The National Rifle Association claims on its website to be the largest pro-hunting organization in the world. As a hunter, not to mention as a human being, the NRA couldn’t represent me less.When you consider that there are about 100 million gun owners altogether, it seems the NRA doesn't represent anybody, except as the article said, the true gun nuts and the firearms industry.
The NRA isn’t for hunters any more than AAA is for bicyclists. Sure, some hunters are NRA members, but first and foremost the NRA serves gun fetishists and the firearms industry. (fetish: 1. An inanimate object worshiped for its supposed magical powers or because it is considered to be inhabited by a spirit. 2. A course of action to which one has an excessive and irrational commitment.)
In 2011, nearly 14 million Americans hunted, while NRA members number about four million–fewer than half of whom actually hunt.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
On Dog Gone's other blog, I've noticed lots of commentary against "Right to Work." The arguments unions use against "Right to Work" is that non-members are free riders who benefit from union negotiations.
ReplyDeleteThe discrepancy between the number of hunters or gun owners and the number of members of the NRA is indicative of a large number of free riders. I'm not an NRA member, and neither are many other gun owners who benefit from their efforts. We sometimes donate money and we often make phone calls and write letters to congress members and senators when bills we like or dislike come up.
The NRA is successful because it is able to activate all of these "free riders" and call them to action, not because its actual dues paying members are so numerous.
I can see why you're a lawyer, you can rationalize anything.
DeleteHow many "free riders" do you suppose there are who mobilize themselves from time to time and contribute money without actually becoming members? Would it be another 4 million? Or double that?
Still, the point remains, out of 100 million, it's a small percentage.
Are you one of those guys who refuses to give in to anything? That's what it sounds like.
Dang dude, why the hostility?
DeleteRegarding your question about how many people are mobilized when the NRA is taking part in a legislative fight, I have no way of giving you a solid estimate that doesn't involve a lot of Wild Ass Guessing.
All I know is that in my area there are lots of people who are not members, but who are opposed to additional gun control. I see these people at gun shows, shooting ranges, and training classes. They have various reasons for not joining the NRA, but they're on the phone with their Congressman every time a big gun control fight begins.
If you want to see the evidence that these people are numerous and are located all over the country, look at the number of rifle and magazine sales since the election.
The estimated number of African-Americans is around 65,000,000, and yet, the NAACP has a membership of half a million. There are more than 300,000,000 living in America, but the ACLU also has a membership of some 500,000.
DeleteThe NRA is a civil rights organization that represents the interests of gun owners. We all benefit, whether we're members or not.
Not everyone is a member of the NRA? You mean every restaurant is not a member of the National Restaurant Association? Who woulda thunk.
DeleteSheesh and Aye Yi Yi !
orlin sellers
Are you one of those guys who refuses to give in to anything? That's what it sounds like.
DeleteThat is exactly what I want in a lawyer, and the NRA........
NRA fingerprints in landmark health-care law
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/nra-fingerprints-in-landmark-health-care-law/2012/12/30/e6018656-5066-11e2-950a-7863a013264b_story.html?hpid=z4
T., I really didn't mean to sound hostile. Your point is well taken about the numerous non-member supporters. But I repeat, out of 100 million, the percentage is not that high. I know I'm guessin', but if you think about it, many gun owners are apathetic and many others are actually in agreement with the gun control arguments. This is why claiming kinship with all gun owners is wrong.
DeleteThomas, thanks for that link. I posted something today about the despicable tactics of the NRA regarding health care. That's exactly what you want. Good for you.
Mike,
DeleteA claim of kinship with All is certainly wrong. My point is that saying 4 million is all the NRA represents is a gross understatement of the number of people whose interests and views they represent.
As for whether the percentage is that high, I think it is higher than you would think. Consider the 5 million background checks since the election--most of these for rifles or pistols that people feared would be covered by an AWB reinstitution. Also consider that a high number of these were reported to be first purchases.
I can attest to the increase in first purchases myself as I've received a significant upswing in calls asking for my help in clearing up a wrongfully denied background check--something people run into the first time they purchase a gun and which typically stems from an arrest where the charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence, but the FBI or equivalent state agency was never informed of the dismissal.
Further Evidence:
DeleteWent to the local gun show today--first since the election. Holy, sacred, consecrated bovine. I have never seen such a pressed in swarm of people. Stuff was still being sold at record pace. Ammo supplies are getting low, but people are still buying even at inflated prices. All ammo supplies are low, but the second lowest, and second most inflated, are 5.56x45 and 7.62x39. (The lowest and most inflated are 7.62x51--those with ears, let them hear.) One person I knew brought 7,000 rounds of 5.56 to sell. 500 round lots, 300 each. It was gone by noon.
This kind of buying can't be sustained by such a tiny fraction of the public as many would have us believe are on the NRA's side.
Also, as a side note that shows how wide the opposition to Assault Weapons bans are, this is Upper East Tennessee--Appalachia, not the most diverse place in the world (though we're more so than some of you might think). You could see all sorts of people there--whites, blacks, asians, hispanics, men, women, cops, non-cops, old, young, middle-aged, etc. Nobody was complaining that "assault weapons" were available. Most were, in fact, looking for ammo, magazines, accessories, and replacement parts for them.
The same is true here in northwest Arkansas. Gun shops are stripped bare. Control freaks always forget the law of unintended consequences.
DeleteThe NRA represents gunsucks and the gun industry.
ReplyDelete"gunsucks" -- Pathetic.
DeleteWow Anonymous. "Gunsucks." I tell ya, the your incessant penis jokes have truly made me rethink my life...
DeleteI mean, by the reasoning that statistics tell the whole story, wouldn't the Brady Campaign's 28,000 members relative to the nearly 200,000,000 members of the non-gun owning public (assuming those statistics are even correct, Gallup disagrees but that's besides the point) imply that the Brady Campaign doesn't even approach representing the American public on Gun Control?
ReplyDeleteThe percentage of Brady membership is even smaller than the percentage of NRA membership. So?
DeleteThe explanation is that most non-gun owners are totally apathetic to the issue. Most gun owners are too, but to a smaller degree, since they have something personal at stake.