Where was the NRA?

[Classic]

Classic -- I understand your frustration and many of us, including me, really would like to see the NRA have a much bigger presence in all future initiatives around the country... and rest assured they are coming.

I don't know whether your claims about the NRA are fact or not (hope not), but I urge you to not give up on them as they are, for the good, the bad and the ugly, our best hope of keeping our 2AR rights from being dismantled. They do have a long successful history defending our rights and without them we would likely look a lot like any number of countries in Europe... defenseless, docile, tax paying sheep.

If you haven't done so, consider writing the NRA executives a letter expressing your views and concerns. Your choosing not to support the NRA is like putting a check mark in the anti-gun folks win column. If we're going to be successful, we need everyone on our team to be in the fight... which includes a well funded NRA.

I'm withholding future dues until they do something that I feel is constructive. There's an old saying "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. They had the funds to go blow for blow with Bloomy but 594 pretty much was unopposed because there were no commercials for the people to see. The only resistance was the knowledgeable gun folks who educated people but we couldn't get to enough to make a difference. TV was the key and the NRA failed us IMHO

 

[rick benjamin]

I'm withholding future dues until they do something that I feel is constructive. There's an old saying "Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. They had the funds to go blow for blow with Bloomy but 594 pretty much was unopposed because there were no commercials for the people to see. The only resistance was the knowledgeable gun folks who educated people but we couldn't get to enough to make a difference. TV was the key and the NRA failed us IMHO

bye, troll

 

[Brutus57]

I too think the NRA missed a watershed moment in that they could have went all out to defeat I594 in a liberal state and made a national statement. A powerful, often played ad showing the bureaucratic mess I594 was/ now is might have turned the tables.....but mostly what we saw was one retired police chief from a smallish city say he supported I594 over and over and other people saying "its for the children.". A well spoken actor or other popular figure pointing out succintly each major flaw in I594 might likely have turned the tide IMHO. Most the pro 591 ads were the last week and many people had already voted.

Brutus Out

 

[Dave Workman]

The point is they are not very cordial to the NRA. There is a problem with that.
They all need to cooperate and get along. Lone wolves doom themselves in things like this and the
people in WA deserve better.

Who's not very cordial to the NRA?

 

[U201491]

Who's not very cordial to the NRA?

Members of SAF have not been on here.

 

[U201491]

The one Pro Gun Organization that has demonstrated a NO COMPROMISE tactic for years is GOA.
Too bad the others do not follow suit.

 

[Classic]

bye, troll

I have some great waterfront land in Florida for ya. Did I say it was cheap?

 

[Caveman Jim]

What is the number one goal of all of these groups who want your donations?
Can anyone answer correctly?
You bet your azz it is, they say that they will fight for our rights.
It is up to us to donate to these groups, I donate to CFRTBA, SAF & the NRA. I have contacted all of the and basically told them to get along and work together or I will put my donation $$$ into another group.
lets all work together for the common good, get it done & then we can all meet & have a beer or 20...

 

[GunnyG]

The one Pro Gun Organization that has demonstrated a NO COMPROMISE tactic for years is GOA.
Too bad the others do not follow suit.

Can you point to the list of of GOA's legislative successes? (... or their museum? .. or their range, youth shooting and instructor development programs, ... et cetera... )

 

[Dave Workman]

Can you point to the list of of GOA's legislative successes? (... or their museum? .. or their range, youth shooting and instructor development programs, ... et cetera... )

Court victories?

 

[GunnyG]

Court victories?

If you aren't a party to the case being decided, can you really claim it as being YOUR victory? ;-)

 

[U201491]

It is their beliefs of no compromise that I speak of...
http://www.gunowners.org/
Read a bit about them. I support them, the NRA, OSSA, OFF RKBA, SAF and every other pro gun organization out there, but I like no compromise as a course of action. SAF, NRA have sold us out in compromises, but I still support them. Personally I believe in No More Compromise and I express that belief to them and anyone else.
And will continue to do so !

 

[U201491]

For all those who wonder what the NRA was doing during the I594 fight please read this reply I received after I "took them to the mat" over I594:

My e-mail to them:

"I, along with countless other Washingtonians are very displeased with the NRA's lack of effort in this major battle to stifle our 2A rights. I am a Life Member and YOU have broken a trust between the good honest NRA members. I wonder if the reason was since we are a liberal state, that it was not in "OUR BEST INTEREST" to intervene since we cannot out spend Bloomberg. We deserve a real apology!!! If there is a way to rekindle the injustice caused then I seriously suggest it is to be done "POST HASTE"!!!!
L.M. Caveman Jim "

The reply:

Mr. Caveman Jim,

Thank you for contacting the NRA-ILA regarding Initiative 594 in Washington State.

The NRA strongly opposed I-594, a comprehensive and very well-funded attempt to restrict the rights of law-abiding gun owners in Washington State. While we were disappointed that a majority of Washington voters decided to vote in favor of I-594, NRA was very actively involved in defeating the measure:

• NRA spent more than $500,000 on the campaign to defeat I-594.
• NRA formed a separate political action committee (PAC) -- National Rifle Association of America Washingtonians Opposed to 594 -- to defeat I-594.
• NRA launched a website --Vote No 594 -- specifically to defeat I-594.
• NRA led the outreach effort to Washington law enforcement, garnering the support of 27 of the 39 County Sheriffs and virtually all rank-and-file law enforcement in opposition to I-594.
• NRA released articles in our magazines and websites regarding I-594, and the cover story in the September issue of America's 1st Freedom was an article on I-594, which informed every member in the state of Washington about the initiative.
• NRA included a "VOTE NO 594" flyer and bumper sticker in the October issue of NRA members' magazines that were sent to every member in the state of Washington.
• NRA sent mailers and made phone calls to hundreds of thousands of targeted non-member voters in the state of Washington, asking them to "VOTE NO 594".
• NRA bought billboard messages in key areas around the state.
• NRA had an aggressive social media outreach effort.
• NRA ran hundreds of thousands of dollars of targeted digital media advertising for several months (see videos here, here, and here).

In addition to the regular staff who coordinate our efforts in Washington State, the NRA hired two, full-time Campaign Field Representatives whose sole charge was to educate gun owners and Second Amendment supporters of the threat I-594 posed to their rights and to ensure they voted against the initiative.

Our field staff accomplished the following in support of our cause in Washington:

• Signed up tens of thousands of supporters and encouraged them to vote against I-594
• Distributed 60,000 flyers
• Printed and disseminated 8,000 yard signs, 30,000 door hangers, 10,000 bumper stickers, buttons and other items
• Knocked 18,000 doors
• Made 7,000 phone calls
• Attended hundreds of events
• Conducted three Grassroots Workshops
• Signed up nearly 900 new <broken link removed> to help us in our campaign to defeat I-594
• Recruited more than 20 new Second Amendment Activist Centers
• More than doubled our number of <broken link removed>

Please also bear in mind that, in our fight to defeat I-594, NRA faced unprecedented spending by a handful of billionaires and wealthy elitists, who gave the anti-gun lobby over $10 million to spend in support of I-594. And, while we were fighting in Washington State, we were simultaneously engaged in battles on multiple fronts, in all 50 states, requiring NRA resources to be spread over a vast political landscape.

NRA was fighting battles in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, in thousands of state legislative races, and in numerous gubernatorial and attorney general races. In the end, we were successful in achieving a number of very significant victories in elections all across the country, most notably electing a pro-gun U.S. Senate, which will pay dividends for gun owners nationwide (for more information on some of our victories, please click here).

Further, NRA was fully engaged in Washington state legislative races. We won virtually every critical race and will be aided by a philosophically supportive majority in Olympia.

Moving forward, NRA will continue to focus public awareness on the ineffectiveness of I-594 to stem violence or prevent determined criminals from getting guns. We will also expose gun control supporters' attempts to transform the federal and state background check systems into registries of gun transfers and, ultimately, registries of gun possession.

Obviously, we are disappointed in the outcome of I-594 and are committed to doing everything we can to mitigate the damage caused to our members in Washington State. We are already in discussions about legislative remedies to the most onerous provisions. As always, we will continue to work in whatever arena is realistic – legislative, legal or political – to address the concerns of our members.

Respectfully,

Rocco P

NRA-ILA, Grassroots Division

I know some of you will refute the facts as it is in your nature. I say then, what are we supposed to do when two of the Pro 2A groups can't play nice and get on with the fight?

Got the same letter 3 times now. I never fail to get a response from the NRA-ILA