Misfire, the book about the NRA

[zion zig zag]

ridiculously biased far left wing NPR which has zero credibility.

Why do I get the feeling that Brietbart and OAN are the unbiased center for you?

 

[MuleyFever]

Now we have pro gun guys turning on their own.

I guess a lot of people just dont see a corrupt organization as "their own".

 

[Newtosavage]

Wayne LaPierre is a part of the NRA because the NRA is an organization that exists for people like Wayne LaPierre.

Anyone dumb enough to give money to someone like LaPierre deserves to be separated from their money.

 

[mlgc20]

Maybe I'm just cynical. But, it seems like all political lobbying organizations are built solely to make themselves money. They offer vague things like "influence", "voice", "access", etc. But, very little in terms of tangible results. Often they are just aligned to the folks in government who would already vote in the way the organization wants anyway.

 

[TheTone]

Absolute criminal Ollie North and Ted "Wrote a bunch of songs about underage girls and talked on Behind the Music about repeated affairs with underage girls" Nugent being involved with the NRA would be enough to consider them a poison pill even without their record.

As well as wildlife violations in multiple states that he has always blamed on others and never takes personal responsibility for. What a great representative for hunters

 

[Kenn]

Maybe I'm just cynical. But, it seems like all political lobbying organizations are built solely to make themselves money. They offer vague things like "influence", "voice", "access", etc. But, very little in terms of tangible results. Often they are just aligned to the folks in government who would already vote in the way the organization wants anyway.

Plus, they try to scare us into believing that they are essential to keep us safe from (enter perceived enemy here). The aid organizations do the same thing by showing us incredibly sad pictures so we can feel guilty about not donating, then they waste most of the money.

 

[CoStick]

Any time people use scare tactics to raise money or influence, it is a red flag for me.

 

[Rich M]

There are several other organizations vying to replace the NRA and have been for decades. NAGR, FPC, JPFO, even smaller groups like the Pink Pistols.
There's hunting and outdoors advocacy groups that don't try to just act as a GOP recruiting tool as well.

"Keep giving us money no matter how corrupt we are, we're the only hope" has been an NRA lie as long as I've been alive. They're not the only game in town, they're not terribly effective, and as long as they keep operating to try to make firearms ownership into a plank of the fringe right and nothing else they're actively chasing away allies because it's profitable.

Wayne LaPierre is a part of the NRA because the NRA is an organization that exists for people like Wayne LaPierre.

You should have included GOA, at least I've heard of them. I'm sure congress would recognize the Pink Pistols or some outdoors advocacy group and allow them to negotiate with them or intimidate them.

GOA is currently looking for 1 million signatures on a petition regarding the UN gun registration that Obama started, Trump said no, and Biden has brought back to life - once the Senate signs it, our guns will supposedly fall under UN control. Who do you want to tell the Senate not so sign the petition?

The GOP broadly supports gun rights more than the Democrats. The NRA used to produce a politician grading based on how they voted for or against gun laws. That was good. How do you think they'd grade Beto O'Rourke? He's on Biden's team and after your AR-15's, isn't he? Just an example, that's all.

I guess a lot of people just don't see a corrupt organization as "their own".

This is a great reply.

When I hear corrupt I think politicians - I keep trying to vote the corrupt ones out and vote for gun rights, small government, lower taxes, no abortion, capital punishment for rapists / pedophiles / murderers, stuff like that. I keep getting these bastards that vote more how I want them to vote but they never make anything better. It just keep getting worse. Why? Maybe the folks who are in politics are inherently corrupt? Have this desire for power and such, unable to hold down a 40 hr a week job so they piss away our tax money, increase welfare and then threaten our social security? What would they do if a choir boy showed up to make a deal?

I've personally seen the NRA stand up to the pressure and stop multiple attempts at widespread gun control. They have had my back all these years. They've had all of our backs. Might not agree with some stuff, but when you get there and run the show, then you/me/we can call the shots.


Maybe we could agree to a simple saying? - "The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend".


I know you guys are. If you wanna change something, do it without weakening anything. Prudent folks don't just cancel a credit card without checking to see how it will affect their credit score... This is the same thing.

 

[Rich M]

Any time people use scare tactics to raise money or influence, it is a red flag for me.

This is another good answer. Wayne was asked that before and his response was that folks don't react unless it's a big deal. That he's had to make everything a big deal or the stuff people would just accept without fuss would cause a steady erosion of gun rights.

 

[Actual_Cryptid]

You should have included GOA, at least I've heard of them. I'm sure congress would recognize the Pink Pistols or some outdoors advocacy group and allow them to negotiate with them or intimidate them.

GOA is currently looking for 1 million signatures on a petition regarding the UN gun registration that Obama started, Trump said no, and Biden has brought back to life - once the Senate signs it, our guns will supposedly fall under UN control. Who do you want to tell the Senate not so sign the petition?

The GOP broadly supports gun rights more than the Democrats. The NRA used to produce a politician grading based on how they voted for or against gun laws. That was good. How do you think they'd grade Beto O'Rourke? He's on Biden's team and after your AR-15's, isn't he? Just an example, that's all.


This is a great reply.

When I hear corrupt I think politicians - I keep trying to vote the corrupt ones out and vote for gun rights, small government, lower taxes, no abortion, capital punishment for rapists / pedophiles / murderers, stuff like that. I keep getting these bastards that vote more how I want them to vote but they never make anything better. It just keep getting worse. Why? Maybe the folks who are in politics are inherently corrupt? Have this desire for power and such, unable to hold down a 40 hr a week job so they piss away our tax money, increase welfare and then threaten our social security? What would they do if a choir boy showed up to make a deal?

I've personally seen the NRA stand up to the pressure and stop multiple attempts at widespread gun control. They have had my back all these years. They've had all of our backs. Might not agree with some stuff, but when you get there and run the show, then you/me/we can call the shots.


Maybe we could agree to a simple saying? - "The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend".


I know you guys are. If you wanna change something, do it without weakening anything. Prudent folks don't just cancel a credit card without checking to see how it will affect their credit score... This is the same thing.

I didn't include the GOA because they're doing the same thing as the NRA, they're first and foremost there to represent the interests of the right wing and the 2A is just the cudgel to scare you into donating. For example, when they pretend that the president is going to sign a treaty that would require gun registration, when A) that's not what the UN small arms trafficking treaty calls for and B) an international treaty doesn't make domestic law. But, the GOA counts on you not knowing that, because fear is their motivator and truth doesn't matter. Believe me I've been getting their emails since it was "Obama is going to ban your guns RIGHT NOW unless you give us $5" in 2008. And 2010. And 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

"The GOP is more for gun rights" is part of the problem. The job of a good lobbying organization is to lobby for their cause. If your lobbying organization is hellbent on tying itself to a shrinking party with a mediocre record on guns as is it's doomed to fail. I remember those NRA letter grades. Absolutely worthless, McCain got a C- because an R next to your name was a guaranteed 2 lettergrade bump no matter what. If the only way to protect gun rights is to become subservient to the whims of the GOP then it's not worth wasting a dime because that fights done lost.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" maybe. Hey remember when the aUS allied with the soviet union against the Nazis, providing them a bunch of weapons and supplies? That worked out great over the following 40 years right? Or the time we gave weapons and training to those scrappy young resistance fighters in Afghanistan, no long-term ill effects there, does anyone remember who they were and who they were fighting? Probably bad examples anyway. Oh remember how the liberal media spent a bunch of time promoting Donald Trump because they thought it would hurt the Republicans? That worked out real great for them right?

The enemy of my enemy isn't my friend, and I can go all day with examples of how that logical misstep has backfired on people.

 

[fwafwow]

NRA Life Member here. I’m less than halfway through the book and I’m disgusted. Like the OP I’ve known about the NRA’s problems, and posted on RS about my views, but the stories in the book are much worse than what I expected - and not just about WLP and other NRA executives.

Yes, the NRA has done a good job in many respects. But the book makes me wonder - what if the NRA could have done even better if they enriched themselves less? Or stuck to firearms as their focus?

 

[wingmaster]

NRA Life Member here. I’m less than halfway through the book and I’m disgusted. Like the OP I’ve known about the NRA’s problems, and posted on RS about my views, but the stories in the book are much worse than what I expected - and not just about WLP and other NRA executives.

Yes, the NRA has done a good job in many respects. But the book makes me wonder - what if the NRA could have done even better if they enriched themselves less? Or stuck to firearms as their focus?

Interesting, my interest is piqued so I requested the book from the library. I'm also a Life Member because I think they're the most effective 2A organization out there, but I'm not a fan of the constant scare tactics in American Rifleman so I cancelled my subscription.

 

[hodgeman]

The NRA shifted gears pretty hard in the 90s.

Browse through any of the old magazines from the Clinton or Obama years and tell me that's the product of rational thought. Obama's photo appeared in the American Rifleman more than Time or Newsweek, in a few issues it was nearly every other page. Fear mongering for fun and profit.

You don't have to be antigun or a lib to see the NRA was milking it's base for every dollar they could squeeze out of them.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

This is not a NRA only issue.

Every advocacy group starts “pure” and tends to do good. Over time they lose their way and care more about themselves and less about their mission and members.

 

[TheTone]

I always hated the way they would portray law enforcement depending on what party had the White House. They’ve done a ton to stir up discontent towards officers

i also laughed at some of the ratings they gave to people up for elections. A family member of mine ram as a Democrat one year and was given an F by them. Truth is he had run numerous times as a Republican but alway lost to a Democrat so he changed his affiliation to give it a go. He was a solid pro gun and hunting person, never received their questionnaire and yet they gave him an F probably based on nothing except the D by his name

 

[fwafwow]

I didn't include the GOA because they're doing the same thing as the NRA, they're first and foremost there to represent the interests of the right wing and the 2A is just the cudgel to scare you into donating. For example, when they pretend that the president is going to sign a treaty that would require gun registration, when A) that's not what the UN small arms trafficking treaty calls for and B) an international treaty doesn't make domestic law. But, the GOA counts on you not knowing that, because fear is their motivator and truth doesn't matter. Believe me I've been getting their emails since it was "Obama is going to ban your guns RIGHT NOW unless you give us $5" in 2008. And 2010. And 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

"The GOP is more for gun rights" is part of the problem. The job of a good lobbying organization is to lobby for their cause. If your lobbying organization is hellbent on tying itself to a shrinking party with a mediocre record on guns as is it's doomed to fail. I remember those NRA letter grades. Absolutely worthless, McCain got a C- because an R next to your name was a guaranteed 2 lettergrade bump no matter what. If the only way to protect gun rights is to become subservient to the whims of the GOP then it's not worth wasting a dime because that fights done lost.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend" maybe. Hey remember when the aUS allied with the soviet union against the Nazis, providing them a bunch of weapons and supplies? That worked out great over the following 40 years right? Or the time we gave weapons and training to those scrappy young resistance fighters in Afghanistan, no long-term ill effects there, does anyone remember who they were and who they were fighting? Probably bad examples anyway. Oh remember how the liberal media spent a bunch of time promoting Donald Trump because they thought it would hurt the Republicans? That worked out real great for them right?

The enemy of my enemy isn't my friend, and I can go all day with examples of how that logical misstep has backfired on people.

I received today from GOA my letter encouraging me to renew my membership, and I expect to receive soon a similar request from FPC (although I get emergency emails from FPC on almost a daily basis). In the effort to be constructive, I'm doing a little homework on where to spend my 2A dollars going forward. I was not familiar with NAGR, JPFO or the Pink Pistols, so I looked each of them up. I've tried to get the tax returns for those, along with FPC and GOA, with varying degrees of success. Of the returns I've found, there are some interesting items - but nothing compared to the NRA's recent returns.

Can anyone recommend other organizations to consider for support?

 

[ILoveBusch]

Every cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.

- Eric Hoffer

Sounds like the government to a T

 

[ODB]

Sounds like the government to a T

Read his book The True Believer, mate - it will describe about 90% of the BS going on today. This book is about 70 years old... we were warned of all this nonsense...