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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

The NRA Lets ALEC Take the Bullet

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  April 23rd, 2012 at 10:11 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

I’m not a big fan of the NRA at the upper strata of lobbying. It plans it safe to maintain the veneer of bipartisanship, it has to be poked and prodded to get involved with hot button issues, and it frequent tries to take credit for the work of other organizations and also let others take the fall.

The NRA has become the definition of a phony boogie man. The left can use the NRA as a foil while more and more conservatives realize it more and more rests on its laurels and Charlton Heston’s memory while working as hard as possible to be a bipartisan organization. In fact, on more than one occasion the NRA has chosen not to fight on an issue because it didn’t want to hurt Democrats like Senator Pat Leahy of Vermont.

You can get more details here on my views of the NRA, including its initial stance prohibiting its board members from testifying against Elena Kagan in her Senate confirmation hearing.

This past Wednesday turned up the latest example of the National Rifle Association trying to have its cake and eat it too.

At Grover Norquist’s Wednesday meeting a discussion about the ongoing assault against ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, came up. Multiple sources (there are hundreds in the room) tell me that the NRA representative took issue with ALEC getting rid of his public safety section. That section has drafted a model “stand your ground” law, which Florida passed.

The NRA representative claimed that if ALEC was going to run away from the fight on these public safety issues, ALEC might just run away from other issues too, e.g. immigration.

At that point the ALEC representative pointed out that ALEC had actually sought help from the NRA on “stand your ground” laws, but the NRA decided, yet again, to play it safe and wound up letting ALEC take the bullet.

The funny thing is, if you search around for commentary on the “Stand Your Ground” law, more likely than not the left will cite the NRA as a culprit. Now we know, from behind closed doors, the NRA wouldn’t even help ALEC when they reached out on the issue.

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COMMENTS

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  • krewemaynard

    What would be a better alternative to the NRA?

  • Tbone

    Political lobbying is just part of what the NRA does. By example: Every police officer in the Country is trained by NRA trained and certified instructors.

    Millions of entrants take part in NRA sanctioned shooting competitions every year.

    The family of every police officer killed in the line of duty can receive a $25,000 check. from the NRA.

    The NRA assists with and provides standards for the construction of gun ranges and shooting facilities.

    Millions of dollars are raised every year through NRA foundation dinners for local shooting programs.

    The NRA certifies every Hunter Safety trainer in the US.

    Because the NRA is involved in all these and many other aspects of the shooting sports, it has a bi-partisan membership. As such, it reflects that membership in its political efforts. Consequently, the NRA is neither a conservative organization or an extension of the Republican Party. To expect it to be is unrealistic.

    And, no, I am not a member but I know that a lot of readers of this site only know about the NRA from its political efforts and don’t realize how pervasive the NRA is in the firearms industry, the shooting sports and hunting.

  • bcochran1981

    ..but I’ve heard/read positive things about Gun Owners of America.

  • funwithknives

    Second Amendment Foundation:
    1) Primary backer to the recent Chicago decision wheer RahmBo had to fork over $399 K/legal fees to the SAF cause Chi-town Lost.
    2) SAF was primary backer to ‘Heller’ /Wash D C victory {possession while the NRA eventually tagged along, and at first,even tried to discourage the lawsuit.
    3) Their periodical: Gun Monthly {was Gun Week} is actually pertinent and one outstanding source of info. Try ‘em out at $25/year

    Gun Owners Of America:Look up their history.It’s a long one. The Pratt family has a long history of Direct lobbying in D C.

    If The NRA Alternative is, as-described, then all Life Members got some soul- searching to do. To look for something ‘better’.
    Sound like a plan?

    Any other suggestions??

  • skorrent1

    The NRA has a narrow focus, and for those of us who put a high priority on the 2nd Amendment, that’s OK.

    The post is confusing. A section of a proposed bill had strong support for “stand your ground”, the NRA opposed eliminating that section, and that’s bad??

    Their effective legal support in the DC and Chicago SCOTUS efforts has secured my membership and support for NRA indeffinately. They are properly incensed about Fast & Furious, and will be actively anti-Obama this fall. “The enemy of my enemy…” I can put up with their occasional support of a pro-second Amendment Democrat, when they can find one.

  • sparks69

    If you are suggesting that the NRA after a century and a half of incredible success being the most effective and honest (Library of Congress) voice of nothing more or less than the Second Amendment is now taking a stand on immigration makes me conclude that your credibility is lacking. I did ?expert? testimony on behalf of the NRA for years, in many forums such as you cited, in many legislative hearings, and numerous media appearances. NEVER were we allowed speaking to any other issue than firearms ownership, it was rule number one ? if you broke that rule you were replaced and an apology was offered. Our most profound statement if in doubt was ?we will get back to you with a position statement? (within the day ? after consulting headquarters). We did not associate with any other ?issue? spokespeople, we did not offer any support, any money, or any opinion pro or con to anything other than the Second Amendment. We fight our own battles, we do not need allies for with the allies come enemies and a dilution and contamination of our message. If you want an NRA spokesperson to support something other than the Second Amendment you will be waiting a long, long, long, time.

  • truthandfreedom

    Who is Charleston Heston?

    ALEC has dissolved its Public Safety and Elections Task Force which has for many years dealt with issues like gun control, criminal sentencing, prison privatization, illegal immigration, integrity in elections and voter identification. ALEC has now deemed these issues to be non-economic and will no longer have model legislation on such policy matters. Also, the four tenets of ALEC for years have been “limited government, free enterprise, federalism and individual liberty” but now the last one is no longer part of its mission. Your hatred of the NRA notwithstanding, ALEC has decided to abandon its stands and principle on a variety of issues and not just “Stand Your Ground.”

    ALEC Retreats Under Pressure, Ends Push For ‘Stand Your Ground,’ Voter ID Laws — www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/17/alec-retreats-stand-your-ground-laws-voter-id_n_1431531.html

    Keep Up the Pressure on ALEC and its Supporters — www.winningprogressive.org/keep-up-the-pressure-on-alec-and-its-supporters

  • renl57

    …and I’m not so sure about thee.”

    Last week, RedState attacked the Chamber of Commerce for being insufficiently conservative.

    And now it’s the National Rifle Association.

    It’s too bad that no other organizations in America come up to RedState’s high standards.

    I’m sure that RedState will find some reason to criticize ALEC next week.

  • acat

    The NRA and the Chamber of Commerce both have problems, and calling out those problems is preferable than hiding them and hoping they fix themselves.

    Mew

  • Tbone

    It is futile to criticize organizations that have diverse constituencies whose mission, while perhaps often inclusive of conservative agenda items, is not exclusively conservative in focus.

    In effect, if the primary reason a person joins that type of organization is to advance conservative principles, that person will be disappointed on occasion.

  • realfactchecker

    Who is your proof-reader? You’re killing me.

  • ihateliberals

    the NRA has turned into a shame organization. I belonged for many years and while Mr. Heston was the leader the organization had integrity. I dropped my membership two years ago when i realized what was happening. It is all about the money now and Gun Owners rights are secondary at best. Two years ago I renewed my membership as usual and within 6 weeks got a notice that it was time to renew again. That made me mad and i started to really look at what I was getting for my money. That close scrutiny brought me to the realization that the NRA has lost touch. Turns out what I got was a bunch of junk and two NRA stickers to mount in my truck. There are several other organizations for Gun owners and the protector’s of the second amendment that are much better than the NRA.

  • josephmn

    NRA supported Harry Reid in the last congressional election until the outrage of many members who left the organization became a burden, they then changed position and said they would not endorse anyone in the race.

    Our Second Amendment freedom does not exist in a vacuum. Because Harry Reid pilfered money from the public funds for a shooting range in Nevada and sided with gun owners on several proposed legislative initiatives does not make him any less a threat to all freedoms enjoyed by Americans.

    Every freedom enjoyed by Americans is under attack by the left, only those blinded by self interest could possibly support a democrat believing that somehow they support basic American freedoms including the right to bear arms.

  • acat

    No, they shouldn’t be *fixed* here… but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be challenged.

    If the kid at the drive-thru says your muffler’s dragging, do you have it checked, or ignore him because he’s not a mechanic?

    Mew

  • okiejim

    As a Life Member of NRA, and member of CCRKBA, I feel that gun owners are well represented on the issues confronting gun owners. I don’t recall anytime when ALEC represented my interests as well as either of those two organizations have. The NRA has played the game as well as any conservative organization is able to in todays political correctness climate. My friends in the NRA are members of both parties because they know NRA will not abandon them due to party sffiliations.

  • hayekwasright

    Including to the RNC. Discussing and exposing problems is one of the first steps to fixing them, and thus is to be encouraged. Both the RNC and NRA have made some very bad moves of late, which many of us find almost unbearably frustrating. Given histories and available options, I am not ready to completely toss either of these two organizations under the bus. By all means, let’s try to make them better.

  • acat

    We should not, of course, toss either under the bus. Nor – to Tbone’s point – should we plan to fix either here. The problems go much deeper.

    In the case of the RNC, Renice Priebus (sp?) seems to be on the case, more than Steele was at least … but I think the direction E.E. has called for elsewhere, the drawing of brighter lines between conservatism and the GOP, is an important one.

    Mew

  • Tbone

    I don’t speak Spanish.

    And, yes I do, the dog likes the ride part.

  • acat

    Me gustar?a tener un Big Mac con papas fritas y una gran coca cola por favor.

    El Gato

  • iitywybad

    I am a life member of the NRA, and I do firmly believe that without the NRA, Al Gore would have defeated George W. Bush. I give them credit for all they do, BUT I believe that any so-called conservative principled organization that cuts deals with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi in exchange for promises that enhance their prospects for their survival at the expense of the first amendment is no longer worthy of my support. When the NRA refused to enter the frey putting Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court in order to avoid problems with Senator “Leaky” Leahy, they really took a chance on their survival because there is no doubt that Kagan will overturn the 2nd Amendment if she gets half a chance.

    Their refusal to assist ALEC in preserving gun rights for “Stand Your Ground” and protecting laws requiring photo ID in order to vote is disgusting. I can’t get my money back for the life membership, but any money that I give in the future will not be to the NRA – it will be to CCRKBA and the SAF.

    I personally met Mr. Gottlieb when he lived in Wisconsin and found him to be an outstanding gentlemen and citizen. He inspires confidence and is dedicated to preservation of the ENTIRE constitution – not just the 2nd Amendment.

  • funwithknives

    However the founder and sparkplug of the Org. passed away a while ago and they dropped off the map.
    Met him once and a more determined fellow you could never meet.
    CRS keeps me from remembering his blessed name.

  • CincoSolas_del_Bronx

  • duncer

    The NRA is a one issue organization. The zimmerman affair is not really about guns, everyone has the right to kill in self defense regardless when someone is trying to beat them to death. They may use a gun, a knife , a club, or their bare hands.

  • fishgod3

    nuff said

  • celador2

    In today’s political climate the ‘stand your ground’ gun laws passed by states are under assault by Democrats. The Zimmerman -Martin case in the news shows the freenzy and mania the media and Democrats feel, feel deep in their hearts, for an opportunity to curb gun rights.Its been a while since Democrats have had much of an opening for more gun control.

    If NRA is not in the frontlines to help all groups and individuals with real issues around stand your ground then NRA board is in need of a primary tea party style.

    cel

  • Tbone

    Mandarin.

  • Tbone

    gun owners rights by supporting gun ownership and use. While I hate Harry Reid, Clark County Shooting Park is a great facility.

  • soljerblue

    …in moving government — money, votes, lobbying muscle — there is NO viable alternative. Eric has a wild hair about the NRA, but I doubt very much whether all the current ‘alternative’ groups could put together one half the effort for the Second Amendment that NRA does. Eric does what he does, and that’s good — great, in fact. The NRA does what IT does, and it needs a single issue focus, AND bipartisan support to get it done. Just as an example — when the UN Small Arms Treaty that wouls supercede the US Constitution, and severely restrict your 2A rights, comes to the floor of the Senate in a few more months, do you really believe Bunkie that it’ll be killed without Democrat votes.

    If you do, I have a bridge I’m looking to sell cheap.

  • soljerblue

    ain’t gonna “fix” the NRA from here. Eric Erickson needs to figure out what the NRA IS, and its crucial role in defending the 2nd Amendment, before he harps on what the NRA is NOT.

  • jakeofalltrades

    because no one here knows anyone by that name.