Category: Guns

I came across this post today, that looks like it got picked up on by the anti-NRA types.   There are a lot of angry, pissed off folks out there on Al Gore’s internets that will tell you the NRA has sold us out, and will be happy to go on a litany of grievances going nearly all the way back to 1871.

I’ve never claimed the organization is perfect, but they are what we have to deal with.  I’m glad to have you aboard.  A lot of folks make some good points that we’re tired of compromising away our gun rights, and I’m tired of it too, to be honest.  But the only way we’re going to stop compromising is to organize, mobilize, and win.  As much as I agree with GOA and JPFO’s goals, they don’t have a winning strategy, and aren’t going to move the ball forward.  They also lack the members and political influence.  I have no issue with folks joining the smaller groups, but I think everyone should be in the NRA.  If they do something that pisses you off, tell them about it!  Vote in the elections for board members who’s ideas are most in line with your own.  In short, participate.  Don’t just be angry.   Welcome aboard Dustin, it’s good to have you.

Glad to see John Sigler in the area saying what needs to be said:

“Philadelphia doesn’t need any new anti-gun laws to combat the lawless,” said John C. Sigler, a Delaware lawyer who was appointed president of the firearm-advocacy organization this year. “They simply need to enforce the laws they already have.”

Speaking to students at the Widener University School of Law, Sigler, a former Dover police captain and Navy submarine veteran, delivered a hard-line argument: He said gun-control laws don’t work and are not the solution to violent crime.

“If Philadelphia wants to stop the killing, they’ve got to make criminals pay the penalty,” he said.

Even from my point of view, the NRA has not been very visible in Pennsylvania.   I hope this is a sign that’s about to change.  The Philadelphia politicians have, for too long, pushed the easy solution:

“They need to step up to the plate and say enough is enough, my constituents are dying and we need to stop that. And to stop that, you need to take the bad guys, put them in jail and you leave them there. If they come back out, and do it again, you put them back in again for twice as long,” he said.

He said the public must accept the cost of fighting crime.

“If it means building more prisons, then build more prisons,” Sigler said.

Gun control is easy.   It’s a way for cowardly politicians to pretend like they are doing something.  It’s a lot harder to actually fight crime.  The politicians must be held to account, and not permitted to take the easy road.

Last month, many of you may remember I attended one of the NRA board of director’s meetings. One of the things that was talked about with some of the folks at ILA was whether they could send someone over to our Gun Blogger Rendezvous in Reno that weekend. Since they were already going to be in the area, it looked like it was something they could do, so it was arranged for Glen Caroline and Ashley Varner to come talk with us for a bit.

The main issue centered around our belief that the NRA has an image problem with a lot of members of the shooting community. As examples, Kevin Baker brought up NRA’s attempts to derail Parker as one example where NRA created an image problem for itself. Chris Byrne focused on the organizations image problems in regards to Gun Owners of America and its supporters, and suggested a few things NRA could do to help appeal to shooters, such as getting the CMP refunded, and allowing the military to sell surplus ammunition to civilians rather than having to destroy it, as is current practice.  The subject of getting a hearing in Congress on ATF abuses was also suggested.

From my point of view, I think the discussion went well. I found most of the criticisms to be fair, and the suggestions to be reasonable and achievable. But the big question put before us bloggers is what NRA can do to change its image, while still remaining a viable organization for pushing the issue forward.

As Bitter mentioned, perception is in the eyes of the beholder, and the NRA is in the unenviable position of having to hold together a coalition of sport shooters, second amendment activists, police officers, self-defense advocates, hunters, and now bloggers. These groups all have common interests, but our pet issues are different. Dave Hardy had this to say in Bitter’s comments:

Egad. I can recall when the hunters were complaining that NRA could care less about hunting, it was all about competitive shooting and politics and handguns for self defense.

And the shotgunners were complaining (with, I think, a little more basis) that they were being ignored in favor of rifle and handgun shooters.

Sadly, the NRA is in a position where there’s not much they can do without pissing someone off. While I think there are things the Association can do to help improve its image among certain groups, to some degree, this is a fundamental problem. It will only be solved by the various groups getting over themselves and working together to move the issue forward. We shooters have to be willing to help hunters stick it to the HSUS on hunting issues if we want them to help us stick it to the Brady Campaign, and stand by our side the next time an “assault weapons” ban comes up. We all have to accept that in politics you rarely get everything you want.

It’s only really by working together we’ll be able to get anywhere, and working in a coalition with mostly common interests, but some divergent ones definitely requires getting over yourself, which is difficult. As I heard SayUncle say last weekend “I’m a GOA type, it’s just that I know they can’t win.” which also reflects how I feel. My objections to GOA have to do with their tactics, not their overall belief system. We all share the same goal. I think too many of us have forgotten that.

I notice that there’s a Jackson recall petition out there. I would highly urge everyone to not vote for Joaquin Jackson in the next election, but this recall provision is a bad idea and I’ll tell you why.

It’s an election year, which means the NRA is going to need to spend a lot of money to make sure we don’t ever have to hear “President Clinton” again. This recall provision will force a special election, which will require mailing all voting members, hiring firms to design the ballot, to count, audit, and certify the results. In short; this measure is not cheap, and I’m not sure getting rid of a single board member, who I very highly doubt had a prayer of keeping a seat on the board after this, is worth it. The damage on the Jackson thing has already been done.

I’m all for getting rid of Jackson, but this isn’t the way to go about it. I think it’s high time that Joaquin Jackson owned up and resigned his position. At this point, it’s the best thing for the movement as a whole.