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From: kfk@ccieng2.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: National Rifle Association
Message-ID: <140@ccieng5.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 13-Sep-83 17:15:05 EDT
Article-I.D.: ccieng5.140
Posted: Tue Sep 13 17:15:05 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Sep-83 19:09:41 EDT
Lines: 43

Folks, I've heard an awful lot of complaints about the National Rifle
Association being an over-powerful lobby which should be banned just
on general principles.  People are objecting to it because they think
it is a small group of individuals supported by occasional large sums
of money, which is used to finance lobbyists and candidates for public
office.  I object to these objections.

The NRA is powerful because it is large.  The membership of the NRA is
somewhere in the range of 3 million people (though I may be off by half
a million or so).  That makes it (probably) the largest lobbying group
in this country, and demonstrates that, of those people who care one way
or the other, the majority is opposed to gun ownership restrictions.
(Organizational note: it is actually the NRA's Institute for Legal Ac-
tion [ILA] which does work in the legislative areas.)  Consider: Annual
dues to the NRA are $15.  The first $10 of that covers a member's sub-
scription to one of two magazines which the NRA puts out (I get American
Rifleman).  The other $5 covers operating costs of the NRA, and supports
the ILA branch as well.  Of course, members are able to make additional
donations any time they wish.  It should be immediately obvious that the
income of the NRA for its operations is somewhere in the vicinity of
$15 million per year *without* additional donations.  That's a lot of
cash.  Also, the NRA is prone to use a now-seldom-used mechanism of the
American legislature: we write our Congressmen.  (Yes, that does get
results a good portion of the time.)

*That* is why the NRA is powerful: raw size in members, pushing their
support for the NRA's goals, the funds provided to help the NRA accom-
plish those goals, and activity from the members themselves.

I have a single, practical suggestion for those objecting to the NRA's
size and power:  MAKE YOUR OWN LOBBY.  Actually, several of these exist
across the country.  But they are small, disorganized, and lack sup-
port.  If those of you who object so strenuously to the private owner-
ship of guns feel something must be done, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.  I
happen to seriously doubt that you will get the support, either in
bodies or monetarily, to get much of anything done.  But until *you*
demonstrate that you have the majority in this area, the NRA will con-
tinue to fight what we, the responsible gun-owning public, feel are
useless (or worse) gun "control" laws.

============== Karl Kleinpaste ===============
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