Great article... I had no idea that NRA was exempt from the campaign finance reform.
One more reason I will delay submitting my annual membership fee...
Seems like the real question is, what other organizations are exempt (obviously the Brady Bunch couldn't pull it off and their whinning)?
I don't think the NRA is actively supporting
any anti-gun/hunting legislators...but I could be wrong.
However, if your a supporter of election finance reform, that's a different issue....It's a little like my Dad (the Marine) used to say....He's a real SOB unless he's
your SOB.
We just want the playing field to be as level as possible.
This article seems to have a bias and makes claims that I don't understand:
If anyone is aware of any "nasty family fights" between the NRA and local gun groups, please post the links, I would like to do my own research and draw my own conclusions.
The writer makes a big assumption here:
"For decades, the National Rifle Association has been fighting gun-control efforts in Congress and across the country on behalf of its 4.3 million members. But the old "guns vs. no guns" debate that was once the face of the American gun movement is being transformed into a "guns vs. more guns" issue, and the NRA is now feeling the heat from its own backyard."
This is the claim made by the author
Small, focused, pro-gun, grassroots groups like Belanger's believe the enormous organization has become too bureaucratic and conservative to focus on their local issues, such as fighting for more open-carry laws.
What other organizations? I hate these kind of leaps
"It's a massive organization that's kind of an umbrella organization for all gun owners and firearm enthusiasts," Belanger said. "What we are is more of a[n organization for the] right to carry openly as well as concealed, every day."
This is the justification quote from Mr. Belanger, by the author to rationalize his assumption in the paragraph above? IMO he was not making a statement against the NRA in any way and sets up the article for the author to claim that Open Carry groups are extremists
Despite the outrage, actions from both the NRA and smaller grassroots organizations successfully have pushed the battle over guns back onto the debate floor, catching many gun-control advocates off-guard
Now I am confused, the author says I am outraged at the NRA, but we still have worked together to effectively maintain the political clout to protect our rights that are constantly under assault
Denis Henigan, the vice president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, based in Washington, D.C., said there is cause for concern. He said small "extremist" gun groups are sprouting up across the country, creating problems for gun-control efforts and the NRA.
"I think these groups are actually willing to act out the NRA's vision for America," Henigan told "Nightline." "When you have people who are openly carrying their guns into Starbucks, it causes enormous concern among other people who are going into Starbucks. It causes backlash."
Starbucks was the target of a pressure campaign to allow customers to openly carry their weapons in states where it's legal to do so -- that's 43 of the 50 states.
I don't like being charecterized this way...maybe we should send him some of the Spokane pic-nic pictures...and further, he is clearly spinning the failure of their effort to force Starbucks Corporate into compliance with their political position!
IMO, this article is BS....I am going to go get my morning coffee at, you guessed it, Starbucks....and will be OC'g and maybe even send a few bucks to the NRA.
