I'm a leftie. Can I join the NRA?

[Abiqua]

The NRA could careless which hand you shoot with as long as you pay your dues.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Mark W.]

Fixed it for you.

You sir are very correct. Thank you

 

[Misterbill]

#1 If your name is Oscar Ortega NO you cannot join
#2 Rights are not "Granted" they can only be enumerated have you ever read the founding documents?
#3 Yes you are a HUGE LEFTY, I can tell by your marginal literacy
#4 Who told you that you support Gay Marrige, the same guy that told you killing unborn children is a good thing to do, just like letting Pediophile murders out of jail is "Good"?

We really need a DISLIKE button on this forum. Stop being an a$$hat

 

[Misterbill]

Bottom line is that thee Republicans have dominated the pro-gun argument since 1994.

They won HUGE in that election specifically on the gun rights issue. So they've pandered to the pro-gun crowd. (Witness the grossly unconstitutional HB 822 which was passed with MASSIVE GOP support).

If you're looking for a 2A organization to support and you're a principled lefty (as opposed to a troll) look to the Second Amendment Foundation.

I've personally talked to Chris Wilcox at the NRA and corresponded with him. Bottom line is that he and most of the rest of the NRA bigwigs have hitched their wagon to the GOP, Period.

This is, in my opinion, a huge strategic failure for the NRA.

Gun rights aren't a left/right issue. It's a pro/anti-freedom issue. Some of the most adamant protectors I've ever met of the 2a were HARD-CORE lefties. The guys that went to Spain in 1936 and fought Hitler while your grandfathers were all sitting on their *** and pissing in their pants.

The 2A is about the PEOPLE'S right, ALL of them, to keep and bear arms. Both for self defense and defense against a tyrannical government which would seek to impose a tyranny.

That should be important to ANY American, regardless of political view.

It's about a freedom to do something other than beg for mercy from the only people with arms. That has nothing to do with left or right. It has everything to do with wanting to be free people.

 

[BSG 75]

The guys that went to Spain in 1936 and fought Hitler while your grandfathers were all sitting on their *** and pissing in their pants.

What does that have to do with defending gun rights? They didn't go to Spain in the 1930s to defend the American Second Amendment.

The 2A is about the PEOPLE'S right, ALL of them, to keep and bear arms. Both for self defense and defense against a tyrannical government which would seek to impose a tyranny.

That should be important to ANY American, regardless of political view.

It's about a freedom to do something other than beg for mercy from the only people with arms. That has nothing to do with left or right. It has everything to do with wanting to be free people.

You're right, but unfortunately most liberals, and especially most liberal politicians, don't agree with you.

H.R.308 - Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act to ban magazines that hold 11 rounds or more

Introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY). Of the 109 co-sponsors, 109 are Democrats, 0 are Republican.

I spend a lot of time on Huffington Post, debating anti-gun rights people. They are overwhelmingly liberal, and call gun owners "baggers", "right-wingers", "redneck Republicans", etc. They ridicule and laugh at your point about an armed populace preventing tyranny. They say "like your little gun is going to defeat the military that has tanks and nukes". They are openly contemptuous of gun owners. They hate guns and gun owners, and think that the Second Amendment should be repealed or ignored.

The following was written by a liberal trying to get her fellow liberals to support the Second Amendment.

Liberals can quote legal precedent, news reports, and exhaustive studies. They can talk about the intentions of the Founders. They can argue at length against the tyranny of the government. And they will, almost without exception, conclude the necessity of respecting, and not restricting, civil liberties.

Except for one: the right to keep and bear arms.

When it comes to discussing the Second Amendment, liberals check rational thought at the door. They dismiss approximately 40% of American households that own one or more guns, and those who fight to protect the Second Amendment, as "gun nuts." They argue for greater restrictions. And they pursue these policies at the risk of alienating voters who might otherwise vote for Democrats.

And they do so in a way that is wholly inconsistent with their approach to all of our other civil liberties.

Daily Kos: Why liberals should love the Second Amendment

 

[rufus]

I spend a lot of time on Huffington Post, debating anti-gun rights people.

God bless you.

 

[Bacchus]

Of course you can join the NRA. And welcome!

This will work for you because the NRA is pretty much a single-issue advocacy group. And that is the way it should be, as that makes it possible for pro-gun folks to join who might otherwise be put off if the NRA was also an advocate of other, non-gun, matters.

The NRA endorses both Democrats and Republicans for the various public offices. It's all about the voting record.

 

[rufus]

They are overwhelmingly liberal, and call gun owners "baggers", "right-wingers", "redneck Republicans", etc. They ridicule and laugh at your point about an armed populace preventing tyranny. They say "like your little gun is going to defeat the military that has tanks and nukes". They are openly contemptuous of gun owners. They hate guns and gun owners, and think that the Second Amendment should be repealed or ignored.

Where's the compassion, the tolerance, the intellectual openness, the diversity, the spirit of love for all of humanity?

 

[MikeE]

What does that have to do with defending gun rights? They didn't go to Spain in the 1930s to defend the American Second Amendment.



You're right, but unfortunately most liberals, and especially most liberal politicians, don't agree with you.

H.R.308 - Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act to ban magazines that hold 11 rounds or more

Introduced by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY). Of the 109 co-sponsors, 109 are Democrats, 0 are Republican.

I spend a lot of time on Huffington Post, debating anti-gun rights people. They are overwhelmingly liberal, and call gun owners "baggers", "right-wingers", "redneck Republicans", etc. They ridicule and laugh at your point about an armed populace preventing tyranny. They say "like your little gun is going to defeat the military that has tanks and nukes". They are openly contemptuous of gun owners. They hate guns and gun owners, and think that the Second Amendment should be repealed or ignored.

The following was written by a liberal trying to get her fellow liberals to support the Second Amendment.

The key words are 'liberals on the Huffington Post'. I bet if you had had that discussion at a local union meeting, it would be a very different conversation.

 

[soberups]

I hate to sound like a granola-eating hipster, but we really do need more diversity within the ranks of gun owners. We need liberals and gays and blacks and enviornmentalists to support the 2nd Amendment by standing up to be counted. For too long now the anti-gun libs have been buying in to the stereotype of all gun owners being a bunch of angry white rednecks, and that stereotype needs to be crushed. Whenever I get into a political discussion with an anti-gun liberal, I preface it by saying "I am a libertarian progressive; I bellieve in human rights, I believe in protecting the enviornment, and I believe it is none of the governments business who I marry or what sort of substances I choose to ingest into my body." Once I have "set the hook" with that statement, I follow up with "and I also believe that self-defense is a fundamental human right and it is none of the governments business to control how many guns I own, what type they are, or how or where I choose to carry them." It is quite amusing at that point to watch the liberal squirm around and try to spit out the same libertarian hook that I have just snared them with.

 

[BSG 75]

The key words are 'liberals on the Huffington Post'. I bet if you had had that discussion at a local union meeting, it would be a very different conversation.

Only 11.9% of workers belong to unions, and most of those are public employees Union Members Summary
That's a small part of the liberal/Democrat community, and there is no evidence all of those public school kindergarten teachers are pro-gun rights.

Not all liberals are anti-gun, even on Huffington Post. But most people and politicians who are anti-gun are liberals/Democrats, with a few exceptions. Paul Helmke, the former head of the Brady Campaign, is a Republican. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns - Mayor Sam Adams of Portland and Mayor Kitty Piercy of Eugene are the only Oregon members, naturally - is a liberal who was temporarily a Republican for expediency's sake, before leaving the party.

A lifelong Democrat before seeking elective office, Bloomberg switched his registration in 2001 and ran for mayor as a Republican, winning the election that year and a second term in 2005. Bloomberg left the Republican Party over policy and philosophical disagreements with national party leadership in 2007 and ran for his third term in 2009 as an independent candidate on the Republican ballot line.

 

[BSG 75]

I hate to sound like a granola-eating hipster, but we really do need more diversity within the ranks of gun owners.

How do you propose to accomplish that, through "affirmative action" perhaps?

"Look, we know you liberals don't like guns and don't know anything about them, but we're going to give you these guns anyway and make gun owners out of you, so the statistics look better".

 

[rufus]

"I'm pro-choice on everything". Most don't know what to think after that one.

It's not so much what other people think, but how they vote. Or better yet, getting the correct people in office. Representatives, not phony "leaders". Don't want to be lead around by the nose, want representation.

That reminds me, I do need some lead round nose .38 spl.

 

[Both Eyes Open]

How do you propose to accomplish that, through "affirmative action" perhaps?

"Look, we know you liberals don't like guns and don't know anything about them, but we're going to give you these guns anyway and make gun owners out of you, so the statistics look better".

So what I gather from this post is that Pro gun conservatives don't want the support of the pro gun liberals. I just can't understand that thought process. We are all here to achieve the same goal. Why is it that when a pro gun liberal voices a concern he is ridiculed by the pro gun conservatives! Why can't we all see that we may have different views on a lot of things but the truth is that we have one thing in common! The right to own and carry firearms!!! If you want to chastise someone for their views on who gets married or on their opinions of abortion, go to another forum! We are here to support our constitutional right, our hobby, share stories and occasionally buy or sell something. We won't ever all agree on everything but unless the conservatives are willing to accept the support of the few pro gun liberals willing to voice their opinions then you have a long up hill battle to fight alone!

 

[soberups]

How do you propose to accomplish that, through "affirmative action" perhaps?

"Look, we know you liberals don't like guns and don't know anything about them, but we're going to give you these guns anyway and make gun owners out of you, so the statistics look better".

There are a lot of liberals who are also very pro-gun. Those are the people we need to be reaching out to. Some of them are gay. Some of them are ethnic or relgious minorities. Some of them are 20-something vegans with long hair and body piercings who ride bikes. Most of them quite frankly would never feel very welcome at a shooting range or gun club due to the demographics of the typical member.

What I meant in my post is that these pro-gun libs need to get involved in pro-gun organizations, and pro-gun organizations would do well to be more welcoming to these people.

There are a lot of ignorant stereotypes floating around on both sides. The anti-gunners think that all gun owners are a bunch of toothless, right-wing, paranoid, white angry redneck men, and the pro-gunners think that all "liberals" are effeminate granola-eating gun haters. Both stereotypes are false.

Its not a Democrat vs. Rebublican issue, and its not a liberal vs. conservative issue. Yes, most gun owners and pro-gun politicians tend to be conservative Republicans...but not always.

 

[Redcap]

No no no! That's not what I meant at all, lighten up. Like being a black conservative, or a gay Republican, it takes guts for a pro-gun rights liberal to go against the grain of their fellow liberals.

However, it is difficult for pro-gun non-liberals to produce "more diversity within the ranks of gun owners" as soberups said. That's up to pro-gun rights liberals to convince their fellow liberals to stop being so anti-gun rights. They won't listen to non-liberals, even independents and libertarians. We're all "gun nuts", "gun fetishists", "baggers", "right-wing rednecks", guys "compensating for small penises", etc. (all terms I have seen on Huffington Post) to them.

And the fact remains, liberal gun owners often support and vote for liberal politicians who want to diminish gun rights. If a gun-owning liberal votes for anti-gun liberal politicians because of their support for other liberal policy positions, the least those liberal gun owners should do as compensation and atonement is join and contribute heavily to the NRA and SAF.

/thread

 

[rufus]

So what I gather from this post is that Pro gun conservatives don't want the support of the pro gun liberals. I just can't understand that thought process. We are all here to achieve the same goal. Why is it that when a pro gun liberal voices a concern he is ridiculed by the pro gun conservatives! Why can't we all see that we may have different views on a lot of things but the truth is that we have one thing in common! The right to own and carry firearms!!! If you want to chastise someone for their views on who gets married or on their opinions of abortion, go to another forum! We are here to support our constitutional right, our hobby, share stories and occasionally buy or sell something. We won't ever all agree on everything but unless the conservatives are willing to accept the support of the few pro gun liberals willing to voice their opinions then you have a long up hill battle to fight alone!

Sarcasm. I thought it was funny.

The right to own and carry firearms! Oh yes, our common goal. Really, to protect our right, many of us already do own and carry.

I can only speak for myself, but I find it odd that there are gun loving liberals. I like it, don't get me wrong, but it just seems strange.

So how do we protect out right to keep and bear arms? We elect like minded representatives. The big question for pro-gun liberals is who to elect? Not gonna find many liberal politicians that admit to being pro-gun rights. What a conundrum!

 

[iomatic]

There was a list that was provided that outlined some Left, pro-gun reps. The world is not black and white...

 

[Both Eyes Open]

Trust me Rufus, being that I am a pro gun liberal I face that conundrum and think about it daily! I thank you for your understanding. I had to join the NRA because it was required to join the range in my area. That was a hard check to write. I sleep at night because I know that the NRA is fighting for our right to bear arms.

 

[Kevatc]

Sarcasm. I thought it was funny.

The right to own and carry firearms! Oh yes, our common goal. Really, to protect our right, many of us already do own and carry.

I can only speak for myself, but I find it odd that there are gun loving liberals. I like it, don't get me wrong, but it just seems strange.

So how do we protect out right to keep and bear arms? We elect like minded representatives. The big question for pro-gun liberals is who to elect? Not gonna find many liberal politicians that admit to being pro-gun rights. What a conundrum!

Peter DeFazio. Not really a true liberal, more of a centrist Dem. Pro-gun guy. He earns my vote everytime.