Babeled

I am a National Rifle Association Member. I am also considered a political liberal; or better yet, a left-leaning moderate. Question: how can one be a liberal, or left-leaning politically, if you belong to the NRA? Answer: free thinking, a concept this country was founded on. People’s opinions of the NRA are much like any other group, fraught with misconceptions and generalizations, some of which are true to a certain extent, and others that are gross ignorance.

History of the National Rifle Association

The National Rifle Association’s website has this to say about the founding of the NRA on the About page:

Dismayed by the lack of marksmanship shown by their troops, Union veterans Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate formed the National Rifle Association in 1871. The primary goal of the association would be to ‘promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis,’ according to a magazine editorial written by Church.

This goal is in direct support of Amendment Two of the U.S. Constitution which reads:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Church and Wingate felt it was their responsibility, as U.S. military veterans who saw combat in the Civil War, to not just uphold this piece of the Constitution, but to facilitate the future betterment of U.S. soldiers’ efficacy and survival rate. Individuals entering the military would have the opportunity to obtain a certain level of firearms training from the NRA, thus increasing gun familiarity and marksmanship of the soldiers exposed to the training. A “well regulated Militia” implies a certain degree of training and oversight, for which there was no programs or groups at the time to provide training. The NRA’s aim was to provide this training in order to ensure that should the citizen’s of this country ever need to organize into a defensive Militia for the sake of the homeland, then the Militia will be effective against an enemy and will not suffer casualties to the extent which an untrained Militia would endure.

NRA: the Myths

The NRA is a bunch of pick-up driving, gun-rack owning, camouflage and orange vest wearing gun lunatics who own entire arsenals in their houses. They wreak havoc and destruction in our parks by slaughtering animals for sport and support the proliferation of firearms across the nation at great expense to societal safety. Any measure to control gun ownership or make the streets of the U.S. safer by getting guns out of the hands of criminals is blocked by lobbyists from the NRA, whose lackadaisical approach to firearms propagates violence.

NRA: the Truth

The NRA does support as little gun-regulation as possible, sometimes to a naïve extent. However, they also provide information and access to a wide variety of educational and safety programs, in addition to the marksmanship aspect that the group was first created to address. Hunting and social groups also bring gun owners and interested parties together to share experiences, knowledge, and fun. From the Eddie Eagle children’s safety program all the way to law enforcement training and benefits, the NRA provides groups and programs to appeal to a wide spectrum of demographics all with one common interest: realizing their Constitutional right to bear arms. The NRA does lobby to ensure the freedoms of the U.S. citizen are protected, and at times this lobbying goes beyond what is logical. That is the nature of lobbyists: all too often they go too far. This is not a unique characteristic of NRA lobbyists. Overall, the NRA provides an opportunity for those who are interested to safely and appropriately exercise their Second Amendment right.

Eddie the Eagle Program

NRA: the Follies

The NRA does not support legislation that requires gun owners to federally register their weapons. They do not support legislation that regulates gun ownership in any way. This is the NRA’s greatest weakness: the inability to pull away from the same mindless mob mentality that occurs in partisan politics. Not all pieces of gun regulation are bad legislation. If the NRA truly wants to subscribe to the view that firearms should be practiced safely, then they should support legislation that requires lawful record-keeping and safe handling procedures for guns. The overbearing display of violence in the United States is indicative of the ease of obtaining illicit guns. Generalized easing of gun regulation will likely result in an increase in unlawful gun possession as the intermediary purchasers of guns would have a tougher time obtaining high volumes of firearms for secondary distribution on the black market. The NRA’s lobbying should focus on some of the same things they do today, but also should experience a paradigm shift where they support some gun regulation that improves the safety and the public image of firearms. As custodians of the right to bear arms, it is the NRA’s responsibility to change people’s perceptions of the NRA and firearms in general, as being important to our freedom if properly handled and respected.

NRA: why I Joined

For too long have the political stereotypes reigned supreme in public opinion. This is one man’s quest to dissolve bipolar partisan attitudes that are not representative of the nation for which they allegedly stand. The NRA is an organization that has the right idea, with some poor execution. If you’re not a member, then you have no influence. I wanted to be a member to learn safe practices while exercising my right to bear arms. I wanted to be a member to learn more about firearms and get exposed to those who know more than I about the subject. I wanted to be a member to help bring fresh perspective to the organization and help carry it into the future as the United States’ prudent guardian of the Second Amendment.