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The NRA and all its thorns...

scoober78

scoober78

(HCDAW)
pilot
Contributor
Alright guys...I think in general, that my feelings on gun control, firearms, shooting, hunting etc...are fairly clear. I am an NRA member and have been for a while.

That said, for all the good that they do, they also make me crazy. For example...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295157,00.html

Ted Nugent...member of the NRA Board of Directors.

How do you folks feel about this? Do you ever wish that the NRA would distance itself from this sort of radicalism?

I'm not suggesting that we throw the baby out with the bathwater here...but man...can't we make this a smarter organization? This stuff comes up from time to time...consider Charlton Heston, then President of the NRA, suggesting that we "lynch Al Gore..." WTF???:confused:
 
I agree. People who don't own guns need to know that the majority of gun owners aren't paranoid freaks. I'm sick to death of people who ask "well, why do you NEED an assault rifle" as if it's any different from some chick NEEDING a pair of Gucci pumps. Let's face it; most people who don't own guns get all or most of the info they have about them from two sources: Hollywood and the media. And they're scared of guns in the hands of other people because they just don't TRUST other people.

We all know the media has an agenda: sensationalize gun violence (and other violence) to scare people, who will then watch the news and sell advertising. Hollywood's influence is more pernicious: Go back to Beowulf, The Song of Roland, and The Lord of the Rings. Weapons have always had a talismanic status in the telling of stories. That's why swords of old had names like Hrunting, Durendal, and Anduril, Flame of the West. Weapons represent POWER. And the question is, how much power do you trust people vis a vis the State?

The hero or the villain in the stories can blow people 100 feet through the air with one shot because in stories, everyone is superhuman, or at least the classic Western heroes and villains are. But without exposure to the real deal, it's tough to realize that weapons aren't magic killing machines any more than cops and soldiers are white knights or murderous psychopaths. Non-gun people have never been exposed to guns, so they just don't know better than what they see on TV. They don't realize how damn hard it is to hit something with a gun unless you know what you're doing and practice. Blued metal equals not only the fear of the unknown, but the threat of death and thus, power and domination.

That image is hijacked by people who want to ban or restrict guns, and the only thing the pro-gun side has to offer is "over my cold, dead body," "lynch Al Gore," etc. etc. etc. Doesn't matter what kind of backroom politicking the NRA can do to fight for our rights; they piss it all away with statements like that. Who is going to trust their fellowman with the power that guns represent when they make statements like that?
 
He speaks to an important part of the base, and the sort of people who would be turned off by a rock and roller acting crazy onstage, aren't the sort of people amenable to our point of view anyway. This stuff fires up the base, and some of us enjoy it, regardless of the fact that we would not repeat it in public.

And speaking of the NRA, I need to renew.
 
raptor10 said:
He speaks to an important part of the base, and the sort of people who would be turned off by a rock and roller acting crazy onstage, aren't the sort of people amenable to our point of view anyway. This stuff fires up the base, and some of us enjoy it, regardless of the fact that we would not repeat it in public.

And speaking of the NRA, I need to renew.
Click to expand...


I can definitely see you argumnent here Raptor...I really do. I mean Ozzy Ozbourne bites the head off a bat, not just because he's a nutter...but because it got the crowd fired up and made him famous...even people who hated the music were talking about it. Tracking...

But...While I agree that certain talking heads jawing about this aren't amenable to our point of view anyway, they aren't my concern. My concern is the mother sitting at home who might decide based on some news coverage of this, that her Cub Scout son now can't attend a NRA sponsored firearms training event because the NRA harbors (and in the Ted Nugent case, allows itself to be partially controlled by) these "lunatics". My concern is for the 19 year old female trap shooter who shoots a Beretta 391 (semi-auto for those unfamiliar), and is worried that in 3 years if Obama is elected, her trap gun will be illegal! She wants to keep that from happening, but is alienated by threats to sitting Senators...

These people are real, and it just seems prudent, if your mission really is to protect the second amendment, and not just enrage the left (which I do agree...can be gratifying and fun sometimes..:D) to make your organization as effective as possible. The goal, difficult as it is, ought to be to alienate nobody who may support your cause no? And while pantwaisting and compromising on core issues isn't a fair trade for that support, marginalizing behavior and "rhetoric" like that seems a small price to pay.

<<EDIT>> Just for clarity...I am, and will continue to be until I stop breathing, an NRA member. They are the only group taking a stand for something that is vitally important to me. They are worthy of my support, thorns and all. I am talking about how to make them more effective.
 
I agree w/ Scoober & Nitanny: The NRA can be embarrassing at times w/ its executives' bluster (Wayne LaPierre) and the rants of guys like Nugent (whom I otherwise like). Constant communication w/ our congressmen & senators is likely best policy. I own 7 hunting rifles, 4 shotguns & 2 handguns, so I'm ready for "Red Dawn" if it comes!
 
raptor10 said:
He speaks to an important part of the base, and the sort of people who would be turned off by a rock and roller acting crazy onstage, aren't the sort of people amenable to our point of view anyway.
Click to expand...

Preaching to the choir? Great... :sleep_125

As to the bold, you're just wrong.
 
Non-gun people have never been exposed to guns, so they just don't know better than what they see on TV. They don't realize how damn hard it is to hit something with a gun unless you know what you're doing and practice. Blued metal equals not only the fear of the unknown, but the threat of death and thus, power and domination.
Click to expand...

The only thing I'll add is that Ted Nugent doesn't change anyone's mind. Anti-gun folks are going to stay that way, pro-gun folks are going their way.
I personnaly like it because it's using the tactics of hollywood against them.
Kill it and Grill it.:D
 
MB: Did I mention I have 32 flyrods? We all have more [toys] than we need & less than we want. I did sell 2 rifles & a semiauto .22 handgun last year. (hehe).
 
The NRA has never, nor will ever, receive a thin dime from me (short of whatever take they may get from gun show entry fees when I feel so inclined to go). My disdain for them in a few non-exclusive, bulleted points:


The NRA can get fucked in my opinion. The GOA or local organizations (TSRA, etc...) are far more rights-based and haven't been shown to roll over and die when their precious deer rifles aren't affected.
 
Even before this thread, I decided not to renew my membership this next year. And a lot of it has to do with what Squeeze pointed out.
 
Did anyone else get this e-mail lately? They've sent it to me three times.

ALERT! Florida Chamber of Commerce Renews Attack On Our Firearms Rights!

Date: February 8, 2008
TO: USF & NRA Member and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
USF Executive Director
NRA Past President

Email address: USFinfo@aol.com

Senator Charles Dean (R- Inverness) appeared at a press conference held by the anti-gun Florida Chamber of Commerce. During his speech, Senator Dean touted his NRA membership and then disparaged NRA’s leadership for pushing legislation to protect our right to keep and bear arms and our right to self-defense. Senator Dean also claimed that the issue of having a firearm in your private vehicle for lawful purposes, while parked in a public accessed parking lot, is not important to NRA members.

Please contact Senator Dean and let him know how important the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and the right to self-defense are to you.


Senator Dean's contact information is below.
Email: dean.charles.web@flsenate.gov

District Address: 415 Tompkins Street
Inverness, FL 34450
Phone: (352) 860-5175

Legislative Address: 311 Senate Office Bldg.
404 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
Phone: (850) 487-5017

To view the News 7, WJHG article and television clip please click here.
 
I remember deleting something with that subject about 3 times. I do get so much crap from them it takes away the motivation to read it unless the subject draws me in.
 
Guess I'll go against the thought of this thread, but I'm a life member of the NRA and love the fact that I am. While some of the stuff may seem extreme, I honestly feel that the extremity is warranted at times, otherwise who will counter the actions of some of the more zealous anti-gun crowd?
 
insanebikerboy said:
While some of the stuff may seem extreme, I honestly feel that the extremity is warranted at times, otherwise who will counter the actions of some of the more zealous anti-gun crowd?
Click to expand...

It seems to me that that's the same kind of excuse people use to justify the moronic rantings of Michael Moore or Ann Coulter. I'm not trying to call you out at all but I just think that extremism for the sake of combatting extremism is just a cycle of gheyness that frankly gives me the urge to stab (Dear FBI..."stab" is a figure of speech here...don't take this as a threat against someone/something :D).
 
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