Then as a political entity I think they are full of shit, and really dont give a damn about much of anything but power anymore and will basically do whatever will make them cash. And to that end actually dont give a damn about what their membership wants anymore/responsible gun usage.
They have already corrupted there scoring system. Scoring for those who dont know affects the number the NRA gives for how anti/pro gun control a given politician is, 0 is "take away the guns" and 100 is "no restrictions on guns" two congressional votes this year that have nothing to do with Gun Control (the vote to hold Holder in contempt and the vote to oppose campaign finance disclosure).
So now having an 100% rating from the NRA doesnt mean your pro gun, it means your pro whatever the NRA tells you to do
And apparently they are actively promoting and lobbying for issues that the majority of there membership is opposed to, and that to me seems to be a major problem. And of course those who are going to suffer the most are the NRA member's who may in fact have a better idea then most as to how to manage guns in this country then non members, but are going to be lumped in with the insane people who have taken over their leadership
For example about 6-8 months ago a republican pollster Frank Luntz, did a poll of the NRA membership and their stand on various issues that the NRA is lobbying against at both the state and national level. (numbers in () is the support on the same issues with non-NRA members)
On the broad non-policy question in that poll the NRA members had higher support then regular joes the idea that “support for 2nd Amendment rights goes hand-in-hand with keeping illegal guns out of the hands of criminals.” 87% of the NRA supported that, but only 83% of the public did. However thats not really a policy question so cant be legislated for or against. However that question combined with the rest of the results does raise the question, What do the [supposedly sane and educated on the issue] NRA members think would help? I'd actually like to know cause I think they might have a good idea.
Requiring criminal background checks on gun owners and gun shop employees: this is favored by 74/79 (87/80) checks on owners/checks on employees by NRA members.
Mandating that gun-owners tell the police when their gun is stolen: 64% (71) of the NRA's members support this issue.
Concealed carry permits shouldn’t be given to perpetrators of violent misdemeanors or individuals arrested for domestic violence.: This one is a bit confusing cause they split the results but its 75% (81) on the violent misdemeanors and 68% (78) on the domestic violence
Prohibiting terrorist watch list members from acquiring guns.: 71% (80%) of the NRA supports this
And a final split results one, Concealed carry permits should only be restricted to individuals who have completed a safety training course and are 21 and older.: 74% (84) support the training and 63% support the age restriction (74%)
Now the fact that the NRA is slightly pro less gun control on these issues, but still more pro gun control in theory then the average person (on the policy question) means that clearly there is some reason maybe to debate the specific policies here, but even given that most of these issues have support of near 3/4th of the NRA membership, (and at the worse about 3/5th's, so still a clear majority in all cases) someones got to ask, why exactly does the NRA oppose these issues? Its not what their membership wants, and its not what people in general want.
For example about 6-8 months ago a republican pollster Frank Luntz, did a poll of the NRA membership and their stand on various issues that the NRA is lobbying against at both the state and national level. (numbers in () is the support on the same issues with non-NRA members)
On the broad non-policy question in that poll the NRA members had higher support then regular joes the idea that “support for 2nd Amendment rights goes hand-in-hand with keeping illegal guns out of the hands of criminals.” 87% of the NRA supported that, but only 83% of the public did. However thats not really a policy question so cant be legislated for or against. However that question combined with the rest of the results does raise the question, What do the [supposedly sane and educated on the issue] NRA members think would help? I'd actually like to know cause I think they might have a good idea.
Requiring criminal background checks on gun owners and gun shop employees: this is favored by 74/79 (87/80) checks on owners/checks on employees by NRA members.
Mandating that gun-owners tell the police when their gun is stolen: 64% (71) of the NRA's members support this issue.
Concealed carry permits shouldn’t be given to perpetrators of violent misdemeanors or individuals arrested for domestic violence.: This one is a bit confusing cause they split the results but its 75% (81) on the violent misdemeanors and 68% (78) on the domestic violence
Prohibiting terrorist watch list members from acquiring guns.: 71% (80%) of the NRA supports this
And a final split results one, Concealed carry permits should only be restricted to individuals who have completed a safety training course and are 21 and older.: 74% (84) support the training and 63% support the age restriction (74%)
Now the fact that the NRA is slightly pro less gun control on these issues, but still more pro gun control in theory then the average person (on the policy question) means that clearly there is some reason maybe to debate the specific policies here, but even given that most of these issues have support of near 3/4th of the NRA membership, (and at the worse about 3/5th's, so still a clear majority in all cases) someones got to ask, why exactly does the NRA oppose these issues? Its not what their membership wants, and its not what people in general want.
(my guess by the way is some of the discrepancy is likely due to the lack of asking questions about gun availability for the mental ill, which is still legal in some circumstances and states.)
Seems to me anything that gets north of 70% support by the NRA membership would be something we could all agree on to improve gun safety and availability? and that would cover more then half the things on that list. Just those alone would hopefully make us a lot safer. And even the things that failed to get 70% support got into the 60's. Thats still a wider margin of support then any president has had in popular support coming out of an election since James Monroe. (in both of his elections. also Madison (1 election), Jefferson (1 election) and Washington (both))
Just think about that. On every single issue polled the NRA supports gun regulation by a higher margin then 40 presidents were elected by.
And just for the record. When we take the general public numbers for support, the lowest number (71%) is more support then ever president but Washington (both), Jefferson (1 election) and Monroe's second term when he ran unopposed, as Washington did for both of his.
Which basically, with the exception of the election of 1804, more people support gun regulation then have EVER supported ANY president we elected in a contested election.
Yet somehow thanks to the Lobbyists of the NRA we get fuck nothing done. Apparently 70+% support just aint good enough to actually have the government policies we would like. it's enough for ANY Bill to pass the senate and not even have to worry about a filibuster, not to mention pass the house. Hell its more then enough to overcome a presidential veto.
But what it's not is enough to get the bill proposed. Because you know, fuck public opinion, those politicians love their sweet sweet blood money from NRA contributions to their campaigns.
Dont get me wrong I mean we actually do need an organization like the NRA at the non political level, and we even need an organization at the political level that would support the views NRA members actually want....but that no longer appears to be the NRA's goal. And I'm hoping the NRA members realize that soon, and stage a coup, before the general non political ideas of the NRA, and the political ideas of its members get too poisoned by association with NRA leadership that they cant be seen as valid in our political discussions in the future. Because in much the same way most people would hate a society with no gun laws, most would also hate a society with no guns. Most people want a nice middle ground. But if the NRA keeps moving away from its membership and discrediting itself and nothing changes, they may actually create a backlash moving things way too far in the no guns direction when people finally decide they are too crazy to listen too because they are outside where most Americans/their membership is.
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