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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704508904575192162324152350.html?KEYWORDS=Saying+NRA+Isn%27t+Imaginative+Splinter+Groups+Seek+More+Aggressive+Tactics
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Gun Advocates Open a New Front
Saying NRA Isn't Imaginative, Splinter Groups Seek More Aggressive Tactics
By VANESSA O'CONNELL
Some gun owners, saying that the National Rifle Association isn't battling hard enough for their rights, are taking the fight into their own hands.
The 4.3 million-member NRA, one of the most powerful and well-funded lobbying groups in Washington, has for 35 years dominated the push to expand gun rights.
But its strategies aren't aggressive or imaginative enough for some gun owners who want to openly carry holstered pistols in public places, or to exploit loopholes in state gun laws to purchase semi-automatic rifles.
They are coming together in smaller, loosely organized groups that recruit on the Internet . . .
The NRA is "no longer absolutely the 800-pound gorilla" in the pro-gun movement, said Gary Marbut, a life member of the NRA and president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, an NRA affiliate. "The NRA is running the risk of becoming insignificant, of fading into the background."
. . .
To be sure, the rise of the new groups hasn't hurt the NRA in terms of membership or revenue. Fueled by an increase in gun ownership, its membership is 25% to 30% above typical levels during the tenure of President George W. Bush. Altogether, an estimated 80 million people in the U.S. own guns.
The NRA's political action committee has taken in $10.25 million for the 2010 elections, and ranks sixth in terms of receipts among all federally registered PACs, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks Federal Election Commission disclosures. The NRA's total revenue, including member dues, investment income and contributions, rose to $307 million in 2009, from $268 million a year earlier.
"The NRA approval ratings are the highest they have ever been," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. Gun ownership "is a freedom the overwhelming majority of Americans support," he said. "There's different voices under that umbrella of freedom. And that's a good thing."
. . .
But Ben Cannon, 29, of Healdsburg, Calif., a founding member of the board of Calguns Inc., an Internet-based organization founded in 2002, said some younger gun owners felt that because the NRA must cater to all gun owners, it didn't embrace their own interests enough.
Calguns aims to fashion itself as a hipper pro-gun group. It has two entities—a free Web forum with 40,000 registered members that makes revenue from advertising, and a two-year-old nonprofit arm that raises money through donations. Most supporters are in their 20s and 30s, college-educated and urban dwelling.
. . .
Another alternative group gaining momentum with young gun owners is Opencarry.org, a six-year-old Internet-based organization with an estimated 22,000 registered users dedicated to openly carrying handguns in public in the 43 states where doing so is legal.
The open-carry movement has succeeded in small yet visible ways. Businesses, including Starbucks Corp. coffee shops, have resisted pressure from gun-control advocates to ban the practice in their stores.
. . .
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704508904575192162324152350.html?KEYWORDS=Saying+NRA+Isn%27t+Imaginative+Splinter+Groups+Seek+More+Aggressive+Tactics
SNIP
Gun Advocates Open a New Front
Saying NRA Isn't Imaginative, Splinter Groups Seek More Aggressive Tactics
By VANESSA O'CONNELL
Some gun owners, saying that the National Rifle Association isn't battling hard enough for their rights, are taking the fight into their own hands.
The 4.3 million-member NRA, one of the most powerful and well-funded lobbying groups in Washington, has for 35 years dominated the push to expand gun rights.
But its strategies aren't aggressive or imaginative enough for some gun owners who want to openly carry holstered pistols in public places, or to exploit loopholes in state gun laws to purchase semi-automatic rifles.
They are coming together in smaller, loosely organized groups that recruit on the Internet . . .
The NRA is "no longer absolutely the 800-pound gorilla" in the pro-gun movement, said Gary Marbut, a life member of the NRA and president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, an NRA affiliate. "The NRA is running the risk of becoming insignificant, of fading into the background."
. . .
To be sure, the rise of the new groups hasn't hurt the NRA in terms of membership or revenue. Fueled by an increase in gun ownership, its membership is 25% to 30% above typical levels during the tenure of President George W. Bush. Altogether, an estimated 80 million people in the U.S. own guns.
The NRA's political action committee has taken in $10.25 million for the 2010 elections, and ranks sixth in terms of receipts among all federally registered PACs, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks Federal Election Commission disclosures. The NRA's total revenue, including member dues, investment income and contributions, rose to $307 million in 2009, from $268 million a year earlier.
"The NRA approval ratings are the highest they have ever been," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. Gun ownership "is a freedom the overwhelming majority of Americans support," he said. "There's different voices under that umbrella of freedom. And that's a good thing."
. . .
But Ben Cannon, 29, of Healdsburg, Calif., a founding member of the board of Calguns Inc., an Internet-based organization founded in 2002, said some younger gun owners felt that because the NRA must cater to all gun owners, it didn't embrace their own interests enough.
Calguns aims to fashion itself as a hipper pro-gun group. It has two entities—a free Web forum with 40,000 registered members that makes revenue from advertising, and a two-year-old nonprofit arm that raises money through donations. Most supporters are in their 20s and 30s, college-educated and urban dwelling.
. . .
Another alternative group gaining momentum with young gun owners is Opencarry.org, a six-year-old Internet-based organization with an estimated 22,000 registered users dedicated to openly carrying handguns in public in the 43 states where doing so is legal.
The open-carry movement has succeeded in small yet visible ways. Businesses, including Starbucks Corp. coffee shops, have resisted pressure from gun-control advocates to ban the practice in their stores.
. . .
