excuse to refuse to spend anything beyond the absolute minimum necessary to please themselves.

The $25 (in election years) or $35 required to join the NRA doesn't even cover their expenses. I do not agree with everthing the NRA does (or any of the other shooting organizations I belong to) I still try to give them enough "extra" money to keep fighting.

MD,
I just renewed my subscription for the big three. Put in the good word for me on the elk hunt. You might be able to give me some pointers on more socially accepted variations on telling it how it is (to me).

I too let my membership lapse.

In 1975 I was watching ABC's notorious broadcast about hunting. The theme was that all hunters were evil. Some of the scenes were obviously faked. It was time to take a stand. I thought I had just over $100 in my checkbook.

So I wrote out a check for $100 and sent it with a note to "NRA, Rhode Island Avenue, Washington, D.C. please forward." The note said I was fed up and wanted to be a Life Member and if they needed more money, let me know. (At the time this cost $125 but they never billed me for the $25.)

Now I get a magazine every month. Doing that for 32 years costs more than $100. So they send me a solicitation once in awhile. So what? Every so often I send them some money, usually to the ILA. To do otherwise would be dishonorable.

Every Sunday my local newspaper contains at least FIVE POUNDS of unsolicited ads for sales etc.

Anyone who quits the NRA because of solicitations should be ashamed of themselves. Anyone who is a shooter or hunter and does not belong to the NRA should ask themselves if they are a freeloader.

And yes, if we had 10 or 20 million members, we could kick the Hillarys and Obamas right out of the Congress. And then you would not get solicited as often.

Anyone who won't help with the heavy lifting should not criticize the way others do it.

It's not the money for dues. It's a bit more comprehensive than that......and goes back a long ways. Probably expressed more specifically in this 1995 NRA resignation letter.

The NRA is not a popular organization with a majority of gun owners. Yes, a majority. Because it costs too much? Doubtful....

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950711/07110002.htm

Instead of trying to corral some of the anti-government dissidents within the NRA ranks and give them cause to take a more positive and constructive approach to national firearms management and utilization, the NRA has chosen to encourage societal misfits to become even more paranoid and active in anti-governmental, militant and separatist activities and to arm themselves to be ready for some kind of insurrection against the government. The NRA has chosen to encourage intolerance of anyone who does not share the new principles of the NRA. That is bigotry of the highest order.

I work as a volunteer at outdoor & gun shows & meet a lot of shooters & hunters. The number one reason I hear constantly, when discussing the NRA & if a hunter, SCI memberships, is I'm not spending the money now. That translates into - let some one else spend their money. Its simply complacency. When I get the opportunity to discuss what the organizations accomplish I usually get a member. When I talk with members of rural hunt clubs that I am a member of, I hear an assortment of reasons. "When they allowed the ban of fully automatic weapons I didn't renew", "membership is to expensive & I didn't read the magazine", "NRA doesn't do any thing for me", "I only hunt", "I thought NRA was for shooters". Basically complacancy & ignorance.
I have never heard the rant you posted. Any one can find something wrong with any organization. Its a question of does the accomplishments out way the deficits. In my opinion, both NRA & SCI win this debate every time.

How about the McCarthy gun control bill HR 297? Are you in favor of it?

JMHO, but if every gun owner were a member of the NRA, and each member contributed just $5.00 a year, base on 80 million adult gun owners, that would put $400 million a year to the NRA's coffers to fight the antis and remove as many of them from office.
As to the target shooting JERK that wrote to the NRA because he didn't like their supporting ownership of "assault rifler", guess what numbnut, the Second Amendment was not about your target shooting hobby, nor is it about hunting or recreational shooting. Oh well, he isn't around to hear what I think.
Frankly, I'm not very happy about a lot of things the NRA is doing, but I'm not going to jump ship because of that.
Paul B.

The definitive NRA recruitment statement......

Wonder why there aren't 80 million members....

"How about the McCarthy gun control bill HR 297? Are you in favor of it?"

What is it?

I don't check in here often and post seldom, but couldn't resist going through every post in this thread. I fight the battle constantly with my gun owner friends. In their case it is apathy. They just don't get around to it. At least they vote. From what I read here, most gun owners don't bother. I have paid enough dues to be a life member but regretfully I am not one. I sign up every 5 years and usually get a discount. I also belong to GOA, 2nd Amendment Foundation and JPFO (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership). I'm not Jewish, but these guys are the pit bulls of gun rights organizations. I wish that only half of gun owners would join the NRA. There would be a panic in Congress the like we have never seen.

I hardly ever get a solicitation for $$ since I requested they not send them. I do get an occasional request from NRA-ILA and contribute when I can.

[/quote]

The definitive NRA recruitment statement......

Wonder why there aren't 80 million members.... [/quote]

The definitive cheapskate head in the sand gun lover statement...

No wonder their aren't 80 million members....

I let mine lapse as well,i'm certainly not rich in dollars and cents but i do have sense enough to see a leech when it tries to Dun me.Make yall a deal NRA i'll send you $20.00 if you'll leave me alone.