NRA - Great Organization or Fear Mongers?

I have been a gun owner for a long time. I can not say since it I was legal, because that was my Dad's gun, but I bought me first gun shortly after I joined the Air Force and have upgraded as my finances have allowed.

However, I have never joined the NRA or any other organization. Just recently I accepted a free 1-year membership to the NRA and have been paying close attention to the information they provide. I have also been going to gun shows and spent a lot of time online and in gun stores. The common theme is that Obama is going to take our guns.

Well, it doesn't take a great education to know that Democrats for the most part do not like guns and that we only have to worry about our guns being taken when a Democrat is in office.

BUT, I have not seen anything that shows Obama is actively trying to take my guns. YET!?!?

I just don't know. Obama has said all the right stuff so far, even when in Mexico he said he would not sacrifice American's rights because of the violence in Mexico.

My liberal coworker, who is now a gun owner (welcome to the club), likes to ask me what proof do I have that Obama wants to take my guns and I do not have an answer. I know that from studying Obama's past that he has said he wants gun control and I know he is from Chicago which has horrible gun control laws. But he has not done anything. YET!?!?!

His Attorney General has come out and said he supports reinstating the Assault Weapons Ban (what a joke), but I have not seen any support from the legislative branch, which is Democrat run, so you would think it could pass.

My liberal coworker also brought up a great point in saying that hyping Obama’s liberal mind set and screaming about an upcoming rush to take away our weapons benefits the NRA, gun store owners, and other groups. I couldn’t argue that point.

So, never wanting to agree with a dirty liberal, I posed my questions directly to the NRA. I never thought I would get a reply, but I did. However, the response I got is pretty weak. I have followed their links and they do not tell me much. First, all of the links are to Conservative websites. This in itself is not a bad thing, but it tells me they have an agenda. I hoped to use the information from those sites to cross reference with other sources. Unfortunately, the information I read was speculation and innuendo.

Second, the sites that do talk about actual bills are written by congressmen and it is extremely far fetched they will get real consideration. No where is there a link saying the President supports them.

Now, I am not blind nor am I dumb. I do not trust those in Washington at this moment to protect my 2nd amendment rights. I just do not like people exaggerating, embellishing, and frightening people for their own benefit.

There are plenty of reasons to present to people the need to bear arms and the need for an organization to fight to keep those rights. I can not be a member of an organization that uses fear to drive up membership.

I have attached both my email and the reply. I welcome you all to take a look and help me see what they are seeing. Did I miss something?


My Email:

Hello,

Can you show me anything that actually cites what you have listed in emails about the attorny general and/or Obama. I have tried looking for facts into Obama and his administration attempting to push gun laws and I can not find any. I know Obama and his people hate people who want to defend themselves, they have stated it in the past.

What I am looking for is something that has been stated sense the election. Some speech or quote that says, "We want to take your gun rights away". Even something that has to be read between the line would work. I fear we are using the possibility of our rights being taken away to gain membership and support from the fearful, when in truth, it is us who are making them afraid.

I am not a liberal or someone trying to play games. I want to be able to show proof that they are trying this and must be stopped. I do not want to be a parinoid fear monger.

The Reply:

Dear Steve,

Thank you for contacting NRA-ILA.

What Obama has said -http://www.gunbanobama.com/Default.aspx?NavGuid=6e4eb1bf-3a37-475b-8f00-0da81a24c06d

What Obama has done - http://www.gunbanobama.com/Default.aspx?NavGuid=530ecfa4-ae4e-4819-97e6-892463d99f08

During this session bills like HR 45 and HR 2159 have been introduced.

HR 45 - http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4329
HR 2159 - http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4879

AG Eric holder has publically announced he wants to reinstate another "assault weapons ban" http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/NewsReleases.aspx?ID=12245http://www.nraila.org/Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?id=341&issue=010
Obama reconsiders CIFTA treatyhttp://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4780

I hope you find this information helpful.