I'm Still Not the NRA
By Carl Bussjaeger, December 28, 2009

Over at David Codrea's Gun Rights Examiner column, I had a brief exchange with a self-avowed National Rifle Association Life Member.

David had mentioned that he is not a big fan of the NRA's Eddie Eagle program. I posted a comment which mentioned that, unlike many NRA programs, I don't have a problem with Eddie Eagle. I just wished that the NRA would stick to training and education, and stay out of legislating.

"DDS -- NRA Life Member" apparently thinks criticism of the NRA is blasphemy, and complained:

Carl, I'm sure there are appropriate places for you to
air your issues with the NRA. I'm also sure a thread on
educating children about firearms isn't one of them.

I could disagree, but that's David's forum, and I do have this website.

I've written about the NRA previously, but it's been ten years. Let's see if the NRA has improved.

• Project Exile: The NRA teamed up (openly for once) with the Brady Campaign to Protect Violent Criminals to push for mandatory prison sentences for people breaking unconstitutional victim disarmament laws. Strike 1.
• NRA backs student on gun photo in yearbook: That doesn't sound bad, does it? Unfortunately, there's "the rest of the story". First, the NRA refused to get involved until several Members and Life Members complained. The NRA agreed to cover Mr. Douglass' legal expenses. Then, after his attorney Penny Dean (an excellent attorney in general, and very good with firearms-related issues particularly) started court filings, the NRA backed out. Ms Dean generously fought the case pro bono. Strike 2.
• NRA alters concealed-weapons proposal: Translation: They're polishing their turd. Background here is that one pro-gun state group was pushing an "Alaska carry" style bill. In the last session, the bill was defeated by one vote. Everyone expected it to pass this time. Enter the NRA, backing a different bill that gutted gun owner rights. Strike 3.

• Harry Reid: The NRA gave him a B rating back in 2004. Gun Owners of America though an F was more appropriate, possibly because the Coalition to Stop Handgun Violence scored him a perfect 100% and the Brady's Crime Group gave him a 71%. You decide: He voted to confirm AG Eric Holder and SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

I could go on forever like this. These are just a few things that occurred to me as I typed. The simple fact is that the NRA, beyond some excellent training and education programs, is a menace. And as for training and education, look up how often the NRA tries to push legislation requiring specific training for gun owners that -- Surprise! -- just happens to be provided by the NRA for money.

Depending on whose estimate you like, there are anywhere from 80 million to 200 million gun owners in America. The NRA claims somewhere around 4 million members. Maybe the Life Members should be wondering what all those tens of million people know that they're missing.

The NRA could be a major force for good for all decent gun owners. But I don't see that happening until the membership reigns in the so-called leadership.

In the mean time, I still shred those NRA solicitations and return the confetti to them in their postage paid envelopes.