I Own Guns. But I Hate the NRA.

Minnesota Star Tribune ^ | JULY 4, 2015 | David Fellerath

[nickcarraway]

Some time after I bought my first gun, I got a robocall from the National Rifle Association, asking me to join. After the customary “Please stay on the line …” from a pleasant but earnest voice, I recoiled from the barkings of an angry-sounding man: “Did I know that Barack Hussein Obama and European leaders are meeting on American soil right now, at this very moment, to plot the confiscation of my guns?”

The caller continued with his insinuations of an imminent United Nations plot against America, but before I could be handed off to a live operator, I hung up the phone.

I was amused, and then insulted, that someone would think I was dumb enough to fall for such a pitch. But the sad truth is that there are enough people willing to open their checkbooks to make such a noxious fundraising appeal worthwhile.

The NRA claims to have 5 million dues-paying members (though there’s some reason to believe this figure is inflated). That sounds formidable, until one considers that there are approximately 50 million adults who own firearms. Still, the organization has successfully positioned itself as the singular representation of gun owners. For decades, it has worked to defend and expand access to firearms in spite of polls showing that most Americans, including gun owners, favor laws that would limit access in various reasonable ways (even three-quarters of NRA households favor background checks prior to private gun sales). But when a U.S. congresswoman was shot in the face, the NRA made certain that no law was passed that would have made her safer. There’s no doubt that the NRA does have some grass-roots support, but it’s smaller than we think. The NRA does not represent all gun owners, and it certainly doesn’t represent me.

[onona]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3306542/posts

Posted

[CharlesOConnell]

I don't own a gun, I gave up the gun I used to earn my living more than 30 years ago. I was dry firing and "empty" gun 45° from my infant son being changed on a table—BAM!—the emtpy gun went off. I got rid of it. (Twenty percent of officer shootings are self-inflicted & 15% are partner inflicted.)

I hate guns, I was following Gabriel Giffords before she was shot because I was trying to understand libertarians who are pro-choice. I was aghast when she was shot, false accusations against Sarah Palin notwithstanding.

I don't want to get a gun, but I'm feeling compelled to get one. Before I do, I will be in the weird position of joining the NRA without owning a gun.

I don't ever want to shoot an assailant, I'd rather take the consequences, but I have responsibilities, I have to protect the lives of innocent people.

The NRA was started to protect the lives of freed African-American slaves during Reconstruction. As late as the 1960s, segregationist Democrats were opposing equity and justice for African-Americans. It was the now-faithless Republicans who supported African-Americans.

[VanShuyten]

I call BS on the premise of this article. The NRA has never called me after I’ve bought a firearm.

[Hugin]

I smell a Bloomberg troll. I don’t believe his BS story.

[Lib-Lickers 2]

I own 3 guns but I hate liberals

[nathanbedford]

… looks at everything through the lens of the 2nd amendment and nothing else

I think you're right and I think it is this myopia that causes the NRA to oppose Article V.

[Jim Noble]

I don’t hate the NRA. I do wish they would stop the annoying sales calls from their “partners”.

[Oberon]

There’s JFPO and GOA.

[Gene Eric]

>> I recoiled ...
>> I was amused ...

dick

[j.argese]

Minnesota is NOT the NE. It is the “Upper Mid-West”. You know “fly-over country”? That very same region that elects such conservative stalwarts as Al Franken and Paul Wellstone.

[GladesGuru]

“David Fellerath is the former culture and sports editor of INDY Week, a nationally recognized alternative newspaper based in Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill....”

Failed Libtard scribbler, in other words.

[4rcane]

Typical Liberal? Guns for me, no guns for thee

[4rcane]

Typical Liberal? Guns for me, no guns for thee

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Dianne Feinstein writes this crap in her spare time.

[Sooth2222]

"That sounds formidable, until one considers that there are approximately 50 million adults who own firearms."

I can't see how the number could possibly be that low.

Even if pollsters receive accurate responses to questions about guns, there are 115,610,216 households in the US. An estimate of 50 million would assume that one, and only one household member would own a gun. How often does that happen?

[stevem]

David Fellerath is a freelance writer, hunter and community organizer. He wrote this article for the Washington Post.

You can be suspicious that he neither owns a gun in real life nor has ever hunted.

You can be sure that he is a liberal and thus a fanatical proponent of your slavery.

[usconservative]

If anything, the NRA is very soft. It seems like they like anti-gun laws that they can fundraise on.

That statement right there sums up my feelings on the NRA and why as a gun owner I don't belong to it.

[TangoLimaSierra]

I'm guessing you didn't fall for that crap from Barry about lowering the sea levels and reducing the deficit and creating 20 million new jobs and all that poppycock and balderdash.

I wonder if he kept his doctor. And if his health premiums went down $2500.

[Sir Napsalot]

The author sounded like a Minnesota Lib.

He owns gun(s), but “others” shouldn’t. Because nobody else is as reasonable as his very self.

That about sums it up.

[BuffaloJack]

Once upon a time, the NRA would fight every single piece of legislation that was anti-gun. Now they compromise and give in to the liberals; and our rights are incrementally eroded away.