New York/Texas – -(AmmoLand.com)- The fact that the NRA’s petition to reorganize was rejected should frighten every loyal Ammoland reader. Those who celebrate need to answer one question: If this can happen to the NRA, what do you think happens to other pro-Second Amendment groups?
The Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms are headquartered in Washington state and presumably were incorporated there. Does anyone recall the track record of Governor Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson of that state on Second Amendment issues? Here’s a hint: It’s lousy.
Gun Owners of America, like the NRA, is headquartered in Virginia. Anyone remember the records of Ralph Northam and Mark Herring on Second Amendment issues? Their records suck, too. The Firearms Policy Coalition is in California. Gavin Newsome’s record on the Second Amendment stinks, too, and so does that of the state’s new attorney general.
So for those celebrating the NRA’s loss in court, think carefully about the blueprint Letitia James is trying to create – one that can be combined with Andrew Cuomo’s actions as well. Then sober up and get scared because there’s a four-letter word to describe those groups: Next.
What do you think happens to all the membership records of the NRA should James dissolve it? What about the donation records to NRA-ILA and NRA-PVF, which had the mission to elect pro-Second Amendment candidates? Talk about handing our enemies everything they need for a campaign of doxing and harassment… and even those who left because they didn’t like Wayne LaPierre won’t be safe from this.
You will be “named and shamed” by anti-Second Amendment extremists. Look at what has become all too commonplace these days – employers get contacted, there are demands to fire employees. The harassment often will come from one’s own co-workers who will (falsely) claim that YOUR advocacy for the Second Amendment makes them “unsafe.” Banks will be pressured to financially deplatform these other pro-Second Amendment groups.
This does not include the loss of the NRA’s safety training, hunter education, and many other services that have been provided outside of advocating for the Second Amendment. Much of those activities, in their way, also defended the Second Amendment by helping people learn how to responsibly exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Even if you don’t like the NRA’s political strategy or their legislative tactics, what replaces those programs?
I’ve been on record as saying LaPierre needs to go. Warning signs that were present in 2013 and 2014 were ignored, and now the NRA is in a desperate fight with existential implications for every pro-Second Amendment group out there. He also seems to have had no plan to counter corporate gun control, either.
Because as much good as these other groups do, they have nowhere near the resources or membership of the NRA. Hating on the NRA and Wayne LaPierre is like dumping Donald Trump for re-election over his mean tweets. Yeah, you might not have liked him, but as America is facing the reality of President Joe Biden, we’re paying a dear price. Second Amendment supporters should learn from this before it is too late.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
The legal eagles have a saying about “the fruit of the poisoned tree.” In my “public futility” days we said, “how many attaboys are wiped out by one ah sh*t?” (all of them). Over the years the NRA BOD has had a practically infinite number of opportunities to pull their heads out of where the sun don’t shine and get the organization to straighten up and fly right. They nerfed each and every one of them. Not one more dime of my money for Wayne’s wardrobe, his private plane trips, or his intern’s rent. Not one more dime! DDS NRA… Read more »
” Stop James Now ” ? Please explain this ability that we have to affect elected or appointed officials in states where we do not reside. I want to know because there are scores of politicians all over this country that I want to remove from office.
Harold works hard to be the perfect inverse barometer of what a 2A supporter should think, believe, and now – Fear ! His column suggesting we need to bankroll the hiring of translators to get illegal immigrants on our side must not have gained much traction, so now he tries to create fear. Someone needs to explain to him that if every peaceful method we have on hand to secure our rights is obliterated, our path will become quite clear
you’re right about losing the benefits of the NRA, training programs etc. like it or not, the NRA remains a strong lobbyist presence in Washington DC. Clearly Wayne LaPierre and company need to be drummed out. Until they are gone, many members have promised to not send the NRA another penny. Unfortunately we have some people in our midst with very narrow vision and they reject anything and everything the NRA does. Those quislings ignore any good that the NRA has done in the past. On top of that, we have folks in New York, Virginia and other states who… Read more »
“Those who celebrate need to answer one question: If this can happen to the NRA, what do you think happens to other pro-Second Amendment groups?”
Ya know what? If other pro-Second Amendment groups are as poorly run and managed as the NRA has been for a long time, the same thing should happen to them, too!
I have supported the NRA for a long time. My problem is with the current Exec. Committee. Until the NRA cleans house I can’t support it. NRA needs to make the next move.