Gun owners need to find a more sane alternative to the NRA

[Galraedia]

Gun owners need to find a more sane alternative to the NRA. When some paranoid nutbar goes off spewing out NRA fueled propaganda about black helicopters, tyranny, and the government coming to take his guns and force him to marry sheep, my first thought is not, "Gee, you know what? This person makes a lot of sense." My first thought is how the fuck was this person able to obtain a gun in the first place. The NRA does nothing but create a bunch of paranoid delusional fucktards. And I don't know about you, but a lot of people out there are not really interested in being shot by some paranoid nut pulling a George Zimmerman.

[onehandle]

1. Hair Club For Men? nt

[Ter]

2. There's the GOA

n/t

[Bjorn Against]

3. And the GOA is just as nutty as the NRA

[bossy22]

6. GOA is worse

atleast the NRA supports NICS- the GOA doesnt even do that.

[Berserker]

4. Have you noticed

That there are 3,000,000 guns in America and only a few million are NRA members? Time to stop preaching the NRA hatred bullshit and maybe think about what is really wrong with our society.

[morningfog]

7. Are you a member of the NRA?

The NRA has the money to pull the legislators due to NRA member contributions. NRA hatred is well earned.

[Berserker]

10. Nope not a member

Are you?

[morningfog]

12. Are you a member of DU? NOPE! LOL!

You showed your true colors and got shown the door!

[bossy22]

5. the problem is the NRA is effective

As a gun owner, I have a lot of problems with their rhetoric but i do support a significant amount of their positions. I disagree with them on background checks, lost and stolen, and safe storage (as long as it is a well thought out proposal that allows for a gun to be kept ready in order to be used for home defense).

There is just no reason for "pro-gun" people to shift away from the NRA unless they start becoming irrelevant and ineffective in the debate.

[Galraedia]

8. The NRA isn't pro-2nd Amendment they're "pro-profit" for the gun industry.

If anything their rhetoric and batshit crazyness is an even stronger case for gun control. And when you think guns do you really want to think Wayne LaPierre?

[bossy22]

9. Either way, for "pro gun" folks, it works out in their favor

pro second amendment or pro profit it doesnt matter because the end goals for both are the same. it is "my enemy's enemy is my friend" type situation.

Personally, I think LaPierre is a terrible representative of the "pro-gun" side. But I often wonder if it is "him" or a product of the sound-bite media. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that a complicated issue such as gun violence and gun rights is forcively boiled down to a 30 second screaming match.

[Berserker]

11. As I have posted many times

Nefarious Republican Agenda
They are a right wing super-pac. that's all they are.

[Xithras]

13. The AHSA demonstrated that they can't work.

Only about 10% of gun owners are NRA members. The NRA gets them interested using scare tactics and fiery rhetoric, so they tend to be the die-hard extremists. The other 90% tend to be more moderate in their views, and don't "give a damn" enough to join an organization dedicated to gun ownership.

That's why the American Hunters and Shooters Association died a number of years ago. They took a moderate view towards gun ownership (they wouldn't defend the ownership of high capacity "assault weapons", for instance) and couldn't attract the die hards. The moderate gun owners (the majority of gun owners) who DID have views similar to the AHSA didn't join the organization for the same reason they didn't join the NRA...if you're one of the "it's just a tool to do a job" crowd, joining a "gun organization" has about as much appeal as joining a "shovel organization".

That 90% certainly includes me. I still own several firearms, but I have no interest in socializing with other gun owners (What are we going to talk about...firing pins?) and certainly am not going to give money to an organization that may pass some of it to politicians based solely on their 2nd Amendment positions.

[guardian]

14. I think you are giving the NRA

more credit than they deserve. There are an estimated 110 million gun owners in the USA. I think NRA membership is around 4 million? Which means about 96% of gun owners are not NRA members.

[Ghost in the Machine]

15. I've owned guns for 43 years and have NEVER had ANYTHING to do with the NRA

I don't have any idea what any of their "talking points" are.

All I know is that I live wayyyyyy out in the sticks and own 15 acres of mostly wooded land. I own guns, and they don't leave my house unless I'm using them to hunt or target practice on my own land, though I do have permission to hunt on the neighbors land too... which I have only done ONE TIME in the 10 years I've lived here.

I just prefer my own land because of the lay of it. I have two target ranges, both set up to where a bullet will never leave my property. I have 3 spots I hunt, all on top of ridges looking down into 'hollers', so IF I were to shoot at a deer and either miss (which has never happened, btw), or the bullet goes through the deer (which they do), a bullet will still stay on my property, posing no threat to anyone else.

I have no use for the NRA, and I don't need the Government, or members of a message board, telling me what I can, or can't, do on my own property. Common sense tells me I can't build a nuclear reactor on my property, but it also tells me I CAN hunt, or make a shooting range, if I want to as long as it's not harming anyone else.

Peace,

Ghost