A co-worker once told me "Never attribute to malice what you can attribute to stupidity or ignorance until proven otherwise"
A couple of thoughts.
First, its impossible to know what the motivation of the NRA is in making the statement that Wisconsin has no right to carry. As has been mentioned in this thread, many equate "carry" with conceal carry. If the NRA knows the general population uses that "working" definition of carry, that may explain why they choose to use the same general definition. Again, I don't know.
It is possible that they think that using that sentiment, it will motivate people to get involved, join the NRA, be active... Maybe they think it keeps the pressure on the Wisconsin Legislature to claim that there is no right to carry in Wisconsin. Perhaps if they included Wisconsin as a right to carry state they fear that just as "we" are up in arms because we think its misleading to say we DON'T have right to carry here, just as many (or more) would be up in arms if the NRA called Wisconsin a "right to carry state" when people can't CC here.
Ideally every statement made would be followed up with a definition/explanation of every word in that statement. That kind of in-depth response would of course exceed the attention span and comprehension of much of the general public.
I'm actually a bit surprised that if people want to nit-pick statements by the NRA, why not nit-pick the use of the term "right to carry" because many consider a permit system a privilege and thus the bigger issue to the NRA claiming that Wisconsin doesn't have right to carry is to claim that any state except vermont, alaska and arizone
DO have "right" to carry. In the eyes of many, only 3 states have "right to carry" the rest all have "privilege to carry".
Whatever the motivation of the NRA is, whatever the definition of a "right" vs a privilege is, I think the best thing for us all to do is to continue to each exercise our right to carry, educate others on their rights, and empower them to exercise them as well.
I'm continually amazed whenever a local radio talk show has a segment on anything gun related in Wisconsin the amount of misinformation and inaccurate beliefs people have regarding gun laws. The number of pro-gun callers who believe guns need to be registered. The number of pro-gun callers who believe you need a permit to carry in Wisconsin. Heck, even people who think the police have a right to stop you/search you "on a hunch"
We still have a LOT of education to do. Our country as a whole has become complacent with regard to ALL rights AND the definition of what FREEDOM REALLY IS. So much so that many no longer know what a "right" really is, no longer know that governments are instituted among men derive their powers from the people BY THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE.
Protection and expansion of freedom is what is most important.
I do think in the interest of education and to help people get a true understanding of their rights we shouldn't get angry over the semantics of definitions of "carry" and "rights" but we should educate and encourage others to understand and exercise their rights.
I personally will be stopping by the NRA booth at the Wisconsin State Fair with my WCI T-shirt and empty holster to suggest that in addition to the great information on carry they have on their website, they begin to include information on open-carry as well.
They may think Wisconsin doesn't have right to carry, I may think it does, but we should ALL be able to agree Wisconsin needs to expand the practical ability to exercise the human right to self-defense made possible by the carry of a sidearm that too many Wisconsin laws infringe upon at the moment.