by Don McDougall
United States -(AmmoLand.com)- Gun owners are leaving the Democrat party. That decline in people who identify as Democrat is due to their attacks on gun ownership and the 2nd Amendment.
They may never go back and will not ever vote against gun rights. The anti-gun left will tell you the NRA is made up white guys over 60. 15+ years ago they were right. Today and over the past 15-20 years, the make-up of the NRA has changed. This has ramifications for the upcoming election and the nation as a whole.
So what does the NRA membership look like today?
- 40% women
- 40% minority mostly Asian and Hispanic men and women.
- Sure, the rest are a lot of white guys but the average age is down from 60 to 40-45.
The NRA is more inter-racial, younger and looks a hell of a lot more like America than the anti-gun left would have you think. The gun grabber like Hillary and her ilk are stuck in the 1990’s.
They see the NRA as it was 25-30 years ago. Old – White – needing to lose 30 lbs. They’re simply wrong. The NRA looks like America because it IS made up of average Americans.
Why are the gun banners so wrong? They confuse race with cultural assimilation. The Hispanic families or Vietnamese families that moved here 20-30 years ago have children who are Americans. These new Americans have American dreams listen to American music and are in fact slightly more conservative than their peers and parents. The women are the fastest growing demographic of new gun owners. The apparent assumption that anyone of color or gender will stay a liberal and not assimilate into American culture or change their views is a mistake.
The NRA, NFL, NBA and music,…etc. These new immigrants do what all new immigrants do given the chance – they BECOME LIKE US, they BECOME AMERICANS!
So when the anti-gunners read this (and they do), they will tell you I’m lying. That it is safe for you to hate and vilify the NRA because it is all white and made us of racists who grind baby’s bones to make bread and murder cats as a sacrifice to the goddess Hooku. Oh, and according to many of the left we’re also all “latent homosexuals who worship guns as sexual objects.” The fact is we are all just average people who just want our rights protected and to be left alone.
The anti-gun left wants to define the NRA. They want to tell you who we are, what we believe and what we think. They are 180 degrees off and are incapable of accepting how wrong they are. This is why their insincere calls for gun control fail. This is why their lies fall on deaf ears. The anti-gunners feel safe attacking a group they felt was made up of old white guys.
But when their target audiences are women and minorities, and they make up 40% of the group being attacking they look like fools.
So how can I tell you what the NRA make up is? It’s simple, and while the anti-gunners are crying foul, I am sure of my association and my numbers. You see while the NRA proper does not count the race of their members the Friend of the NRA does. So consider this 1,100 events with an average of 150 people plus per event. The fact is 3% of the NRA members by count come to Friends of the NRA dinners and events. We PHYSICALLY SEE 3% of the NRA membership by count every year. Friends of the NRA raised $600,000,000.00 in the last decade or so for juniors’ programs and women’s programs. Not a dime goes to politics. Women on Target touched close to 1 million women, all 1st-time gun owners and now happy and productive NRA members.
The gun grabbers who think an organization as effective of the NRA and it’s charitable foundations do not know the make-up of their members are just deluding themselves.
Some final statistics that you need to know.
The NRA is 23% Democrat! Only slightly less than the national average for the general population! (The national average is 29% democrat.) The NRA supports ANY politician who respects the 2nd Amendment and the Constitution. They are not a left or right organization. Most of the NRA support goes to the GOP because the GOP supports the 2nd Amendment, not the other way around.
The most popular rifle used in high power competition? AR in all its forms. The gun the anti-gun left want to ban is the most commonly used centerfire rifle used competition today! I wonder if they know that?
Funny thing facts.
About Don McDougall:
Don McDougall is an NRA instructor and member of the Los Padres “Friends of the NRA” committee. If he’s not at the range, you will find him setting the record straight with on gun issues and gun safety on AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.
And could the writer of this fine piece of factfinding also publish the source of the raw data that led to these facts? Source citations are the first thing needed to produce facts that can be verified.
How did the writer get to his knowledge,for instance about ethnicity of the members, when the NRA does not publish its membership records?
If these demographics were factual the NRA would be boasting about these statistics anywhere they could, not hiding the data
Maybe they don’t see it as a big deal and they feel that brownie points are demeaning to minority groups.
Don I’m not sure why you are so concerned with what anti-gun elements think of the NRA because you are never going to please or satisfy them.You are playing their game by making a race issue out of our Constitutional right to bear arms.They want our guns gone then they take all our rights,you would not please them if every single member was non-White.But most importantly Don,why do you openly disparage White males and White males that are older?Your comments if said about any other race would get you fired and exiled from public life.Don’t play the Lefts aka Communists… Read more »
amen
The one common denominator I keep seeing here, over and over again is the absolute crap the left has bought into, the stunning ignorance of facts among these people.
It is a shame but it is what you get when a corrupt and biased MSM controls all the messaging along with the Progressive dominated educational system.
Sally… not sure what your point is here. There is absolutely NOTHING “disgraceful, disgusting and irresponsible” about legal gun ownership. When it comes to ANY firearm, there is only one (1) salient point… the only important issue is who is wielding that firearm, and why. All else is distracting and useless, smoke-blowing commentary. THERE (and nowhere else) is the entire issue that needs to be addressed. Remember that “common sense” is only common to those who actually HAVE it… you clearly are not included in that group, and I refuse to accept your (or anyone else’s) miserably-mistaken definition of it.… Read more »
This article cites no sources and so I cannot use it to learn from or to discuss with others. Did the author count NRA members himself, or what?
The poor spelling doesn’t help. Did anyone proofread, let alone fact check it?
I am sure with all the kmoney the FONRA has these defects could be corrected and a stronger case made.
Diversity is an issue because in 1967 the NRA supported the Mulford Act to deny blacks the right to carry firearms. It would be interesting to hear if they ever expressed regret over that decision.
What a lie.The Mulford Act was supported by both Dems and Repubs in California and merely outlawed the open carry of firearms in that state.It didn’t single out any race.Blacks were in fact carrying firearms and rioting and creating chaos across that state in the time frame in which the Act passed into law.Maybe learn not to be criminal,impulsive and violent and then we can all enjoy open carry again.We all know which group commits violent acts all out of proportion to their numbers,I’ll bet you know as well.(hint:Its not Whites or Asians).
Now THAT’s how you go about keeping the NRA so diverse. Well done, Claude.
I am a NRA member that in the last few years have been attending the Friends of the NRA local dinner. I would love to see tshirts as part of the signup package that say; I AM THE NRA on them, on the back print all the programs the. Let people see see that we are their neighbors and not just nuts that are fixed on overthrowing the government like the libtards want to make them believe.
Mike Douglass: Go tothe NRA store, use their contact list, and describe the T-shirt you want.
Close with your name and your NRA Membership number and type.
I do this when I make requests for new T-shirts, and I always get a prompt response. (My peeve is that I want more shirts with the slogan on the front.)
Jim H.
Endowment Member.
#1 I’m a WHITE MALE, NOT out of a test tube, I WAS BORN THIS WAY.
#2 You take away the 2nd amendment, you NO LONGER HAVE AMERICA.
#3 I for one is NOT FORCING any one to STAY in this GREAT COUNTRY. I suggest if you REALLY DONT like it here, there’s always CANADA. Fair WARNING, the rate and direction that Canada is going, it will BE just AS BAD if NOT WORSE than Mexico!
Your caps lock is shorting out.
I, like many others here, would love to see the sources of the information shared in this article. Specifically, where did you get those numbers since the NRA claims to not gather information about the race of their members.
For now, the number of people of color in the NRA can be gleened from pictures from their rallies…and needless to say not looking too good on the diverisity front…the pictures do not support the position that the NRA is now 40% people of color
You need to read the article a little more carefully. So how can I tell you what the NRA make up is? It’s simple, and while the anti-gunners are crying foul, I am sure of my association and my numbers. You see while the NRA proper does not count the race of their members the Friend of the NRA does. So consider this 1,100 events with an average of 150 people plus per event. The fact is 3% of the NRA members by count come to Friends of the NRA dinners and events. We PHYSICALLY SEE 3% of the NRA… Read more »
The source cited in the article, the “Friends of the NRA” dinners are family events with wives and lady friends staring boringly at their drinks during the raffles and auctions. A significant percentage of attendees are also guests, quite likely non-member guests, of sponsors who buy tables (Ask me how I know? I’ve been one…).
It says NOTHING about the Membership of the NRA, much less the active membership.
Anyone who’s been to the NRA Annual Meeting can testify to the “diversity”…. Revolvers owners AND Semi-automatics are both well represented.
“I, like many others here,” would like to know why “diversity” is even an issue here? The NRA does not hold itself out to be exclusive to any race, gender, religion or any other demographic for that matter. Whether your NRA membership is d/t an interest/aficionado of firearms, a 2nd Amendment supporter, wanting to keep current on gun safety protocol/devises, all are welcome, none are discouraged from membership.
The one thing you’ll not see, you will not see criminals nor people who own guns ILLEGALLY as members.
How is the NRA able to weed out criminals? Please share your wisdom!
Jeez guys. Ur making it so obvious that ur mostly liberals leaving anti NRA comments. And ur voter registration information is public information. U don’t have to sign a release, or verbally offer it, because it’s public. Sorry to squash ur liberal ass opinions. But u are wrong again. ..as always. Bit of advice. ..educate yourself before u open ur mouth about something u don’t know. Makes u look stupid!
A statement is made that the NRA is not a left or right organization. Then every time the left is mentioned it is about gun grabbing lefties or lefties being anti guns. The author is either totally hypocritical or doesn’t realize that many Democrats own guns.
Did you pay attention when you read the article? Or did you not even read it before you commented. It says many liberals area becoming, and are members.
Correct.
I hope Ammoland is cashing checks on the NRA Propaganda article series….
In central Wisconsin, heart of deer country 30 years ago 75 high schoolers took hunter safety class ,this year 17, guess the iPad has taken over.
This guy is just another anti-White who wants to get a head pat by anti-White ruling elites. He is also 100% full of BS, there is no way the NRA isn’t 90% White!
I agree this guy is an idiot. I don’t know if the NRA is 90% white but it’s at least 80-90% white. Plus,I’ve been an NRA member since ’75 and I never remember being asked what my political party affiliation was. I don’t know if McDougall has mental problems or is just a moron. Maybe both !
Right on Tex!
Mr. McDougall,
Did you get your proctologist to pull these numbers for you?
Here are some actual facts for you:
1) The NRA doesn’t release membership demographics (probably because they DON’T HAVE them)
2) The NRA does not ask their members for demographics with their application (send us the money!)
3) Any subsequent request for demographic information (say, by email) would be voluntary and skewed anyway
And, really? “Mostly Asian and Hispanic men and women”? Wouldn’t want that minority membership to sound too threatening to your readers, now would we? My 5-year-old nephew is better at making up stories.
Obviously you didn’t read the article… “friends of the NRA” dinners DOES observe demographics… re read the article and come back with a legitimate argument.
This is a self-serving piece of puffery and you are all sheep. Who you are and what you believe is irrelevant. It’s what you DO that matters. You own guns. You shoot. NOT COOL. And seriously? “Ammo Land”? Shameful, all of it.
My firearms are my most valued possession. All 38 of them ! Sometime next week it’s going up to 39 with an additional 3K rounds of various ammo calibers. You see,I’m what you irrelevant liberals call a GUN NUT ! Proud,White,and Right ! ‘TEXAS,LIKE A WHOLE OTHER COUNTRY’ !
@VS It is what we DO that matters. Many of us have spent the majority of our lives defending you, and your Free Speech Civil Right. We are undeserving of your insults. And our Civil Right to keep and bare arms is not dependent upon your opinion of what is COOL.
Off topic, but ONE concept should end the arguing.— Have you ever heard of a government that banned it’s own ARMED FORCES from “Keeping and Bearing” ARMS? Find one government in the history of humanity that felt a need to document a “RIGHT” for it’s ARMED FORCES to possess ARMS. Hundreds of governments have banned their Citizens from “keeping and bearing ARMS” but NEVER has a government banned It’s TROOPS from doing so. The claim that the Government wrote the 2nd Amendment to give Our ARMED FORCES a “right” to carry ARMS is S-T-U-P-I-D. The only reason for the Second… Read more »
USA banned troops from carrying weapons on bases; only with special permission from a CO; look up Ft Hood and Wa. Navy Yard
This is great information if it’s accurate. Do you have a citation for these nice round numbers? Does the NRA have a release with this information or did you get this data somewhere else?
If you have never been to the NRA convention then I highly recommend it. Last year in Nashville was a great time. It is in Louisville this year. If you are into guns then you will have a great time. We make it a family event and actually use it as a mini family reunion.
Gee, 40% female, 40% Black & Hispanic… 20 % white males… guess the NRA doesn’t need my dues anymore…
As a 50 year old NRA instructor, who happens to be black, I am happy to say that all 3 of my kids are excellent marksmen(rifle, pistol & shotgun), great students and proud Americans. We will never vote for a sleazy democrat. They are racists and believe that we can not participate as Americans without their help and pity. We study hard, work hard and contribute to the betterment of the USA as all other Americans should; that’s why we can’t be democrats(they only want victims). We are the NRA and we stand with RAND! #LFOD! Live free or die!!
If the Hispanic and Asian numbers are 40% that is significant. As of 2015 the total of Hispanic, Latino, and non Hispanic Asian was 21.2% of the population. I’ll be glad if it is true but I am skeptical. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/
5WarVeteran – At one time I read about a half-dozen different gun magazines, to include The American Rifleman. All of them contained advertisements, else they would be unaffordable. If you don’t like any of the NRA magazines you can call 1-877-NRA-2000 and decline having any sent to you. For what you want I would suggest Guns Magazine and/or American Handgunner. Hopefully, very few members join the NRA just for the magazine. I hope most of my fellow members have joined to help the NRA-ILA fight for our Second Amendment rights. That phone number is also good for either joining or… Read more »
The NRA’s job is not to teach gunsmithing. The NRA’s job- the part you mostly don’t see- is the work behind the scenes in the form of lobbying. The NRA, like any other large organization isn’t perfect- like how they seriously under estimated I-594 in Washington State. They were too little, too late and allowed 2.9 million law abiding citizens to get screwed. But they LEARNED from it and corrective action is now being taken.
Discounting only suicides (that means including murders, justifiable homicides, and intra-gang/inter-gang warfare)… the US firearms-related per-capita death toll is still only 3 per 100,000 citizens. That ranks 26th in the world. There are twenty-five other countries – some in Europe, and all having draconian-strict anti-gun laws – in which citizens are at higher “real-world” risk of being a shooting victim than US citizens. [Those numbers are certified by the FBI and the CDC, and are not “massaged” propaganda… by anyone.] . Interestingly, if the ghetto (gang warfare) statistics – from just nine US cities (all with harsh gun-control laws already… Read more »
“The specious assumption that anyone of color or gender will stay a liberal and not assimilate into American culture or change their views is a mistake.”
This line is pure gold!
What’s the source for those demographic figures?
They are pulled directly from his ass.
Meanwhile here in IL: ISRAs Richard Pearson helps recruit Otis McDonald for the Supreme Court lawsuit against the city of Chicago. When the U.S. Federal Court in Chicago totally overturns IL’s concealed weapons statute, Pearson and NRA contract lobbyist Donald Todd Vandermyde cut a deal with the anti-gun Chiefs of Police to put Duty to Inform w/ criminal penalties in Rep. Brandon Phelps HB183 “NRA backed” carry bill. If you’re old, white, live in Chatsworth IL and know the secret Masonic handshake like Pearson, DTI “won’t be a problem” because the police are your friends, and “we’re the good guys.”… Read more »
The only reason I do not like the NRA is because of all the cheesy marketing and celebrity nonsense. JUST LIKE THE AARP! I joined the NRA a year ago and it took them 9 months to send a membership card. My son joined at the same time and we opted for different magazines and when they arrived the covers were a bit different but the majority within was the same. They lack quality material and focus on the really old stuff. Very little information with MEAT. Personally I do not want a magazine trying to sell me Zoyzia grass… Read more »
Even though the truth is out here, most Dummiecrats either can’t read, can’t hear, don’t care, stupid, or all four. Take away the 2nd Amendment and gun ownership and Mr. and Mrs. Democrat you WILL BE A SLAVE!
f***k your simple minded views no one wants your guns I support gun laws but no one needs a f*****g .50 cal for hunting or whatever bulls**t you’re doing with it. that’s just f****ing retarted you people give gun owners a bad name and yes I do own a pistol to protect my family I live in New York and have a C&C
IP: 67.246.154.113
Nunya… possessing a carry license while living in New York tells the rest of us a great deal about you. But why are you laboring under the delusion that someone gave your ignorant ass the ability to arbitrarily change the Bill of Rights into the Bill of Needs? I am armed – with MY selection of firearms – by choice… MY intentional, rational, reasonable, intelligent, informed, and coherent choice! You, sir, are cheerfully invited to go commit an act of auto-eroticism… and neither you nor anyone else will ever even attempt to make/enforce choices for me and my family (at… Read more »
The elections of 2016 will show that our gun rights are our number one priority in the US. The democrats will go down in flames and it will take many yrs. for them to recover what 8 yrs. of Obama and the gun grabbers have tried to ram down our throats and tell us what we think and feel.
Amen!
That is f**king retarded. If gun rights are your number one priority, you need to check your morals and beliefs because we have many more things in our lives that should be more important than our f**king guns.
IP 71.8.143.60
Our “f**king guns,” as you refer to them… ARE the number one priority, specifically because gun ownership is the ONLY reason we remain a free republic… where we can indeed have “many important things” to devote our attention, time, and effort to, in the first place. If the country itself isn’t secure, other things (food, clothing, shelter, jobs, family relationships, etc etc etc) won’t mean a damnable thing.
Please explain how owning guns can make country free republic? Also how do the British maintain their republic without such large gun ownership? Thanks in advance for your explanation.
Are you really that uneducated on history? Why limit your example to the uk. How about Ukraine recently? Crimea, Georgia, a good portion of the middle east and Africa over the last 30 years, Vietnam most of last century and the entire world the first half of last century. Use your head. There are legitimate concerns for gun ownership. Your question is not one of them…
@Dan… owning guns does not MAKE a country a republic. Owning guns KEEPS an already-existing republic free!
Britain is not a republic… it is a Parliamentary Monarchy (and Britain’s citizens do not enjoy the control over their government, nor the ability to defend themselves from a burgeoning crime rate, that American citizens now have).
@JoeUSooner:
Britain has much lower levels of violent crime per capita, and a much lower percentage of those violent crimes committed by youths. We also have much lower suicide rates, and lower percentage people living in fear of violent crime.
What’s more, we have proportional representation in government.
How do we manage this without guns?! Mind-blowing, really.
If you’re trying to make a point about Britain, you fell flat on your face.
you do have a NAVY, ARMY, ROYAL MARINES EXT.
but your CITIZENS for the better part are UNARMED.
and you have a SERIOUS MUSLIM problem due to your STUPID LEADERS.
we have the SAME STUPID LEADERS, but at least AMERICANS can DEFEND OURSELVES EVEN AGAINST OUR OWN TYRANNICAL GOVT AND MUSLIMS WHEN THE SHTF.
and make NO MISTAKE, IT IS COMING.
@Joe and OV, Yep, inconsequential British trolls… but I repeat myself. We have a more dangerous enemy of Constitutional Civil Rights to deal with. These trolls have no power or influence. They can howl like the coyotes in my woods at night and have the same effect. That a$$ hole at CitiCorp he is deserving of all the attention that we can give him.
I’m very glad there’s still people like Don around to bring us the truth because there’s so many people that are willing to trade their freedoms for what they might think is additional safety.lets be reminded that large, over regulated, Democrat controlled cities like New York & Chicago have more gun murders per capita then other cities where C&C is protected by law.Why? Because the bad guys don’t know if your carrying your weapon. Savvy…
My mind is made up-don’t confuse me with the facts!!!!
who cares what the make up of the NRA is? gun ownership is declining period. 80% of gun owners are above the age of 50. While blacks are significantly more likely than whites to be gun homicide victims, blacks are only about half as likely as whites to have a firearm in their home (41% vs. 19%). Hispanics are less likely than blacks to be gun homicide victims and half as likely as whites to have a gun at home (20%). rural residents and older adults are disproportionately more likely than other Americans to have a gun at home. 51%… Read more »
You’re right about one thing. The underlying theme on both sides of this issue is that no level of “Gun Control” – created or yet to come – can and nor will do anything to curb that one aspect in human society that never changes; murder. Percentages notwithstanding – statistics are easily manipulated – the taking of a human life by another person is what we’re talking about here. Consider for a moment, one, Gary Ridgway, AKA “The Green River Killer”. Gary Ridgway murdered more innocent people by himself than were lost at Columbine, Aurora, Sandy Hook, and San Bernardino… Read more »
WHY?? FOR GOD’S SAKE, does the NRA opposes the ban of semiautomatic weapons? Or any weapons and devices that can be transformed into a semiautomatic or automatic weapon, for that matter? These are COMBAT WEAPONS!
Tell me, WHY DOES THE CIVIL POPULATION NEED TO CARRY COMBAT WEAPONS???
Take a deep breath, and do not “swoon” when you discover that you are mistaken. You have been lied to! Like many other Americans, you have accepted those lies… but you should not have. ARs are civilian rifles, NOT “combat weapons.” You (and the general public) have been lied to. No military in the entire world uses ARs. You (and the general public) have been lied to. No US troops have carried semi-automatic rifles into combat in over 60 years. You (and the general public) have been lied to. The Bill of Rights is not a list of “needs,” but… Read more »
Please stop ending your sentences with prepositions. Please.stop.
I don’t care what you want to call it, what it is defined as, and who does and doesn’t have one or use one; it doesn’t matter! What we’re talking about here is what the gun is capable of doing and how many innocent people have been deprived of their freedom and their lives because they have been killed by one of these beauties. This lovely gun spit out 150 bullets in 6 minutes in Parkland….and more in Vegas. All at innocent people…..Get it? And your concerned that you may not be able to go (ie.) target shooting?!!! Disgraceful, disgusting… Read more »
Yes, some actions really do endanger others, and the ability to take such actions CAN/MIGHT endanger others. But no law is broken by potential, and only when an action really does harm someone is the actor punishable. And in this country, the innocent are not to be punished at all. Actually, Sally, the Federalist Papers clearly indicate that it is NOT illegal to yell “fire” in a theater (for instance). With only a few very-specific limitations, the right to speak, by itself, is perfectly legal. It is any bad consequences (!) that result from your speech that get you prosecuted.… Read more »
Well done Joe. Point by point and pleasant about it.
Your ignorance is apparent. Educate yourself before you open your mouth and are ignored by anyone who knows what they are talking about. There are no ‘combat weapons’ carried by civilians.
Just curious, if an AR15 is just like any other gun, then why not just own the other gun and get rid of the AR15? Then everybody is happy.