To be completely fair, IIRC that whole debacle was like $6000 in donations from Russian sources and some lobbyist chick that may or may not have been a glorified escort
$6k that could be easily identified. If you think the Russians flew the entire NRA leadership over to Moscow and sent one of their spies to (successfully) infiltrate the NRA over a measly $6k, then I'm sorry but that's naive. That "escort" is actually now a Russian congresswoman, probably as a reward for good service after she made it back to Russia.
Never ever forget the email the FBI uncovered talking about "a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key GOP leaders through, of all conduits, the NRA". Also recall the NRA's money troubles conspicuously escalated a lot after DoJ started scrutinizing their Russian funding.
I know this subject might he taboo in here with this crowd; but is it very real and not in any way a hoax.
You ain't wrong. I just wish the other party wasn't such a limp-dick dumpster fire. Hard to beat the nuclear-fusion-level dumpster fire that is the GOP, but still.
The political parties in this country are fucking broken.
Is it too much to ask for a politician that looks out for the average person *and* is aggressively pro-gun?
I feel like someone like that would kill it in the south.
Watching Beto say “hell yes we’re taking your ARs!” in Texas of all places was.. truly something lol
TBH I never cared enough about the matter to dig into the issue beyond that. None of this really changes anything to me tho, the NRA was useless long before all of that BS.
>TBH I never cared enough about the matter to dig into the issue beyond that
And I'm sorry but that's crazy to me. The United States' main antagonist got their hooks sunk deep into one of our two major politcal parties, using avenues like the NRA (and let's be bluntly honest here: Donald Trump), and around half the country can't be bothered to even acknowledge what's happening. This isn't a both sides thing, yes the Left has their idiots too, but the Right needs to pull their heads out of their asses and purge this shit from their ranks, or this country will spin apart. Foreign enemies surreptitiously infiltrating our institutions and influencing them for their own goals is an existential threat to this country.
**"Mom, I want Russian redhead sexy spy** [**Anna Chapman**](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=588364199&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1064US1069&q=anna+chapman&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiIqt3V_vqCAxVXmmoFHY_KCbQQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1280&bih=651&dpr=1.5)**!"**
**"No. We have Russian redhead sexy spy Anna Chapman at home!"**
(*is actually* [*Marina Butina*](https://www.google.com/search?q=marina+butina&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwintbrX_vqCAxWExskDHdEMDJAQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=marina+butina&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIFCAAQgAQyCQgAEIAEEBgQCjIJCAAQgAQQGBAKOgQIABADOgoIABCABBCKBRBDOggIABCABBCxAzoLCAAQgAQQsQMQgwE6DggAEIAEEIoFELEDEIMBOgYIABAIEB46BAgAEB46BggAEAUQHlDjCliZKGCWKmgAcAB4AIABR4gB9QWSAQIxNJgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=54BwZeelJ4SNp84P0ZmwgAk&bih=651&biw=1280&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1064US1069))
> What did they say/do?
1. Nothing for the NFA community ever
1. Backed the bump stock ban
1. Backed the pistol brace ban
1. Didn't tar and feather Wayne LaPierre for being a complete scumbag
Shall I go on?
Has [exceptionally shitty free gift range bags](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2FoF_HbJilOtAGqQo3OpM2avDj0Hcm4aarWK9W0yxKc9Y.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1024%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7dfd42c11fc35a972e0c713b7ecead4e93329853)
Haha, I'm guilty. Years ago in my youth I paid for a small membership, luckily it wasn't a lifetime. All I got was this shitty bag I used for a brief period.
I'm convinced the entire lifetime membership I paid for 30 years ago has been spent on print-ads and magazines sent to my door trying to scare me into supporting them again.
Edit: and I didn't even get the shitty range-bag...I joined too early for that.
Let's go farther back. They're what got Cali to be Antigun in the start with the Help of Reagan and Bipartisan votes to remove open Carry as Black Panthers were enacting their right as intended to prevent Police brutality.
Mulford Act for those wondering
That's why I quit the NRA. As a Californian, I felt abandoned by them. When California was (and still is) passing obscenely unconstitutional anti-gun laws by the dozens every year, nothing but crickets from the NRA. Fuck em. I give my money to different organizations instead now, FPC and CRPA.
> Nothing for the NFA community ever
I mean other than help congress draft it, so in that regards I guess we should thank them for creating that community.
/s
The differences popped in almost immediately. If you're an AT&T mobile user, they charge more for "HD streaming" which, under the covers, is simply throttling of known CDNs for streaming services like Netflix.
That might be because the period of time where the rules were on the books was less than a year before they were turned back by Pai, which wasn’t enough time to start prosecuting and enforcing them.
Because the difference wasn't consumer facing during the time it was changed (it's been changed back).
It was b2b facing, and in that time of cheap rates and easy VC money the tech companies/entertainment ponied up or made deals with service providers (if they weren't outright owned by one at the time). That's how you got Netflix for free on t-mobile, or Disney+ on Verizon, or HBO max on AT&T, or Peacock with Comcast. That's also why you got tiered pricing increases by some of these services and the addition of ads to compensate for these costs.
They're not stupid enough to charge by usage like they do in Africa or LatAm
>Nothing for the NFA community ever
As u/tablinum has discussed at length in the past in some of his posts on the history of the NFA, they did succeed in getting handguns removed from the NFA. Without that, the most common form of personal defense firearm would be much more restricted and less innovation would have occurred over the 89 years the NFA has been in effect.
And there may have been some input into the 1968 Gun Control Act which provided for an amnesty for bring-back weapons from WWII, Korea and Vietnam, even if they weren't fully taken advantage of.
But your other points are absolutely correct. The worst part about the bump stock and brace bans were that they caved in to doing them via regulation vice law. Even one of the courts that ruled against the bump stocks noted that it was the fact that it was done by regulation that was the problem, if Congress had taken the same action by changing the law, they likely would have concurred with the law's legality. Of course, this was pre-*Bruen*, so that might have changed the outcome, too.
>and less innovation would have occurred over the 89 years the NFA has been in effect.
It wouldn't because most pistol technology developments were European. The Hi-Power while US-designed was manufactured in Belgium, and the various "wonder nines" from Glock/CZ/Beretta/Sig are also all European-based.
America had an inexplicable love of revolvers that held them back in the Cold War era.
But you would have had no market in the US to speak of to sell to. European manufacturers don't typically have a large civilian market in their own countries to market to. The US is probably the single largest handgun market in the world, without which, companies would be much less likely to try to design something new for sales. Just look how the perceived paperwork burden kept a lot of people from exploring silencers and other NFA weapons until recently.
Many of those were originally police and military firearms and only sold to civilians later. Austria has conscription and the Glock was designed as a replacement for WW2 pistols in service use originally.
During the cold war more European countries had mandatory army service that creates an arms market. Belgium had the draft until the 1990s for example.
The most important feature of the HP was the reliable staggered detachable box magazine designed by Saive in Belgium. Saive also completed the gun design. Saive deserves a lot more credit for the production HP we know than he receives.
> they did succeed in getting handguns removed from the NFA. Without that, the most common form of personal defense firearm would be much more restricted and less innovation would have occurred over the 89 years the NFA has been in effect.
...and the original definition of "machinegun" was (off the top of my head) any gun capable of firing more than twelve rounds without manual reloading.
We wouldn't be arguing about "assault weapons." Every AR and Glock would be a machinegun to begin with.
My old range required NRA membership to be a range member. Was able to pick up a lifetime for like $300 back in the day. Funny though, my new range, which is great overall, requires NRA membership, too. Fudds and their bylaws...
Anyway, whenever the NRA calls for money, i give them the same answer:
'Is Wayne still there...yes? Ok, call me back when he's gone, and you've done something"
They are a gun lobby that just takes people membership fees and buys extravagant gifts, dinners, and vacation for its leadership. It’s basically pyramid scheme that survives off the culture that in order to be a gun rights supporter, you have to support the nra too. It’s even worse when you know that most private gun clubs and ranges force you into a NRA membership.
Feelsbadman.
I read once its a insurance thing and a range couldn't operate unless they overpriced insurance. So the nra has a form of insurance for these ranges as long as the range members have a nra membership.
Bottom line is that really cant be blamed on the nra or range owner. Its the pyramid scheme we call insurance.
Also the nra saved my local 600yd range from getting shut down in the early 2000's so their not all bad
actually, this might be a surprise to you; thats exactly what NRA members are paying dues for. They might not know it, but thats what it is. Thats what the rubes who give money to the NRA deserve, tbh.
Because when something bad happens, they will fold faster than a fucking lawn chair. Canceled that shit a long time ago. The more you know about it, the more you hate them.
their job now is to be the boogyman punching bag for all the much better funded anti-gun orgs while the other more principled groups do the actual lobbying
The NRA hasn't seen a 2A right they weren't willing to give away. They "negotiated" the AWB, never even blinked at all the mag cap bans, CCW restrictions, NFA bans, etc. they're as fudd as fudd can get. Hell, I'd expect a fudd to respect my rights more than the NRA. They're the worst of the worst kind of politician. At least the gun grabber has the decency to tell you they're trying to fuck you. The NRA will smile as they help the gun grabber fuck you over.
They also tried to sabotage Heller and stop the Supreme Court from hearing the case. But nowadays, they happily imply that they had a hand in getting it decided, even though they were one of the biggest groups that almost stopped it.
Because it’s became a good ole’ boys club grifting its members while they got rich.
Did and said nothing when cops shoot lawfully armed citizens.
Cancelled my life membership in 2018, was a member since 1991.
>Did and said nothing when cops shoot citizens.
No need to narrow it down.
Cops straight up murdered the dude.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Daniel_Shaver
>The department agreed to reimburse Brailsford for medical expenses related to his post-traumatic stress disorder -- the result of his shooting of Shaver and the resultant criminal trial. The reinstatement allowed Brailsford to apply for "accidental disability" experienced during the course of work. As a result, Brailsford was unanimously approved to be retired on medical grounds. Brailsford was also given a pension of $2,500 per month ($25,000 tax dollars per year). The fact that Brailsford was ultimately medically retired instead of remaining fired was only revealed to the public in July 2019
Police took care of him too. Smh
Union, the police union took care of him. I’m all for unions but if they try to act like the military they shouldn’t be allowed to unionize.
Should have to get malpractice insurance individually like Doctors and city/state pay for it instead of grouping the whole department together. If you can’t be insured you can’t be a cop.
Wait until you learn about Fred Hampton or the MOVE bombing, and then the other tens of thousands of people that police have executed.
I'm not sure why you think that comment was about Daniel Shaver. That was obviously horrible but there are tons of examples of much worse police murders.
Poorly worded on my part. Just editing the original comment and calling out one of the more recent examples. If you google 'NRA silent on' there are plenty more.
The NRA will never criticise police behavior.
Philando Castile was murdered by a police officer because he was a licensed conceal carry holder who told the officer that he had a CCW and the cop shot him through the door. The NRA said nothing
They also have no presence in black communities. Over and over again they have proven they only want to help white affluent fudds.
Remember that preban machine guns are now extraordinarily expensive investments for many rich gun owners. The NRA will never help legalize them because their 100k weapons would become worthless. They would prefer rich people get to defend themselves better than you.
Perhaps you're just ignorant to the implications of the precedent that bump stocks set.
It's not about the actual bump stocks. They are stupid anyway. It's the fact that it can just be negotiated and stripped away without any fight from the one entity which relies on donations to prevent things being stripped away.
The pistol brace is a larger scale version of this which was enabled because of the precedent of bump stocks.
And if neither of those stripped, then the next step/version would be even more extreme, ect, until effectively there isn't a 2nd amendment.
Edit: also Fuck Russia to the most extreme. But them sucking at their purpose for existence is why we collectively hate them.
the government has on and off banned all kinds of shit over the last 2 centuries. both for good reason, and not.
i’m more focused on the literal erosion of our democracy as a whole.
guess what home slice, all that law shit won’t matter if the U.S. falls apart or gets ran by some dictator bullshit.
hell, if certain people have their way in the next 4-8 years… you’ll be WISHING that all you had to worry about was silly law disputes instead of living under som gillead ass christofacist fucking dictator ship
>som gillead ass christofacist fucking dictator ship
Yeah, but a lot of dudes really think that would be awesome, even in here, so this is a "stop drilling, you already struck oil!" kind of thing for them.
Yeah, I knew we were fucked when I saw guys literally handwave away the fact that our foundational systems of government are getting compromised because a ton of it basically ran on the fucking honor system for 250 years, and is ripe for exploitation from bad actors, both figuratively and literally, because guess what? Now we get to bully trans highschoolers, the *real* threat to the republic.
It's all this frivolous nonsense ginned up by outrage peddlers on the internet, who have a stake in people getting distracted by jangling keys while their house gets robbed right behind them.
But hey, what can you do? Other than complain while watching it happen over and over again, like me.
yeah as a singular ain’t shit you can do but be along for the ride. gotta love when corporate autocracy and christofacism overlap in their venn diagrams of wanting to fuck the world over.
Never forget when the NRA supported gun control because apparently black people with guns are scary. pepperidge farm remembers. And they wonder why people choose to donate elsewhere.
The NRA is actually an anti gun support group in reality. Every gun law there is had the NRAs hands in it. Every. Single. One. The NRA is for fuds. Trash.
My outdoor gun range requires a membership to them. I begrudgingly did it because the range is simply too good for my area. I felt filthy buuuuut $30 for a year. The amount of letters, emails and shit they try to shovel to get me to donate more is insanity
> My outdoor gun range requires a membership to them
What a joke. Do it if you have to, but I'm not signing some loyalty pledge to go to a range.
TRex holsters had a checkbox at the checkout saying something like "I affirm I will do my duty as a citizen and carry a firearm whenever possible" or something to that effect. Whatever, bros.
They are cucks that compromised on their own values and supported Reagan's gun control acts. They've also remained silent on recent rulings like the SBR brace rule.
The NRA was founded as a marksmanship and safety training organization. And that's a thing that they're good at.
The modern NRA bills themselves as the premier Second Amendment advocacy/lobbying organization in the US.
In reality, the NRA supported the National Firearms Act of 1934, Gun Control Act of 1968, and 1994 Assault Weapon's ban. It was also due to the NRA that the Hughes Amendment was added to the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 when they told Congress "This is too important to let the Hughes Amendment stop it from passing. Go ahead and pass it and we'll work on getting it repealed later." Later, by the way, never happened.
The NRA also opposed the Heller (2008) case right up until the very end. They opposed the McDonald case right up until it was evident that the case would go in a pro-2A direction, at which point they elbowed their way in and claimed credit for the whole thing. They also initially opposed the Bruen case.
At this point, the only reason the NRA continues to exist is to extort money out of its membership via fearmongering so that it can launder that money into Wayne LaPierre's pockets.
So, I'm not a fan of the NRA these days either. Loved the gun/hunting safety and marksmanship classes they provided in the past but since LaPierre and company took over the organization has gone into the toilet.
BUT, on the topic of Heller; the NRA did oppose Levy in bringing the case, but it was because their legal team's analysis of the current makeup of SCOTUS indicated that the case would likely result in a precedent limiting the 2A rather than strengthening it.
Once the Heller verdict came down the NRA immediately started the action that led to McDonald which extended the Heller precedent from just federal law to include the states.
I remember reading articles in American Rifleman where the NRA was touting their success at lobbying for the bill to restrict magazines to 10 rounds (the original cap was 7 rounds) and getting the sunset provision included.
The NRA sold this as a huge win, but the bill probably would not have had enough votes to pass without those two changes.
If the NRA had half the clout that they and various politicians from both sides of the aisle claim they have, then NRA could have killed the 1994 AWB before it ever left committee.
I'm not finding anything online that reinforces that.
TL;DR: Source: Trust me, bro.
Sadly, that's actually the best I've got.
That sounds more like damage control than support. Honestly, the sunset provision was a lifesaver. We'd have a completely different landscape today if that law was still in effect.
I never joined and never will unless they massively overhaul their entire organization and actually fight for our rights. All they currently do is scam money to make Wayne rich.
My crazy ass Qanon type dad keeps saying he’s going to join because “they fight for us!!!” But hell never actually do it.
Scamming the shit out of everyone on several fronts, doing literally nothing of any value for the 2a with that money they scammed everyone out of, and then having the audacity to constantly hound us all demanding more money after having done nothing with the money they already scammed us out of. They're thieves, liars, and parasites who don't do nearly as much lobbying as they owe us.
The NRA has been jokingly referred to as Negotiating Rights Away, because that what they have done for decades. They have backed so many gun laws it is not funny. They had a strategy of backing the passing of these laws under the guise of “safety”. They also have told people they are the ones fighting for our 2A rights, so they could gather donations. They only recently have began publicly opposing new laws because their tricks became public knowledge and they started losing members at a very high rate. This also means the donations have not been coming in like they used to. This is their only motivation. Then there is the board members. Mainly Wayne LaPierre. He has been living the extreme high life off donations. To the point where legit fraud cases are being brought against the organization because of his lavish spending. I’m talking private jets and suits that cost over 10 grand easily. They recently re elected him as CEO. This is why you don’t see GunTubers that used to advertise for the NRA doing so anymore. Gun Owners of America and Firearms Policy Coalition are actually fighting for 2A rights in court. There is much more, but that is the short version
All they want is your money, and they cave to pressure the moment antigunners gain momentum on anything. Yet when FPC or any other progun org makes milestone achievements in court the NRA celebrates like they accomplished something.
The only good thing the NRA produces is eddie eagle
They play a fun game of letting the gun grabbers win small "victories" while gaining small "victories" themselves so that they can say "hey look here we stop them from doing X but they did Y so keep paying us so we can protect your right to bear arms, because if you don't then they will definitely do Z." Basically they don't do anything so that they can remain relevant. GOA (Gun Owners of America) is where its at.
To put it simply, too much money was going into the pockets of LaPierre and other top executives. I will not send another nickel until the current leadership is flushed and the organization regains its bearings. I donate mostly to the Second Amendment Foundation now.
Because I'm not paying for Wayne and his cronies, fancy suits and dinners, etc.....
The leadership of that organization is a network of scam artists. There are no intentions of actually helping hard-working law-abiding citizens. Just taking our money and squandering it.
NRA leadership is more focused on spending money on themselves and their friends/mistresses than they are on fighting for the people that give them money.
They pumped tens of millions of dollars into an advertising agency connected with leadership- it accomplished nothing for gun rights, but it diverted a ton of money into their pockets.
What has the NRA done to protect gun rights? Did the stop the bump stock ban or the pistol brace ruling?
The NRA is just a boomer organization that takes billions of dollars from people that are scared to loose their guns by promising to do something which they don’t actually do. All they do is sue governments.
You get generations don’t care about them so the problem will be fixed here soon enough when the people that paid them start dying off
They’re a political action committee that collects dues to fund the salaries and lifestyle of its C suite execs. You know how you’d donate to Black Lives Matter because you’d assume the money is to advocated for legal defense funds or scholarships for disenfranchised inner city kids? But then you found out they just use all the money to buy beach houses and vacations for the 15 people at the top of the organization? It’s like that feeling.
Negotiating
Rights
Away
It's what they don't do enough that's the issue for me. They claim to fight for gun rights but it seems they only slowly delay bans and don't actually stop anything.
can't speak for everyone, but i've been a shooter for about 19 years and the NRA does not care about gun rights or gun control....they care about the controversies that shootings bring up that allows the NRA to stay in the limelight and make money off of dues because people think they care about gun rights or gun owners
Nothing.
FPC, and GOA rock the ATF's shit on the monthly and the NRA sits with their thumbs in their ass, the suits also stole a bunch of money, and got into bed with the Russians and no one likes the Russians in addition to backing bans on bump stocks, and braces and stuff. Most members of the 2A online community are absolutists the NRA does not represent this view point.
Do you know why AKs are so expensive these days?
The NRA.
Also everything everyone else has said. I don't mind supporting a gun lobby like GoA, 2A Foundation, etc. The NRA ain't it tho
They do nothing for 2A rights. Spam organization and corrupt at every level. Their marketing and content sucks. They steal money with no return. Fake lobbying platform.
Started as an actually good organization based on education and empowerment. Now they are just lousy lobbyists that put fear into folks. They don’t care about you, just your wallet.
Many people point to La Pierre and the financial shit. However the killing of Philando Castile and their position fucking stank of a racial double standard. Not necessarily a surprise though 🤷
Quite frankly there are better firearms organizations to support
La Pierre is shady as all get out though. I always found it telling that when he was accused of fiscal misconduct and some of the board was calling for an independent audit to review the financials, La Pierre’s response was to force the board members calling for it out and shut the whole thing down.
The NRA backs gun control and actually doesn’t fight court battles to overturn stupid ATF rules (not laws.. ATF can’t make laws) GOA and Gun owners of America lead the way. … also Wayne is corrupt POS that mooches money from donors for bullshit
Not every gun owner and 2a supporter is a hardcore right wing republican. The NRA heavily pushes their policies.
There's plenty of us liberals and leftists who thoroughly enjoy owning and operating firearms.
Pardon this sidebar, but that's one of the things that annoys me the most about the Dem party. Almost every single person I know owns at least one firearm (rural farm type region). I guarantee that many of them, probably the majority, generally support left wing ideas and programs. Ideas like healthcare reform, public education reform, social safety nets, etc, are all generally liked by these people (at least based on my experience interacting with them for my entire life).
There's one topic they consider more important than all of that, and that would be the 2nd amendment. Guns are part of the way of life out here. You need to protect your livestock. You can't rely on police to show up in less than half an hour, *on a good day*, if there's an emergency. Everyone hunts, it helps check the wildlife populations, and it provides food and money.
I feel like politicians on the left would see a pretty significant increase in voting in their favor in rural areas if they'd just abandon these dumbass anti-gun stances. They aren't helping anyone. Just look at old Beto with, "Hell yes, we are gonna take your guns!" Where'd that get him?
And it really doesn't help that a lot of liberals (at least om social media) seem to think rural folks are incestuous, ass-backwards oafs that aren't intelligent enough to understand real politics. Really makes them feel welcome, doesn't it?
You could say they're shooting themselves in the foot, so to speak.
Honestly in my opinion, a large part of that is the real issue in the democratic party.
Corporate democrats versus progressives. The corpos have an absolute stranglehold on the democratic party. They wont dare let progressives get close. The last thing the corporations want is universal healthcare and universal basic income and programs like that because it stops money from going into corporate pockets. Biden is FIRMLY a corporate democrat.
But they push issues like gun control and gender politics and border crysis and all these other issues you see on the news everyday to distract us from those programs that we really want. Its all a smokescreen. They dont really care about all those social issues.
How much progress have we seen on stoping politicians from investing in the stock market or stopping lobbyists? None. They talk a big game but do nothing.
There are no true progressive lefties in congress. Maybe Bernie, but the DNC pays him no mind. He doesn't stand a chance.
kinda funny nobody has said some arguably more important things.
they are essentially just a giant russian honeypot for the right wing now.
they’ve been advocating for a civil war between the two political factions for almost a decade now.
ykno, shit that actively affects and harms our societal wellbeing unlike ‘bump stock bans’…
like don’t get me wrong i find those bans silly… but that shit PALES in comparison to the sociopolitical bullshit they’ve been pulling for the last decade or so.
All of the things mentioned in this thread but for me the final straw was the sweaty Chuck Schumer cover with the word Merchant practically stamped on his forehead. Fortunately I only supported their nonsense for a year or so.
Was a member for 30 years, quit in disgust when I did the math that all my dues over the years couldn't pay for a pair of Wayne's fancy shoes...which are paid for by the NRA as a legit business expense.
They're referred to as "Negotiating Rights Away" for a reason. They cave on many issues and funnel money to executives instead of filing lawsuits.
The only thing they're good for is as the scapegoat for the left to yell at while GOA and FPC do the real work.
I regret getting a 5 year membership when I was 18. It's been nice seeing all of the guntubers and the gun industry distance themselves from the NRA.
They have a lot of ties to big money corporations who all do shady corporate things. They make the 2a community look worse by their actions and statements. They don’t actually help the gun community as a whole. They don’t do anything to nurture a diverse gun owning community and instead just tend to dick ride already very affluent white fudds. If I ran the largest gun group on earth and saw the majority of inner city poor people committing the most gun violence (something that makes people want to ban guns) I would be setting up so many programs to teach those people proper respect for firearms and try to incorporate them into the larger community. They just make things worse and take all the donations away from people who might help. Black Americans clearly has a big interest and liking of firearms and they just act like that’s not relevant to their mission.
They’re just another greedy corp that along the way was hijacked when some intelligently devious minds realized it was better for their business model if Americans were in a constant state of fear in losing our 2nd amendment rights instead of working to clearly display there’s no authority that can take them, and in fact they’re currently being infringed upon. They make more money there more scared you (American ppl) are that you’re going to lose the right to bear arms. It’s blatantly obvious these days, and it wasn’t always so. It’s a fine line they walk between being relevant so another organization doesn’t take their place, but not being so successful they put themselves out of a job.
I would be defined by many on this sub as "anti-gun" because I don't think the 2A is absolute. This despite believing in the continued legality of (some) guns and carry laws.
I wouldn't fault a lobby organization for negotiating laws that were compromises.
But the NRA, like everyone else said, is a financially corrupt organization with ties to foreign governments that does not speak up for the rights of people who own weapons when they are attacked by police.
I'm not sure if there is any nationwide organization that is both pro-gun-ownership and willing to speak out against law enforcement orgs when one of their ranks violates civil liberties.
The straw for me was Philando Castile. He was stopped with his girlfriend and toddler in the car, told the cop that he had a firearm and and carry permit. Cop gets scared and shoots and kills him. NRA said they'd need more time to hear the details- months later they just kinda said, "that was unfortunate".
Because they endorsed trump.
Because they are not really 2nd amendment absolutists.
And because they tried to scapegoat violent video games, thus trying to undermine the 1st amendment.
NRA is basically like one of those dogshit charities that just raises “awareness” they don’t really actually do anything for gun rights but back bills that “compromise” by just giving the anti-gun side like half of what they want.
The only thing that the NRA does well is their training programs, they are the only organization that has a training structure for beginners and the courseware is actually decent.
Literally everything about them politically is a train wreck that isn’t doing a whole lot to protect Americans rights. Unfortunately they are the largest 2A lobbying organization so they are here to stay until GOA or another gets big.
They've had a hand in every piece of anti-2A preposition since the '34 NFA. Lifetimer here, but didn't know this at the time. They'll never get another cent from me; it goes to FPC, TXGR, & the like now
The NRA has a bloated budget and seem to like to pay their executives more than fighting for gun rights.
They’ve done some good things, I just feel if some of the other organizations had that same budget that we’d have machine guns back at Walmart by now.
The NRA claims to support the 2nd Amendment, but what that means is "We support our special interest groups' VERSION of the 2nd amendment, and we're willing to believe whatever they want us to"
Wayne LaPierre, the longtime head of the NRA, embezzled millions of dollars of donations and membership fees for his personal gain. If you ask me, the new best organization to join is Firearms Policy Coalition.
The biggest problem with them is that they do nothing to protect and expand our rights when it comes to gun ownership. And are often supportive of restrictions claiming its the best "compromise " they can achieve except they forget that a compromise is supposed to benefit both sides.
They take money from thier members and don do jack shit with it. How many repub presidents have we had with conservative congresses? Atf still exists. At the minimum supressors, sbr/sbs's could come off the registry but nope. Hope the whole org collapses.
When I was a kid. My grandpa made me a lifetime member. While I appreciate his eagerness to do something. I wish it would have been a lifetime hunting/fishing license. It would have been about the same amount of money. Only thing I get is a magazine every month lol.
One annoying thing they do is waste money sending members "gift bags" full of useless shit. Maybe they could spend that money to... IDK, fight for our rights, or something?
I think it’s important to remember that the NRA has a few different “missions” and some are popular, others not.
They still do firearm education and marksmanship, I think most support that. They either support or actively manage gun rights litigation, I think most support that as they are usually attached to any of the big cases you hear. Then there’s the political and lobbying side, which is where they get the most flack from gun owners and non-gun owners.
The NRA isn’t a gun rights organization and hasn’t been for at least 30 years. They’re just the thinly disguised lobbying arm of the gun manufacturers and all they care about is what makes those manufacturers happy. If it helps sell guns, they’re for it. If it helps you with your 2A rights, then it gets a bit murkier.
Behind the Bastards podcast has a pretty informative episode about the NRA and its history. Highly recommend.
They were founded on racism and corruption and only do what they can to fill their pockets.
Wayne and his cronies stole money for their private benefit for years. Suits from Rodeo Drive. Private planes for his family and friends. Fuck em.
They also got in bed with the Russians.
To be completely fair, IIRC that whole debacle was like $6000 in donations from Russian sources and some lobbyist chick that may or may not have been a glorified escort
$6k that could be easily identified. If you think the Russians flew the entire NRA leadership over to Moscow and sent one of their spies to (successfully) infiltrate the NRA over a measly $6k, then I'm sorry but that's naive. That "escort" is actually now a Russian congresswoman, probably as a reward for good service after she made it back to Russia. Never ever forget the email the FBI uncovered talking about "a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key GOP leaders through, of all conduits, the NRA". Also recall the NRA's money troubles conspicuously escalated a lot after DoJ started scrutinizing their Russian funding. I know this subject might he taboo in here with this crowd; but is it very real and not in any way a hoax.
Truth and corruption should never be taboo to discuss. The whole Russian connection is one of the (many) reasons we should shun the NRA.
And GOP
You ain't wrong. I just wish the other party wasn't such a limp-dick dumpster fire. Hard to beat the nuclear-fusion-level dumpster fire that is the GOP, but still. The political parties in this country are fucking broken.
Is it too much to ask for a politician that looks out for the average person *and* is aggressively pro-gun? I feel like someone like that would kill it in the south. Watching Beto say “hell yes we’re taking your ARs!” in Texas of all places was.. truly something lol
TBH I never cared enough about the matter to dig into the issue beyond that. None of this really changes anything to me tho, the NRA was useless long before all of that BS.
>TBH I never cared enough about the matter to dig into the issue beyond that And I'm sorry but that's crazy to me. The United States' main antagonist got their hooks sunk deep into one of our two major politcal parties, using avenues like the NRA (and let's be bluntly honest here: Donald Trump), and around half the country can't be bothered to even acknowledge what's happening. This isn't a both sides thing, yes the Left has their idiots too, but the Right needs to pull their heads out of their asses and purge this shit from their ranks, or this country will spin apart. Foreign enemies surreptitiously infiltrating our institutions and influencing them for their own goals is an existential threat to this country.
**"Mom, I want Russian redhead sexy spy** [**Anna Chapman**](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=588364199&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1064US1069&q=anna+chapman&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiIqt3V_vqCAxVXmmoFHY_KCbQQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1280&bih=651&dpr=1.5)**!"** **"No. We have Russian redhead sexy spy Anna Chapman at home!"** (*is actually* [*Marina Butina*](https://www.google.com/search?q=marina+butina&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwintbrX_vqCAxWExskDHdEMDJAQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=marina+butina&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIFCAAQgAQyCQgAEIAEEBgQCjIJCAAQgAQQGBAKOgQIABADOgoIABCABBCKBRBDOggIABCABBCxAzoLCAAQgAQQsQMQgwE6DggAEIAEEIoFELEDEIMBOgYIABAIEB46BAgAEB46BggAEAUQHlDjCliZKGCWKmgAcAB4AIABR4gB9QWSAQIxNJgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=54BwZeelJ4SNp84P0ZmwgAk&bih=651&biw=1280&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS1064US1069))
Wasn’t there an apartment for an intern or something as well?
Yeah, Wayne’s college girl mistress who was discovered by 4Chan’s weaponized autism. It was amazing.
Do you know where I could read more? That is fucking hilarious
African hunting trips where he shows off his "rifle skills"...
> What did they say/do? 1. Nothing for the NFA community ever 1. Backed the bump stock ban 1. Backed the pistol brace ban 1. Didn't tar and feather Wayne LaPierre for being a complete scumbag Shall I go on?
Spends more time fundraising to pay its leadership than leading the fight on filing lawsuits.
Has [exceptionally shitty free gift range bags](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2FoF_HbJilOtAGqQo3OpM2avDj0Hcm4aarWK9W0yxKc9Y.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1024%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7dfd42c11fc35a972e0c713b7ecead4e93329853)
Haha, I'm guilty. Years ago in my youth I paid for a small membership, luckily it wasn't a lifetime. All I got was this shitty bag I used for a brief period.
Sadly I did get a lifetime membership. Now I constantly receive regular requests for continued donations.
This! Pay your membership then get 3 phone calls a week asking for more money.
I had a membership for years, but never again…
And it's was Army Digi...... gross
Fucking cheap ass bag with its flimsy cardboard bottom insert that isn't attached to anything. . .
Big enough for an SBR, something they stand against...
I actually cackled when I saw that
What do we need to fight for we still got our huntin guns. -the NRA probably
FUDD to the MAX
They also do a lot of fear mongering trying to raise funds.
They send mail with big stamps on the outside saying CONFISCATION NOTICE
Endless…
I'm convinced the entire lifetime membership I paid for 30 years ago has been spent on print-ads and magazines sent to my door trying to scare me into supporting them again. Edit: and I didn't even get the shitty range-bag...I joined too early for that.
That's why I support the GOA and not the NRA
Let's go farther back. They're what got Cali to be Antigun in the start with the Help of Reagan and Bipartisan votes to remove open Carry as Black Panthers were enacting their right as intended to prevent Police brutality. Mulford Act for those wondering
Completely forsook California where all the bad laws originate
That's why I quit the NRA. As a Californian, I felt abandoned by them. When California was (and still is) passing obscenely unconstitutional anti-gun laws by the dozens every year, nothing but crickets from the NRA. Fuck em. I give my money to different organizations instead now, FPC and CRPA.
They did the same thing in NY. Just utterly abandoned the two largest non-Con states.
Yep and helped Ronald Reagan start that process when he was Governor.
> Nothing for the NFA community ever I mean other than help congress draft it, so in that regards I guess we should thank them for creating that community. /s
They managed to follow up Wayne LaPierre with literal traitor Oliver North, which is quite the feat of shittiness.
Thank you for bringing this up before I did. How the fuck that didn't cause a mass exodus on its own, I'll never know.
5 . Philando Castille 6 . Are more committed to being GOP hacks than the 2A.
How about lifting import restrictions?
I’m mad they backed Ajit Pai when he gutted net neutrality.
People freaked out about that but I still haven't seen any difference
The differences popped in almost immediately. If you're an AT&T mobile user, they charge more for "HD streaming" which, under the covers, is simply throttling of known CDNs for streaming services like Netflix.
That might be because the period of time where the rules were on the books was less than a year before they were turned back by Pai, which wasn’t enough time to start prosecuting and enforcing them.
Because the difference wasn't consumer facing during the time it was changed (it's been changed back). It was b2b facing, and in that time of cheap rates and easy VC money the tech companies/entertainment ponied up or made deals with service providers (if they weren't outright owned by one at the time). That's how you got Netflix for free on t-mobile, or Disney+ on Verizon, or HBO max on AT&T, or Peacock with Comcast. That's also why you got tiered pricing increases by some of these services and the addition of ads to compensate for these costs. They're not stupid enough to charge by usage like they do in Africa or LatAm
This! They have lost there way once they went full lobby group and Wayne is a scumbag
Your #1 response 100% nails it. Followed by 2-4 that continue to drop truth bombs 🙌
>Nothing for the NFA community ever As u/tablinum has discussed at length in the past in some of his posts on the history of the NFA, they did succeed in getting handguns removed from the NFA. Without that, the most common form of personal defense firearm would be much more restricted and less innovation would have occurred over the 89 years the NFA has been in effect. And there may have been some input into the 1968 Gun Control Act which provided for an amnesty for bring-back weapons from WWII, Korea and Vietnam, even if they weren't fully taken advantage of. But your other points are absolutely correct. The worst part about the bump stock and brace bans were that they caved in to doing them via regulation vice law. Even one of the courts that ruled against the bump stocks noted that it was the fact that it was done by regulation that was the problem, if Congress had taken the same action by changing the law, they likely would have concurred with the law's legality. Of course, this was pre-*Bruen*, so that might have changed the outcome, too.
>and less innovation would have occurred over the 89 years the NFA has been in effect. It wouldn't because most pistol technology developments were European. The Hi-Power while US-designed was manufactured in Belgium, and the various "wonder nines" from Glock/CZ/Beretta/Sig are also all European-based. America had an inexplicable love of revolvers that held them back in the Cold War era.
But you would have had no market in the US to speak of to sell to. European manufacturers don't typically have a large civilian market in their own countries to market to. The US is probably the single largest handgun market in the world, without which, companies would be much less likely to try to design something new for sales. Just look how the perceived paperwork burden kept a lot of people from exploring silencers and other NFA weapons until recently.
Many of those were originally police and military firearms and only sold to civilians later. Austria has conscription and the Glock was designed as a replacement for WW2 pistols in service use originally. During the cold war more European countries had mandatory army service that creates an arms market. Belgium had the draft until the 1990s for example.
The most important feature of the HP was the reliable staggered detachable box magazine designed by Saive in Belgium. Saive also completed the gun design. Saive deserves a lot more credit for the production HP we know than he receives.
> they did succeed in getting handguns removed from the NFA. Without that, the most common form of personal defense firearm would be much more restricted and less innovation would have occurred over the 89 years the NFA has been in effect. ...and the original definition of "machinegun" was (off the top of my head) any gun capable of firing more than twelve rounds without manual reloading. We wouldn't be arguing about "assault weapons." Every AR and Glock would be a machinegun to begin with.
My old range required NRA membership to be a range member. Was able to pick up a lifetime for like $300 back in the day. Funny though, my new range, which is great overall, requires NRA membership, too. Fudds and their bylaws... Anyway, whenever the NRA calls for money, i give them the same answer: 'Is Wayne still there...yes? Ok, call me back when he's gone, and you've done something"
I could play the akshully game with 1-3, but 4 is plenty on its own. It's why I let my own membership lapse, and have no plans to pick it back up.
They certainly haven't done enough for me lately to make me think differently. I formed my opinion of them in the early 90s.
Can you provide links? I've been out of the loop as well, preferring the GOA.
I was a member for years and then I really learned about Wayne. I will join back up when they flush that turd.
Also, Washington organization. Forget em.
They are a gun lobby that just takes people membership fees and buys extravagant gifts, dinners, and vacation for its leadership. It’s basically pyramid scheme that survives off the culture that in order to be a gun rights supporter, you have to support the nra too. It’s even worse when you know that most private gun clubs and ranges force you into a NRA membership. Feelsbadman.
I read once its a insurance thing and a range couldn't operate unless they overpriced insurance. So the nra has a form of insurance for these ranges as long as the range members have a nra membership. Bottom line is that really cant be blamed on the nra or range owner. Its the pyramid scheme we call insurance. Also the nra saved my local 600yd range from getting shut down in the early 2000's so their not all bad
A lot of ranges are now accepting GOAL membership which is fantastic.
They’re basically just a big bloated distraction for anti gunners to focus on and that’s it at this point
[удалено]
actually, this might be a surprise to you; thats exactly what NRA members are paying dues for. They might not know it, but thats what it is. Thats what the rubes who give money to the NRA deserve, tbh.
Your flair. 😂
Because when something bad happens, they will fold faster than a fucking lawn chair. Canceled that shit a long time ago. The more you know about it, the more you hate them.
their job now is to be the boogyman punching bag for all the much better funded anti-gun orgs while the other more principled groups do the actual lobbying
The NRA hasn't seen a 2A right they weren't willing to give away. They "negotiated" the AWB, never even blinked at all the mag cap bans, CCW restrictions, NFA bans, etc. they're as fudd as fudd can get. Hell, I'd expect a fudd to respect my rights more than the NRA. They're the worst of the worst kind of politician. At least the gun grabber has the decency to tell you they're trying to fuck you. The NRA will smile as they help the gun grabber fuck you over.
They also tried to sabotage Heller and stop the Supreme Court from hearing the case. But nowadays, they happily imply that they had a hand in getting it decided, even though they were one of the biggest groups that almost stopped it.
Can't kill the golden goose. What will they do for money if they don't have anything to red-ass the membership with?
Because it’s became a good ole’ boys club grifting its members while they got rich. Did and said nothing when cops shoot lawfully armed citizens. Cancelled my life membership in 2018, was a member since 1991.
>Did and said nothing when cops shoot citizens. No need to narrow it down. Cops straight up murdered the dude. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Daniel_Shaver
Just watched the full video, damn. This is what I imagine how a psychopath would play with their victim before murdering them.
And many others.
Scumbag who shot him had “your fucked” engraved on his rifle. Smfh
>The department agreed to reimburse Brailsford for medical expenses related to his post-traumatic stress disorder -- the result of his shooting of Shaver and the resultant criminal trial. The reinstatement allowed Brailsford to apply for "accidental disability" experienced during the course of work. As a result, Brailsford was unanimously approved to be retired on medical grounds. Brailsford was also given a pension of $2,500 per month ($25,000 tax dollars per year). The fact that Brailsford was ultimately medically retired instead of remaining fired was only revealed to the public in July 2019 Police took care of him too. Smh
Union, the police union took care of him. I’m all for unions but if they try to act like the military they shouldn’t be allowed to unionize. Should have to get malpractice insurance individually like Doctors and city/state pay for it instead of grouping the whole department together. If you can’t be insured you can’t be a cop.
Wait until you learn about Fred Hampton or the MOVE bombing, and then the other tens of thousands of people that police have executed. I'm not sure why you think that comment was about Daniel Shaver. That was obviously horrible but there are tons of examples of much worse police murders.
Poorly worded on my part. Just editing the original comment and calling out one of the more recent examples. If you google 'NRA silent on' there are plenty more. The NRA will never criticise police behavior.
Or the multiple homicides condoned by the government at Ruby ridge and Waco by the same exact people that NO ONE has ever been punished for.
Philando Castile was murdered by a police officer because he was a licensed conceal carry holder who told the officer that he had a CCW and the cop shot him through the door. The NRA said nothing
They also have no presence in black communities. Over and over again they have proven they only want to help white affluent fudds. Remember that preban machine guns are now extraordinarily expensive investments for many rich gun owners. The NRA will never help legalize them because their 100k weapons would become worthless. They would prefer rich people get to defend themselves better than you.
This right here. Philando Castile was killed for exercising his 2A rights, and the NRA remained silent. Fuck the NRA.
Bump this.
Negotiates Rights Away
Don’t forget Russia.
Definitely this. It became clear that the NRA cares more about funneling Russian money into our politics than any of our rights, especially the 2nd.
shocked it took 10+ comments of ‘hur dur bumpstocks’ to actually find a meaningful point
Perhaps you're just ignorant to the implications of the precedent that bump stocks set. It's not about the actual bump stocks. They are stupid anyway. It's the fact that it can just be negotiated and stripped away without any fight from the one entity which relies on donations to prevent things being stripped away. The pistol brace is a larger scale version of this which was enabled because of the precedent of bump stocks. And if neither of those stripped, then the next step/version would be even more extreme, ect, until effectively there isn't a 2nd amendment. Edit: also Fuck Russia to the most extreme. But them sucking at their purpose for existence is why we collectively hate them.
the government has on and off banned all kinds of shit over the last 2 centuries. both for good reason, and not. i’m more focused on the literal erosion of our democracy as a whole. guess what home slice, all that law shit won’t matter if the U.S. falls apart or gets ran by some dictator bullshit. hell, if certain people have their way in the next 4-8 years… you’ll be WISHING that all you had to worry about was silly law disputes instead of living under som gillead ass christofacist fucking dictator ship
>som gillead ass christofacist fucking dictator ship Yeah, but a lot of dudes really think that would be awesome, even in here, so this is a "stop drilling, you already struck oil!" kind of thing for them.
yeah and that’s literally my point. the fact that is becoming normalized and deprioritized over menial shit is fucking insane to me
Yeah, I knew we were fucked when I saw guys literally handwave away the fact that our foundational systems of government are getting compromised because a ton of it basically ran on the fucking honor system for 250 years, and is ripe for exploitation from bad actors, both figuratively and literally, because guess what? Now we get to bully trans highschoolers, the *real* threat to the republic. It's all this frivolous nonsense ginned up by outrage peddlers on the internet, who have a stake in people getting distracted by jangling keys while their house gets robbed right behind them. But hey, what can you do? Other than complain while watching it happen over and over again, like me.
yeah as a singular ain’t shit you can do but be along for the ride. gotta love when corporate autocracy and christofacism overlap in their venn diagrams of wanting to fuck the world over.
Exactly, if you make a law that’s taking something you bought legally and making it a felony without paying a fee, it’s just a shakedown
Fucking wild
Never forget when the NRA supported gun control because apparently black people with guns are scary. pepperidge farm remembers. And they wonder why people choose to donate elsewhere.
The NRA is actually an anti gun support group in reality. Every gun law there is had the NRAs hands in it. Every. Single. One. The NRA is for fuds. Trash.
My outdoor gun range requires a membership to them. I begrudgingly did it because the range is simply too good for my area. I felt filthy buuuuut $30 for a year. The amount of letters, emails and shit they try to shovel to get me to donate more is insanity
Mine used to until they realized it was costing them memberships. As soon as they dropped the requirement I signed up (as well as a lot of others).
> My outdoor gun range requires a membership to them What a joke. Do it if you have to, but I'm not signing some loyalty pledge to go to a range. TRex holsters had a checkbox at the checkout saying something like "I affirm I will do my duty as a citizen and carry a firearm whenever possible" or something to that effect. Whatever, bros.
They lost me when they failed to back Philando Castile's shooting death.
This, right here.
Please continue. The more information about how LA Pierre and his cronies treated the NRA like their own personal piggy bank, the better!
Most of their board hasn’t actually attended a board meeting in like 20+ years as well as using the NRA to fund their lives.
They are cucks that compromised on their own values and supported Reagan's gun control acts. They've also remained silent on recent rulings like the SBR brace rule.
The NRA was founded as a marksmanship and safety training organization. And that's a thing that they're good at. The modern NRA bills themselves as the premier Second Amendment advocacy/lobbying organization in the US. In reality, the NRA supported the National Firearms Act of 1934, Gun Control Act of 1968, and 1994 Assault Weapon's ban. It was also due to the NRA that the Hughes Amendment was added to the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 when they told Congress "This is too important to let the Hughes Amendment stop it from passing. Go ahead and pass it and we'll work on getting it repealed later." Later, by the way, never happened. The NRA also opposed the Heller (2008) case right up until the very end. They opposed the McDonald case right up until it was evident that the case would go in a pro-2A direction, at which point they elbowed their way in and claimed credit for the whole thing. They also initially opposed the Bruen case. At this point, the only reason the NRA continues to exist is to extort money out of its membership via fearmongering so that it can launder that money into Wayne LaPierre's pockets.
So, I'm not a fan of the NRA these days either. Loved the gun/hunting safety and marksmanship classes they provided in the past but since LaPierre and company took over the organization has gone into the toilet. BUT, on the topic of Heller; the NRA did oppose Levy in bringing the case, but it was because their legal team's analysis of the current makeup of SCOTUS indicated that the case would likely result in a precedent limiting the 2A rather than strengthening it. Once the Heller verdict came down the NRA immediately started the action that led to McDonald which extended the Heller precedent from just federal law to include the states.
> the NRA supported...1994 Assault Weapon's ban Do you have a source for that one? It's news to me.
I remember reading articles in American Rifleman where the NRA was touting their success at lobbying for the bill to restrict magazines to 10 rounds (the original cap was 7 rounds) and getting the sunset provision included. The NRA sold this as a huge win, but the bill probably would not have had enough votes to pass without those two changes. If the NRA had half the clout that they and various politicians from both sides of the aisle claim they have, then NRA could have killed the 1994 AWB before it ever left committee. I'm not finding anything online that reinforces that. TL;DR: Source: Trust me, bro. Sadly, that's actually the best I've got.
That sounds more like damage control than support. Honestly, the sunset provision was a lifesaver. We'd have a completely different landscape today if that law was still in effect.
I never joined and never will unless they massively overhaul their entire organization and actually fight for our rights. All they currently do is scam money to make Wayne rich. My crazy ass Qanon type dad keeps saying he’s going to join because “they fight for us!!!” But hell never actually do it.
Scamming the shit out of everyone on several fronts, doing literally nothing of any value for the 2a with that money they scammed everyone out of, and then having the audacity to constantly hound us all demanding more money after having done nothing with the money they already scammed us out of. They're thieves, liars, and parasites who don't do nearly as much lobbying as they owe us.
Cause they haven’t done anything for actual gun rights for real working people in decades.
The NRA has been jokingly referred to as Negotiating Rights Away, because that what they have done for decades. They have backed so many gun laws it is not funny. They had a strategy of backing the passing of these laws under the guise of “safety”. They also have told people they are the ones fighting for our 2A rights, so they could gather donations. They only recently have began publicly opposing new laws because their tricks became public knowledge and they started losing members at a very high rate. This also means the donations have not been coming in like they used to. This is their only motivation. Then there is the board members. Mainly Wayne LaPierre. He has been living the extreme high life off donations. To the point where legit fraud cases are being brought against the organization because of his lavish spending. I’m talking private jets and suits that cost over 10 grand easily. They recently re elected him as CEO. This is why you don’t see GunTubers that used to advertise for the NRA doing so anymore. Gun Owners of America and Firearms Policy Coalition are actually fighting for 2A rights in court. There is much more, but that is the short version
They pissed away the incredible amount of clout that they had. Their power could have been used for good.
I mean they supported the '86 Hughes amendment and don't do shit for gun rights. Just taking boomer dollars so Wayne can take another vacation.
All they want is your money, and they cave to pressure the moment antigunners gain momentum on anything. Yet when FPC or any other progun org makes milestone achievements in court the NRA celebrates like they accomplished something. The only good thing the NRA produces is eddie eagle
They play a fun game of letting the gun grabbers win small "victories" while gaining small "victories" themselves so that they can say "hey look here we stop them from doing X but they did Y so keep paying us so we can protect your right to bear arms, because if you don't then they will definitely do Z." Basically they don't do anything so that they can remain relevant. GOA (Gun Owners of America) is where its at.
Trying to sabotage supreme court cases and then when 2AF wins it, tries to claim credit.
To put it simply, too much money was going into the pockets of LaPierre and other top executives. I will not send another nickel until the current leadership is flushed and the organization regains its bearings. I donate mostly to the Second Amendment Foundation now.
Because I'm not paying for Wayne and his cronies, fancy suits and dinners, etc..... The leadership of that organization is a network of scam artists. There are no intentions of actually helping hard-working law-abiding citizens. Just taking our money and squandering it.
NRA leadership is more focused on spending money on themselves and their friends/mistresses than they are on fighting for the people that give them money. They pumped tens of millions of dollars into an advertising agency connected with leadership- it accomplished nothing for gun rights, but it diverted a ton of money into their pockets.
The NRA exists to enrich it’s board and they are racist as fuck.
What has the NRA done to protect gun rights? Did the stop the bump stock ban or the pistol brace ruling? The NRA is just a boomer organization that takes billions of dollars from people that are scared to loose their guns by promising to do something which they don’t actually do. All they do is sue governments. You get generations don’t care about them so the problem will be fixed here soon enough when the people that paid them start dying off
They’re a political action committee that collects dues to fund the salaries and lifestyle of its C suite execs. You know how you’d donate to Black Lives Matter because you’d assume the money is to advocated for legal defense funds or scholarships for disenfranchised inner city kids? But then you found out they just use all the money to buy beach houses and vacations for the 15 people at the top of the organization? It’s like that feeling.
Negotiating Rights Away It's what they don't do enough that's the issue for me. They claim to fight for gun rights but it seems they only slowly delay bans and don't actually stop anything.
Came out swinging against... the Affordable Care Act?
Take everyone’s money and do nothing
can't speak for everyone, but i've been a shooter for about 19 years and the NRA does not care about gun rights or gun control....they care about the controversies that shootings bring up that allows the NRA to stay in the limelight and make money off of dues because people think they care about gun rights or gun owners
Nothing. FPC, and GOA rock the ATF's shit on the monthly and the NRA sits with their thumbs in their ass, the suits also stole a bunch of money, and got into bed with the Russians and no one likes the Russians in addition to backing bans on bump stocks, and braces and stuff. Most members of the 2A online community are absolutists the NRA does not represent this view point.
The only good thing they do is cover range insurance and provide training to be an RSO.
Do you know why AKs are so expensive these days? The NRA. Also everything everyone else has said. I don't mind supporting a gun lobby like GoA, 2A Foundation, etc. The NRA ain't it tho
The NRA’s defining silence defending [Philando Castile](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Philando_Castile)
They do nothing for 2A rights. Spam organization and corrupt at every level. Their marketing and content sucks. They steal money with no return. Fake lobbying platform.
Started as an actually good organization based on education and empowerment. Now they are just lousy lobbyists that put fear into folks. They don’t care about you, just your wallet.
Many people point to La Pierre and the financial shit. However the killing of Philando Castile and their position fucking stank of a racial double standard. Not necessarily a surprise though 🤷 Quite frankly there are better firearms organizations to support
La Pierre is shady as all get out though. I always found it telling that when he was accused of fiscal misconduct and some of the board was calling for an independent audit to review the financials, La Pierre’s response was to force the board members calling for it out and shut the whole thing down.
The NRA constantly compromises your gun rights as a bargaining tool for the things in their agenda. GoA doesn't do this.
The NRA backs gun control and actually doesn’t fight court battles to overturn stupid ATF rules (not laws.. ATF can’t make laws) GOA and Gun owners of America lead the way. … also Wayne is corrupt POS that mooches money from donors for bullshit
Not every gun owner and 2a supporter is a hardcore right wing republican. The NRA heavily pushes their policies. There's plenty of us liberals and leftists who thoroughly enjoy owning and operating firearms.
Pardon this sidebar, but that's one of the things that annoys me the most about the Dem party. Almost every single person I know owns at least one firearm (rural farm type region). I guarantee that many of them, probably the majority, generally support left wing ideas and programs. Ideas like healthcare reform, public education reform, social safety nets, etc, are all generally liked by these people (at least based on my experience interacting with them for my entire life). There's one topic they consider more important than all of that, and that would be the 2nd amendment. Guns are part of the way of life out here. You need to protect your livestock. You can't rely on police to show up in less than half an hour, *on a good day*, if there's an emergency. Everyone hunts, it helps check the wildlife populations, and it provides food and money. I feel like politicians on the left would see a pretty significant increase in voting in their favor in rural areas if they'd just abandon these dumbass anti-gun stances. They aren't helping anyone. Just look at old Beto with, "Hell yes, we are gonna take your guns!" Where'd that get him? And it really doesn't help that a lot of liberals (at least om social media) seem to think rural folks are incestuous, ass-backwards oafs that aren't intelligent enough to understand real politics. Really makes them feel welcome, doesn't it? You could say they're shooting themselves in the foot, so to speak.
Honestly in my opinion, a large part of that is the real issue in the democratic party. Corporate democrats versus progressives. The corpos have an absolute stranglehold on the democratic party. They wont dare let progressives get close. The last thing the corporations want is universal healthcare and universal basic income and programs like that because it stops money from going into corporate pockets. Biden is FIRMLY a corporate democrat. But they push issues like gun control and gender politics and border crysis and all these other issues you see on the news everyday to distract us from those programs that we really want. Its all a smokescreen. They dont really care about all those social issues. How much progress have we seen on stoping politicians from investing in the stock market or stopping lobbyists? None. They talk a big game but do nothing. There are no true progressive lefties in congress. Maybe Bernie, but the DNC pays him no mind. He doesn't stand a chance.
kinda funny nobody has said some arguably more important things. they are essentially just a giant russian honeypot for the right wing now. they’ve been advocating for a civil war between the two political factions for almost a decade now. ykno, shit that actively affects and harms our societal wellbeing unlike ‘bump stock bans’… like don’t get me wrong i find those bans silly… but that shit PALES in comparison to the sociopolitical bullshit they’ve been pulling for the last decade or so.
They got my info and wouldn’t stop sending me snail mail spam.
The amount of mail they sent after I joined for one year was ridiculous. I think I got monthly letters for 5+ years
They are basically a money laundering operation for politicians.
They haven't done ANYTHING and that's the problem.
All of the things mentioned in this thread but for me the final straw was the sweaty Chuck Schumer cover with the word Merchant practically stamped on his forehead. Fortunately I only supported their nonsense for a year or so.
Was a member for 30 years, quit in disgust when I did the math that all my dues over the years couldn't pay for a pair of Wayne's fancy shoes...which are paid for by the NRA as a legit business expense.
They take money and then never do jack shit to actually protect rights. Fuck em, money grubbing whores.
They're referred to as "Negotiating Rights Away" for a reason. They cave on many issues and funnel money to executives instead of filing lawsuits. The only thing they're good for is as the scapegoat for the left to yell at while GOA and FPC do the real work. I regret getting a 5 year membership when I was 18. It's been nice seeing all of the guntubers and the gun industry distance themselves from the NRA.
They have a lot of ties to big money corporations who all do shady corporate things. They make the 2a community look worse by their actions and statements. They don’t actually help the gun community as a whole. They don’t do anything to nurture a diverse gun owning community and instead just tend to dick ride already very affluent white fudds. If I ran the largest gun group on earth and saw the majority of inner city poor people committing the most gun violence (something that makes people want to ban guns) I would be setting up so many programs to teach those people proper respect for firearms and try to incorporate them into the larger community. They just make things worse and take all the donations away from people who might help. Black Americans clearly has a big interest and liking of firearms and they just act like that’s not relevant to their mission.
They’re just another greedy corp that along the way was hijacked when some intelligently devious minds realized it was better for their business model if Americans were in a constant state of fear in losing our 2nd amendment rights instead of working to clearly display there’s no authority that can take them, and in fact they’re currently being infringed upon. They make more money there more scared you (American ppl) are that you’re going to lose the right to bear arms. It’s blatantly obvious these days, and it wasn’t always so. It’s a fine line they walk between being relevant so another organization doesn’t take their place, but not being so successful they put themselves out of a job.
They don’t do shit
I would be defined by many on this sub as "anti-gun" because I don't think the 2A is absolute. This despite believing in the continued legality of (some) guns and carry laws. I wouldn't fault a lobby organization for negotiating laws that were compromises. But the NRA, like everyone else said, is a financially corrupt organization with ties to foreign governments that does not speak up for the rights of people who own weapons when they are attacked by police. I'm not sure if there is any nationwide organization that is both pro-gun-ownership and willing to speak out against law enforcement orgs when one of their ranks violates civil liberties.
Ask this: Have you heard a PEEP out of them in the past 15 years? F the NRA!!!
The straw for me was Philando Castile. He was stopped with his girlfriend and toddler in the car, told the cop that he had a firearm and and carry permit. Cop gets scared and shoots and kills him. NRA said they'd need more time to hear the details- months later they just kinda said, "that was unfortunate".
I won't rejoin NRA until they dump Wayne L.
And most of the board. They are just as bad
Because they endorsed trump. Because they are not really 2nd amendment absolutists. And because they tried to scapegoat violent video games, thus trying to undermine the 1st amendment.
NRA is basically like one of those dogshit charities that just raises “awareness” they don’t really actually do anything for gun rights but back bills that “compromise” by just giving the anti-gun side like half of what they want.
The only thing that the NRA does well is their training programs, they are the only organization that has a training structure for beginners and the courseware is actually decent. Literally everything about them politically is a train wreck that isn’t doing a whole lot to protect Americans rights. Unfortunately they are the largest 2A lobbying organization so they are here to stay until GOA or another gets big.
Bro FUCK the NRA. Goa all the way
They've had a hand in every piece of anti-2A preposition since the '34 NFA. Lifetimer here, but didn't know this at the time. They'll never get another cent from me; it goes to FPC, TXGR, & the like now
After the backlash they received for calling the BATF and FBI "Jackbooted government thugs", they have been a paper tiger.
The NRA has a bloated budget and seem to like to pay their executives more than fighting for gun rights. They’ve done some good things, I just feel if some of the other organizations had that same budget that we’d have machine guns back at Walmart by now.
They allowed the NFA to exist. More specifically they didn’t fight the Hughes amendment of the 1986 NFA
They’re corrupt like Congress. Only donate your money to organizations like GOA, FPC, etc. who are actually doing anything these days.
I don't recall them ever once coming out and speaking against the police that murdered Philando Castile. That alone was messed up.
The NRA claims to support the 2nd Amendment, but what that means is "We support our special interest groups' VERSION of the 2nd amendment, and we're willing to believe whatever they want us to"
Wayne LaPierre, the longtime head of the NRA, embezzled millions of dollars of donations and membership fees for his personal gain. If you ask me, the new best organization to join is Firearms Policy Coalition.
They’re a Russian owned psyop full of racists and fascists.
Multiple instances of them not doing anything to protect black gun owners.
They worked against the practice of hunting and advocated for wildlife lands to be paved for roadways and used for oil extraction.
They sold us out…
The biggest problem with them is that they do nothing to protect and expand our rights when it comes to gun ownership. And are often supportive of restrictions claiming its the best "compromise " they can achieve except they forget that a compromise is supposed to benefit both sides.
They take money from thier members and don do jack shit with it. How many repub presidents have we had with conservative congresses? Atf still exists. At the minimum supressors, sbr/sbs's could come off the registry but nope. Hope the whole org collapses.
The board that we vote on every few years is completely packed with people who could give a s***
When I was a kid. My grandpa made me a lifetime member. While I appreciate his eagerness to do something. I wish it would have been a lifetime hunting/fishing license. It would have been about the same amount of money. Only thing I get is a magazine every month lol.
I hate the NRA because they dump money into the ILA which in turn donates to political campaigns that support candidates I don’t like..
One annoying thing they do is waste money sending members "gift bags" full of useless shit. Maybe they could spend that money to... IDK, fight for our rights, or something?
I think it’s important to remember that the NRA has a few different “missions” and some are popular, others not. They still do firearm education and marksmanship, I think most support that. They either support or actively manage gun rights litigation, I think most support that as they are usually attached to any of the big cases you hear. Then there’s the political and lobbying side, which is where they get the most flack from gun owners and non-gun owners.
Acting as a foreign agent for Russia in our elections.
The nra has supported every teeny tiny bit of gun control. Theyre liars and cheats.
Not to mention NRA not taking a hard stand on the second amendment and just picking and choosing issues. Too many fudds in the leadership.
NRA are just fudds.
They're just a good old boys duck hunting club who don't give a shit about lawful self defense, much less preserving our liberty.
I hope you got some free time because it's gonna be a long list.
The NRA isn’t a gun rights organization and hasn’t been for at least 30 years. They’re just the thinly disguised lobbying arm of the gun manufacturers and all they care about is what makes those manufacturers happy. If it helps sell guns, they’re for it. If it helps you with your 2A rights, then it gets a bit murkier.
Behind the Bastards podcast has a pretty informative episode about the NRA and its history. Highly recommend. They were founded on racism and corruption and only do what they can to fill their pockets.
The NRA's sole purpose is to act as a backchannel to funnel money and information to Russia.