Join the NRA

UPDATE: October 23, 2020

I finally bit the bullet and did it. I joined another gun-rights organization. I'm still a proud member of the NRA, bit the 2nd Amendment crowd needs to put its eggs in more than one basket.

Wayne LaPierre has overstayed his welcome. The State of New York has some legitimate claims against the NRA's top brass and definitely wants to neuter the organization. But the NRA is made up of million's of members and is a multi-faceted group that offers much value to its members and other fellow citizens.

But there are other organizations that are better at providing more targeted services for our natural right, and they are smaller and more nimble and are able to move quickly.

One such organization is the Second Amendment Foundation. As of last week, they are one stronger.

But again, the NRA is still vastly important. They provide tons of safety training, sponsor many events where gun owners exercise their rights, actively lobby legislatures, and make legal challenges to unconstitutional laws. I'm still a member. You too should maintain your membership or join the NRA. 

ORIGINAL POST: January, 2013

You might not like everything the NRA says. You might not like what Wayne LaPierre said about video games. You might not like that the NRA wants the federal government to fund putting police in every school on a short-term basis. You may want the NRA to help with mental-health research. There's a lot you might not like about the NRA, or that you want the NRA to do something, but the NRA is the 800-lb gorilla for gun rights.

I put a note on my calendar to ask my wife tonight to get an NRA membership. She hadn't had one for a while. I didn't have to ask. The NRA is now 4,300,001 strong.

And I'll be joining my second gun-rights organization shortly.

Obama threw down the gauntlet and sniped at gun owners right after Sandy Hook. The NRA launched the first real volley. Now Obama has loosed his return fire in this pitched battle, throwing one of the NRA's missiles back at us ("school resource officers", "a police officer in every school").

The NRA is a special-interest group, no doubt. It is my special-interest group. It defends a vital natural right enumerated in the Bill of Rights. I defend a vital natural right.

I am the NRA.

Time to write some letters, again. Congress, state house, governor, sheriff, etc, etc, etc.

Virtue Signalling

First (conscious) attempt at virtue signalling!
How am I doing!?!

NRA and Bump Stocks

Is the NRA ideologically flexible?

I think it is . It appears that the NRA is playing practical politics by throwing the left a bone: Maybe, the NRA will support additional federal regulation of bump stocks. 

Wayne LaPierre's comeback to the "rumor" that the NRA would support banning bump stocks was like drunk-monkey kung fu. To paraphrase LaPierre, (1) bump stocks were not around 10 years agO, and (2) they make semiautos fullautos or something. The NRA needs to get its story straight and start every yarn it spins with:

     "shall not infringe"

Las Vegas Copycatish Shooting - And Reaping What You Sow

I'm not big on collective guilt, and that is an understatement, but when "the police" shit everywhere, then they attract people with a bone to pick (to mix metaphors mercilessly).

Here's my point and prediction, which I was afraid to make for months, for risk of appearing to promote "blowback:" The abusive behavior of police in our country will lead to more fatal attacks on police. People can only put up with so much shit, and I am surprised that more LEOs have not been justifiable killed by their victims or bystanders (while police stole from, assaulted, and murdered fellow citizens), but the pipers call needs a payer, and too many LEOs are tooting their horns begging for blowback.

In no way do I endorse premeditated murder, or political killings. But the madness of cops running around with a false belief in an entitlement to run roughshod over other civilians' rights, "forcing" statutory and ordinance rules, and a false faith in the rule of (manufactured) law will lead to more LEOs deaths - and an even more entrenched bunker mentality among them. And this is even more ironic, because law enforcement is NOT the most dangerous job in America.

Clearly those two beasts in Las Vegas chose an enemy to facilitate their own destruction, but cops are too often making themselves false demigods. They have drank the professional LEO KoolAid that they are separate from other civilians, that they are the sole legitimate practitioners of violence, that they can use violence to force rules for victimless crimes, and that noncompliance with their demands is a crime - to name just a few outrages.

Individual cops do themselves a great service, when they treat others with respect, focus on real crimes, and question others up the chain of command that demand enforcement of victimless "laws."

I want to reiterate my opposition to collective guilt, despite the fact that it is probably true that the sentiment might not be mutual. But cops need to understand that bad eggs and institutional-moral decay with reflect poorly on them - individually.

They aren't all pure as the driven snow when it comes to protecting individual rights, but here are a few organizations that address police violations of rights - and the Constitutionality of police and government actions:

Cop Block
Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
National Rifle Association (NRA)

Guest Post: Defending The NRA

The NRA purposely delayed commenting on the Sandy Hook murders to allow time for those affected to begin the grieving process. I also suspect that they hoped cooler heads would prevail, so that their solution could receive a fairer "hearing."

One week still seems a little quick? Well they wanted to get their proposal out there, before schools start back after the holidays. They asked Congress to immediately fund placing an armed police officer in every school - as a stop gap measure, until further solutions can be explored.  
That is a great short-term solution.

Like LaPierre stated, the NRA has extensive experience in firearms training of military personal, police and security, homeowners, concealed-weapon carriers, hunters, etc. That expertise can be used to train retired police, military, and retired and current EMTs and firefighters to provide armed security in schools.
That is a great mid-term solution

What LaPierre did not immediate propose was eliminating "gun-free zones." But he did criticize them for provided environments that allow "maximum mayhem at minimum cost."
Allowing citizens to exercise their right to self-defense in "(legally-owned)-gun free zones" would be a great long-term solution.

The concept of "gun-free zones" is a fantasy. Really. Not only do "gun-free zones" give a false sense of security, but they actually add to a lack of security. Banning semi-auto rifles with detachable magazines (AKA "assault rifles," modern rifles) would add another layer to a false sense of security.

I logically assume that most parents are concerned with the immediate safety of their children. Some want the NRA to focus on the families. But don't you want someone to focus on your family? The safety of your kids? Real solutions instead of fantasies?

- Marie Sinclair