Time to cancel your NRA Membership!!!

[unioncountyslayer]

This is a little long, but worth the read. Got it in an email today from GOA (Gun Owners of America). Already cancelled my membership.



Thursday, June 14, 2007


Wednesday started out as a routine day in the U.S. Congress, with
Representatives attending congressional hearings, meeting with
constituents, perhaps devising clever new ways to pick our pockets.

At 8:30 in the morning an email went out to House Republicans
indicating that a gun control bill, recently introduced by Rep.
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), was on the Suspension Calendar (normally
reserved for "non-controversial" bills).

Many Representatives didn't see that email until it was too late.
Less than three hours later, the bill passed by a voice vote. The
bill in question, H.R. 2640, is a massive expansion of the Brady Gun
Control law, the subject of many previous alerts by Gun Owners of
America.

Its passage in the House is a case study in backroom deal making,
unholy alliances and deceit. A sausage factory in a third world
country with no running water has nothing on today's U.S. Congress.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that a deal had been
struck between the NRA leadership and Democrat leaders in the House.
The headline read: "Democrats, NRA Reach Deal on Background-Check
Bill."

Red flags went up throughout the pro-gun community. Who was party to
this "deal," and how many of our rights were being used as
bargaining
chips?

The McCarthy bill, at the time, looked to be going nowhere. The
general consensus among pro-gun Congressmen was that any gun bill
offered by McCarthy was simply DOA.

After all, if there were such a thing as a single issue Member of
Congress, it would have to be McCarthy. Rep. McCarthy ran for office
to ban guns; Hollywood made a movie about her efforts to ban guns;
and she is currently the lead sponsor of a bill that makes the old
Clinton gun ban pale by comparison.

Even many Democrats wouldn't go near a McCarthy gun bill. They have
learned that supporting gun control is a losing issue. Enter Rep.
John Dingell (D-MI), the so-called Dean of the House, having served
since the Eisenhower administration. Dingell is also a former NRA
Board member, and was in that capacity tapped to bring the NRA
leadership to the table.

The end result of the negotiations was that this small clique among
the NRA leadership gave this bill the support it needed to pass.

But why was it necessary to pass the bill in such an underhanded
fashion? If this is such a victory for the Second Amendment, why all
the secrecy? Why was a deal forged with the anti-gun Democrat House
leadership, keeping most pro-gun representatives in the dark? Why
was the bill rammed through on the Suspension Calendar with no
recorded vote with which to identify those who are against us?

For starters, it would be a hard sell indeed for the NRA leadership
to explain to its members what they would gain by working with
McCarthy. If this legislation had gone before the NRA membership for
a vote, it would have been rejected. For that matter, if it went
through the House in the regular fashion, with committee hearings and
recorded votes, it would have been defeated.

Consider also what the bill is: GUN CONTROL! The lead sentence in an
Associated Press article accurately stated that, "The House Wednesday
passed what could become the first major federal gun control law in
over a decade."

The bill's supporters can talk all they want to the contrary, but
forcing the states to hand over to the federal government millions of
records of Americans for the purpose of conducting a background check
is certainly an expansion of gun control.

This is a bill designed to make the gun control trains run on time.
Problem is, the train's on the wrong track. We don't need greater
efficiency enforcing laws that for years we have fought as being
unconstitutional.

Sure, there are provisions in the bill by which a person who is on
the prohibited persons list can get his name removed, but not before
proving one's innocence before a court, or convincing a psychiatrist
that he should be able to own a gun (though most psychiatrists would
be more likely to deem a person mentally defective for even wanting
to own guns).

Sad thing is, this bill, which spends hundreds of millions of your
dollars, will do nothing to make us safer. More gun control laws
will not stop the next deranged madman. What will stop a killer is
an armed law-abiding citizen. In the wake of the Virginia Tech
tragedy, we should be considering removing barriers that prevent
honest, decent people from carrying their lawfully possessed
firearms.

We don't know where the next shooting will occur; that's something
the killer decides. So whether it is in a school, a church, a
shopping mall or a government building, we should urge our elected
officials to repeal so-called gun free zones and oppose more gun
control.

Instead, we end up with a bill supported by Handgun Control and Sarah
Brady, Chuck Schumer, Teddy Kennedy, Carolyn McCarthy, and the rest
of the Who's Who of the anti-gun movement, and all the while the NRA
leadership maintains that this is a win for gun owners.

This is a Faustian bargain, which will repeatedly haunt gun owners in
the years to come.

But you should realize why they had to do it this way. Your activism
has resulted in an avalanche of grassroots opposition against this
bill. Gun owners have raised their voices of opposition
loud-and-clear, and many congressmen have been feeling the heat.

The fight is not over. They still have to run this through the
Senate. Already, there is a small cadre of pro-gun senators who are
ready to slow this bill down and do everything they can to kill it.
To be frank, a bill that has the support of all the anti-gun groups
and the NRA will be tough to beat, but we will continue to fight
every step of the way.

[IL_HuNtIn_KiD]

me and my old man will be cancelling today

[Strut10]

Not so fast, folks.

Maybe better read the legislation before throwing the NRA under the bus.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill...bill=h110-2640

I won't be cancelling just yet.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

I would suggest that everyone needs to gather a bit more information on this subject before jumping to any conclusions.

Just a quick FYI...

If memory serves me correctly, the current leadership of GOA attempted to seize control of the NRA board of directors about 10 or 15 years ago. They were soundly defeated by the ballots of the NRA membership, so they decided to start (or maybe they joined up with an already existing) opposition gun advocacy group. Ever since then, there's been an ongoing fued between GOA, which pursues a much more agressive anti-anti-gun agenda than does the NRA, and the NRA. It appears to me that one of the main objectives of GOA is to weaken or destroy the NRA.

I'll see if I can get some additional details about this McCarthy bill and post them here later.

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

The bill's supporters can talk all they want to the contrary, but forcing the states to hand over to the federal government millions of records of Americans for the purpose of conducting a background check
is certainly an expansion of gun control.

Admittedly I'm no constitutional scholar, but after reading the bill in it's entirety, the only records I see that are being sent to the Federal Government are criminal records. hmmmm????

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

Here's the NRA's statement on HR2640.
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactShe...=219&issue=018

Also, I need to add to my previous statement that criminal records were all that were being sent to the feds. There is also a provision in the bill to expedite the processing of mental health records. I would assume this is in response to the killings at Virginia Tech by someone who should not have been allowed to purchase a gun in the first place due to his history of mental health problems.

[Rhino]

Thanks for the link Strut. I won't be canceling my NRA membership.

However, after reading the bill and the GOA bashing notice I won't be joining the GOA.

[buckee]

All I have to say is "DO YOUR HOMEWORK" Before jumping on any information you receive in emails these days. They are full of half truths, out-right lies and propoganda.

"DO YOUR HOMEWORK" before making any rash decission or for that matter , before starting any riots.

[IL_HuNtIn_KiD]

i guess we wont be...however my dad was pretty disgusted from reading what the initial post was

[LifeNRA]

All I have to say is "DO YOUR HOMEWORK" Before jumping on any information you receive in emails these days. They are full of half truths, out-right lies and propoganda.

"DO YOUR HOMEWORK" before making any rash decission or for that matter , before starting any riots.

BINGO!!!

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that a deal had been
struck between the NRA leadership and Democrat leaders in the House.
The headline read: "Democrats, NRA Reach Deal on Background-Check
Bill."

LMBO!!!!! The Washington Post!!! You cant believe what them idiots tell you!!!

One thing I have noticed about the GOA, that they don't like the NRA! Funny, two PRO-GUN organizations with the same goal!

[Adjam5]

Thanks for the clarification guys.
What we as gun owners need to watch out for is that HR1022.
Mc Carthy is THE sponsor of that one too. I think the NRA, which never waivers on the 2nd amendmant stance, conceeded to this bill in prep of the coming war of HR1022.
Thats the one WE have to win.

[stevebeilgard]

fact is, the nra works with democrats all the time. just not on anything that has to do with anti gun laws. the nra is a single mission organization, and that is to preserve our 2nd ammendment. besides, how do i cancel my life membership... lol

[unioncountyslayer]

I did my homework Steve, I should have been more specific in saying that I cancelled my membership awhile ago. While I do think the NRA does some good, they don't go to bat locally like GOA or Grassroots organizations. The proof's in the pudding. I feel like the NRA is more interested in your money than anything else. JMHO

[LifeNRA]

But remember this! The NRA started it all!!! They will be there for when the big fights come around! Don't get me wrong these other organizations also do good!

[Strut10]

I feel like the NRA is more interested in your money than anything else. JMHO

Just remember.........you can't fight the battles the NRA fights (and on the scale that they fight them) without serious loads of cash. Nothing's free anymore. Not even freedom.