Personal Opinion
California – -(AmmoLand.com)- Wayne Lapierre has left the NRA impotent and broke. We are on our own.
It’s not about money, its about focus and pulling gun owners together. When the NRA/ILA is laying off staff because all of the NRA”s resources are going to lawyers to fight with ex-vendors, then the NRA lacks the internal resources to rally gun owns to defend the 2nd.
We cannot cry over spilled milk, but the NRA’s inability to back pro-gun candidates in 2018 and the loss in Virginia is costing us our rights. Certainly, gun owners in Virginia (Or Eastern California as they will now be known) will feel the pinch.
Over the next three months, we will ask each of you to step up. There will be articles on how to form a local program. What groups we like for local political support. I know in my heart we can turn this around. In order to do that, however, we need to reach out to other gun owners, explain to them what is at risk.
So why does outreach matter, and what are the numbers that make it important.
There are 120,000,000 gun owners in the U.S., So the 1st question is, how do we know that? Well, some States register gun owners, and from that registration, we can see the expansive growth in the number of gun owners over the past 20 years. You cannot trust the poling on this as many gun owners will lie when poled. The number is between 100 million and 140 million if you ever want to do the math. We use 120,000,000 gun owners as a most likely estimate. It may be a bit higher.
No Democrat running for President has ever won an election if they ran on gun confiscation.
Al Gore lost his home state of Tennessee when he called for a ban on handguns. Hillary lost because she called for a gun buyback. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama ran as either pro-gun or neutral on guns. This is why Joe Biden has backtracked on his call for a gun ban.
At a fund-raiser in Atlanta Bill Clinton said “,Now, you know, I once had a lifetime membership in the NRA. I’ve even got my jacket there. I’m sure they revoked it somewhere…”
Gun owners come from all races and political boundaries.
There are more gun owners than there are Republicans, if we get just 3% more to show up for elections, we’ll have the votes to protect our rights. The fastest-growing groups of gun owners are women and minorities.
So organizing gun owners to get out ad vote is NOT a partisan thing. It is not about Democrat or Republican. What it is about is protecting our rights.
So stand up and get active. In coming articles, we will help show you how to organize and how to fight. AmmoLand News and others like them will provide you the information to protect the 2nd Amendment for you and for generations to come. Stay connected, subscribe, and follow. Stay in the fight.
About Don McDougall
Don McDougall is an NRA instructor and member of the Los Padres “Friends of the NRA” committee. If he’s not at the range, you will find him setting the record straight with on gun issues and gun safety on AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.
Wayne LaPierre is the NRA’s “Bernie Madoff”.
“The buck stops with Mr. LaPierre, CEO and Executive Vice President of the NRA, and he is ultimately responsible for the most recent negative optics and financial crisis facing the NRA.
Members of the NRA demand leadership change, accountability, and transparency; specifically, the following:
Wayne LaPierre and the NRA Officers, Executive Directors, Managing Directors resign immediately, including Josh Powell.”
https://helpsavethenra.com/articles-related-to-whats-going-on-at-the-nra-aug-2019/
ARIZONA CITIZENS DEFENSE LEAGUE
https://www.azcdl.org/index.html
True. LaPierre has been there far too long and spends the NRA’s money on himself, those $10,000 suits and lavish vacations for himself and his family. I write him a letter every month and tell him to resign. Gee, if only other NRA members would do the same.
But, the NRA has the best attorneys and has held the communist democrats at bay.
Join the NRA for the clout. Join GOA, SAF and JPFO for more action.
ALL are needed.
Inaction helps only the communist democrat.
Want money, get rid of LaPierre? Why would anybody give money to an organization that is contaminated with a disease? Get rid of the disease and make the organization healthy.
Bottom line is that LaPierre is still running the NRA and refused to leave his cash cow. Until he’s gone anyone continuing to support the NRA is nothing but a shill for and a co-conspirator and accessory to LaPierre and his backer.
The NRA is to gun owners, what AARP has become to senior citizens: they could care less about you. Drop the initial emotion of “But the NRA is my baby!” and investigate! Once you do, you will want to burn all your NRA hats and t-shirts. Quit supporting what has become corrupt, because it is. If you think the NRA is busy supporting your cause, then you have failed to look past what is their conspicuous glamor, and will soon be going down with the ship only, with an “I told you so!” tattooed to your sinking ass. Wayne Lapierre… Read more »
OR….. would they just refuse to count that three percent, due to chads hanging, or any of a hundred other lame excuses? Or would they just go down to skid row and buy another three percent with cigarettes and booze? Or just stuff the ballot boxes with another three percent of votes from dead people? Or a combination of all of these techniques?
ALL of which BOTH political parties have been caught at multiple times, btw….
I always lie when poled.
Very good.
I had a phone call and I guess it was a poll call. So the person asks what I thought about the gov’t shut down. I replied that it was good and we should shut down the gov’t as we didn’t need half of it. He hung up
@Silk, That is one way to rig the results of a poll!
Those down votes just show me the level of intellect of those giving them. And the thing is, you don’t have a clue as to what I’m talking about. Life is harder having to put up with low IQ people. Yes, entertaining at times, but more arduous.
@RoyD: I agree “Life is harder having to put up with low IQ people.” with you on that. I’ve noticed that they appear when two or three posters appear commenting on the same story. Most assuredly using multiple email addys and usernames. You knpw Commie-demonrat type tactics
It also shows the level of intelligence that we will have on our so-called side and the battlefield should this nation go to war.
@AH, A wise policy. We owe the truth to a small, select group of people. Everyone else … we don’t.
The point of the article is this: effective organization is local organization. National organizations tend to dilute donor bases and in person effort. Local organizations focus on local and state issues and can focus money and organization effectively without the need for massive paid bureaucracy. Case in point, the Citizens Defense Leagues. Arizona led the way. Make no mistake that this is the reason that we are the Number One gun rights and civil rights state in the union. Giving people an effective means to voice opinions to legislators and other elected officials means a lot more when those e-mails… Read more »
The problems with the NRA started with the ouster of Neal Knox or before. The elder gods were pissed about the 1977 coup and in 1982 finally found a way to remove what they considered the “upstart”. The elevation of LaPierre in 1991 to god emperor of the known universe has troubled me from the beginning. That said – it is not the fault of the organization but of the people that have ensconced themselves in positions of power for their own aggrandizement. The NRA needs to be saved. People – don’t hate the NRA. There are enough people on… Read more »
Organizing and trying to restore our 2nd Amendment through political means is never going to work. Politics has been organized already into a means of removing our rights. Between treacherous, lying politicians masquerading as “pro 2nd Amendment” and those soft on it to begin with, odds are stacked against our right to keep and bear arms. NRA is a symptom, not a cause. It’s made up of lawyers and politicians, same one’s who they’re supposed to be lobbying to. The only way for our 2nd Amendment, and the rest of our Constitution to win is to go back to the… Read more »
@KD, pretty vague and far reaching post. I can understand all the venting part. We all feel that way.
So how would you do all those things that you advocate, like “…go back to the roots of it…, … put in founding father type work., and … when they try coming for em. Shoot them. Just like our founding fathers did.” ?
The NRA has been doomed for years due to more & more people finally realizing how far they are willing to go handing our rights away and most of you guys have seen it, the corruption is just the icing on the cake. Like I’ve said before it’s really sad, I used to be a proud member, now I’m just a member because it’s required by most clubs/ranges.
Listen and read your comments fellow 2A supporters!!!!! They ARE sad!!!!! They vent not justifiable frustration, but of turning our backs in a traitorous action. Standing proud and boastful for doing what the Marxists could not do!!! But only that which could only be done by our own on hands. ARE ALL OF YOU REALLY THAT PROUD? Did not God say something about ‘Pride’ and ‘Pridefulness’? NRA fell into despair lacking proper oversight or responsible corrective action. Mr. McDougall writes, “At a fund-raiser in Atlanta Bill Clinton said “,Now, you know, I once had a lifetime membership in the NRA.… Read more »
@wjd: I appreciate your honesty and the step up. I read what you had say. So believe me when I say that I feel the same way. My posts over the last few years prove that point. You in my definition do not fit the criteria of someone who seeks to abolish the NRA due to the actions and/or misguidance of a few individuals over the decades. Thanks for replying. BTW I called, emailed and contacted them through their online (contact us) forum. I never received a reply from anyone. I also stated I would withhold and cease future donations… Read more »
Stand up and stand up for something right! Remember only reptiles, rodents and dogs will bite the hand that feeds them. Its unfortunate what happens next!?
@White, Wayne LaPierre has turned the NRA into his personal cash cow. Our donations go for his luxurious suits, luxurious cars, luxurious house, and golden parachute. That is hand biting. I’d trust the reptiles, rodents, and dogs over WLP.
@WB: Did you even read the post. “…they (the NRA/ILA not LaPierre) need us and we need them.” Place the blame where it properly goes and be-damn everyone who still supports the NRA or works for them.
YES!!! If the dog bites me it gets put down.
It is up us to ensure the NRA stays relevant. They’ve been very naughty at the top but the fact remains… they (the NRA/ILA not LaPierre) need us and we need them. They must not be tossed to the Marxist bottom feeders like chum. Keep them on your list. Where is up to you for me…
GOA/SAF
NRA
The 1934 NFA and ALL ‘gun control laws’ after that should have been STOPPED by the American People. After all, THEY are the ultimate power & authority in America, in our REPUBLIC. You rail against the NRA yet you cower, kneel and lick the hand of the tyrant, too afraid to ignore the tyrant. Why don’t you stop lying against the NRA, democrat, and grow a pair and organize opposition to the tyranny in government. We have a coup d’état against a duly elected president and unconstitutional ‘gun control laws’, yet YOU want to whine about the NRA. Cowardice and… Read more »
Something with which you, USA, are apparently intimately acquainted.
Yes, intimately familiar… because so many trolls have tried it on him. Where are the insults HE’S made? I don’t see any…
Well, Knute, I don’t know as I can’t seem to find any of them right now. How about you?
I don’t see anybody here that I’ve insulted either. I DO see many insults, such as: “you cower”, “too afraid”, “Why don’t you stop lying… and grow a pair”, etc.
Those are the insults I can see. Do you see some I missed? Please to point them out, then we’ll both know…