Debunking the myth of Debunking the myth of the NRA
Maybe I’m in the minority, but here’s the way I always saw the National Rifle Association:
It was a picture of Charlton Heston, in a 10-gallon hat high on a white horse, brandishing a Winchester or a Smith and Wesson or a Remington or Beretta or whatever his weapon of choice actually was. He was talking about how you could pry it from his “cold, dead hands” and all that.
Whatever former military general was running the United States at the time would be standing proudly beside, a wide grin and another rifle.
It just felt so, well. . . mythical.
But John Murphy of Oakland, the co-chairman of the Central Maine Friends of the NRA committee, blows the myth right out of the water. He doesn’t think the most important goal of the NRA today is to fight gun-control legislation tooth and nail, nor does he think he should be able to have 632 automatic machine guns in his living room just because the United States Constitution gives us the right to bear arms.
Do you think the NRA thinks that?
May 7th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Wayne already sold the college kids down the river, and the NRA wasn’t especially popular with us young folks anyway. When I think of NRA, an image of crusty old men shooting 5 rounds of at benchrest in an hour screaming at me “no rapid fire.” Sorry if I can put 5 rounds in a 12in plate in 10 seconds at 100 yards.
The old man shakes haven’t impeded me yet…
May 7th, 2008 at 11:01 am
The NRA lost me years ago.
What is the purpose of supporting an organization which has an agenda which does not meet the basic ‘support the 2A’ test. The NRA will only compromise in a negative direction…which admittedly is the only compromise gun-grabbers allow…but the NRA accepts those strictures.
Not interested.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I believe I should be allowed no more than 630 automatic weapons. I think that’s a reasonable restriction.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:25 am
If you aren’t a member of the NRA I bet you also aren’t a member of any other 2nd Amendment Rights group.
Put your money where your mouth is. Join SOMETHING. Don’t freeload.
I prefer the NRA and the Texas State Rifle Association. I’m a life member of both and send more money all the time, plus I’m an activist. Check out the Blackfork6 Channel on Youtube.com.
DO something. Don’t just complain.
630 full auto weapons sounds like a collector to me. Why would anyone object to a collector? Stamp collectors have millions of items. Car collectors have very expensive items. Railroad collectors sometimes have whole trains!
Power to the people.
May 7th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Please hold for a solid debunking of a reporter’s ability to distinguish between organizations. Check my site after lunch.
May 7th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
If it weren’t for the NRA, I would not know how to shoot. We had ranges and instruction at my high school and college. I just had to pay for the ammunition. Screw this guy. He sounds like Michelle America-Did-Not-Detail-My-Rolls-Royce-The-Way-I -Wanted Obama.
May 7th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Hardcorps,
You do realize that the concern about rapid fire isn’t your ability to aim? It has to do with shooting too quickly to realize if you have a squib round, and then turning your gun into a hand grenade when you fire another round into the obstructed barrel. It doesn’t happen often, but I’ve watched two people blow up their guns at the range from that in the last 5 years.
The guys shooting next to you have no way of knowing if you’re smart enough to feel the squib round when you have it, and they probably don’t feel like eating part of your gun as a result.
May 7th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
>> Do you think the NRA thinks that?
The NRA doesn’t think anything. The NRA will certainly never advocate the unrestricted ownership of full auto weapons, and perhaps a majority of NRA members do not favor the unrestricted ownership of full auto weapons, but I think many NRA members do favor the unrestricted ownership of full auto weapons.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Maybe y’all should go check out my post to highlight a fundamental misunderstanding of the organizations that seems to be illustrated by some reactions to the quotes.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
We need guys in the movement fundraising for the shooting sports. If that’s his contribution, then that’s his contribution. Bitter is correct in her post that without a healthy shooting community, we won’t have much left to defend.
May 7th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Squib rounds are one thing, but as a 19-year old I participated in a qualifying match for the CMP. For their purposes, “rapid fire” was 10 shots (with a reload after the first 8) in 2 minutes. That’s an average of one shot per 12 seconds. Most of the people there took all 12 of their seconds for each shot, but I took roughly 5 seconds per shot. They told me I was firing way too fast, even though I felt I was taking the shot when I was ready, no sooner and no later. I think that’s the attitude Hardcorps was referring to.
May 7th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
That’s “with a reload after the first 8”, but the “8” and the “)” got turned into a smiley.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Uh, the NRA was founded long before anti Constutional gun legislation started eating away at our rights. Contrary to popular perception, the NRA is NOT a gun rights organization– that job goes to the NRA ILA.
The NRA originally started to do what they still do as their main function– they help train and educate shooters, organize and standardize shooting competitions, and help with range development.
I’ve often in past years advocated adopting something like the missionary system adopted in centuries past by the Catholic Church. My reasoning was that they were spectacularly successful, and that what we needed was an army of “pro freedom missionaries”.
Well, the NRA is just that, with their training programs and range advocacy. Read their “about us” page and learn:
http://www.nra.org/aboutus.aspx
And if you haven’t been watching them closely for the last 15 years as I have, you may not have noticed that the old, “look at what a middle-of-the-road American dude I am with my $15K Italian shotgun, ’cause I’ll never be caught dead with an AR-15” mentality has pretty well disappeared. The NRA is changing, and in the right direction. You will see things from the NRA today that you would absolutely never have seen just 10 years ago.
If you have a problem with your current gun range, get some like-minded folks together and call the NRA for assistance in setting up your new and improved range. Get your NRA certification in teaching. You just might find a new respect for the NRA, as have I.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
If only.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Lyle may be correct in the change of direction for the NRA. For example, La Pierre’s speech about gun free school zones has been reported to have disapeared from the website and is the only missing item in the archives.
I haven’t checked it myself, but for those interested, it might be worth a look. Lyle may well have identified a welcome new trend.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:40 am
“squib round” – that’s a new line I haven’t heard before. Good thing I’m not a garage chemist coming out there to test my newest cruise missile handload hoping for that extra 20 feet per second on the crono. Save your concern for your self please – I’ll stick to my AE red box.
Ohh, and fuck you gamers too. Those of you with your 17 round double stack para-ordinances would be happy with an RC plane or a railroad toy – it’s just a hobby not a lifestyle right?
May 8th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
HardCorps: What?
All NRA training program students know what a squib load is (hint; it is not an over-pressure load) and I have a 15 +1 round Glock, some RC planes, Estes rockets, and a model railroad.
But still: What?
May 8th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Lyle,
The implication was that I don’t handload and use factory ammo which I think significantly reduces the risk of powder mismeasuring (squib load happens when you don’t put in enough). Sure it can happen with factory ammo but it’s rare. If someone really cared about a squib bullet, they could ask me vs commanding me. But they don’t care, and I doubt you care either.
When’s the last time you shot IDPA or Speed Steel? Having to much fun with your rockets to understand what a double stack para ordinance is?