NRA Bashing

Thank you Jrock for finally saying something like an American. No group is perfect. I would hate to have people here gang up on wackemstackem for saying that same thing. If you read his post that is essentially all he said. He added that he doesn't belong to the NRA, but that doesn't mean lets ostracize him. Wackem is a hunter, a gun owner, and a flag saluting American. He loves his rights and will defend them, all he did was criticize one small ideal that the NRA has. Most gun owners are very passionate about gun ownership and thus are members of the NRA. Sometimes we all, (myself included) get too worked up in what we believe to see the other side of the coin. The NRA does good things for "We The People", there are some of the people who can exploit and abuse those rights, by slipping through the cracks, just like any of our other rights. I will never give up my guns, and I like that the NRA helps ensure that. I think almost everyone here has seen someone mishandle a firearm, or use one in an unsafe manner. I have seen that before. and I remember thinking, "that guy shouldn't own a gun". Maybe I was wrong, but I still thought it. So all I'm trying to say is don't beat up on wackem for not being 100% on board with a special interest group.

I like NY's gun laws, I like all gun laws. I like that you need a thorough background check, and that there is a waiting period. I wish people had mandatory safety classes that they had to attend to own a firearm. I like all those because it insures that people who LEGALLY own guns are safe, responsible, law abiding citizens. If a crime is committed with a gun, there is a good chance that it was commited with an ILLEGAL firearm. I get to hear the comments from the ignorant people around me saying things like, "See there is no reason someone should own a gun"!, and "Guns are no good at all". Comments like that give me the opportunity to say that not ANYONE can own a gun, people who legally own guns need background checks, training, ect, ect. And only responsible citizens can have firearms. The rest of the gun owners are illegal gun owners and cannot be considered to be in the same catergory as the rest of us.
This idea that we are going to lose our guns is ridiculous, we (Americans) are not about to lose our right to bear arms. The NRA has been preaching this propaganda since my father was a little boy. "Support the NRA to insure that you can own guns in the future", "Send money to the NRA or we will all lose our guns", send money, send money, send money. Wake up guys seriously. The NRA is good, but without the NRA would we really be without firearms? I doubt it. I think it is far more important to elect the right officials than it is to have the NRA preaching to the wrong officials. The NRA keeps all of us law abiding, flag saluting, money making Americans living in fear, so that we send our donations, which enables them to lobby for our rights. I don't need them to lobby for my rights. I have lots of guns, and when I die, my kids are going to own them. No one is going to take them away ever. If the unlikely day comes when the government tells me that it is illegal to own guns, then I will become an illegal gun owner. But never will there be a day when we are sitting over a spread of decoys with a stick and some rocks, or whatever it was someone said. It is far more likely that hunting will become illegal than it is that gun ownership will become illegal. Basically the NRA is in it for the money, as much as any other "Non-Profit" special interest group. They are extremeists, and quite frankly nutty as hell.

No I won't complain when they come to take my guns. Alot of you guys that posted here I consider good guys, Spinnerman, Jrock, Jehler, Quackaddict, and Wackem, I always like you guys' posts so I hope I haven't damaged any good will. But I feel how I feel.

I knew it was a matter of time before Tom* piped up and started stirring the crap. Tom* don't kid yourself or anyone else. If the Government of the United States decided to take away all private gun ownership, and they turned into pure tyrants you and your NRA buddies wouldn't have the balls to ever raise up your firearms in defense of your homes and ways of life. So don't hide behind those ideals as a reason for supporting the Freedom to bear arms. You say guns are what insure our freedom from an oppressive government? That is absolute crap. Believe me the USA doesn't care if you have your grandaddys shotgun in your closet, Hell the USA doesn't even care if you have the latest and greatest of tactacle weapons in your closet. If they want to start infringing on your freedoms, and violating your civil rights they sure as hell will, and you and your duck gun won't stop them. When the USA starts feeling threatened by gun ownership, they react, and said threat always loses. Look at Ruby Ridge, Look at the Branch Davidians in Waco Texas. Those boys got a solid ass kicking and why? Because they were stock piling arms that the USA viewed as a threat to the well being of the government. Where were those crazy, money grubbing, corrupt-as-hell, NRA, gun nuts when that was going down? They sure as hell weren't standing in front of the government waving a copy of the Constitution. No Tom* you and your eloquent ways of speaking, and your "Facts", and "statistics" are not going to convince me to join the NRA, so that they can send me their propoganda and I can get all nervous about losing my guns. Don't equate being an NRA member with being a patriotic American, you know nothing of my patriotism. You don't know about the sacrifices that my family and myself have given to this beautiful country. And you know nothing of the pride that swells in my chest when I hear the Star Spangled Banner. You know about stirring the crap and causing fights and you love to see that go on, and you love the opportunity to show off your education. I'm glad that you have that kind of time on your hands, I really am, someone needs to fill that niche.

I don't know Spinner, I've read lots of your posts and always thought you're a fairly well informed and level headed guy. I usually pay attention to what you have to say. But on this one I have to respectfully disagree. I think the NRA uses as much propaganda, and scare tactics as anyone else. In a situation like this you have to follow the money. These supposed "straw men" that the media puts up to make all NRA people sound like extremists aren't really all the "straw" I have first hand heard some of these wacko gun nuts in action and quite frankly they scare the hell out of me. I am not scared of people, I'm not an introvert, I have lworked in NYC, and Boston, Hartford CT, and other very populated towns and I never had a fear or mistrust of people, but I'll tell you without flinching that ALOT of those fanatic NRA supporters are nuts. and as far as cosmetics and firearms...C'mon you know that it's quite a bit more than cosmetics, these tacticle weapons, home defense weapons. These weren't meant for hunting. and when the authors of the Constitution wrote the second amendment, they sure as hell didn't have those weapons in mind. I'll say what I think lound and clear, NOT EVERYONE should have the right to bear those types of weapons. Now we can all get into a huge debate over what makes an assault weapon, what defines assault weapon. And every owner of such weapons can speak up and split hairs and say that the difference are simply cosmetic. I've hunted and trapped and shot guns for about 28 years now and I've never seen a person hunting with anything other than a hunting gun. My huge down fall will come when people start throwing around brands and models of these assault weapons, I can't keep up because I don't know the names of them, but suffice it to say, when I see an assault weapon I know it. And there is only one purpose for owning them. I understand the entire "give an inch" arguement wherein if we allow the ban on one type of gun it will lead to another and another. I certainly see the potential for danger in that. However, the NRA makes it sound like without them it actually would already happen or will definetely happen. I say Bull****. Too many people in America own guns to have them banned.

Spinner don't misunderstand me. I hear ya with all those points. They are real, valid points. My dad has one arm and has hunted everything that can be hunted his whole life with auto loaders. His Remington 1100 , and his Winchester .308 are both autos, as well as the .22 that he hunts squirrels and rabbits with. Would I consider those "assault weapons" no definetely not, but they sure could be lumped into the same catergory with them. and yes, change the stocks on any of them and they sure would "look" like assault weapons. So goes the decade old arguement what defines an assault weapon? What makes one gun ok to own and another not ok. Does my love of hunting overshadow anothers love of "plinking" tin cans? Not at all. These are tough question Spinner, and they have been pondered by much greater minds than ours. But if you want me to pin point the exact thing that I don't like about the NRA, I guess I'd be forced to summarize and say they are extremists (yes they are, even if it's due to necessity), and they use scare tactics on good hearted, well meaning, people. They have everyone (including you Spinner) believing that with out them (and your donations, don't forget that!) that we would all lose our right to bear arms in absolutely no time at all. I'm not opposed to imposing some tougher restrictions on gun ownership. For all of us legal gun owners we shouldn't give a rats caboos what kind of hoops we have to jump through to get a gun. The pants sagging, hat crooked, ganstaz in the city might have a problem with it but not me.