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All of our local Gun Clubs Require NRA Membership.

2K views 75 replies 51 participants last post by  terry_p 
#1 ·
before you can join. This is just wrong. A gun enthusiast should not be strong armed into belonging to the NRA just to have a place to shoot. I am a lover of firearms for many reasons. I have been around them from an early age. I flat refuse to pay the NRA any money. The NRA is nothing more than a political Action Committee for the Ultra Conservatives. The NRA is the most untruthful organization in politics. They spread fear, untruth and propaganda to better their cause. I am a Marine who fought for the right to keep and bear arms and I totally support it. Just as I am not a one issue voter I am also not a blindly led one issue follower.

This will probably get me in trouble with many forum members but I just thought I would put that out there.

Sorry folks. I don't like Obama but I like Romney even less.
 
#2 ·
You are free to start your own gun range, and when you go looking for insurance you'll probably end up talking with the NRA lol. In other words pursue tort reform for more economic freedom and accept a world of greater risk and personal responsibility.
 
#5 ·
The NRA is the most untruthful organization in politics.

Sorry folks. I don't like Obama but I like Romney even less.
Ok. Your post made me laugh out loud because it's a joke, right?

It seems to me you have 3 choices. Either pay the NRA and shoot at those ranges. Don't pay the NRA and don't shoot at those ranges. Or open your own range.
 
#7 ·
TimN ... I can certainly understand your feelings. I agree with you, no one should be forced to join one organization while joining another.

As an NRA member, I have many issues with the way Wayne LaPierre is running things. Today's NRA is not the same organization that I grew up with so many years ago.

Having said that, let me try to explain why your gun club is probably requiring you to join. The NRA doles out quite a bit of money in the form of grants for programs that benefit local gun clubs and ranges (i.e. youth shooting programs, facility improvements, etc.). The chances of receiving a grant increase greatly if the club is "100% NRA". My club was "grandfathered" into the NRA as 100% NRA members. They are requiring all new members to join, but will not strong-arm existing members since that was not a requirement when they joined up. It's a moot point ... most existing members are NRA members.

Try to look at it this way. You can join the NRA for as little as $10 as an associate member. That amount of chump change isn't going to make a big difference to the NRA ... but could help your range and enhance your participation in your club. The NRA really doesn't rake in the big bucks from members. The real money pours in from the industry members. Which means every time you purchase a new firearm ... some of that money is going to the NRA. You are supporting them now ... indirectly ... whether you like it or not.

Good luck and safe shooting.
 
#8 ·
While understand your feeling to an extent, I also understand that as a private organization the clubs have a right to establish any requirements that they wish. It is your right to accept or reject those requirements.
I would be interested to know specifically what things the NRA does or has done that you find so objectionable. Care to respond?
 
#56 ·
What right wing radicals? How would you define them?



The issue of N.R.A. membership requirements doesn't matter in my case because I can't afford to join one the the clubs around here. I use one of the local public ranges when I have the money and I will be rejoining the N.R.A. before too long. At one point I told the N.R.A. that I would send them sn extra amount of money but it's come down to that or just renewing my membership. At this point, I can't do both.
 
#10 ·
I feel for you. I used to be a member of NRA when they were neutral towards political party. Then they started siding with republican candidates even in the presence of pro gun democrats. they lost their neutrality in the late eighties and I haven't been a member since.

Don't get me wrong. The NRA has done some great stuff in promoting/defending the Second Amendment, promoting firearms safety, conducting CCW workshops, developing firearms education programs, and promoting competitive shooting around the world.

I would love to rejoin them but until they become the National Rifle Association again and not the National Republican Association, I can be no part of them.

And one last thing.

Semper Fi Devil Dog!
 
#73 ·
I feel for you. I used to be a member of NRA when they were neutral towards political party. Then they started siding with republican candidates even in the presence of pro gun democrats. they lost their neutrality in the late eighties and I haven't been a member since.
When Paul Hodes, a liberal democrat ran for US Senate in NH (2010)against Kelly Ayotte a conservative Republican the NRA supported Hodes. I sent an e-mail asking them if they were nuts as I felt they were wrong and they said Hodes had a better record on gun rights. So the premsie to this entire thread is incorrect. The NRA, much to my chagrin in 2010 supported the candidate they felt had the best record on gun rights. Kelly won inspite of the NRA and is the excellent senator we thought she would be and is a strident supporter of our 2nd Amendment Rights.

My advice to all is quit reading the talking points and delve into what they actually have done. I suspect you will change your view.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I thank you for your service to our country. However, as others have said, you're free to start your own club or find another that suits your needs. Nobody is forcing you to do anything. It's a private club, if they want to require that you to wear pink lipstick and high heels it's their prerogative. :rolleyes:

If it weren't for the NRA, you wouldn't have a reason to be complaining about somewhere to shoot your gun.
 
#13 · (Edited)
#18 · (Edited)
They are more than likely taking advantage of insurance offerred by NRA.In Australia, I have to be a member of SSAA to shoot at most ranges.

SSAA - Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia
Number one reason right there. If the range/club had to purchase their own accident insurance, membership dues would be a whole lot more expensive.
$25 a year thru a gun club is cheap insurance. Plus a magazine. While I do tire of receiving requests for donations, it's money well spent.
 
#14 ·
Join at minimum dollar amount possible that way you can shoot locally and still know your 10 bucks isn't helping them but for a minimal amount possible. You can then vote any way you want and donate more money to a another cause to offset your conscience .
 
#16 ·
I don't see any difference from the requirement to join theNRA than the requirement to join a union. Your money will be spent the way the organization officials decide. And that includes scholorships, grants, insureance programs, and political contributions. The same as some profits from your retirement or savings account (the bank or corporation) going to support companies that support one political party over the other. We don't have to like it, it's just a fact of life.

Unless they explain why it's necessary, as some have already, I think they do themselves a disservice and leave themselves open to criticism..
 
#19 ·
Personally I like the requirement of having to be an NRA member to join. I think every gun owner should be an NRA member. You need to thank the NRA for the gun freedoms we still have. I won't say the NRA is perfect but what organization is.
 
#72 ·
+1 on that.

Whatever their requirement, be it NRA membership, Planned Parenthood membership, or a donation to National Public Radio ... it's THEIR range and THEIR rules.

It's a fundamental property rights issue, not a referendum on the NRA. I, for one, am more concerned about stopping and reversing the erosion of property rights than I am about the NRA's agenda or effectiveness.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Can't help but to agree with most posts so far. I am a proud NRA life member and still donate what I can. Yea, they may be a political lobbying organization, but they do much much more. So like has been said, you have a choice, take it or leave it.


We built it, you broke it, we'll fix it.
Barack Obama,
YOU'RE FIRED!!!
 
#22 ·
I know of a couple ranges here that don't REQUIRE NRA membership for you to shoot there you will need to be a member if you want to become a CLUB member there but don't have to belong to NRA just to shoot there. Membership involves being a volunteer at the range being an RO and keeping the grounds neat and clean and attending club meetings and events and possibly shooting after hours when range is closed to public....etc
 
#23 ·
Whether you agree with the NRA or not I doubt if you would like the situation if the NRA did not exist.
I certainly do not agree with their stance on everything but it is a very small price to pay to have an organization like them fighting for us and our rights.
 
#24 · (Edited)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

before you can join. This is just wrong. A gun enthusiast should not be strong armed into belonging to the NRA just to have a place to shoot. I am a lover of firearms for many reasons. I have been around them from an early age. I flat refuse to pay the NRA any money. The NRA is nothing more than a political Action Committee for the Ultra Conservatives. The NRA is the most untruthful organization in politics. They spread fear, untruth and propaganda to better their cause. I am a Marine who fought for the right to keep and bear arms and I totally support it. Just as I am not a one issue voter I am also not a blindly led one issue follower.

This will probably get me in trouble with many forum members but I just thought I would put that out there.

Sorry folks. I don't like Obama but I like Romney even less
Suck it up buttercup. Don't like the rules, you can find somewhere else to shoot.

One of the reasons why NRA membership is required is because there are NRA benefits to the club in the form of insurance, help with shooting range design, and even grants from the NRA for range development if every club member is a NRA member.

I am also bothered by the meme used by liberals that goes like this "Iwas/am in the military and fought for my the right to xxxx, so I don't have to support the right to xxx in my voting."
Sorry that one doesn't fly with me. Even if we make the assumption that every member of the military that ever lived fought in front line battles in a secret ongoing war against nazi zombies from outerspace right off our shores who were trying to get a foothold on our continent, the argument still wouldn't wash as fighting an outside enemy means nothing if you allow rot to take hold from within our country. If there is something more important to vote for than what is spelled out in the US Constitution, I'm all ears. 'Free healthcare, 'free handouts' , 'free condoms' , 'free abortions' or anything else given by the government for 'free' is the antithesis to freedom.
 
#26 ·
I don't see any difference from the requirement to join theNRA than the requirement to join a union. Your money will be spent the way the organization officials decide. And that includes scholorships, grants, insureance programs, and political contributions
I do see a difference, and they are quite the opposite.
A union is a parasitic organization that cannot exist without a company to work for. Companies survive and thrive despite unions, not because of them.

There would far fewer shooting facilities, if any, if it weren't for the support of the NRA.

How many companies can you say that about with regards to unions?
 
#27 ·
There's a local range about to open here that I was very interested in until I read you have to be an NRA member. I'm not joining some propaganda club just to shoot at a range. Thankfully I'm a member at a nice range right now. I don't need a club to tell me who to vote for or how to think....I can figure those things out on my own!
 
#28 · (Edited)
Hmm.

From what I'm reading here, most of you fit right in perfectly with the Obama doctrine of forced purchase of insurance or pay a fine at the end of the year.

Gunrange: You MUST join this organization in order to shoot here.

Obamacare: You MUST buy insurance to avoid the penalty.

Hmm.

I guess the people really are to stupid to think for themselves, and must be told what to do. So much for individuality and free thinking. Send in the clones.

It won't surprise me one bit when this idiot gets re-elected back to the White House. Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public.
 
#29 ·
Of course the difference here is nobody is making you do anything. If i open a range and require you wear a pink tutu to shoot, you can put one on or go pound sand.

These are private clubs and they can set their own rules--you don't have any right to use the club. You are granted the ability to use the club facilities upon satisfaction of a condition--joining the NRA.

The Obama comparison is thus not quite accurate, but thanks for trying.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Find a public range and you won't be required to join the NRA. I may not agree with everything the NRA does or says but I recognize that without them our 2A rights would be severely threatened. We're much better off with them than without. I think one club I belong to membership is optional but highly encouraged (insurance, liability, etc.) The other club I belong to membership is required. The public range I shoot at couldn't care less one way or the other. BTW, I am a recent life member and if anyone is interested, you can become a life member for $300 if sponsored by a current life member.
 
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