Tighter gun-buy checks advance - Response to Tech tragedy hopes to block criminals, mentally ill...

WASHINGTON -- Two weeks before students return to classes at Virginia Tech, a Senate panel voted yesterday to strengthen the national instant background-check system for gun buyers.

Responding to the Virginia Tech massacre, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to advance a measure aimed at closing gaps in the national background-check system.

If the NRA has such an abysmal membership roll, how are they able to even get an audience with legislators to begin with?

The numbers are extrapolated, my friend. Four million members equals many more million who agree with them. Politicians know this. It's a formula. One person who writes in to complain or praise equals X many more out there who agree. That's why the NRA gets in.

Do you know why the "back room" exists? It exists because an organization has approval from its members in the form of dollars and silence. You've agreed that for a price you'll let someone else speak on your behalf and determine your fate.

And there's where everything has gone wrong. The NRA's members are generaly satisfied to let the NRA muckety-mucks make the decisions, because they know all the ins and outs of politics and back rooms and all that happy horsesh*t. You need us to be there in Washington fighting for your rights, they say. But we can't always get everything we want, they say, because we have to make certain compromises along the way and play the political game to reach the ultimate end. But we need to be here for you, they say, because the process is far too complicated for the average American to grasp.

Baloney.

You're a politician. Five thousand letters from people in your district hit your desk. They all say the same thing - if you vote for Bill #1, we'll look for another candidate to put in office this coming November. Are you impressed? What about ten thousand letters? A hundred thousand? What if an organization decided to make an effort to mobilize its four million members to action like that? Oh, right, we wouldn't need the lobbyists.

Now, what have other organizations done for rights lately? Not much, because either NRA apologists are all too eager to mock them out of relevance, or the NRA itself will co-opt or undermine until the "upstart" is absorbed or eliminated. Yeah, I've had my share of experience with the NRA and its affiliates.

Refresh my memory, how was the assault weapons ban defeated?

I’m waiting patiently for the GOA to finally get off it’s collective ass and do something for once instead of worrying about the NRA.

You don’t think the NRA is doing a good job then stop this legislation with your group and the GOA. Go for it.

In the meantime, I’m done supporting the SAS and asking ladies to join. It’s logo is coming off my profile page.

“...If you’re going to lose, you have to minimize the damage and ask your supporters in the legislation to cut down the worse aspects of the bill. In this case”

I wonder where those “minimizations” were.

Where’s the sunset?
Where’s the appeal process?
Where are the provisions for non-LEO and non-Military?
Where are the other things that the mighty NRA could have negotiated, like NATIONAL RECIPROCITY in agreement to capitulation on this.

Nope. They caved.

I think it’s time to remind everyone here that the test in the language of the bill is “ADJUDICATED”.

Adjudicated means “judged”
Judged means there IS a judge.
Judges are POLITICAL APPOINTEES
Political appointees = political agenda

Before you know it, we Freepers will be “adjudicated” mentally unstable faster than you can say ‘Barack Obama’.

Remind me again where the NRA was on this?

Sorry, couldn’t disagree with you more.

As to the ‘other’ groups, the reason why they don’t do better is because NRA lemmings can’t get it through their thick heads that just like a stock portfolio for retirement, diversity of investment in your RIGHTS is a wise strategy to. They keep habitually donating to the NRA like a junkie, but it’s the rest of America that just gets the Smack.

Respectfully submitted, of course.

Snappy pithy replies don’t constitute a defense.

If the NRA is so good, then why didn’t THEY stop the bill?

We constantly are reminded by them how they’re the 800 pound gorilla, they are our only hope, and we should just shut up and let them drive, which is how they keep the gravy train of donations funneling to them, and away from other rights groups.

So, with all that money and influence, why wasn’t the “brain trust” at NRA capable of negotitating something in return?

Answer: Because they’re vested in their own perpetuity.

Here’s the response from one of those “other” inane gun rights groups that you malign.
http://www.njcsd.org/content/view/636/9/

Here’s their take on the NRA “reaction” (note: no PROactive response by NRA)
http://www.njcsd.org/content/view/649/9/

I think the question here to be answered is not why smaller gun rights groups with high motivation and creativity aren’t doing someting, but why the largest gun rights group in America with millions of dollars isn’t doing more.

... and the blathering continues.

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