cancelled my membership to the Negotiated Rights Association and have since made it one of my objectives to educate everyone around me how two-faced the NRA really is...but, the sheep always need a Judas goat. I borrowed this little tid bit of information from a friend:
"In most cases it's better to say nothing than say something derogatory. This is as true of all relationships... Most times anyway.
NRA exists within the Beltway. This is a fact with which both supporters and non-supporters deal. And when I said "deal" this is just what I mean. Exist inside the cesspool and one must deal to survive.
Which for me is the root of the problem. Deals are made with very little regard for our history, the Constitution, or our rights as citizens. Success is often measured in how few of our rights are allowed to be trampled upon. Measured by this the NRA has been a huge success. Measured by any other yardstick our government and the NRA are a total loss.
It's been said that even the devil does good from time to time. It's also been said that when one sleeps with dogs one tends to get fleas. For me the question becomes whether to get into bed with the devil or to sleep with dogs.
Not really too hard to answer as I can read. A copy of the U.S. Constitution is readily available as is our Bill of Rights. Nowhere in either is a provision for negotiating any of my rights away! In fact the wording is very clear on what needs to happen should government attempt to usurp my rights. "Well regulated" might, indeed, mean the ability of a citizen to place a lead pill on target if the need arise.
And so I defer any criticism of the NRA as it exists. It is what it is and one can choose to support or decline to support the organization. Not my call either way.
My choice is to support nothing and nobody bargaining with my individual rights. For me there's no gray area and I'm not about to contribute support to an organization that at best claims to have slowed the loss of my rights.
Others will see things differently. I respect you and your opinions and I fully support your right to join and support the NRA. I only ask that you remember and acknowledge my admonitions when the NRA announces victory because they've won the right for you to retain the photos you took of your guns before the Gestapo arrived to collect them.
In my opinion it all comes down as to whether rights may be negotiated. For some this is acceptable. For others of us even the hint of government tampering with our rights is a call to arms. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle, but there may come a time when we must decide which side we're really on.
THE NRA
What HARM can they do / have they done?
Let us first consider the “Uniform Machinegun Act of 1932” which provided for the registration of machine guns, that was adopted in a few states (Conn., Va., Md., Ark., and Montana and possibly others) which was developed with the support of the NRA, BEFORE the feds ultimately adopted the “National Firearms Act” in 1934.
The reason this stands out, is that MANY people believe that the “National Firearms Act of 1934 was the pivotal law, the first of the UNconstitutional laws. Thereby “starting” an ever widening path, allowing for further infringements. Not so, the UMA was first.
"The NRA supported The Federal Firearms Act of 1938, which regulates interstate
and foreign commerce in firearms and pistol, revolver ammunition.
The NRA supported legislation to amend the “Federal Firearms Act” in regard to handguns when it was introduced in August, 1963.
In 1965, the NRA continued its support of an expansion of the above legislation to include rifles and shotguns, as well as handguns.
Additionally the NRA supported the regulation of the movement of handguns in interstate and foreign commerce by:
1. Requiring a sworn statement, containing certain information, from the purchaser to the seller for the receipt of a handgun in interstate commerce;
2. Providing for notification of local police of prospective sales;
3. Requiring an additional 7-day waiting period by the seller after receipt of acknowledgement of notification to local police;
4. Prescribing a minimum age of 21 for obtaining a license to sell firearms and increasing the license fees;
5. Providing for written notification by manufacturer or dealer to carrier that a firearm is being shipped in interstate commerce, and;
6. Increasing penalties for violation.
NRA HELPED WRITE the 1986 federal law prohibiting the manufacture and importation of "armor piercing ammunition" adopted standards.
*****
The NRA has been hard at work, over the last few years, turning a RIGHT (guaranteed by our constitution) into a revocable PRIVILEGE. Many pro-gun people commend them for this. Others see it for what it really is.
The second amendment states. “The right of the people to keep and BEAR arms” It doesn’t say “to keep and display arms” or “to keep and hide arms” or “to keep and lock up your arms” or “to keep and use arms” it says “to keep and BEAR arms” Look it up in the dictionary. To “bear something” means to CARRY it. Any attempt at “interpreting” the meaning of this, is clearly an anti-gun tactic.
*****
“Project EXILE” IS the NRA’s very own project.
NRA'S project (EXILE) supports ALL UNconstitutional gun laws. Handgun Control Inc. supports it TOO. NRA-ILA Executive Director James Jay Baker commented, "I'm glad that the president has finally agreed with the NRA that enforcing federal firearms laws makes sense. We've been pushing for more enforcement of existing laws. Did anyone tell them that ALL of the 20,000 gun laws are UNCONSTITUTIONAL??? OF COURSE Handgun Control Inc. supports this NRA project.
*****
Schools
Then NRA Executive Vice President Wayne R. LaPierre, Jr., made these damaging statements during his nationally televised speech at the Denver NRA Members Meeting May 1, 1999. "First, we believe in absolutely gun-free, zero-tolerance, totally safe schools. That means no guns in America's schools, period ... with the rare exception of law enforcement officers or trained security personnel.”
All across the country, school boards and state legislators started doing precisely what LaPierre suggested: shutting down school riflery programs, prohibiting historical firearms displays, forbidding hunter safety training with unloaded guns, and banning gun possession by teachers and other adults with carry licenses. A good example of the long range implications of what LaPierre endorsed back then, is the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech.
Making schools a “gun free zone” where lunatics can murder with impunity, was his response to the Columbine shootings? What happened to advocating responsible carry, by responsible citizens???
*****
LaPierre also blessed gun show background checks by saying: "We will consider instant checks at gun shows when, and only when, this Administration stops (charging for NICS
checks) and stops illegally compiling the records of millions of lawful gun buyers."
The next day President Charlton Heston flatly said on ABC "This Week" that he was "in favor of" gun show background checks. Within weeks, bills for gun show background checks - and "youth gun access" bans - had been submitted in both houses of Congress!
*****
First amendment rights?
Was it the National Rifle Association that had ONE OF IT’S OWN MEMBERS, a pro-gun activist, ARRESTED at its national convention on, April 27, 2003 in Orlando, Florida for handing out PRO-gun freedom literature from an organization known as the Free State Project, Inc. The unlucky NRA member was Timothy Condon, a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and Director of Member Services for the rapidly growing Free State Project.
*****
It was NRA PRESIDENT Dr. C.R. (Pink) Gutermuth, who saw "no problem with gun registration," and was head of the Wildlife Management Institute, who became NRA President in 1973.
Part of the problem began during the unlamented regime of former Executive Vice President Warren Cassidy. NRA lobbyists under Cassidy stopped opposing gun control bills and started offering NRA-approved versions of the same legislation. The NRA started WRITING ANTI-GUN LEGISLATION.
Politicians were lobbying their colleagues for the so-called "instant check?" These pro-gunners were pushing a gun control bill that the NRA was strongly supporting.
"In most cases it's better to say nothing than say something derogatory. This is as true of all relationships... Most times anyway.
NRA exists within the Beltway. This is a fact with which both supporters and non-supporters deal. And when I said "deal" this is just what I mean. Exist inside the cesspool and one must deal to survive.
Which for me is the root of the problem. Deals are made with very little regard for our history, the Constitution, or our rights as citizens. Success is often measured in how few of our rights are allowed to be trampled upon. Measured by this the NRA has been a huge success. Measured by any other yardstick our government and the NRA are a total loss.
It's been said that even the devil does good from time to time. It's also been said that when one sleeps with dogs one tends to get fleas. For me the question becomes whether to get into bed with the devil or to sleep with dogs.
Not really too hard to answer as I can read. A copy of the U.S. Constitution is readily available as is our Bill of Rights. Nowhere in either is a provision for negotiating any of my rights away! In fact the wording is very clear on what needs to happen should government attempt to usurp my rights. "Well regulated" might, indeed, mean the ability of a citizen to place a lead pill on target if the need arise.
And so I defer any criticism of the NRA as it exists. It is what it is and one can choose to support or decline to support the organization. Not my call either way.
My choice is to support nothing and nobody bargaining with my individual rights. For me there's no gray area and I'm not about to contribute support to an organization that at best claims to have slowed the loss of my rights.
Others will see things differently. I respect you and your opinions and I fully support your right to join and support the NRA. I only ask that you remember and acknowledge my admonitions when the NRA announces victory because they've won the right for you to retain the photos you took of your guns before the Gestapo arrived to collect them.
In my opinion it all comes down as to whether rights may be negotiated. For some this is acceptable. For others of us even the hint of government tampering with our rights is a call to arms. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle, but there may come a time when we must decide which side we're really on.
THE NRA
What HARM can they do / have they done?
Let us first consider the “Uniform Machinegun Act of 1932” which provided for the registration of machine guns, that was adopted in a few states (Conn., Va., Md., Ark., and Montana and possibly others) which was developed with the support of the NRA, BEFORE the feds ultimately adopted the “National Firearms Act” in 1934.
The reason this stands out, is that MANY people believe that the “National Firearms Act of 1934 was the pivotal law, the first of the UNconstitutional laws. Thereby “starting” an ever widening path, allowing for further infringements. Not so, the UMA was first.
"The NRA supported The Federal Firearms Act of 1938, which regulates interstate
and foreign commerce in firearms and pistol, revolver ammunition.
The NRA supported legislation to amend the “Federal Firearms Act” in regard to handguns when it was introduced in August, 1963.
In 1965, the NRA continued its support of an expansion of the above legislation to include rifles and shotguns, as well as handguns.
Additionally the NRA supported the regulation of the movement of handguns in interstate and foreign commerce by:
1. Requiring a sworn statement, containing certain information, from the purchaser to the seller for the receipt of a handgun in interstate commerce;
2. Providing for notification of local police of prospective sales;
3. Requiring an additional 7-day waiting period by the seller after receipt of acknowledgement of notification to local police;
4. Prescribing a minimum age of 21 for obtaining a license to sell firearms and increasing the license fees;
5. Providing for written notification by manufacturer or dealer to carrier that a firearm is being shipped in interstate commerce, and;
6. Increasing penalties for violation.
NRA HELPED WRITE the 1986 federal law prohibiting the manufacture and importation of "armor piercing ammunition" adopted standards.
*****
The NRA has been hard at work, over the last few years, turning a RIGHT (guaranteed by our constitution) into a revocable PRIVILEGE. Many pro-gun people commend them for this. Others see it for what it really is.
The second amendment states. “The right of the people to keep and BEAR arms” It doesn’t say “to keep and display arms” or “to keep and hide arms” or “to keep and lock up your arms” or “to keep and use arms” it says “to keep and BEAR arms” Look it up in the dictionary. To “bear something” means to CARRY it. Any attempt at “interpreting” the meaning of this, is clearly an anti-gun tactic.
*****
“Project EXILE” IS the NRA’s very own project.
NRA'S project (EXILE) supports ALL UNconstitutional gun laws. Handgun Control Inc. supports it TOO. NRA-ILA Executive Director James Jay Baker commented, "I'm glad that the president has finally agreed with the NRA that enforcing federal firearms laws makes sense. We've been pushing for more enforcement of existing laws. Did anyone tell them that ALL of the 20,000 gun laws are UNCONSTITUTIONAL??? OF COURSE Handgun Control Inc. supports this NRA project.
*****
Schools
Then NRA Executive Vice President Wayne R. LaPierre, Jr., made these damaging statements during his nationally televised speech at the Denver NRA Members Meeting May 1, 1999. "First, we believe in absolutely gun-free, zero-tolerance, totally safe schools. That means no guns in America's schools, period ... with the rare exception of law enforcement officers or trained security personnel.”
All across the country, school boards and state legislators started doing precisely what LaPierre suggested: shutting down school riflery programs, prohibiting historical firearms displays, forbidding hunter safety training with unloaded guns, and banning gun possession by teachers and other adults with carry licenses. A good example of the long range implications of what LaPierre endorsed back then, is the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech.
Making schools a “gun free zone” where lunatics can murder with impunity, was his response to the Columbine shootings? What happened to advocating responsible carry, by responsible citizens???
*****
LaPierre also blessed gun show background checks by saying: "We will consider instant checks at gun shows when, and only when, this Administration stops (charging for NICS
checks) and stops illegally compiling the records of millions of lawful gun buyers."
The next day President Charlton Heston flatly said on ABC "This Week" that he was "in favor of" gun show background checks. Within weeks, bills for gun show background checks - and "youth gun access" bans - had been submitted in both houses of Congress!
*****
First amendment rights?
Was it the National Rifle Association that had ONE OF IT’S OWN MEMBERS, a pro-gun activist, ARRESTED at its national convention on, April 27, 2003 in Orlando, Florida for handing out PRO-gun freedom literature from an organization known as the Free State Project, Inc. The unlucky NRA member was Timothy Condon, a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and Director of Member Services for the rapidly growing Free State Project.
*****
It was NRA PRESIDENT Dr. C.R. (Pink) Gutermuth, who saw "no problem with gun registration," and was head of the Wildlife Management Institute, who became NRA President in 1973.
Part of the problem began during the unlamented regime of former Executive Vice President Warren Cassidy. NRA lobbyists under Cassidy stopped opposing gun control bills and started offering NRA-approved versions of the same legislation. The NRA started WRITING ANTI-GUN LEGISLATION.
Politicians were lobbying their colleagues for the so-called "instant check?" These pro-gunners were pushing a gun control bill that the NRA was strongly supporting.
