“The NRA, like the GOP, has found itself well down the road to irrelevance,” as one gun owner who is a blogger writes. “By pandering to the ideology of the extremists they attract, they’ve alienated the majority of Americans. This includes many who’d support some of their ideas if it wasn’t for their obstinate insistence on no compromise, no common sense solutions.
“When faced with horrific tragedies and real issues to be addressed, instead of moving to the center or at least acknowledging an issue with guns, they double down on rhetoric. Instead of catering to mental stable gun owners, they’ve narrowed their audience further and further by stoking the fires of paranoia in the minds of conspiracy theorists and militia members. Rather than promote responsible gun ownership, they’ve cashed in on the wannabe Rambos and people who wouldn’t be able to pass the psychological exam to become a police officer or soldier.
“Now before people start of on the “well, you’re just a liberal who wants to take everyone’s guns away” tirade, I used to read “American Rifleman” when I was a kid. Every issue started off with a collection of short stories about people who used their weapon to protect themselves and/or shoot a bad guy. Back then, it was more about hunting and self defense than it is today. I really dug the idea of being able to eliminate a coyote at 500 yards with a .25-06 and plinking cans with a .22 has been something I’ve enjoyed since I was 7 years old. Blowing up a stuff with an AR at a target range out in the middle of the woods? That’s a little slice of burnt gunpowder heaven to me.”
The rest of the article is here.
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Several years ago I spoke with a man who attempted to answer a question I had about the NRA that his buddies laughed at me about. He admitted that he was intimidated about talking anything but NRA propaganda just to keep company with his buddies. I wonder if this man has gathered up enough nerve to speak his mind now?
I think it was American Rifleman that had a front cover featuring Obama and a buck within site range and I thought, OMG these people are trolling for assissins.
Something tells me that it’s not a Adam Lanza’s of the world we need to be concerned about. It’s the NRA and GOA propaganda and what it means for public safety.
“Hey, kids, don’t forget your guns”:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-akst-arm-the-children-20121228,0,617397.story?track=lat-pick
Glad you enjoyed our article.
Thank you Jeff for the post and for what you do.Good stuff.