Posted on 05/01/2025 7:24:06 AM PDT by marktwain
As this correspondent sits in the Press Office at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the NRA in Atlanta, Georgia, there is time to reflect on the enormous progress which has been made in restoring rights protected by the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights.
The first time I was in Atlanta for more than a plane exchange was within a month or two of 51 years ago, while on active duty in the United States Army, in 1974. This correspondent attended the NRA Annual Meeting in Atlanta in 2017.
There was no permit to carry in Texas. There was a somewhat ambiguous exception for carrying while traveling. You could carry on your own land in Texas.
In 1974, there were may issue permits by local Sheriffs in Georgia and Mississippi for residents. Alabama had a shall-issue permit system, which depended on the local sheriffs.
In 1974, this correspondent was acutely aware of the many legal vulnerabilities associated with carrying arms across state lines. Traveling under orders while on active duty with the army provided some protection.
The situation had improved significantly by the time of the 2017 trip to the NRA Annual meeting from Texas to Georgia.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
50 years??? Try 250.
If you had asked me in the early 1980s I could not have dreamed of the restoration of so much gun rights, I thought that the media would make the issue so dark and that the language required, “gun rights”, “concealed weapons”, “open carry into stores”, ‘guns at work”, “fighting back”, “deadly force”, etc. would be too harsh for female voters.
The defense and restoring of so much of the 2nd Amendment has been a success story far beyond most of our 1970s hopes and dreams.
“50 years??? Try 250.”
That is exactly what I thought when I read the headline. The fact the NRA is not screaming about any gun law that has been passed since 1875 is extremely telling. SCOTUS pretty much said so itself with the Bruen decision.
Frig’ the NRA. I got rid of my sticker long ago!!
Been a life member for 40 years. Bought my 3 children life memberships some 20 years ago.
That being said I feel burnt by the LaPierre regime. I will wait for a visible change before they get another dime from me
Second Amendment Foundation (SAF): https://saf.org/
Me too, after Wayne’s shenanigans came to light I got a little jaded. Kansas State Rifle Association for me now.
The nra is acting like the significant other, who you left, that
cheated on you (literally, la pierre with a mistress),
raided your checkbooks, savings, and heirlooms - including selling off parts of the nra museum collection, some of which were supposedly on loan (they used weasel words 'nothing has litterally been sold'
gave lip service to how faithful they were to advancing the 2A/RTKBA.... while conceeding to the left on gun rights and saying there was nothing they could do, especially on the state level....
took credit for wins that were due to the efforts of other gun orgs
and now claims they've changed, and wants a 2nd, 3rd... XXX chance.
Sorry, don't believe you
A NYS pistol group was the one that went to SCOTUS to overturn a NYS law, NRA nowhere to be found.
Then when it won, was trying to fundraise and take credit for it.
la pierre had a contract approved by the nra board, where he would continue to be paid if he was ever left the nra.
it looks like it may still be in effect
But the jury did not find him liable for breaking laws against self-dealing when he secured a post-employment contract with the NRA in a package the New York Attorney General’s Office valued at over $17 million, finding it was properly approved in advance by the NRA board.
I really don't think so. I am old enough to remember when high schools had shooting teams; when you could drive around with a rifle in a gun rack in the rear window of a pickup truck. I remember my WW2 Army Combat veteran buying me a rifle for Christmas; teaching me firearm safety and how to shoot accurately. I remember carrying my 22 rifle several blocks through a city to go shooting in another boy's basement range. I further remember reading in Boy's Life magazine about how to make a basement 22 rifle target trap and working with my dad on setting up a small rifle range in our basement. I further remember as a Youth being a member of the NRA and looking at all the great mail order surplus firearm deals in the National Rifleman magazine.
Finally, I remember looking forward each week to a new issue of Shotgun news to see all the surplus firearms for sale and all of the Parts kits of fully automatic firearms that could legally be assembled at semi-automatic firearms.
Do I think that my 2nd Amendment rights are stronger today than decades ago? Absolutely not. I have watched the Washington Arms Collectors club I belong to been destroyed by State laws that make gun shows just about impossible.
Flames A Flying!
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