Opinion, some things to consider. Comments by Arbalest Team.
USA – First, the antigun mob isn’t reluctant to stoop to the lowest levels to attack NRA. With all the scuttlebut about money’s spent by NRA on its PR firm, Ackerman McQueen, anti-gun groups are now using internal matters to challenge NRA’s tax exempt status. Take a look at these links:
- https://everytown.org/press/everytown-files-complaint-about-nras-tax-exempt-status-with-irs-calls-for-federal-and-state-investigations-into-the-nra/;
- https://everytown.org/press/everytown-files-complaint-about-nras-tax-exempt-status-with-irs-calls-for-federal-and-state-investigations-into-the-nra/;
- https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/secrecy-self-dealing-and-greed-at-the-nra.
Clearly they are taking every oppertunity to tear down our organization. This is why members should avoid adding to the chatter with additional public opposition to NRA. Take your complaints directly to the NRA Board of Directors and demand that they answer your questions.
Whatever the faults, this Nation needs the efforts of NRA to protect our Second Amendment, and the radical Left knows this. That is why they go to the extreme lengths they do to attack the NRA; conspiring among themselves to derive ever new novel and creative new ways to destroy NRA.
Anti-gun Groups and The Press are in lockstep attacking both NRA and Trump. They are waging a constant, vicious, virulent, and insidious war against our sacred history and heritage; and are doing this in order to break the back of our Nation: grounded on the precepts of fundamental, natural rights and liberties; a federal Government of limited powers and authority; a Nation grounded on the Judeo-Christian moral imperative; and an economic system predicated on the principles of free-market capitalism and private ownership of property.
Second:
Along with Leftist shock at the loss of the 2016 U.S. Presidential race, they can now add consternation that Mueller didn’t hand down the results the Left wanted and that the Press had, for over two years, promised. But, with all the media lies and hype over the Mueller Report, little known is a U.S. Supreme Court oral hearing that took place recently on the issue whether the Commerce Department is lawfully entitled to add a citizenship question to the 2019 Census, due out this June. It appears likely that the Trump Administration will win on this issue. The Left-wing of the Court is, of course, outraged. But the legal arguments are all on the side of Trump.
- See Department of Commerce vs. New York. https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/department-of-commerce-v-new-york/.
- For a good synopsis of the case, take a look at John Baker’s short appraisal: https://www.scotusblog.com/2019/04/symposium-questioning-citizenship-versus-questioning-the-question/.
- The Government’s petition is here: https://www.scotusblog.com/2019/04/symposium-questioning-citizenship-versus-questioning-the-question/.
This case is important because it permits the Government to determine how many illegal aliens actually reside in our Country. Democrats and the radical Left obviously want this data to be kept quiet, as millions upon millions of illegal aliens surreptitiously take up residence in our Country, draining our resources; overwhelming our ability to feed and house them all and overwhelming our ability to provide for their health care and for the education of their offspring; and taxing our ability to deal with the criminal gangs that mingle with these migrants, along with the drugs flooding into our Country.
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“PERCEIVED”?!?!
Jesus fucking wept…..
Our president was publicly attacked,he stood tall,if nra has no skeletons in its closet stand tall.but it dont look that way.think about this you money suckers had done right for us we prolly stand for you
You guys smell that? It smells like …fear…. that type of fear you get when you threaten to expose the truth and take away the kings 100k worth of suits… hmm… lets see… organization supposed to be for the gunowners, but doing their best to get rid of the guns by suppoering gca 34, 68, awb, bumpstock ban, select fire limitation of freedom guns available, highes, etc…. then they make it where rhe board is just about a life appointment, harder to dislodge than a sitting us senator and harder to talk to. But then have the nads to say “dont say bad things where people can hear them, especially if they are true.” Dude…..at this time, the nra board should go on a permanent vacation unpaid with no per diem to north korea, cuba China, Venezuela et al… see if you still want to try to keep agreeing with your lefty friends whittling at our civil rights.on other words, resign from all contracts with rhe nra and… piss off
There are a whole bunch of things the NRA membership needs to hash out with the Associations Officers and other leaders. There are questions about whether the Association is sufficiently militant in asserting 2nd Amendment rights and questions regarding the management of the Associations money, However, we need to remember to not “air our dirty laundry” in public.
You tie the NRA and Donald Trump together in one sentence, then spend the rest of the article on a tirade about “Jude-Christian morals” and illegal immigration… … … And you STILL can’t find out why people hate gun(owner)s or support gun control?
Newsflash! It’s all the NON-GUN-RELATED baggage people like you carry and bring into the gun rights community!
People like you have made it impossible for people to support gun rights WITHOUT simultaneously supporting all this unrelated redneckery. Is it any wonder why people hate you?
Don’t know just who you’re addressing here but you make a very good point. I cringe at all the “redneckery” of so many gun-rights folks and that makes me want to steer clear of any association with them while still supporting the 2ndA. Mostly I’m talking about the block headed loyalty to the worst president ever, the cheerleading for civil war, and the religious proselytizing from the Bible literalists who imply “My way or the highway.”
@Dillon
Just be careful the monster you are hunting doesn’t find itself staring you back in the mirror one day. That is what you are chastising others for, but if you aren’t careful, your intolerance for “Bible toters” and “Redneckery” will land you in the same boat as they.
After all, each one of those trump supporters lambasted the left for blind loyalty to everything Obama, and they hated the my way or the highway of the left attempting to claim moral superiority and labeling Trump supporters defacto racists. Don’t fall into the same circle.
Revalator, lots of gun control supporters and anti-gunners have no personal animosity towards firearms or gun rights in the abstract.
They look at the gun debate and ask, “Which side has fewer gay marriage opponents? Which side has more climate change denialists? Which side am I less likely to rub shoulders with Birthers? Which side pisses off the Q Anon and Pizzagate people more? Which side helps young earth creationists more, and which side helps me hurt them?“
It’s obvious why so many people support gun control; it’s because the gun rights community is absolutely infested with those types of freaks and weirdos.
(Just read the above article and some of the comments below)
As long as gun owners continue to tolerate and encourage this sort of stupidity, they’re going to keep repelling people and attracting more scrutiny and opposition than they otherwise would have.
@IronMantis
There is one problem with your theory. The people you are talking about are the in betweens. Sure, there are people who don’t know guns, who have no problem with them who go over simply because they cant stand one side politically. This happens on both sides of the isle, not just one way.
The problem is, we aren’t just talking about guns. The issue at hand is individual liberty. My original comment pointed out that there are people on both sides excusing the same actions that they hate the other side for doing, but suddenly becomes ok when they are the ones doing it. Dillon is a perfect example. Had he taken a little more time to read both of our comments a little closer he might have saved himself a few flip flops.
What this comes down to is ‘Control’. Individual rights are not up for debate, and there are people who get offended over the idea of guns and someone telling them their opinion about another individuals rights not mattering. I don’t care if someone owns a gun, the minute they say they believe in controlling what type or how much they immediately disqualify themselves from being able to call themselves Second Amendment supporters by the very definition of it. If that is not understandable, then you don’t understand the US Constitution.
And no, I’m not going to play nice with people like that just to make them happy. I’m going to lay out the evidence in front of them whether they like it or not.
Revelator, your advice is well taken. But for such reasons as IronMantis points out, in the same way our Founding Fathers essentially were men of the Enlightenment (and NOT pinheaded Christians or any other type religious zealots), I tend to put my trust in reason rather than blind obedience to authority steeped in religion-based ignorance and superstition, and embracing phobias of and discrimination against people not sharing the same superficial traits with me.
The people most scornful and ridiculing of science, an objective and verifiable method of understanding the laws of nature we all are bound by, are those least literate in it, which is a growing misfortune for everyone.
So in consideration of your point, I don’t consider myself prone to becoming the “monster I’m hunting.” And when/where I can find common ground with said “monsters,” I go for it. And again, I’m a firm supporter of 2A.
@Dillon.
I feel sorry for you, I truly do. We know most of the founders were Christian, or believers in God because of their own writings. I’ve seen the original documents, so trying to turn it into something you want it to be just isn’t going to work on me.
I doubt you really want to talk about science either, because I’m the kind of person that ask questions. I ask questions that force thought, that hold others accountable to standards they themselves set. I ask questions that because I understand the laws of nature and evidence based objectivity that cause people who claim to be literate in it to self destruct.
The devil in the details. To my original point, no monster ever envisions themselves capable of becoming a monster, or as you put it “Prone to it”. You see, your opinions, your perceptions of what you are mean nothing because they are the unverifiable beliefs that you worship. The sin you believe to have been committed is that religion has been foisted upon society and is followed out of blind obedience.
And yet, you claim to “believe in the second amendment” implying you are here because you support individual ownership and oppose the idea of gun control and confiscation being implemented against an individual right. Now why is that Ironic? Well, because you are practicing a form of moral hypocrisy. Let me demonstrate. This is how you are describing others;
“embracing phobias of and discrimination against people not sharing the same superficial traits with me.”
Lets reword that slightly
“since religious zealots believe in a lot of stuff I think is nonsense I’m going to do everything I can to label them as the problem because they don’t think the way I think they should think, because I cant be wrong”
I don’t care if it is flipped and it is religion against non believers, the action is the same. What you are doing is engaging in “phobias and discrimination” against those you find different than yourself. You claim to understand Natural Law, but you don’t show it through your actions. Instead, you pick certain parts you are ok with, but the minute someone else chooses to exercise free will to affect their own lives oh boy look out…. That’s what Iron Mantis’ comment means. You want to cite him, but you wont look at your own actions and juxtapose your own views in there. As you said, you cant see yourself that way.
Your religion has a different name, called science, so I’ll try and put it in terminology a little closer to that train of thought. This is your Schrodinger’s Box.
For the rest of the plain spoken folks here is a translation “How can someone who demonstrates a phobia of and discriminates against religious people with different ideas than their own turn around and say *how dare those people have phobias and discriminate against others who are different than they are*”?
Only skimmed the article above the first time around but just now read it carefully. You ain’t kiddin’! This AQ thing (or at least this author) is a flat-out redneck mentality drawing on every stereotype and antagonism in the book. No wonder people stereotype and lambast gun(owner)s in return, sadly.
Two Kinds of People in the World Today. Ones You Need, SOB’s You Don’t Need. To Bad NRA Falls in the Latter.
NRA members shouldn’t attack the NRA for perceived wrongs?!?!? Really?!?!? Contacting the organization at any level about disagreements results in absolutely nothing. All you hear about is them needing more money, and then more money with little to show for it outside of some verbal support of what others are doing at no cost to them and support for things that actually erode the Second Amendment. Pete Brownell resigned after he say he coiuldn’t do what he promised to right the organization. Oliver North just resigned as well, probably for the same reason. The BOD is a neutered figure head meant to make it look like the members have a voice. So, again, members are not supposed to publicly criticize when nothing else works?!?! COME ON!
I’m a life member of the NRA, and have been for 60 years. I have never been able to get effective action by contacting board members individually. If the organization will not listen to its members in private, it will inevitably be forced to do so in public, and that’s what is happening now. It is already entirely too late to keep this discussion private. The board has once again supported VP LaPierre against the wishes of many, many members without any public discussion of the problems he’s bringing down on them. Unfortunately, they have just missed their last chance to fix things on their own. They have now made my organization’s misbehavior the cause of its coming public disgrace.
What better way to “Troll” for dissatisfied, disparaged members than to suggest we shut up and continue to use the tried and failed system of “keeping it under our own hat”.
If you don’t want the failures of the NRA to be publicized, then, GET OFF YOUR REAR QUARTERS, listen and respond to the members as a servant to his master and fix it!
If the NRA elitists don’t listen and continue to run the NRA into the ground, the complaints WILL continue to go public as even this article has done to itself. The NRA is NOT the only game in town! I wonder, where was the NRA when King George tried to deprive us of our arms? That worked out better than the tyranny of the NRA working “for us/against us” today. If it wasn’t for the NRA playing political games using our Rights as bargaining chips on the political poker table we would not be under such tyranny as we are today. We are here mostly because of NRA political compromises with our Rights that do not belong to them!
Everyone needs to remember, our Right to keep and BEAR arms for defense of ourselves is an unalienable inherent individual Right that we are born with. The Second Amendment DOES NOT GIVE US THAT WHICH WE ALREADY OWN FROM BIRTH! The Second Amendment only further protects that which is ALREADY ours.
Threatening that our Right will go away if the NRA goes under is a crock of fear mongering hogwash. We the People ARE the LAST LINE of defense. If we lose our Right because we do not take a stand, then, it is our own fault. Having an organization to fight for us would be nice, if we could find that in the NRA. If the NRA can not do that without comprise of our Rights “endowed by our Creator”, then the NRA is NO USE to us. Just another greedy money pit that needs to be filled in and covered up!
And this comes from an NRA Patron Life Member.
I’m a life member who agrees with every word you stated. Well said!
@CoosaTotahK9
Agree with Ton E, Well said.
I was not a lifer, but a member who left. Please keep seeking the truth and teaching the Constitution as the Charter under the Declaration of Independence. Bravo, keep em’ forward.
If I contacted the NRA Board I would include my name, member rank, and member number. I doubt that my correspondence would be noted. That’s because when they found no money enclosed it would be trashed. Apparently the only thing they heed is public ridicule from its members. The loss of financial support is what they will heed. The NRA should continue educating and begin staunch defense of codified rights. The only way to accomplish this is for many of its board members to leave. The board is too large anyway. Voting members in or out is counter productive and seems to be fixed.
Amen
@Jack I hope that they notice that my money has been going to the SAF and GOA.
If we the members of the NRA keep putting up with the same , Why would we expect anything to change???
Horse hockey. This is a veiled attempt to restrict 1st admendment rights. If the BOD and LaPierre hadn’t screwed up we wouldn’t be in a situation where every few years problems surface that cause wide spread dissension.
Tine fir a big change in leadership and the way things are done.
Just a thought here but the folks who say we need the NRA are right. They have been effectively providing air support to the grassroots and top cover to the lobbyists for a long time.
Having said that, the NRA is an organization of people and people are flawed. I’m ashamed to find out what has happened to my NRA and I fear the consequences if this “matter” isn’t exorcised quickly…and I mean bruatlly exorcised. Audit the organization, find the problem(s) and oust the villains…then ask the authorities to criminally charge the villains and sue them for whatever they took that was outside of their job descriptions. We need to force the system, that we all decry as being corrupt and out of control, to do its job, then we need to spend more time on background checks for execs and directors and do annual audits of the whole organization, which are made public to the members. Keeping this a secret will not work for our good and only play into the hands of the left.
Bull is still bullS if it comes out
of the NRA CORRUPT MOUTH.
MY money will go to other organizations…
NRA has had years to clean up their act.
Once again they are self centered greedy
B.
USA Today had an article that said the NRA’s tax filings show that was in the during 2016 and 2017 in the amount of
64 Million Dollars. If this is true, and it is easily verifiable, how much longer can the NRA survive? It can’t expect the members to make up this shortfall without some guarantee that changes will be made, Its not a matter of calling names
but holding those responsible accountable.
Let ” THE ” Wayne cover it he has deep pockets.
Perhaps the NRA BOD should have thought about EACH AND EVERY DECISION AND MOVE THEY MADE IN RESPECT TO EACH AND EVERY MEMBER ever since the very beginning and they wouldn’t be in this situation.
ANYTIME that ANY organization has paid memberships or dues paying members that start throwing up gatekeepers to the heirachy, YOU HAVE MISMANAGEMENT AND CORRUPTUON PROBLEMS!
Now you want us to abbrogate our first amendmany rights to cozy up to the sinking ship of corrupt fools?
Gun Ownersof America and the 2nd Amendment Foundation don’t have these problems because they are NO COMPROMISE!
They don’t you with our money or our rights!
I cannot keep on giving money to keep the upper crust of the NRA living so well. When I receive correspondence from them it is always with their hand out. It’s like going to COMMIFORNIA walking down the street. We are going to lose this we need this there are so many real organizations that want to keep OUR 2ND AMENDMENT RIGHTS not just spread scare tactics because they have a budget to pay for that. If they really believe in their beliefs would they need a salary in the millions? Wayne,Chris, give it up the membership is tired of paying your way, when we are barely getting by. Every month you beg for more, and we give until it hurts what are you giving? I hate the democrats,saying we believe in the gun laws their pushing,we have 20,000 plus but with all the money we donate we do not see push back ADS !!!!
Got it. Keep shoveling money to an organization that works against my interests, doesn’t respond EVER to any of my concerns, endorses politicians in my state that actively work to squelch positive gun laws, and refuses to explain those endorsements, treating me like I’m a pesky bug that needs a good squirt of Raid. Hmmmm … let me put it this way. I can get screwed for free, why should I pay for it?
I have poured literally THOUSANDS of dollars into the NRA coffers yet seen them time and again take actions contrary to the good of the 2nd Amendment. They seem to enjoy slipping and sliding on the slippery slope, foolishly confident that they can maintain their footing and never shoot to the bottom, where the piranhas of the Left await to eagerly devour our rights altogether. Sheer insanity. I can’t in good faith continue to support their foolhardy methodology, and have chosen to switch my support to Gun Owners of America and local gun rights groups. Sorry if that’s troublesome to others but one has a right to direct one’s limited funds where they will be most effective.
This is a great lesson regarding when money is freeflowing and self-important, enriched people forget what their mission is and who/what they are serving. We desperately need the NRA’s clout to be used in the right directions but the latest fiascoes with bump stocks and red flag laws show that they are all too eager to go-along-to-get-along, exactly what you CANNOT do with the devious Left.
So shut up and quit rocking the boat, in other words. What are we supposed to do when the NRA refuses to say anything to the members? I’ve written a few times in the last year with questions and never received even an acknowledgement. I was at the meeting Saturday where the message was ‘Shut up and trust LaPierre.’ You defenders of the status quo can’t stonewall the membership forever, and the longer you try to keep the lid on, the bigger the explosion will be when it finally blows.
LaPierre and his minions are a cancer that needs to be cut out. LaPierre is NOT the NRA, although I’m sure he believes he is and that he is indispensable. The NRA will survive without him and his authoritarian rule and fiscal abuses of funds and lack of accountability. Even if everything said about LaPierre and his cronies are untrue (highly unlikely), no one should be in charge, or in office, for as long as he has been. We complain about the corruption and problems with the apparent life-long members of the Congress and Senate and can see the reason for those problems primarily as being longevity and lack of term limits and we almost universally agree that this system needs to end for our government. Sadly, too many NRA members fail to see the exact same thing happening in the NRA administration or are unwilling to admit it and bring about positive change. Unlike the government, whose members are never held accountable for their actions, the NRA can be held to account for the executive’s actions, and should be. Roaches run from sunlight and disposing of the problem, or the perceived problem can only benefit the NRA whereas staying in the dark only allows the roach infestation to worsen. If LaPierre is allowed to continue along his path of abuse, corruption and megalomania that he has maintained for decades, the NRA will fail for sure, but without LaPierre, the NRA stands a chance to not only survive, but flourish.
The key idea in the article isn’t to ask membership to remain quiet, as many commenters have complained, but to not speak out PUBLICLY.
To do so provides the Anti’s with fodder for their propaganda machine.
The article suggests that you take your opinion DIRECTLY TO THE NRA BOARD. Channel this outrage in that direction before burning the entire edifice to the ground.
Unfortunately, taking complaints to the Board is an exercise in futility as Board Members are endorsed and usually hand picked by the upper echelon. Remind me how many times Adam Kraut has run for the Board and been defeated? While I don’t want to see the most powerful RKBA Organization dissolved, public member outcry and, at this point, the threat of legal action, appear to be the only way to force them to do the right thing since they refuse to voluntarily.
+1
It’s not possible to get answers privately, publicly asking is the only option. Telling members not to speak publicly is telling them to shut the ‘f’ up.
@Justjim
“The key idea in the article isn’t to ask membership to remain quiet, as many commenters have complained, but to not speak out PUBLICLY.”
Ok, then riddle me this. When the board ignores its members deliberately and refuses to listen, how is that any different than telling the membership to be remain quiet?
If you ignore the members, then tell them not to speak out publicly because you ignored them it is telling them to sit down and shut up. You can’t white wash that. It is the same as shadow banning! “We aren’t telling you that you cant have an account and write things, we just aren’t going to let it be publicly visible!”
You want a second try explaining that one justjim? Your bet has just been called.
Folks, it doesn’t matter what pseudonym name you use here on these boards, but when you contact the NRA and let them know you’re not pleased with the direction they’ve taken us you’ll use your given name and member number.
Being silent is what allowed the NRA to become an ineffective group. Everyone should SHOUT their disapproval until they become the force we need to protect our rights. The Oregon legislature and governor are about to enact the largest gun grab in US history, and the NRA is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps Wayne LaPierre is busy getting his new suits fitted and his private jet waxed.
Haven’t heard anything about the ski club in Colorado for a while . Anyone know where that stands ?
It is apparent that most of the negative comments have been made by those who are afraid to be identified. Has there been some wrongdoing by some Board Members and Officials? Yes! But bashing in public forums is not the way to make things right. If any of you are really concerned, Stand Up, Speak Up, but do it in the proper way. PLease note, I have put my real name on this, not some stupid pseudonym.
@Peter Scarborough, It is really poor opsec to identify one’s self, and has no bearing on valid statistics and logical presentations.
@Wild Bill
Indeed, what Sneaky Pete has done here is attempt to use Left Wing tactics to a tee.
If you don’t have evidence, or want to avoid arguing on facts simply call the opponent a coward and attempt to proclaim your own virtuosity aka moral superiority.
Ad hominem~ “Afraid”, “Stupid pseudonym”… Alleging hiding to diminish the act of speaking openly online.
Moral Superiority~ Proclaiming your own actions such as a name drop, aka “Look at me! Look at me!”, demanding those you disagree with do as you tell them to, and allude that if they don’t do as you tell them to then they “really aren’t concerned”, reverting back into ad hominem again without having presented any evidence yet.
This is called “Double speak”, or attempting to obscure an issue or conversation in order to prevent having to account for evidence or answer questions.
Just to elaborate on your comment.
There is no ‘proper way,’ the NRA will not respond. Instead they say members are damaging the organization by asking embarrassing questions publicly. How convenient, they get to avoid saying anything and imply disloyalty about those asking.
Well good for you! You want a medal or a chest to pin it on? I use my name too because that’s what people call me. No brag, just fact.
Sorry, folks, but ignoring the problem will not make it go away. The fact that anti-gun organizations are attacking the NRA doesn’t negate the fact that Wayne & Co. gave them the ammunition for the attack. And as much as NRA apologists constant argue that raising such concern is “hating on” the NRA, raising concerns about financial malfeasance at the largest gun rights organization is both valid and a service to the gun rights movement. The fact that last weekend the board circled its wagons around Lapierre should concern us all.
Since I am not currently a member I guess it’s okay for me to speak the truth then? Why don’t you go be a commie somewhere else Arbalest!
The anti gun group are using every opportunity to tear down our organization – wow – the Arbelast Group stay up all night figuring that one out? That’s a no brainer!
Advocating chilling free speech to get along go along, obviously this group is out of touch with the membership, just like WL, the Audit Committee and the BOD.
Fact, the control gun group did not bring the NRA to the breaking point of today; WL, the Audit Committee and the BOD have. Our organization has become their cash cow.
Time to clean house or more members will continue to divert funds to other organizations which heed their memberships demands of transparency and sound accounting practices.
Without a doubt in my mind, many of the attacks are by dupes. Many are by willing stooges of the Demo-Communist Media conglomerate.
@Hoplite
Sounds like a dupe talking out of the other end.
Before blanket calling others stooges for no other reason than your opinion doesn’t match theirs, and not having any evidence to offer for those charges you are making, perhaps you should think before trying to jump out in front.
When we say the NRA has worked for and even advocated for several gun control initiatives over the years, it is because we have proof. Red Flag laws? Congratulations, we have Chris Cox on video calling for Red Flag laws with “Enhanced due process protection. There is a problem with that, Red Flag laws even in their most basic form are by definition a violation of due process. There is no way to have a red flag law that includes due process, the two are antithetical.
How about Bump Stocks, and the unconstitutional executive decision to reclassify them? Well, last year after their comments in 2017, Chris Cox was once again sent out to play stool pigeon, stating that “Well, bans don’t ever really work anyway. Don’t take what we said out of context.” And of course many like you came out afterwards, miraculously spewing the exact same lines very much like the “Demo-Communist Media” do in unison, “It’s 4 dimensional chess”, “Bump Stocks don’t matter anyway”, “We need to give this to the left to save the rest of firearms from being banned.” Or is your memory so short you can’t remember back 5 months ago to December of 2018?
Perhaps you want to talk about Wayne Lapierre trying to urge Dick Heller not to pursue a suit over draconian statutes, and then refusing to help or support him in it. Later, in order to avoid looking like they hadn’t done anything, they slunk in and put in an amicus brief for the case. Two people corroborate this. The first, Robert Levy, was one of the original counsels arguing the case to bring it to the supreme court. Of the original six plaintiffs Mr Levy confirmed that the NRA had made “Repeated Attempts to derail the litigation.” after approaching them. Do you know who confirmed that? Do you know who stepped up to the plate and admitted it? Wayne Lapierre. He said, and I quote, “There was a real dispute on our side among the constitutional scholars about whether there was a majority of justices on the Supreme Court who would support the Constitution as written…” So because Lapierre was concerned some justices might vote against it, he and the NRA tried to derail the case and approach from a position of compromise. Of course, later when things looked winnable they jumped right behind it and Levy and Pierre said “We’re on great terms now!”
What was the claim for the 93′ Ban? “Well, we compromised and got a sunset provision..” Well sure, the dems held congress in 93, so what happened in 94 when the Republicans took control? Well, move along to 1998 when we got compliments of the NRA and Republican Party, the NICS. Well, as long as you ignore the fact that mandating background checks to purchase firearms is never going to stop criminals, why would we need a system that as a compromise would lay the foundation for a future requirement to expand or “Fix” the NICS by drawing in private transfers or the simple fact that you cannot track every single firearm without total registration. Seriously! But, the dupes line up and spew their talking points, bragging about how they got compromises instead of defending the constitution.
So who are the dupes? Are they the people who look at evidence and are willing to speak out even against their own personal opinions to tell the truth, or is it the people who put their fingers in their ears and act like little children who do not want to see, hear, or speak about evil when it was the people they supported who did it. But that’s what people who only have talking points and catch phrases do, they keep on pretending the tailor sold them a fine suit of clothes only the smartest people can see.
@Vann, Concise, factual, orderly! Good presentation.
Sorry, I meant Rev. Still a thoughtful presentation.
thank ’em when they’re right, spank ’em when they’re wrong.
if the NRA is so afraid of being criticized from within..then they should stop doing the things that make us criticize them.
stop backing up. stop giving the anti-gunners half of what they want and telling us how bad it could have been if you hadn’t compromised. stop acting weak when you are strong!
“Hello. We are the National Rifle Association. And even though we threw some gun owners that were outside our mainstream under the proverbial bus in the interest of Chess Not Checkers and giving a little to get a little, now more than ever we need everybody, including those outlier, non-Fudd deviants to all stick together for the sake of …well, UNITY! and the SECOND AMENDMENT! Because without us, people will lose their rights and surely DIE!”
@Beeroy
I see you have been reading Hoplite’s comments as well.
No, we should not attack the NRA publicly. What we should do is bombard the board with demands to plug the holes and right the ship. If (more likely when) they don’t , we then must pour our resources into GOA, SAF, etc., and take to our phones and keyboards to make it crystal clear to our supposedly elected swamp creatures that the NRA was not us. WE were the NRA and WE aren’t going away.
We’ve been bombarding the nra board for years, to straighten it’s sorry ass out. The board ignores all coms from the member masses. Answers not a single inquiry. And refuses input from people, vastly more knowledgeable in the 2nd amendment, and firearms training, than the whole board combined. But! We’ll keep trying!
If not in prison or on parole constitutional rights should be for every American. 2A does not exclude a single American. Should get your horse back too unless they fed it to you in jail. Until these groups interpret the plain English text in 2A as it is clearly written I will not support them because they don’t support The People. They support a bias discriminatory agenda. Another flavor of lefty. JPFO supports all Americans equally so I give em a thumbs up. Gun control is a lie, people control, gun confiscation, genocide, eugenics, fake news and more. Federal agencies are radical political organizations subverting the will of The People and our Constitution under no authority to do so. A tyrannical corporation.
To: The Arbalest Group.
I would like to bring to your attention a perfect example of “Not being able to see the forest for the trees”
I present you with this jewel of a comment from your opinion.
“This is why members should avoid adding to the chatter with additional public opposition to NRA. Take your complaints directly to the NRA Board of Directors and demand that they answer your questions.”
Wow. Genius even. Who would have ever thought to take our complaints to the BOD. I mean there is just no chance that anyone in the history has ever tried that! And just imagine, if they refused to listen maybe we would try petitioning to run someone else like Adam Kraut to replace them! Wouldn’t that be fantastic!
Detecting Sarcasm? You should be, and then you should put a studious effort into trying to extract your skulls from your rectums. For over a decade we have tried to go to the board on many issues, only to be ignored, told to be compliant, chastised for being too dumb to understand the big picture…. Enough.
So, instead of waiting, whoever got the bright idea over at the Arbalest group bright and early on Friday thought that since they had their big boy pants on, they’d pen an opinion article on Ammoland. After all, why wait and let everyone suspect you might be an idiot when you can pick up a pen and demonstrate clearly that indeed you are.
So unless your next piece begins with an apology to the Hundreds of Thousands to millions of gun owners and former members who you just insulted by telling them they need to sit down, shut up, and work with the board, then you can stuff it right up your backsides next to your noses are. How abjectly oblivious do you have to be to think we didn’t try to go to the board first, only to have the door slammed in our faces. WAY TO GO ARBALEST GROUP.
How about the NRA actually defend all gun owners, not just the “Fudds”, and how about they stop supporting anti gun legislation, and how about fighting in states that need the most help, not just the easy states that are already red with the most 2a freedom.
Until then, they deserve criticism from gun owners. When they feel the pain of lower membership maybe then they will realize that all gun owners, and especially those of us “behind enemy lines” need help too. There is no reason for people like LaPierre and Cox to make about a half million a year salary. Im disgusted with the NRA!
GFY
No matter anyone’s opinion of the NRA, whether you hate their mailers asking for money or who is on their various leadership committees, if the NRA falls, so does the 2nd amendment. This is a fact.These other organizations that appear to be “pure” and “perfect” will not survive what the Democratic Party and the deep state will throw at them. This is a fact. Don’t believe me? Watch what happens.
The NRA spends more money on Wayne LaPierre’s salary than on 2A lawsuits. That is actually a fact. You are delusional!
The second amendment has been around long before the NRA. If the NRA falls, the 2A will still stand because, well…the millions of gun owners will make sure it does. WE, THE PEOPLE, represent the power of the 2A. The NRA is just a mouthpiece that can be replaced & certainly rehashed to its original purpose.
No organization is greater than our God given rights.
You’re a special kind of retard arent you?
@Bob999.
What you just said doesn’t make any sense. The NRA doesn’t give us the 2nd Amendment. We are born with it.
Question for you:
What exactly has the NRA done for gun owners for the last 50 years?
I don’t trust the neighbor with my wallet nor do I entrust a political organization with my rights. I seriously doubt a politician is going to remain loyal to the Constitution until they cross that line and get the lead and this is why George Washington said a revolution would be necessary every 20 years or so to keep the Republic healthy and working for the people. It is the reason why we have arms. When they come for your guns give them the lead I once heard a Jewish lady say. If they treat you this poorly when your armed can you imagine how you will be treated disarmed? Can die boots on or in the FEMA camp, choice is yours. Standing or on your knees by guilotine. Patriot Act/Noahide law.
Oh please sell that line elsewhere,or perhaps it’s the La Pierre and his merry band of miscreants. They seem more interested in their wine and cigar club than the protection of the 2 nd. amendment.
The prior tag line to “Freedoms Safest Place” was “Stand and Fight” when all Negotiating Rights Away has been accomplishing is “Kneeling and Capitulating” the members and Americans rights.
Negotiating Rights Away wanted stand and fight, well it’s members are standing and fighting the Kneeling and Capitulating of La Pierre and his mismanagement of the organization for more than the past thirty years.
I so agree
they have constantly let 2nd amendment rights to be chiseled away
I left them in 1988 I could see the writing on the wall
Looks like they are trying the fail option #1
Option 1. A majority of the Board circles the wagons in defense of Wayne LaPierre and his pals and tries to weather the storm. (They’ll fail, and the whole ship will sink.)
Option 2. A majority of the Board fires LaPierre and other executives (or accepts their resignations) and nullifies their contracts, suspends all vendor contracts pending thorough review and renegotiation, and purges culpable members of their own body demonstrating a commitment to safeguarding NRA assets on behalf of the membership. (Plugging the holes and possibly saving the ship.)
The former and current NRA Cronies infiltrated the lines and took to the Common Folk Audience NRA Member mics @ the member meeting and adjourned the meeting as things heated up… with the old ass fudds voting in the affirmative to shut it down.. cuz secrets they say….Votes to take it Executive Session Failed several times! SOS!
Don’t complain, shut up, fork over your wallet to the NRA. We’ve heard this broken record for over 40 years now. The bad apples are running NRA HQ, and till that changes, people will continue to speak out.
And the NRA is not the 2nd Amendment. If NRA goes away, there will still be the GOA, FPC and SAF. They will, better than NRA ever could, insure that 2A rights do not disappear.
Never rely on any organization to defend a Right.. That is your responsibility To Protect/Preserve. Firearms owners ceding their responsibility to Politicians and Organizations. Have got Us the mess We are Now having to deal with. I’m not just picking on Will here. There are Millions of voiceless firearms owners out there. Who won’t take the time to use that voice. Regardless of the reason or excuse. That lack of involvement is slowly allowing all of OUR Rights to be slowly eroded away. Those of US who do actively work to Protect/Preserve OUR Rights. Get tired of all the pissing and moaning from Keyboard Commandos who have plenty of time to comment on a website. Yet won’t spend 15-20 a couple of times a week. Contacting their Senators and Representatives to use Their Voice/Power in defense of Their Rights. WE Need All The Help WE Can Get. Keep Your Powder Dry.
For some of us, the Texas State Rifle Association.
CIA brings the drugs in, distributes them then cops arrest and fleece the users. It is called entrapment. If gov was a real gov and not a trafficking cartel these blogs would have little to report. UNITED STATES CORPORATION is not a gov but rather a Corp like Walmart. Parent company to all the corrupt subsidiaries seeking to take your guns away with no authority whatsoever to do so. Banana republic.
I’m a 40 year life member of the NRA. I’ve seen many ups and downs within the organization. As I see it the real problem lies in allowing the leadership to stagnate. When A single person or group is allowed to lead a company or organization for to long. They begin to think themselves untouchable. They believe they can do whatever pleases themselves regardless of the opinions of the membership/shareholders. Much of this problem is the fault of said members/shareholders because they have ceded Their Power over by not paying attention to what is happening. Until the situation reaches a critical stage. Then everyone wants to point fingers. Inactive members who think paying their dues is all that is necessary have allowed these things to happen. How many member have actually voted in a NRA election? If they did. Did they really know anything about that individual? Are they active at the local or state level? There is plenty of blame to go around. We have met the enemy and it is us. Keep Your Powder Dry.
Darkman, while many comment and have valid points, you have cold hammer forged the answer. The percentage of gun owners who take an activist stance is sub MOA fractional. We can’t stand by, give our money to corrupted people, and expect them to do right by us. I know l can do more and participate on the local level with OFF. Is that enough? Probably not. We maybe our own worst enemy by not uniting in greater numbers. I believe many gun owners are reluctant to draw attention to themselves (through activism) out of fear that they will be targeted for confiscation or worse. If l’m right, how do we overcome that? Anyway, l agree with both your comments!
Amen, Darkman. Amen.
I don’t think anyone has touched on the BOD composition yet here. Most corporations have 7-12 on the BOD. The NRA has what, 76? So, it isn’t possible for any handful of directors, no matter how well intended to actually exert control over the executives. Think this was by chance? I don’t. The bloated board needs to be downsized.
Although I don’t trust the state of New York, one possibility of its investigation may be that if there was wrong doing (Like the 200k of La Pierre’s wardrobe allegedly being billed to a contractor) executives and board audit members could go to jail. This will take a long time to completely shake out.
I want the NRA to promote marksmanship and the 2A. I don’t want it to be crippled, but the bloated bureaucracy and padded salaries/pensions have to go.
Would that be the same board that hasn’t listened for 30 years? Perceived?
All organisms have inter and intra symbiotic relationships. Multicelled organisms have cell to cell communications (signalling). Single celled, such as bacteria use Quoram Sensing. In the case of the gun rights activist it’s Ammoland and other social media venues. If it needs to be talked about; it needs to be talked about, period! Your sit down and shut up approach is how we got here in the first place. It’s how freedom dies under a cloak of darkness every time, without fail.
As far as the interspecific symbiotic relations go with the Progressives, that is of the Parasitic nature. As parasites they have the ability to attack the “WEAKEST ORGANISM” to death first. Here’s the kicker, it doesn’t matter how large the organism (organization) is either. Only that it is weak and vulnerable.
When species are attacked by a bacteria, a antibiotic is administered to stop the organism (organization) from continuing is cellular growth and multiplication. There are differing types for gram pos and neg bacterium. Point is, if we stop the disease now, we save the organism, or even better create the new , better organism that can withstand these parasitic attacks.
The premise of your article sucks…if the NRA has to die for what the parasitic Progressives call “Creative Destruction,” then the sooner the better.
AGREED. When obscene laws were about to be passed in New Jersey , NRA state level people and Rifle / Pistol Club of NJ told people …. ” We’re ‘ handling ‘ things , butt – out , we’ll let you know what WE decide ” ( sit down – shut up ) guess what , NJ gun owners got screwed again.
Those who say ” only ” the N.R.A. has clout are fools. If just HALF of N.R.A. members joined Gun Owners of America ( as many are now doing ) GOA would be at 5 Million members strong with a Lean , Mean , NO Compromise Stance.
I refuse to renew my membership until Cox and Lapierre are gone.