The NRA

[Pat Riot]

Without going into what all is happening within the NRA (quite honestly, I do not know the whole story) I decided yesterday to send the NRA, not the NRA-ILA or the NRA-PVF or any group within the NRA, a $100 donation to help with getting their house in order.

 

I get tired of all “the Sky is Falling” emails from the NRA, GOA, FPC, et al... I do send money but definitely not every time someone has a near embolism over an over exaggeration of a perceived threat. 

 

This is is one of those times I do believe the sky might be falling. If the NRA crumbles what group out there has the juice, the clout and the connections to truly fight for our Second Amendment rights?

 

The media and our anti-gun political hacks are just loving this. They are doing everything they can to drive wedges in our community and they hope to help the NRA flounder. 

 

Regardless of whether or not you like the NRA or are even a member please do what you can to help keep this organization afloat. Even if it just means moral support. 

 

Thanks

[Rye Miles #13621]

I agree 100%!!!

[Sedalia Dave]

I agree the sky is falling emails are annoying and IMNSHO are a scare tactic to raise funds. I prefer honesty as then you don't get caught with your pants down.

 

The NRA is not the first organization to have these troubles and if we don't waver in our support they will weather the storm.  Wounded Warrior Program almost ceased to exist but a good house cleaning allowed them to come back as strong as ever. WWP help my grandson recover from his physical and mental injuries from his time in the sandbox so they are one of the three veterans charities I support. The American Legion and VFW are the others.

 

I also support NRA-ILA, GOA, 2nd Amendment foundation and TSRA. A good defense is diversified.

[J-BAR #18287]

In addition to the NRA and SAF, I also joined JPFO, Jews for the  Preservation of Firearms Ownership, and I’m not Jewish!

 

 

[Joke 'um]

The ad campaign slogan is, "I am the NRA."

Those professional employees who are accused of all the dirty dealin' are just hired hands.  They need to look in the mirror and do what's best for the cause.

We need to remember that ad slogan.  "The NRA", (us'n) have done nothing to be ashamed of.

$0.02

[Ramblin Gambler]

Do we need to move to team sass to talk about what's happening with them?  Because I'd like to hear what other people think about it.  People who I know aren't NRA hating anti gunners. 

 

 

[Pat Riot]

4 minutes ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

Do we need to move to team sass to talk about what's happening with them?  Because I'd like to hear what other people think about it.  People who I know aren't NRA hating anti gunners. 

 

 

 

Feel free to start a conversation in Team SASS. I posted this here because lots of folks don't frequent Team SASS

[Ramblin Gambler]

Neither do I.  If I started one over there, it might be a month before I remembered to go check on it. 

 

[Henry T Harrison]

51 minutes ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

Neither do I.  If I started one over there, it might be a month before I remembered to go check on it. 

 

The last post in Team SASS was back in mid May so it’s pretty much a dead issue 

[J-BAR #18287]

OK, I'm going to stick my neck out a little because I know I am among friends.

 

I am a Patron Life Member of the NRA.  I am continuing my membership, and I will send more donations AFTER all the financial questions have been answered satisfactorily.

 

The upper management personnel have to expect they are going to be scrutinized and criticized for any hint of misbehavior by those who oppose the NRA, and yet the accusations of inappropriate financial management persist.  In any well managed organization, good managers MAKE SURE such accusations can never be made in the first place; the books are open, independent audits are performed often, and lifestyles do not raise the question of exorbitant salaries and perks.  Since the accusations have been made and persist, I conclude the NRA is presently not being well managed.  I want the NRA to be well managed.  When I am convinced they are well managed, my donations will resume.

[Michigan Slim]

I do not donate. But I did just renew my membership.

[Blackwater 53393]

10 minutes ago, Henry T Harrison said:

The last post in Team SASS was back in mid May so it’s pretty much a dead issue 

 

I don’t know what your access to Team S.A.S.S. is, but there are SEVERAL lively topics being discussed and there has been high traffic in that forum for quite some time!!

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

I am of course an NRA member and always will be, so I pay my dues.

 

But I send my contribution dollars to the Citizens' Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) and their 'sister' organization, and litigation arm, the Second Amendment Foundation. They are long-established, and have a good track record. They do employ rhetoric, of course, but is always more measured and tempered than that of the NRA, which I appreciate.

 

I think my contribution dollars go farther and have more impact there.

 

As to the NRA, I'm just an ordinary member with no connections or special insights, but as a general matter I think that in any organization, just as in government, individuals can stay on too long, whatever their qualifications and accomplishments are or have been. Lapierre has been there too long, in my opinion. The NRA has become over-identified with him, including in his own mind. I say this totally apart from the recent controversy and supposed 'coup attempt', about which I don't know anything but what's been in the papers; and I hold no brief for his opponents, either.

[Pat Riot]

I do hope they get things together soon. I do think they need a changing of the guard.

[Ramblin Gambler]

33 minutes ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

 

I don’t know what your access to Team S.A.S.S. is, but there are SEVERAL lively topics being discussed and there has been high traffic in that forum for quite some time!!

 

I bet he's looking at the date on the top thread, may 14th.  He probably didn't notice that was a sticky post. 

[Henry T Harrison]

Yes you’re right but reviewing the whole topic list most are weeks old 

[Lawdog Dago Dom]

Team Sass can be dry reading. I know because I see the difference in posts I put there compared to the Saloon and the Wire. We are still short of TEAM SASS directors in over 20 states. It is somewhat reminiscent of the Illinois Vehicle Code instruction back at the academy. That course caused the sale of NoDoz and Vivarin to peak for 3 weeks. It's fun to be entertained, plain and simple. Reading about legislation can't compare to that.

 

Often times I am torn between putting a good Second Amendment story under TEAM SASS, or just on the Wire to get the word out.  Especially if you happen to be in a blue state that is openly hostile to gun ownership, I want to get all the exposure I can to get folks motivated to contact a legislator.

 

I don't know how to get folks to click on the TEAM SASS section more often. I am not a marketing genius. I do see a lot of gun owners in denial ("That won't ever happen here") or in division ("I just hunt with a shotgun, why should I care about 30 round magazines"). That's the part that will hurt us. As long as they hang on to that mindset, I could post a Legislative Alert surrounded by beach bunnies and it would be ignored.

 

When you have 2.5 million gun owners in Illinois and only get a response from a fraction of that number, that is disturbing. All the stuff that we ignore, the other side does. And now they control the Illinois legislature and the Governor's office.

 

What will it take to get our silent gun owners to speak up?

[Tyrel Cody]

3 minutes ago, Lawdog Dago Dom said:

What will it take to get our silent gun owners to speak up?

 

Confiscation, and then it will be too late.

[Lawdog Dago Dom]

Yep.

 

Like a saying I saw once, before "drain the swamp" become popular.

 

"When you are up to your a$$ in alligators, it's difficult to remind yourself your initial objective was to drain the swamp."

[Pat Riot]

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

17 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

OK, I'm going to stick my neck out a little because I know I am among friends.

 

I am a Patron Life Member of the NRA.  I am continuing my membership, and I will send more donations AFTER all the financial questions have been answered satisfactorily.

 

The upper management personnel have to expect they are going to be scrutinized and criticized for any hint of misbehavior by those who oppose the NRA, and yet the accusations of inappropriate financial management persist.  In any well managed organization, good managers MAKE SURE such accusations can never be made in the first place; the books are open, independent audits are performed often, and lifestyles do not raise the question of exorbitant salaries and perks.  Since the accusations have been made and persist, I conclude the NRA is presently not being well managed.  I want the NRA to be well managed.  When I am convinced they are well managed, my donations will resume.

 

X2 

Very well said and the way it is.......

OLG

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

21 hours ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

Neither do I.  If I started one over there, it might be a month before I remembered to go check on it. 

 

Just "Follow" the thread. That way, you will get an email whenever anyone posts on it.

 

To do this, click on the "Follow" box on the upper right of the thread, then select the way you want to follow.

[Sixgun Sheridan]

20 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

The upper management personnel have to expect they are going to be scrutinized and criticized for any hint of misbehavior by those who oppose the NRA, and yet the accusations of inappropriate financial management persist.  In any well managed organization, good managers MAKE SURE such accusations can never be made in the first place; the books are open, independent audits are performed often, and lifestyles do not raise the question of exorbitant salaries and perks.  Since the accusations have been made and persist, I conclude the NRA is presently not being well managed.  I want the NRA to be well managed.  When I am convinced they are well managed, my donations will resume.

 

Sounds to me like the upper management couldn't care less how they're perceived by our enemies. They just want to make sure they're the ones still holding bags of cash when it all comes down. I have a strong suspicion they're not nearly as passionate about preserving the Second Amendment as we would like to think they are.

[Cypress Sun]

I'm with J-Bar on this one.

 

I stopped donating my money to the NRA years ago due to their misleading "membership renewal" mail outs. You know, the ones that tell you that your membership is about to expire even though there are 2 years left on it. I felt, and still do, that this was directed to mislead and decieve some elderly folks into believing that their membership was truly about to expire. They would then send in their money to renew when it simply wasn't due and would continue to do it every time that another such notice would arrive in the mail. I knew someone that did this for years until I found out what he was doing.  Few things piss me off more than exploitation of the elderly.

 

About 10 years ago, I upgraded from renewing every 3 years to a life membership. I still received the "your membership is about expire" notices. My phone calls, e-mails and a letter all went unanswered. The person that answered the phone just passed the buck to someone else, e-mails went unreturned and letters unanswered.

By coincidence, today I received a mailer from the NRA that the envelope reads MEMBERSHIP NOTIFICATION  August 2, 2019 Expiration. Inside was a form to "upgrade" to an Endowment Life Member ($300) along with the usual sky is falling letter. I just wonder how many confused elderly folks upgraded.

 

I do actively donate to other 2nd Amendment defenders and will continue to do so......but until the NRA gets their own house in order and desist from manipulative, deceitful and misleading "renewal" notices, I will not donate my hard earned funds to the NRA.

 

I know this post will be somewhat unpopular but that's the way I see it.

 

CS

[Pat Riot]

1 hour ago, Cypress Sun said:

I'm with J-Bar on this one.

 

I stopped donating my money to the NRA years ago due to their misleading "membership renewal" mail outs. You know, the ones that tell you that your membership is about to expire even though there are 2 years left on it. I felt, and still do, that this was directed to mislead and decieve some elderly folks into believing that their membership was truly about to expire. They would then send in their money to renew when it simply wasn't due and would continue to do it every time that another such notice would arrive in the mail. I knew someone that did this for years until I found out what he was doing.  Few things piss me off more than exploitation of the elderly.

 

About 10 years ago, I upgraded from renewing every 3 years to a life membership. I still received the "your membership is about expire" notices. My phone calls, e-mails and a letter all went unanswered. The person that answered the phone just passed the buck to someone else, e-mails went unreturned and letters unanswered.

By coincidence, today I received a mailer from the NRA that the envelope reads MEMBERSHIP NOTIFICATION  August 2, 2019 Expiration. Inside was a form to "upgrade" to an Endowment Life Member ($300) along with the usual sky is falling letter. I just wonder how many confused elderly folks upgraded.

 

I do actively donate to other 2nd Amendment defenders and will continue to do so......but until the NRA gets their own house in order and desist from manipulative, deceitful and misleading "renewal" notices, I will not donate my hard earned funds to the NRA.

 

I know this post will be somewhat unpopular but that's the way I see it.

 

CS

I don't blame you and I understand.

 

Notice in my signature line it says "NRA Life/Annual...don't ask, long story"

I paid for life membership under the installment plan back in 1991/1992. 

I received my Life Card when it was paid off. For years I got my magazines and everything was okay. I sent money all the time for different things.

Then one day in 2010 I got a magazine with a note attached saying this is your last magazine until I renewed my membership.

I called the NRA. They said "You are an annual member. Send us a copy of your card that says you're a life member"

The one and only Life card I had left after getting a wallet stolen has been lost. I have no proof. I have moved all over the country and in those moves I lost all my other cards and membership info,

SO, I just renew annually now.

 

You might think I am a dummie for doing so but as far as I am concerned the NRA has the biggest stick in the 2A fight so I just keep on keepin' on.

[Tony Crowe]

 

[Pat Riot]

Not sure how I feel about Hickok 45 and Son’s announcement. Not sure why it matters. I rarely pay much attention to him other than the occasional curiously over a gun I am researching. 

[Rye Miles #13621]

Everyone has a wastebasket. Throw the mailings away! The NRA is our biggest ally in this anti-gun fight! I just donated $50.00 yesterday and I'm a life member! I donate when I can and how much I can afford no matter what they send me!

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

I've been a member since I was 16, some 43 years ago. Been a Golden  Eagle for 25-30 years, renewed not long ago. Yeah, they can be downright annoying and often can't get their crap together concerning membership renewals and such, but I figure they're the best we have. Without them we may have been out of business LONG ago.

My 2 cents,

JHC

[Subdeacon Joe]

On 6/25/2019 at 5:33 AM, Lawdog Dago Dom said:

Team Sass can be dry reading. I know because I see the difference in posts I put there compared to the Saloon and the Wire. We are still short of TEAM SASS directors in over 20 states. It is somewhat reminiscent of the Illinois Vehicle Code instruction back at the academy. That course caused the sale of NoDoz and Vivarin to peak for 3 weeks. It's fun to be entertained, plain and simple. Reading about legislation can't compare to that.

 

Often times I am torn between putting a good Second Amendment story under TEAM SASS, or just on the Wire to get the word out.  Especially if you happen to be in a blue state that is openly hostile to gun ownership, I want to get all the exposure I can to get folks motivated to contact a legislator.

 

I don't know how to get folks to click on the TEAM SASS section more often. I am not a marketing genius. I do see a lot of gun owners in denial ("That won't ever happen here") or in division ("I just hunt with a shotgun, why should I care about 30 round magazines"). That's the part that will hurt us. As long as they hang on to that mindset, I could post a Legislative Alert surrounded by beach bunnies and it would be ignored.

 

When you have 2.5 million gun owners in Illinois and only get a response from a fraction of that number, that is disturbing. All the stuff that we ignore, the other side does. And now they control the Illinois legislature and the Governor's office.

 

What will it take to get our silent gun owners to speak up?

 

 

Well said!

[Henry T Harrison]

14 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Not sure how I feel about Hickok 45 and Son’s announcement. Not sure why it matters. I rarely pay much attention to him other than the occasional curiously over a gun I am researching. 

I stopped watching him long ago He needs to learn when to shut up. He just loves to prattle on and on and his silliness leaves me cold I’m not one of his middle school students 

[Blackwater 53393]

Hickock 45 in my neighbor.  He lives down the road.  I've met him at numerous pro gun rallies and Second Amendment supporting events.  What he does on the internet is truly beneficial to our cause. It's informative. It's entertaining. It is always supportive of gun owners and their rights!!

 

I catch up with him on his site and sometimes bump into him at the grocery, gas station, or post office and he's always cordial and polite!!  We need more like him!!! 

[Tony Crowe]

First let me say that I am a strong supporter of the NRA.  I hate that the organization is going through a rough period.  Hopefully it can refocus on its core function and once again live up to its membership's expectation.   The latest announcement today is not encouraging.  The NRA has let go its most famous spokesperson, Dana Loesch, and ceased production of NRATV. 

[Ramblin Gambler]

I've been a life member since I was 16.  I don't get all the mailings you guys get, but the magazines and voter guides keep showing up!  A year or 2 ago they seemed to have put me on a telephone solicitation list.  I kept telling them that I would never ever in a hundred years ever give my CC info to someone who called me on the phone.  I kept telling them to put me back on the mailing list and stop calling me.  Well, they stopped calling but I still don't get the mailers.  Now I have to self motivate and go to the website myself to donate. 

 

I wish I could tell you how I got into this state because I think some of you envy it.  But I got no clue.  It might be because I never fill out the post office change of address forms when I move.  I bet their fundraiser mailers only look at the National Change of Address Database instead of looking at the address I personally gave them. 

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

19 hours ago, Tony Crowe said:

 

I'm really surprised at Hickock! Sounds like maybe he's trying to C-H-A as far as Youtube and facebook go while at the same time not alienating his fans!