An Open letter to the NRA about bump stocks

[Slobray]

Some people are fine suffering a death by a thousand cuts under the guise of compromise.

As long as it affects everyone but them................



Ray

 

[notazombie]

I wish you guys would quit using the word compromise. That's not the word you use when a bully takes your lunch money "or else".

 

[ma96782]

I'm not supporting the ban by any means, and yes, people should be compensated or grandfathered in. A lot of the buyers knew this was coming and rolled the dice. It's not a gun, your constitutional rights were not infringed, it's a silly novelty, not a hill to die on.

There was nothing on the horizon when I purchased mine. My stock was totally un-regulated back then. It was just another stock.

Then....
It's more disturbing (to me) that YOU (only now, when confronted) have stated that compensation or a grandfathering should occur.

But that being said...…the reality (as it currently stands) of the new Federal Govt's law/regulation, is that no compensation will be given.

Hummm.....WA State was offering $150 for each bump stock turned in. But the law was unfunded. So maybe now WA will get a free ride on the Federal Govt's plan to not compensate anyone. Wonderful, huh?

Then...…
Our GOVT. (and some people) thinks that it's OK to "take, demand that I hand over and/or demand that I destroy my stuff" without just compensation under the threat of being imprisoned. In other words......obviously, there is little to no respect for personal property rights.

Humm…..my car wasn't mentioned in the bill of rights. So, it's ok that the GOVT take my car without just compensation?

Further......If the GOVT was to outlaw bullets or magazines or any piece of metal/plastic/whatever that could be a functioning "trigger".....it appears (based on the way you worded your response) that you would be fine with that? Because those silly novelty parts and pieces aren't actually a gun/firearm either.

But don't get me wrong. Because, I still believe that everyone is entitled to draw their own line in the sand.

Aloha, Mark

 

[NW Backpacker]

Still have 90 days or so before the bump stock ban goes into effect, right? Hopefully, it will be struck down or put on hold awaiting appeals, so don't destroy them until the last day.

In the mean time, support the pro-gun groups of your choice. If you can afford to donate to all of them, do it. Fighting each another will not help, although nothing wrong with a healthy debate on this website - I've learned from this thread myself.

Right now I think our best bet is the Trump Supreme Court - but even that is flaky. Given our nations continuing slide to the political left, protecting gun rights using the ballot box will become very difficult.

 

[Diamondback]

Frankly, I think we're in a WORSE position with SCOTUS... Kavanaugh is just another switch-hitting squish like Roberts and Kennedy, one I wouldn't trust if his a** was strapped into an electric chair with me having control over Da Switch.

 

[INTJ]

I have pretty much lost interest in being here, but I came across something that seems pertinent to this discussion:

NRA-ILA | NRA Statement on Bump Fire Stock Rule

This week, the Department of Justice announced that it would soon be releasing a final rule classifying "bump-stock-type-devices" as "machineguns" under the National Firearms Act.

These devices came to national attention in October 2017 after the horrific attack in Las Vegas. As multiple media accounts correctly pointed to at the time, there was overwhelming legislative support for proposals that went far beyond these specific devices and some that could have potentially jeopardized all semiautomatic firearms. Rather than sit back and watch a legislative over-reaction, the NRA asked Congress to let ATF review its prior determinations on bump fire stocks.

Some have used our October 2017 statement to claim that NRA supports ATF's final rule, but as NRA-ILA's Executive Director Chris Cox noted only days after our statement was issued, "We don't believe that bans have ever worked on anything."

We also made this clear in our comments to ATF on the proposed rule earlier this year. In our comments, we further advised that ATF should at a minimum make an amnesty period available to deal with the fundamental inequity imposed on law-abiding gun owners who purchased their bump fire stocks in good faith reliance on prior ATF determinations. We continue to pursue the availability of a period of amnesty with the administration.

While there can be disagreement on legislative strategy, it's important to remember that we will soon face a hostile, anti-gun Congress led by Nancy Pelosi. It's critical that all gun owners unite and prevent the Bloomberg-bought Congress from dismantling our Second Amendment freedom.

 

[Pete F]

Maybe I am just fooling myself, but Trump's move to ban bumpstocks is unprecedented. Maybe the hope is that it will not stand up to scrutiny in court and will be thrown out. Trump wins, gun owners win and it may be enough to prevent it from ever happening again. If it had gone through congress, like Pelosi wanted, it would be set in stone.

I don't own or want a bumpstock, but will fight for the right to own one. I don't want to see any more common sense gun laws or infringements on the 2nd Amendment. Still a NRA Member.

 

[leadcounsel]

Ya know, I hadn't considered something. It's a totally outside possibility but what if Trump did this whilst also expecting lawsuits and simultaneously telling his DOJ to sandbag the defense, thereby throwing the case and setting AWESOME precedent for gun owners...

It's wishful thinking, for sure...

 

[Savage Jav]

We have to play the long game. That means we will win some and lose some and must pick our battles. It also means we don't throw away the organization that has done more to protect 2A rights than ANY organization ever.

Perhaps if everyone who has resigned the NRA in protest stayed and advocated for them, the NRA would be much larger and better able to fight for lesser issues like bump stocks.

By accepting that you will loose some means that you accept that the NRA should only defend ideas and states they think hey can win and supporters in states and issues they can't win are just screwed.
When was the last time the NRA too a hard stance on non Fudd issues?
Third they have plenty of support and money but choose to spend in on their board members and out dated marketing strategies.

 

[Boboclown]

I wish you guys would quit using the word compromise. That's not the word you use when a bully takes your lunch money "or else".

It is when the bully is the government it seems.

 

[Flopsweat]

By accepting that you will loose some means that you accept that the NRA should only defend ideas and states they think hey can win and supporters in states and issues they can't win are just screwed.
When was the last time the NRA too a hard stance on non Fudd issues?
Third they have plenty of support and money but choose to spend in on their board members and out dated marketing strategies.

While I see your point, and feel that it has some validity, I didn't see much action from them in WA or OR over the last few state initiatives. And they've been doozies. I'm beginning to feel like they have written us off.

 

[leadcounsel]

While I see your point, and feel that it has some validity, I didn't see much action from them in WA or OR over the last few state initiatives. And they've been doozies. I'm beginning to feel like they have written us off.

I can see this issue both ways. On the one hand, resources ARE limited and the NRA might very well have to make hard economic decisions on investing in fights they can win. I can see that they perhaps "rolled the dice" on the latest initiatives in Washington State, hoping that the apathetic and lazy voters would actually bother getting informed and voting. The information is not a secret and anyone interested can find out information instantly... so what does advertising do, really? And they didn't abandon us. I actually WENT to NRA sponsored events and got NRA fliers, handouts, signs, etc. for I594, and I went door knocking too handing them out. And the NRA has participated in lawsuit(s) after the fact, at least for 1639... that costs money.... real money. And they don't have endless coffers so they do need to pick battles smartly.

OTOH, it would be nice if they were spearheading and pouring money into fighting in these "lost" states. I does feel like we've been somewhat abandoned...

I see both sides.

 

[Flopsweat]

I can see this issue both ways. On the one hand, resources ARE limited and the NRA might very well have to make hard economic decisions on investing in fights they can win. I can see that they perhaps "rolled the dice" on the latest initiatives in Washington State, hoping that the apathetic and lazy voters would actually bother getting informed and voting. The information is not a secret and anyone interested can find out information instantly... so what does advertising do, really? And they didn't abandon us. I actually WENT to NRA sponsored events and got NRA fliers, handouts, signs, etc. for I594, and I went door knocking too handing them out. And the NRA has participated in lawsuit(s) after the fact, at least for 1639... that costs money.... real money. And they don't have endless coffers so they do need to pick battles smartly.

OTOH, it would be nice if they were spearheading and pouring money into fighting in these "lost" states. I does feel like we've been somewhat abandoned...

I see both sides.

Good points. You may have noticed that the only over the top initiative in WA that failed was coincidentally the only one that had a large radio and TV advertising campaign in opposition to it. This may be the only way we can stop the new madness that is already prepared for 2019.