Opinion
USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- If you are a regular reader of AmmoLand News you’ve seen the flood of anti-NRA preachers are out in full force, one of the activists even said they hoped that Cuomo was successful in destroying the NRA!? So this leads many members to the questions… What does the NRA do? What has the NRA done, that no one else could do to keep your rights safe.
#1 – Without the NRA Hillary Would Be President. The NRA spent an estimated $100 million to get Donald Trump elected, and more than likely Al Gore would have defeated GWB a decade earlier if not for the leadership and votes of NRA members. The failure to stop either of those two events would have meant that by now an activist packed U.S. Supreme Court would have banned gun ownership and gutted the Second Amendment from our Bill of Rights.
While the story of Right to Carry is well known, many are not aware of the equally important success that the NRA had in advancing Firearm Preemption laws in state legislatures. These laws generally preclude local governments from enacting any additional regulations on firearms or ammunition beyond state law. Without firearm preemption, gun owners would be subjected to a patchwork of hundreds or even thousands of different sets of anti-gun laws in every state, county, and city.
With-out the NRA the Right to Carry would have been locked in at the original 8 states that approved it in ’86.
Currently, the NRA is working to enact Castle Doctrine legislation in the few states that don’t recognize it, and for improvements to existing Castle Doctrine laws in Alaska, Nebraska, and Washington. Just as the NRA has worked toward the day when all states allow all good citizens of age to carry firearms for protection, they will work until all states fully protect the right of law-abiding people to use force in defense of themselves and one another, without fear of prison or bankruptcy. Decent people have a right to nothing less.
Hunters have been benefited by the NRA, from rules that prevent the harassment of hunters to Land Preservation laws, that require the land designated for hunting be available for hunting with no restrictions. It was the NRA that stepped forward to protect our hunting heritage.
NRA Range Protection legislation helped stop liberal anti-gun politicians from simply zoning gun ranges out existence.
No Gun Confiscation during emergencies. We all saw after Katrina, when we needed our firearms the most, the local governments confiscated LEGAL gun owners’ firearms. Thanks to the NRA this will not happen again.
The NRA passed the often forgotten Firearms Owners Protection Act of ’86.
The FOP allowed for the Interstate Sales of long guns, like shotguns rifles, with certain exceptions. And as long as no local laws are broken then FOP made legal all the following:
- in-person interstate sales could only be performed with residents of an adjacent state, but all other sales need to go through FFL transfer
- makes it illegal for any individual or give a firearm to a person prohibited to use a gun
- prevents the government from forming a list of firearm owners from a dealer’s records
- limits the number of inspections by the BATF on a dealer without a search warrant
- allows FLL holders to participate in business away from their normal place of business
- allows the shipment of ammunition through the US Postal Service
- ends record keeping of ammunition except for armor piercing ammunition and explosives
- ended the FFL requirement imposed on ammunition only dealers
- stated that a person disposing of a personal firearm collection did not need an FFL
The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) is a United States federal law which protects firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products. PLCAA prevents states like New York from bankrupting firearms manufacturers with endless lawsuits. Note this is precisely what Governor Cuomo, backed by Ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg is trying to do to the NRA at this very moment but PLCAA does not apply to member organizations.
However PLCAA still allows manufacturers and dealers to be held liable for damages resulting from defective products, breach of contract, criminal misconduct, and other actions for which they are directly responsible in much the same manner that any U.S.-based manufacturer of consumer products is held responsible. They may also be held liable for negligent entrustment when they have reason to know a gun is intended for use in a crime.
Add to all this that the NRA is the Governing body for most all competitive shooting and college level competition in the US and that the NRA provides Safety Training to over 1 million people every year. The NRA leads the country in Police Firearms Training, and most Firearms Instructors Training and entry-level coaching are part of the NRA, and you can see the NRA currently does and has done a LOT for you and your 2nd Amendment rights.
So let’s be honest without the National Rifle Association you would have lost your right to own a firearm decades ago and the five million-plus members of the NRA, and still growing, support all of this.
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.
It seems that keeping up with never ending anti-gun legislation is a tail chase. I propose that the Second Amendment should be observed exactly the way it was meant; a national right and not to be abridged by individual states without a national consensus. Cases in point: California has made it law that certain guns be registered with the state. California has legislated that ammo purchases will be registered. California has legislated that a pistol style grip or an adjustable stock on a long gun shall be illegal. What is the NRA doing about these? In fact, if the NRA… Read more »
Ok people, here it is. Notice what Green Watch Dog tried to do here. First, he posted in a new thread hoping it would go unnoticed. Second, he did so hoping you would not be aware of previous citation that was presented to him. Third, He wants to flip the situation away from his crappy or non existent citation, so he is directly inserting a false narrative that he has asked for citation previously. Now please check out this site if you want to see why GWD hates me so much… https://www.gunfacts.info/gun-control-myths/children-and-guns/ This was the site I referenced in my… Read more »
Revelater, I provide the follow for others to read: “Fact: Suicide by firearm among American youth topped a 12-year high in 2013, with most of the deaths involving a gun belonging to a family member, according to a report from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence”. I could provide additional data (from < 100 other reliable sources), that is accepted, but I think you get the idea. Please stop dreaming while you are awake! You, my friend, pull data that either you dreamed up, or from or biased inaccurate sources. I have requested that you provide your source, but… Read more »
@GWD Ok, I love this lie. Where did you request that I provide a source? I would like a link to the article you are claiming I did this on and seem to be claiming multiple occurrences. Please include the date of the comment and the time stamp with the link. Lie number 2, you have attempted to use multiple sources in the past which were proven to be inaccurate, biased, or straight up hogwash. Alex Jones being a prime example. In each case your arguments were defeated and you ran away to try and lie elsewhere here. You state… Read more »
And GWD, who was active on the 27th, and yesterday evening(The 28th) as of 7:00 to 7:30PM at least by the posts I saw him make, shows once again that he lied. Unable to point to any previous argument(Unless he has planned to comment on one that has ended a while ago since the email alerts are down in order to hide it, he has once again turned tail and shown the yellow streak down his back. He got caught in a lie, as idiotic a one as he could, and when it didn’t turn out his way he does… Read more »
Revelatar,
I am not ignoring you, as I have responsibilities to attend to. Gun rights and safety in this county is an issue that we all need to work together with. My studies, work, and addressing personal matters take priority. Please note, I do have a sincere interest in the citizens in our country in being safe. Polls can be biased. However, I have always attempted to provide to this forum data from trusted reliable sources. The sources I have provided here have never been found to be misleading by any regulatory agency,or government inquiry. Thank you, The GWD,
There is no common ground there and we will not work together with you on infringing our rights. To this day, YOU HAVE NEVER PROVIDED THIS FORUM DATA FROM TRUSTED RELIABLE SOURCES. The Proof is in the pudding, and each time you tried to claim a source I was able to show why it wasn’t based on empirical evidence. Notice, you also did not address the citation of the article here to offer proof of the lie you made against me. You claim to busy with studies and work… I got news for you. I’m a single homeowner with a… Read more »
Ok people, Notice, “The sources I have provided here have never been found to be misleading by any regulatory agency, or government inquiry.” Here is how this lie works. It tries to appear reasonable, seem as though it makes sense. After all, if a biased politician won’t issue a ruling that his sources are “Misleading” then they must be honest right? This is why GWD does not like me. I use factual evidence to tear his sources apart piece by piece. His citation of Alex Jones. I used Alex Jones own words with video to show he’s an unhinged conspiracy… Read more »
Reply forthcoming, held up by moderation logarithms
The NRA spending millions in PA and Ohio in the run up to elections that put Trump in office is worth more than the price of membership alone. These are places that carried Obama that Hillary lost to Trump. We now have justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court and possibly a third appointment very soon.
While the NRA takes credit for the states that have liberalized their CC laws, will it also take credit for increasing the number of honest citizens who are in government controlled databases due to applying for and receiving CC permits?
The nra what nra ? I live in new jermany where we have no rights , no right to carry, are told to run away when thugs & murderers confront you.The nra has not helped us at all they turned their backs on us decades ago.They are pussies that fight the the weak and run away from the bully.WHAT nra ?
#1’s a baldface lie.
@annie Yes, and it is no different from Obama during his second term still trying to say all his failures were “inherited”. So far, there has been only one NRA board member/organization member who has been willing to admit that yes there are problems with the NRA right now that need fixed. That was Duane Liptak, but he also was making excuses for the bad behavior of the NRA as of late. If we could get them to stop focusing on shaming us and trying to force us to go along with the nonsense, maybe they could focus on fixing… Read more »
No it’s not a lie the fact that the NRA spends millions on elections helps immensely. Why are leftist gun controllers obsessed with the NRA and not other gun rights groups? Because the NRA is the gorilla in the room gun rights organization. Face the fact.
Predators take the weakest first…The symbiotic relationship with Progressives is that of the Parasite. Thus, they are predators.
RRangel You’ve been doing a lot of shoveling. Sorry, Donald Trump was elected for an entirely different reason, namely the fact that people were fed up with both parties and career politicians, and they voted for the guy telling them exactly what they wanted to hear. The NRA had nothing to do with that. Well, The leftists could also be obsessed with the NRA simply for the fact that it is the most well known group. It has name recognition. An objective(Evidence based) look at their actions shows that the NRA is definitely not the best group by far. So… Read more »
@Dubi McDougall I feel sorry for you Don. Your situation is getting worse every day, so lets be honest. “So let’s be honest without the National Rifle Association you would have lost your right to own a firearm decades ago and the five million-plus members of the NRA, and still growing, support all of this.” No Don. We might be fighting a different fight today, but we would not have lost our rights. They may have been suppressed, but not lost. In addition, you do not allow for the idea that without the NRA we may very well have gotten… Read more »
We would have lost our rights. This is very understandable to all but the most obtuse. The NRA represents a large voting block of members and even many millions of Americans who approve. This is why leftists fear it. Can you explain why the mainstream media and the leftist gun controllers constantly attack the National Rifle Association and not other pro gun groups? Please enlighten readers. The following is not even a great effort on my part it’s just off the top of my head: The NRA spent $5 million plus in 2018 on political lobbying on behalf of American… Read more »
And how would we have lost our rights? As stated, to all but the most obtuse, we may have been fighting a different fight today but our rights would still be the same.. You see, there is a difference between you and I. You believe that rights can be removed by men, and you think that men other than yourself can prevent that. I believe that Rights are Unalienable and our Constitution backs this up. Rights exist outside of the control of Government and are unending, though at times suppressed. Stop giving in and accepting what the Anti Gunners have… Read more »
I didn’t understand the FPA. My question…to anyone here is, how the he** did we in Kalifornia end up with Prop 63 (going into FULL effect in July 2019…infringement already here)? These are the last items on the list above…these are ALL violated by Prop 63 and its resulting regulations. Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2019/01/what-does-the-nra-do-anyway/#ixzz5d1oVmrDs Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook ends record keeping of ammunition except for armor piercing ammunition and explosives ended the FFL requirement imposed on ammunition only dealers stated that a person disposing of a personal firearm collection did not… Read more »
The NRA sent out a video back in 2014 claiming to support Open Carry right after it sent out a press release attacking people who openly carry firearms as “weirdos.” At the very same time the NRA sent out its video retraction, the NRA was in Federal court in the 9th circuit arguing to uphold California’s 1967 Loaded Open Carry ban (a ban it helped to write) as well as arguing in support of California’s Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1995 (Peruta v. San Diego). That case lost and so what did the NRA do? The NRA filed another lawsuit… Read more »
I’m a life member of both GOA and NRA. The latter has twice the membership of the former and there is a lot of overlap. Both organizations mobilize lots of voters. The NRA primarily by rating politicians and recommending who to vote for (or against). The GOA also does this, but in addition mobilizes a big write-in campaign whenever they see a problem impending. The Congress is significantly impacted by both approaches. The GOA is much more aggressive, in your face, and “no compromise” in their approach, while the NRA is much more likely to play the political game, which… Read more »
@ Oldshooter: Yes I’m a member of both groups. GOA sends me petitions to sign which are delivered to my representatives. Grassley responds to them, so I know that they are delivered. Most of my donations go to SAF, I think that they are doing the best work.
bwahahahahahahaaaaaa Wacko. retch
For those who are not aware, “och will” is one of the plants. Here follows the evidence. Spread the word. For the old members out there, this may very well be the return of “Gil”
On Don’s previous article on the oldest page of comments, och will made his debut touting a NY Times statistic, claiming the second amendment doesn’t prohibit restriction, and that we as gun owners are all murderers because we wont give up our rights.
He then cited these groups as his sources.
MomsDemandAction, GunsDownAmerica, EverytownForGunSafety, NoRANow, MarchForOurLives, ViolencePOlicy.org, Giffords Center, Brady Foundation
Waaaaaah Crazy gun kook who doesn’t get it that 40,000 dead last year is insane. Justice Scalia was clear”the right to bear arms is not unlimited” This Marine Corps infantry officer isn’t interested in the war zone you clowns have created nor am I impressed by your convicted gun trafficker president Oliver North. Clowns with guns.
Look, Crazy Liar och Will. claims 40,000. Ignores fact that this number includes 26K suicides, LEO involved Shootings, Hunting Accidents and discharges, and conviently leaves out the number of Murders actually being somewhere less than 9,000. Of course, when pointed out that car accidents caused over 40,000 deaths, he stopped replying to that comment before. Lets get into even more numbers. Lets look at defenses. A high of over 2 million a year, a low of 1 million a year. The high is about 6,800+ defense uses a day average. At the low end that would be 3,400. two or… Read more »
The number that have died is not acceptable! However, many ultra gun right activists ignore it. Yes, suicide is the leading cause. Way to go Revelater,I’m proud that you figured that out. Do we ignore it, similar to a perp that advertises that he is going to shoot up a bar? Do we ignore that Ted Nugent’s 4th cousin that nestles his AK-47 under the cushions of the couch loaded? Then one day next door Timmy finds the gun. He pulls the trigger, killing the dog, kitty cat, and fish in the tank. No, we do something about it to… Read more »
@Ochswill, I can not believe a Marine, and especially a Marine officer, would be opposed to American Constitutional Rights. What was your MOS? What is a MEU? What is a StuffEX? A Marine would know these things.
@Green Watch Dog How about this for doing something.. 1. Educate kids in gun safety and handling, that guns are not toys they are tools. Years ago studies in the 1990s done by the Justice Department showed massive reductions in likely criminal activity stemming simply from this kind of education. 2. Stop babying kids and teach them that the world is not fair, the world is not safe, and that if they want something they have to work to achieve it. That would do more to eliminate the “Woe is me”, “They Sky is falling, the sky is falling” mentality… Read more »
Ok, Looks like my reply last night did not make it. It was fairly long, so I will repost later tonight.
The Green Rat Fink is a prime example of socialism/communism in America. He demonstrates very well how our public school has been severely subverted.
The socialism/communism is no way governing is however a religion based upon deep belief no matter how false not unlike cultism.
Remember ‘Fink’! Legs behind your head… now slurp, slurp, gurgle, gurgle, gurgle gulp!
Since my reply to him showed up late Friday night, GWD has yet to be back apparently.
That’s the same thing that shut him and OCH Will up before. Once you get past the emotional argument and show you have an understanding of the actual numbers and what they mean, they tuck tail and run.
From GPM: A handful of Republican lawmakers are joining forces with Nancy Pelosi to advance her universal background check bill, which would, if passed, create a national gun registry. “Five Republican House members have joined the Democrat push to criminalize private gun sales,” Breitbart.com reports. “The five are Reps. Peter King (R-NY), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Chris Smith (R-NJ), and Brian Mast (R-FL).” Immediately after Pelosi, along with Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and former Rep. Gabby Giffords, unveiled their universal background check bill (H.R. 8), the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) said in a release the law… Read more »
congress-t**ts of any gender: put it where the moon does not shine
Here’s a better title, ‘What Has Trump Done for the 2A?’. Did not he himself and the many Gun Orgs. say vote for him. We did and he did what almost 98% of the politicians do once in office. NOTHING!!!!!
Oh! That’s not true. He gave us ‘Bumpstock/Gun Accessories Ban’ and ‘ERPO/GVRO’ expansion. Not to mention giving the commiecrats bad ideas.
Your argument fails to convince. Saying that X, Y or Z that did or did not happen, would have had a different outcome if it were not for the NRA’s existence is a false negative argument. It is not hard to imagine that without the NRA interfering the National Firearms Act of 1934 may have gone through with all its draconian measures and then, like the 18th amendment, have been beaten back a half dozen years later. So by your own reasoning, it could equally be said that without the NRA we could very well still have access to fully… Read more »
So is it just me or do some of these people really not understand that the infighting is the goal of the Antis to conquer the gun-rights coalition? Does divide and conquer ring a bell? Anyone ever get a good lawyer to do pro-bono work for them on a no-holds barred case? Ever heard you get what you pay for? I see a lot of people up in arms about the liberal view and Libertarian view, but anyone looking at the Utilitarian view? The majority of this thread is self-inflicted emotional nonsense. Look, if you don’t think the NRA needs… Read more »
If infighting is the goal of the Anti’s, one must question why the NRA is taking measures to split its base, and why Pro-NRA spokespeople keep writing articles placing the blame on everyone else, or going through the comments section calling everyone paid liberal trolls, or acting like children and refusing to answer simple questions we might have.
Posting inflammatory messages and then posting that this is exactly what the anti’s want point towards the NRA and it’s spokespeople as doing the bidding of the anti’s.
The gov. has an endless supply of MONEY, ALL OF IT YOURS , The NRA has only what it’s members send . Did you ever think that those who complain may not be PRO- GUN After all It has been said that WITHOUT the NRA YOU would NOT HAVE A GUN.
Yes people have said this.
Personally I think all the pro-nra people are antigun shills, after all they all seem to be fine with the legislation the NRA is pushing that would allow government agents to confiscate firearms.
Umm, I’m Pro-NRA and I’m not fine with Red Flag laws that are in place in 8 states nor the one’s that are being considered in Congress and several other states. So, not all and not a shill. Just sayin’.
Thank you for not being anti-RKBA.
I was mostly being hyperbolic, there are plenty of good people left in the NRA that are choosing to fight them and these bulls a different way, I hope you have success in those efforts.
I think the NRA is so broke they are manufacturing ways to boost their membership and intake of give me money. The bumpstock and the red flag laws are a ploy to them to create a problem that they think will cause people to donate more to them. This sure sounds like deep state tactics to me. The only way to save the NRA at this point is to get rid of LePierre, Cox and Hammer. All three are as useless as tits on a boar hog. Hammer sat by and watched as the most recent gun grabber laws took… Read more »
Did you just come over hear from Media Matters?
@ RRangel While you are asking questions I will ask you one, did you just come over here (here spelled correctly) from south of the southern border? To answer you, no I did not come here from Media Matters and I have been here a hell of a lot longer than you. Stuff it.
@TC: I do feel your pain. I stop using my real name because people were calling me a racist, a nazi, kkk and some others. FUNNY!!!… believe me. ! I’ve been around here one way or another for almost a decade.
OMG!!! If I see another complaint about what the NRA did or did NOT support more than my lifetime ago I will gouge my eyes out. Those are fucking-dumb losing-arguments, it is like saying southern American states supported slavery during the civil war, so we should kick them out of the United States. Anyone that had anything to do with any of those efforts is long dead.
Are you going to post the supporting documents for the claims you made?
You mean that the north won the civil war and we are peace with the south…what!?
Good god between you and Don or whatever his name is I can’t tell who acts more like an imbecile.
It is astonishing that I can ask for things, list them out and ask for your evidence, and yet you somehow pull shit out of your own butt.
Please, do use all a favor and gouge your eyes out.
Well my other comment is either waiting to be approved by mods, or Deleted. So i’ll Write another one. I have no idea why you are choosing to be an imbecile, I very clearly stated what information I wanted from you, and yet you choose to come up with some garbage. So I’ll try and make this as simple as possible. Your claim: “NRA’s “lost” income was a downturn in donations because people were confident at the time that Trump and the GOP would have had the back of gun owners. And all other pro 2A orgs suffered the same… Read more »
So…. instead of Fixing the Damage NRA has done since ‘ 34 & NFA … you want to just keep the ‘ status – quo ‘, slippery slope and all , got it. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY — NO ONE IN GOVERNMENT IS ALLOWED TO DO ANYTHING UNLESS THEY HAVE BEEN GIVEN SPECIFIC WRITTEN AUTHORITY, OR SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN GIVEN AUTHORITY IN THE LAW, GIVES THAT PERSON A DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY ORDER SPELLING OUT EXACTLY WHAT THEY CAN AND CANNOT DO UNDER THAT SPECIFIC ORDER. We combed the Department of the Treasury’s Handbook of Delegation Orders and we found that… Read more »
No, I am all for killing all NFA restrictions, I am not for people whining about how we got here. Support all 2A orgs stop causing division.
You are the face of the NRA ..” Whine Club ” , you dont like people talking about ‘ how we got here ‘ because it was NRA that had a hand in much of it. Now that Millions of gun owners recognize that G.O.A. is taking over , Leading From The Front wit its NO COMPROMISE Stands.
NRA was ‘ for ‘ bump stock regulation and seizure laws before it was against them …. NRA sounds just like Hillary Clinton flip – flopping , pointing that out is NOT ‘ Divide & Conquer ‘.
Suck it up, boy. I was here for a lot of that. I watched as the anti-gun people got a big boost from the JFK assassination and watched it grow in leaps and bounds with the deaths of RFK, MLK, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and others. The NRA made it possible for you to have a gun TODAY by what they did YESTERDAY. People who forget the past are prone to lose their future. Remember that. The NRA used to do 90% of police training, but they don’t anymore and unarmed shootings are up. The NRA used to do 90%… Read more »
1: Your quote is wrong.
2: I would like to see a source for this claim:
“The NRA used to do 90% of the Hunter Safety Courses, today we have more dead hunters.”
Both parts of it, because that’s not what I am finding with a quick google search.
A hunter course can inform not prevent.
Sadfly the Appointed leadership of hte NRA is directing hte orginization and hte Directors are not; this has changed the NRA from a 2A Civil Rights orginization to a “Conservative” advocacxy group that wants to be a “king maker” This was well shown by Backroom operator and LaPIerre Confidant mArion Hammers attack on those who dares peak out against those THEY CHOSE for hte board. WE now have ther fac that the NRA leadership had a cozy relationship with a Russian “Gun Rights” group whose leadership was compriced of known Putin operatives -for those of you who forget Putin was… Read more »
The NRA has counted on the fact that the vast majority of gun owners in the USA have no clue that any other organizations even exist. The NRA has a reputation of being the 800 pound gorilla in the room. The NRA is the organization that gun-banners love to hate, because the vast majority of the gun banners are just as ignorant as the majority of gun owners. The NRA relies on its size and (false) reputation to keep the checks rolling in so long as they can keep gun owners scared. But lately more and more gun owners have… Read more »
If N.R.A. was really about protecting gun owners they would have used this 1993 Decision to their advantage and continued to mount challenges to the LEGALITY of B.A.T.F. ‘s claims to have ‘ authority ‘ it clearly does not have. Instead , NRA is in bed with corrupt Faux ‘ agency ‘ helping them to ‘ regulate .’ NO JURISDICTION — The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, has no venue or jurisdiction within the borders of any of the 50 States of the united States of America, except in pursuit of an importer of contraband alcohol, tobacco, or firearms,… Read more »
This is a great article and puts all on one page so many benefits ALL gun owners get from the NRA. NRA is the only org that has the type of access to Washington and your local state govt. All pro-2A groups deserve your support, but the NRA is the only one that shapes laws.
Yeah shapes them in the way of limiting our rights not expanding them! The NRA should be attacking the legitimacy of gun laws. Gun laws=infringement=unconstitutional!
Let’s see here: 1) the NRA has millions and millions of dues money from its members 2) not enough space to mention EVERYTHING it does I’ll just mention a few key things in both present and past tenses a) Karl T Frederick’s efforts in the 1920s and 1930s to push gun control legislation through the state legislatures – he mentions how proud he is of these efforts during his testimony to congress during the 1934 NFA hearings b) selling wine – yes the NRA tried to sell wine c) the weeny mobile d) backpedaling or more accurately, lying its freaking… Read more »
No question the NRA talks out of both sides of it’s mouth, supports gun control on the one hand and opposes it on the other. So proud of their support for Gun Control, the NRA published the following in their American Rifleman Magazine in March 1968: “The NRA supported The National Firearms Act of 1934 which taxes and requires registration of such firearms as machine guns, sawed-off rifles and sawed-off shotguns. … NRA support of Federal gun legislation did not stop with the earlier Dodd bills. It currently backs several Senate and House bills which, through amendment, would put new… Read more »
I don’t know who is right and who is wrong. I do know that if tomorrow morning the NRA was no longer around the liberals would have a field day rejoicing. I can hear CNN. and all the gun grabbing liberals, etc now. Ninety % of the so called news would rejoice continually and eternally. I think we are better off reforming than destroying.
I support 3 pro-gun organizations. One is NRA. I will join others.
Pitting one organization against another is STUPID! We need whatever any of them bring to the table. What makes you all think the posters are ALL pro-gun individuals and not trolls trying the divide and conquer routine. By the same token NRA – we don’t need a wine club, or a WHINE club – get your shit together and fight for it before we loose it!
Amen brother
I keep hearing the “GOA has done more than the NRA, really? What was that? Someone, please list what Gun Owners of American has accomplished? Please, this is a serious question. Provide me a list as Don has done above of major accomplishments of the GOA? Even on GOA’s own list of accomplishments webpage, they do not list any major victories? WTF? https://gunowners.org/end-of-year-reports/ Just frustrating gun banners is not an effective long term strategy. Other than a few small court victories related to individual gun owners I can find nothing meaningful or of national consequence? I am a member of… Read more »
Pitting one organization against another is STUPID! We need whatever any of them bring to the table. What makes you all think the posters are ALL pro-gun individuals and not trolls trying the divide and conquer routine. By the same token NRA – we don’t need a wine club, or a WHINE club – get your shit together and fight for it before we loose it!
@YWN, The issue is not What has GOA done. The issue is What is GOA doing? GOA is arguing Kettler v. USA in the SCOTUS. GOA has a sympathetic defendant, skilled attorney staff, and has caught the Federal government overstepping its powers. If successful, the NFA will no longer exist.
I sent my contribution in to GOA, yesterday, just so I could say that I had a part in removing our Federal government shackles and slamming the elitists in the head with another framing hammer.
WB,
Ok, that’s 1 maybe. Though highly unlikely. What else??? LOL. I’ll even narrow it down to since 2000?
Get over it, the NRA has done far far more, for much much longer. It doesn’t excuse the 2 issues people are complaining about and wanting to trash the whole org. over right now, but other articles attempted to explain to the hardheaded that to win they had to compromise (for now). So, what else you got?
And again, I ask in regard to their compromise. How does one prove that someone lied when they say they believe someone may be harmful to themselves or others.
That’s the poison pill the NRA wants to include, something that can not be proven, great poison pill, it is completely worthless, it sounds good but is completely and totally useless.
@DougMann G, Our best chance at ridding ourselves of an unconstitutional statute that has been enslaving Americans for more than eight decades, and you ask what else? This is the stepping stone to getting back all of our Constitutional Rights. If you don’t want to be a part of that, then I say that you are one of the bloomgerg/soros minions.
Oldmarine >>> Wild Bill
Right beside you all the way Logic over emotions.
@Oldmariine
Amen.
Still I am being told to support GOA more because of what they have been doing for National Gun Rights? What have they done. Don’t get me wrong I like their message but I am still waiting for an answer like the list of accomplishments listed above by the NRA? In fact I think I read where only two people now work at GOA, that is not a organization, AmmoLand News seems 10 times larger in staff and writers… That is the source of my frustration with anyone that says they are hoping to see the NRA destroyed in favor… Read more »
Why should anyone give you anything? You are constantly making claims and refusing to provide evidence, even going so far as to act like a complete imbecile to avoid them.
Which again goes to the first post I made on this subject, why can’t NRA Shills answer simple questions?
Gun rights activists public infighting will make it so much easier for gun control. It would be helpful to be on the same side. But as some know, I’m not a 100% pure pro gun activist. When you fight among each other and cannot provide full support, you weaken your cause overall. All organizations go through hills and valleys as well as the NRA. Just my ’87 cents’ of opinion.
I had no idea that N.R.A. had a ‘ Wine Club ‘….. hard to finde a better example of being out of touch and off-mission !
G.O.A is the future = No More Compromise.
What a huge load of SHEEEEEIIIIIT This NPC FUDD is such s shill lol 34’ 68’ 86’ 94’ bump stocks, red flags, Negotiating Rights Away
So, what has the NRA done for me? Read and learn how the NRA scammed me to donate money for a lawsuit it did not fight and ended up settling, then only to work with the state legislature to enact the very gun control it was supposed to fight:
NRA’S LAWSUIT AGAINST THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE OVER CHILHOWEE PARK BAN SETTLED – NOT GOOD FOR GUN OWNERS
https://tennesseefirearms.com/2017/01/nras-lawsuit-against-the-city-of-knoxville-over-chilhowee-park-ban-settled-not-good-for-gun-owners/
LAWSUIT OVER “PARKS” BAN AGAINST KNOXVILLE TO BE DISMISSED AS MOOT BECAUSE OF NEW TENNESSEE LAW
https://tennesseefirearms.com/2017/08/lawsuit-over-parks-ban-against-knoxville-to-be-dismissed-as-moot-because-of-new-tennessee-law/
“So let’s be honest without the National Rifle Association you would have lost your right to own a firearm decades ago and the five million-plus members of the NRA, and still growing, support all of this.”
BULLSHIT! This just would have been the beginning of the Second Revolution!
“
Oldmarine >>> Gregory Romeu Greg I know how you feel, they might have done great things in the past but today they must be doing something wrong or there wouldn’t be all of these members getting iterated at the NRA for its lack of effectiveness today. The NRA still does good things but are falling down on others. Members can’t just ignore the present mistakes they are making. I realize that nothing is perfect and the NRA has made some really bad decisions lately. It appears to many members that the OLD SCHOOL leadership is being out done by the… Read more »
Thank you … point well taken … with good leadership and proper direction the NRA can still be an effective organization … how do we get there? …
Thanks for this article as I am sick of the comments tearing down the NRA. Does the NRA have issues maybe, but none of the other pro 2a groups have the membership and gravitas in Congress to get anything done. Sorry I am a GOA member and supporter of SAF but, with less than a half million claimed members GOA does not compare to the five million plus of NRA organization. If you think you are helping in the fight to keep our second amendment alive in the USA by hating on the NRA you are dead wrong and only… Read more »
Nice try , Erich Pratt just said on ‘ Guns & Gadgets ‘ show they are approaching 2 MILLION members. A fact that has NRA very scared indeed.
Not to mention the mass exodus of NRA life members who still count towards the NRAs membership claims even though they no longer agree or support with them.
The NRA lost 55 Million in income in 2017, I suspect other organizations did not lose income. That’s probably a more reliable benchmark than membership numbers.
JMR we need to challenge you on that claim of NRA life member number loss. In fact, the opposite is true, NRA has increased its life member numbers in 2018. If you really want to renounce your NRA life membership you have to call member services and make an official declaration and that just does not happen at any sizable rate, despite what people claim in the comments it is just so small a number it means nothing. NRA’s “lost” income was a downturn in donations because people were confident at the time that Trump and the GOP would have… Read more »
Yes…. that is exactly what I said. People no longer support or agree with the NRA but are still considered members because they are life memebers.
And why is income is lost in quotes? Did you or did you not lose $55 Million in income, and how does that not constitute a loss?
Thanks for agreeing and strengthening my argument, Shane you had to play semantics on your second point. But please if you have evidence that all other gun organizations suffered the same loss percentage wise, I would like to see that evidence.
Well, sir…I am an NRA Life Member who long ago educated myself as to the NRA’s Quisling duplicity and their support of gun control and actual assistance in and writing of gun control legislation. If they would return my money, I would gladly renounce that Life Membership. Knowing what I know now, I never would have joined NRA at all. As it stands they have failed to do so, therefore I continue to deliberately bleed money from them via their crap magazine and continue to speak out against the organization. You see, the factual and provable contemporary and historical evidence… Read more »
JB Karns>>>All American I also am one of the life members of the NRA who also has educated myself on the NRA and in doing so wish now that I had NEVER provided the NRA with all that money in becoming a Patriot Benefactor Life Member. When you make people think that you (NRA) are a supporter of freedom , but continue to endorse, encourage, and even help create “little” infringements from before 1934 all the way to the present: IT REALLY ADDS UP! So using the history of the NRA, they are an essential Ally for the anti-gun crowd.… Read more »
The NRA is not even scared of GOA and although I am a member of both organizations, among others, I am and will always be a member of the NRA first and foremost. Over the 50 or so years that I have been a member of the organization, I have seen them do amazing things with respect to our rights and no other organization has the strength and purpose that they do! There are suddenly a lot of naysayers that are castigating the NRA for their stances with respect to bump stocks and whatever else, but they are still the… Read more »
Well when you push for legislation that would allow for government agents to come and take your firearms, violating at least four constitutionally protected rights, you’re going to have a lot of naysayers.
You wrote in part ” … send your complaints to them … ” “Them” is presumably the NRA. It looks to me like the NRA “leadership” has pretty much no interest in this discussion, and pretty much deaf ears and closed minds concerning the thoughts of the membership at large.
Did you see Cox’s comments on the bumpstock ban ?the 18 to 21 nullification of Second Amendment rights??? he’s a coward and a pussy needs to be replaced ,,him and Wayne they are compromised and politicized ,Lobbified ,special interestgrouped up -even Ray Charles could see// How about Chuck Norris And Mike Huckabee for the new heads of the NRA??We could do worse,At least we know where they stand
The GOA has done way more than the NRA has done, and they haven’t done any shady deals with anyone, no corruption at all, I only wish I could say the same for the NRA, they have issues they NEED to sort out if they truly want support.
Past performance does not guarantee future returns. We members are the NRA. Our “leadership” is not the NRA. Our current “leadership”, while once effective and meaningful, has allowed itself to become a mistake that needs correcting. With luck and skill we can remove our management cancer and save the organization and its purposes. Then again, sometimes the operation was a success but the patient still died. Time will tell.
For better or worse, Don has conflated the accomplishments of individual NRA members, state and local organizations associated with the NRA, the NRA-ILA, and “the NRA” itself to claim credit for everything pro-2A that has ever happened as an accomplishment of the NRA. By his logic, everyone who isn’t an NRA member voted for Gore and then for Clinton And no one would have voted for Bush or Trump without the NRA telling them to. But in doing so, he left out several other accomplishments of the NRA: He left out the congressional testimony of the NRA President who said… Read more »
You wrote in part ” … interested in fighting but not interested in winning …. ” I believe you have a valid point there.
If the NRA is so crooked, if gun rights are so important, and if refusing to give one more inch is the mantra that so many live by, then why doesn’t GOA have about 20 million members? Serious question.
Is this even a real question? Gun Owners of America hasn’t been around as long as the NRA and was actually set up by an insider who saw the NRA writing on the wall. GOA will build to 20 million, while the NRA will be losing millions as the gun confiscations begin, thanks to NRA-supported RED FLAG LAWS.
The GOA doesn’t spend millions of dollars in failed marketing attemptsa to gain more funding or membership. A wine club? Alcohol and Firearms what a fantastic mix and what a great signal to the youth!
I’m a GOA member, fellas. I’m just thinking there might not be as many gun owners who have taken up the “no compromise” position as the echo chambers that are online gun blogs make us think.
I had been an NRA member for 50 years and I have seen its blind followers allow it to get lazy and leftist. Where we are in America today as far as gun rights are concerned is nothing less than a disaster, a disaster that the common gun owner didn’t create, it’s one the NRA “allowed” to happen through its inadequate leadership. Charlton Heston once said “they’ll take my gun when they can pry it from my cold, dead hands”, and used that phrase in many of his NRA speeches that I personally watched. He was part of the old… Read more »
The NRA-ILA did everything in its power to torpedo Bateman v. Perdue which challenged the prohibition on the carry, sale, and possession outside the home of firearms during declared states of emergency in North Carolina. It was the first 2A case filed after the SAF’s win in McDonald v. Chicago. Both the Second Amendment Foundation and Grass Roots North Carolina were involved in the case and Alan Gura was the attorney. They pushed for a minor change in the law which would have made the lawsuit moot and which could have been changed at a later date by the NC… Read more »
So they think they got Donald Trump elected. And? Zero pro-gun legislation has been produced and we have steadily continued to lose ground since the massive election of “pro-gun” representatives. If you are so important to these politicians, what have you been spending your political capital on? Red flag laws? Bump stock bans? Just how many anti-gun measures federally and across the country has the NRA and Friends organization not just allowed, but blessed or even spear-headed?
Bottom line is, we are continuing to see the drip-drip away of self-defense rights everywhere and the NRA is guarding the shut-off valve.
The N.R.A. represents the past , Gun Owners of America is the Future. — We The People are leading by example, there can be No More Compromise… PERIOD … Unless the NRA challenges and wins against the BATF total lack of jurisdiction and gets a repeal of NFA & GCA ‘ 68 it will continue to wither and die.
If funny that N.R.A. expects gun owners / former members to ” Compromise ” their principles by giving NRA a free pass on its most recent blunders.
It was actually Corrine Brown who lost the election for Al Gore. Without her, Gore would have won by about 17,000 votes in Florida. It is the greatest political story of my lifetime.
The NRA management team needs to be out voted by the membership and then move to putting it back on track for standing up for the 2nd Amendment, until then the only thing they will get from me is my membership dues, nothing else, hell the last time I renewed my membership I never got the pocket knife and that was for a 5 year membership!
You can’t do this, after the Cincinnati revolt they changed how they work specifically to avoid this.
Also their board of directors voting process is a joke of a system with no checks and balances where the results can not be audited.
Curious, how many of you so called 2A people vote Democrat? If you do, you are the largest part of the problem.
I’m on another forum and there are people who call themselves A2 supporters who are super liberal. You can’t be both.
Nice false dichotomy you’ve built there. But i’m, onnly speaking for myself here, am not a Democrat. I’m not part of the other anti-gun party either (Republican) though they’ve gotten my vote most often when someone decent has come around, generally they do nothing however.
Another article from another shill for the NRA, and he’s from California, where the NRA has failed more than any other state to protect the 2nd Amendment. Yes the NRA has done some good in the past, but it has not been enough and lately, especially under His Majesty LaPierre, the money it takes in is never enough and it would be better spent somewhere else where compromising the 2nd Amendment isn’t their stock in trade. Above the door at the Marine Corps Sniper School it is written, “Compromise is Failure”. Apparently, the NRA administrators disagree with the Marines.
another clueless idiot!
The NRA will be able to save California as soon as they are able to make about 3 or 4 million pro-gun voters appear out of thin air to counteract the actions of the liberal cities that rule the roost.
There are, by some estimates, eight million gun owners in California. If three quarters of them would get off their lazy backsides and vote, conservatives could take California back in one election. Join GOA join NRA, JOIN Cal Guns…..but more importantly vote! Tell your friends to vote. Sick of what is going on in California? We can fix it with or without the NRA! Go to http://www.tokeepandbear.com. Go to http://www.soj51.org to learn how YOU CAN HELP FIX what is wrong with OUR state.
We do need more people to vote, but of that 8 million, how many view guns as a single issue like most of us here? Probably not many. It’s the same song in New York.
I would guess that in the state of CA most most 2nd Amend. proponents vote, and most libtards don’t vote. But libtards outnumber us by about 20 million.
that list of what the NRA has done is being ignored a state and city levels???? they are putting in the EU/UN, Universal Background Check that will keep DATA of all guns and AMMO of US Citizens. NOT GOOD.
The NRA has done some very good work in the past but with there new leadership structure they are slipping over to the left way to much. I live in Washington state and work in Oregon and what is happening here is we are losing our rights to buy firearms and even ammo and I haven’t seen anything out of the NRA except for my renewal notice that still sits on my desk inches away from the round file.
The NRA can’t do everything! You have to rally your local Oregon state clubs & owners too. I wish your state luck, I really do, but some places are just too far gone like New Jersey, New York, California, & Hawaii for instance…hope your state doesn’t fall too….
Too Far Gone ….. that’s what the N.R.A. is.
If they had FOUGHT back instead of making excuses those states would NOT HAVE BEEN LOST !!
NRA would rather sit on its money and collect interest than take a chance or push back against bad precedents. NRA took a ‘ neutral ‘ position on Pennsylvanias draconian Red Flag laws.
Who said the NRA has to do everything? Hell it would be nice if they just stopped supporting gun control! Doesn’t make it easier to convince your senators and congressmen to not vote for it when they can say “The NRA supports this legislation.”
EVERY single piece of anti-RKBA federal legislation that has passed the US Congress since 1934 did so with the support of the NRA.
NFA, FFA, GCA, AWB — those are all NRA “accomplishments”
Bull crap NRA. What you did do doesn’t mean jack. You are only as good as what you are doing now. Fight for the 2A or parish. Your silence is support for gun control. More gun control = more donations.
And another Hillary troll heard from.
Wrong. I voted for Trump. I comment frequently and all my post indicate I’m a constitutional librarian. You’re the Troll.
* libertarian
Red Flag Law support, Bump Stock Bans and never forget the Brady Bill. Your job isn’t to negotiate it’s to stand. Do your job.
Matt, you left out the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Clinton Gun Control Act.
The NRA knows that progress in the area of firearms law is never a straight line. Two steps forward and three back, three forward and one back. They can count on some horrific event and the news coverage. But have you begun to notice, the good guy and gal with a legally carried gun is stopping criminals and the media is reporting. The NRA is a membership driven organization. Are you a member? Do you make a few donations beyond your dues? Do you write letters to the editor, to your Congressme3n and Senators? Do you write your local and… Read more »
Thank you Jim, I was wondering the same thing with these anti-NRA people….
I’m an active Life member of both NRA and GOA. Facts are facts and NRA has lost its way. Too much silence and negotiation oh and begging for money. Disgusting.
Yes, No (why the hell would I give people money when they push for things I findimentally disagree with?) Letters to the editor? Uhh why? I mean the NRA is sending out shills left and right they can’t answer any question, all they can do is act like the regressive left support gun control and call anyone who they disagree with a troll. My congressmen and senators know me by name, and I’ve not only written and call them on a regular basis, I meet with them whenever they’re within a few hours of me, and have stopped at their… Read more »
Jim Macklin, yes, I am a life member of the NRA. Do I give them any more money now? No. Why? Because of these issues and others in the past. I don’t agree with infringements on my rights and will not donate any further until the NRA begins to resist and not just beg for more money. Do I write to my reps and letters to the editor? Yes and Yes. I also vote. I also teach new shooters firearm safety and how to shoot. I have taught a number of co-workers, friends and family. I also am actively involved… Read more »
Whether you think they are a toy or a tool, own one or not, if the NRA doesn’t support the bump stock ban’s reversal we are all in trouble. What’s the next part? That $600 suppressor you waited a year for? Does the NRA really need a WINE CLUB? I’ll bet more members drink beer than wine ! Where’s our beer club?
Thank you for this factual article on just some of the things the NRA has been doing for us over the years. If the bashers are not going to pitch in and help, at least get the H€££ out of the way!
Would love to. However, our local sportsman’s club makes NRA membership mandatory. Nice monopoly there! Given the choice, I’d give to GUNS OF AMERICA (GOA).
We’re not in the way, we’re not the NRA sitting there demanding Red Flag Laws.
It is simply amazing you can support an organization calling for a law that will allow government agents to take your firearms, and then claim other people are in the way.
ChiptheBarber, in the way and not helping? I am a life member of the NRA. I have helped the ILA with elections, I contact my reps and I vote. I also teach people firearm safety and how to shoot. I attend various events with several rights groups to educate people on our rights.
How much do you do to educate, support and protect our rights? People in glass houses should not throw stones.
BTW, point #1 is debunked by Don’s other article in which he said: “Read more: https://www.ammoland.com/2019/01/setting-record-straight-nra-haters-not-welcome/#ixzz5cvpgVce0 The simple fact is that without the NRA you will lose your right to own a firearm. Don’t give us that crap about you’ll never give in, that you’ll stand your ground. Bull shit we can’t get most of you to vote. Half of you only want to complain, the other half of haters are paid liberal trolls who work to separate the NRA from American gun owners” So even though the NRA can’t get people to vote, they somehow are also the only… Read more »
JMR, well, I do have a salaried job, and I do believe in freedom and less government…. Does that qualify? 🙂 I am using the real definition of Liberal, not the definition co-opted by the Democratic Party.
I do not think it does since the definition of liberal troll would use the liberalism co-opted by the Democratic Party.
Sorry JMR, it’s a lame excuse for credit not deserved. The NRA didn’t keep Hillary from getting elected, it was millions of people just like ME who voted for Trump for our own reasons, and the NRA had absolutely nothing to do with that vote. I agree there are liberal trolls joining the membership, attacking the NRA from within, but we’re not talking about supporting a losing team here, we’re talking about depending on a group whose leaders are out of touch with the current reality of GUN CONTROL & CONFISCATION, and who have recently shown that they are part… Read more »
… I don’t understand what the point of your post, that agrees with me, was. I do believe you are confused, and I would suggest re-reading my post.
We fund the NRA. We vote for the candidates in total. Oh! And we vote for you also. What’s the excuse for Barry and Billy? What’s the excuse for Pelosi and Feinstein?
Why can’t NRA shills answer simple questions anyways?
Yes it’s like diddle me this and diddle me that. Pat us on the head then kick us aside. NRA or NPC?
“We the people “know what time it is
@ G. Torchia: Yes we do… it’s the HOTT!
we would have had Constitutional Carry years ago in NH. it was a done deal. then the NRA came in, on behalf of the local police chiefs, and mucked it all up.
I’ve heard the same story over and over. local activists are set for a pro-2A win, and the NRA comes in to try to claim credit and screws the whole thing up.
The NRA tried that in Idaho a couple of years ago too. Thank goodness for Heather Scott and Bonner county Sherrif Wheeler pushing them out of the way and getting it done.
problem is, the NRA comes in and acts like they’re saving the day. they’re organized, well funded, and before you know it they’ve taken over and your priorities are out the window, your allies are pissed off and now done if they’re not actually working against you, and you lose. and the NRA touts it as “well, look at how much worse it would have been if we hadn’t helped out!” and uses the worst example of the legislation from the biggest anti-gun nut they can find. they haven’t tried to go after any of GCA34 or GCA68. not even… Read more »