The oldest and most established gun control group in America
How the NRA has never, and will never fight for our second amendment rights
This month at CPAC 2021, we saw Wayne LaPierre, the Executive Vice President of the NRA, stand up in front of the future of conservatism and say;
"let me tell you, right now, the dirty little secret politicians and the media won't tell you. They have the power right now, today, to clean up their cities, to save hundreds of thousands of lives, and put violent crime to a virtual end. All they have to do is enforce existing gun laws."
I'm going to dissect this statement a bit and show you why the NRA, along with the majority of the conservative party, will never actually be a pro-second amendment. They will never roll back existing gun laws, and if police were coming door to door to confiscate our firearms, they would remain silent while still collecting money from millions of gun owners and claiming they were fighting for us.
First, I want to establish what it means to be pro-second amendment. It's not just about being pro-gun, pro-hunting, sport shooting, or pro collecting. Being pro-second amendment means advocation for the means needed to fulfill the innate right of self-defense against an individual or government. It means we have the instinct, instilled in us as humans, to fight back against anyone or anything that would do us harm. The second amendment was established to safeguard and guarantee that innate right and bar any law that would limit or undermine it. When it was established, it secured the citizen's (not military) right to have whatever means necessary to defend themselves. It is the only check against the government that is not directly in the government's hands, and whether taking the originalism or textualism approach, it is clear our right to bear arms was intended to safeguard this check. Arms within the context of the second amendment are any tool, offensive or defensive, the government has access to, so should the citizens of this country. Any law that restricts or requires a permit of any kind to acquire those tools is a violation of the second amendment.
"All they have to do is enforce existing gun laws."
I can't say I was surprised at this statement, and it's another obstacle we have to face as gun owners in this perpetual fight we find ourselves in. It wouldn't matter if the NRA were some small organization with zero cultural influence, but the NRA is who the conservative party looks to lead them in their "fight" for the second amendment. The NRA is who Conservatives send millions of dollars to every year and the default organization that most people think of when gun rights arise in conversation. One of the fundamental arguments against gun laws for those of us in the gun community has always been that they do not reduce crime. Laws like the NFA that say we need to pay the state $200, submit fingerprints and pictures to obtain a rifle with a barrel length shorter than the arbitrary 16", or you owe a penalty of $250,000 and face ten years in federal prison. Enforcement of California laws that say if you don't have particular, arbitrary features on your rifle, your property can be confiscated and you can be thrown in prison. Unconstitutional carry permits which require training and fees to exercise your constitutional rights all serve only to, at best, create criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens, and at worst, leave victims powerless to the whims of violent criminals. Not only did LaPierre not condemn the consistent legislative assault on firearms owners, but he endorsed the current unconstitutional laws already on the books. This shouldn't be a surprise because they have consistently supported every federal gun control bill since their inception.
The NRA has never been a Second Amendment advocacy group. The about section on their website mentions marksmanship, firearms education, sport shooting, police training, and hunting. The NRA never acknowledges the innate right to defend yourself or the possible need to fight tyranny. It wasn't until after the Sandy Hook tragedy in 2012 that they started their "good guy with a gun" campaign. Aside from that, we can look at the NRA's history on gun control and how they have a pattern of supporting every federal gun control law in America. They published a tell-all article released in the March 1968 issue of American Rifleman (their publication) that came as a rebuttal to Senator Robert Kennedy's accusation that the NRA opposed gun control. The then executive VP Franklin L. Orth proceeded to share how they had supported the National Firearms Act of 1934, the Federal Firearms act of 1938, the Dodd bills (aimed at amending the NFA to include the original clauses that would also regulate handguns and shotguns), permits to carry a firearm in public, or in a vehicle, firearms registrations, ammunition tax and permitting, and countless other legislations that would qualify as Michael Bloomberg wet dream material. In 1999 the then VP of the NRA was called to testify in front of a house judiciary subcommittee on crime to examine pending firearms legislation and the administration's enforcement of current gun laws. The Vice President of the NRA at the time said
" The NRA has always supported reasonable, workable gun control....with severe prosecution of federal gun laws."
The then VP: Wayne LaPierre. How about the most recent federal overreach? When Bump stocks came into question in 2018, the only statement the NRA released before the reclassification was that they hoped for a period of amnesty. They rolled over with almost zero objections, only asking for a period that law-abiding citizens could turn in their private property to the state without being prosecuted. There was no opposition. The even more recent pistol brace scare, where the ATF used the bump stock precedent to threaten to reclassify pistol braces as stocks, which would effectively subject an estimated 4 million gun owners to the NFA penalties (10 years in prison and $250,000 fine), The NRA remained silent until after the ATF backed down, then in a tweet, attempted to take credit for the ATF's change of heart. What really happened? The ATF got over 60,000 angry letters from gun owners, as well as a letter from 80 members of Congress telling them it was unacceptable. Not only do they have a history of supporting gun control, being silent when it matters most, and rolling over in the name of compromise, they are also known to attach themselves to political battles after the fact, fooling the people who don't pay close attention, so they will continue to send them millions every year.
So where should your money go? A good rifle, a good pistol, ammo, body armor, kit, nods, and more ammo. In all seriousness, if you want to support an actual pro-second amendment organization, there are options. The ones I donate to are The Firearms Policy Coalition and Open Source Defense. I have contributed to my local group; however, they have gotten off-topic in their recent messaging and no longer deserve my money. I honestly hope to encourage you to look, with a lot of scrutiny at any advocacy group that you send your hard-earned money to (or stimulus checks, which is also your money). Vet these groups and see what their history is when faced with anti-gun legislation. Make sure they are fighting for you. Be cautious. When it seems like some influencer is shilling for them, they are, and if the organization needs shills, it's not an organization worth your money. The NRA gets around 90% of its funding from individual donors, with an average donation of approximately 35 dollars. We have power in our numbers, and collectively we have the ability to move the needle, we have to use our money to support the groups that actually fight for the constitution, that actually want to push back on legislation, and actually put your money to work against the continued onslaught of legislation that aims to make us more and more defenseless and reliant on the state.
For a more itemized layout of the NRA's transgressions the JPFO did a fantastic write-up, including multiple source documents covering the multitude of the NRA's betrayals. Find it here
The places worth my money:
Let me know what you think! I'm always looking for feedback.