NRA Bashing
I see some pretty serious NRA bashing on this site from time to time. While I am not an employee or spokesperson for the NRA, I do need to offer some defense of the National Rifle Association. Please note that the NRA is not the National Open Carry Organization or the National Concealed Carry Association. Their motto is to provide citizens with the necessary training, skills, and attitude to safely own and operate firearms.
NRA are well educated and know when and how to pick the battles they fight. At the end of the day, it really is more important to be able to keep rifles like the AR-15 and the Ruger Mini-14 from being labeled "Assault Rifles" by those who oppose the Second Amendment, than to beligerantly demand second amendment rights. (And the intelligent reader will note that in McDonald v. City of Chicago, the NRA was firmly behind McDonald.) Stokely Carmichael (Black Panther Movement in the 70s for those under 50) tried the beligerant demand method and it did not work well for him. This approach will not work well for us either.
Sometimes when compromise gains a long term advantage, the "purists" accuse the NRA of "selling out". This is a very short sighted reaction. The truth of it is that we will only have full 2nd Amendment rights when the "sheeple" get over their irrational fears. Courses like "NRA First Steps" that instill the necessary training, skills, and attitude to safely own and operate a firearm, when delivered to the sheeple, do our 2nd amendment cause much more good than some of my fellow posters give credit to. The "sheeple" outnumber us and until they are converted, we face an uphill battle.