"When the hunters and target shooters who'd controlled (the NRA) for years got run out by some people who were obsessed with the second amendment thing, we got in trouble." (quote by Mid Tompkins) http://www.azcentral.com/news/0206shooter.shtml
It is EXACTLY this thinking, by otherwise well meaning gun owners that resulted in the demonizing of serious Second Amendment Activists, including Neal Knox, undermining NRA activism (ala the favored Republicans) and the railroading of other hard-core NRA board members OUT the door and OFF the board. I am sure most of you are aware of the last few elections and the internal staff abuses.
When I was first appointed to a committee in the early 80's, I was in awe at the experience of my fellow committee members. I joked with my friends at being a young pup amidst an aggregate of, literally, hundreds of years of active firearms experience. It did not take long to learn that "old" meant "my way or no way", and "politics has no place here".
My election to the board enhanced that education. The staff rejects change and clings to the "not invented here" methods. They play the old farts like a fine-tuned fiddle. Many of them will sell their soul to the devil (or the ad agency) to keep their seats. I came to believe that some have nowhere else to go. I am proud to have been labeled an extremist by Mr. Heston, but did not give him the opportunity to use millions of YOUR dollars for advertising to run me off the board.
If you want to help gun owners and the NRA, you will ask a lot of those "nice" firearms owners to get out of the way and let those who care about "the second amendment thing" get active and on the board.
First two out the door should be LaPierra and Baker. The NRA can use a clean start after all these years of back peddling. Try demanding that aspiring board members advertise their claim to fame in media other than the NRA mags. Any 2AM enthusiast with a web page will gladly donate some space, I am sure.
If you would like an example, try http://www.paulrevere.org/nrabod . There should be hundreds of similar sites prior to the NRA elections.
If you can't communicate with a candidate, don't vote for him/her!
Disclaimer: Especially now that I AM an old fart, myself, I want it known that I have all respect for "some" of them. If you want to know anything about high power rifles, go see Mid Tompkins. If you want an entertaining evening, spend it with Joe Foss. If you want to learn a lot of NRA history, try to spend time with any number of board members who have spent much of their adult lives on the board and in firearms activities. You can learn a lot.
You just do not want your Second Amendment Rights to depend on them!
Leroy
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