I'm on the fence about the NRA. They supported an obvious commie prick for office in Charlottesville several years ago and it really burned my ass to see my money used for that. I didn't renew after that and told them why. The calls and mailings were nonstop also.

I converted to a Life Membership a few years ago and haven't been called once and rarely, maybe twice a year, get anything in the mail regarding fund raising.

Life Member here.

I let them know (loud and clear) one time when they were continually barraging me for annual membership (tons of snail mail and phone calls) that I was already a Life Member.

Doesn't seem to be a problem any longer.

I am on a 5 year, and will likely convert to life when I next renew.

I do find the fund raising to be a pain and have tried to have my cell phone taken off their list, but it keeps going back on.

I know when it's them, though because the calls always come from the area code where the cell phone is registered, but I no longer live there. So if I get a 954 call that leaves a 3 second message with call center sounds in the background, I pretty well know that number is the NRA looking for dough.

I spent about 40 years working in the automotive industry. That goes back into the time of pretty much join the union or forget about employment.

The pressure to donate to their P.A.C. was relentless, to say the least. I passed on that.
That money went straight to the Dem candidate's local, national and to lobbyist's for the socialist left.
( I would not be surprised if some funds got leaked along the way, for expenses of course. )

I belong and donate to the NRA.

I like to see the lips curl and steam come out their ears when the D.C. Commies say N.R.A.
When they plan their attacks on freedom, they stop and say/think what will the NRA say about this, how can we corrupt them and steal their thunder, discredit them.

More than 10years ago I did opt out of mailings and phone calls, Haven't heard from them much at all since.
I do wonder why some people have this problem and others don't.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by sureshot45:
I'm no longer a member due to the calls, I asked them repeatedly not to call me and they continued. Then 3 months before time to renew they started calling even more to let me know it was time to renew. After the 3rd time I told them if they called back I would not renew. They called again a week later...

Y'see, this is the problem. Members tell me that all you have to do is opt out, but that's not necessarily true.

Every single time this subject comes up in the forum, the same contradictory statements appear. I'm not calling anyone a liar. I am saying that the NRA is - apparently- inconsistent and capricious in their fundraising efforts. Some NRA members opt out, and they're left alone. Other NRA members opt out, and they continue to get hounded by the NRA, incessantly. I'm not havin' it, and the NRA is not the Second Amendment.

I don't get phone calls or mailings at all anymore. The last election I was getting phone calls telling me that The Witch was bad...yeah, no shit.
After the second one I asked that they not call again. (preaching to the choir) Received another phone call about the election and VERY firmly told them that I already requested to not be called and who do I need to talk to to make sure the request was honored. The calls stopped.

The checklist opting out of mailings, calls, etc. is gone from the NRA website. (It did work for me when it was there, I don't get calls or mailings)

After logging in to my account, I found in FAQ:
Q: How can I reduce the amount of mail I receive from the NRA?

A: Simply email us at membership@nrahq.org or dial 800-NRA-3888 and request to be placed on the "Do Not Promote" list. This will significantly reduce the amount of mail you receive without affecting important mailings, magazine service, or your membership renewal.

At one time the NRA was a true bulwark for the second amendment and a force against those interests that would infringe on that right. I don't believe that is true any longer and it's been that way for a long while now.

The NRA has become and is foremost a business entity with the end goal of all business entities: to make as much money and profit as possible.

The NRA is very careful about when, where, and what it fights for and it's all calculated to increase "market share" profits. Everything they do is geared towards the goal of profits.

Everything.

Does anyone here really believe the NRA really wants to see the second amendment truly secured? The Brady Campaign, Moms Demand BlahBlah and all the rest of the gun grabber orginizations go away? Loose all that fear and propaganda to push for more and more money? That opposition is the only reason they exist, therefore they have absolutely zero interest in seeing that opposition reduced.

Does anybody really believe Wayne laPierre wants to give up his 5 star, seven figure, corporate lifestyle and get a real job.

I look at what the NRA has done over the last couple of decades and all I see is a business entity who holds their own interests supreme. Any good they do on behalf of gun owners at this point is almost incidental.

I don't like any organization that spends (what appears to be) my entire membership fee on printing and mailing more stuff to me to ask for more money. Seems like if they just used what I gave them to do the job instead of using what I gave them to ask me to give them more - it'd all work out better...


And this doesn't just apply to NRA. There have been charities that did the same thing to me and therefore never received another dime.

I am an NRA member and have been for decades. I do support them by entering their yearly raffle and donating extra money when my yearly subscription comes up for renewal. I have never once received a phone call from anyone at the NRA, or anyone associated with the NRA. I receive their monthly magazine "America's 1st Freedom" and maybe three or four mailings per year. I also don't receive any e-mails from the NRA, unlike the daily barrage of e-mails I get from Palmetto State Armory.

The NRA hasn't bothered me and I am glad to belong.

quote:

Originally posted by OcCurt:

The NRA has become and is foremost a business entity with the end goal of all business entities: to make as much money and profit as possible.

The NRA is very careful about when, where, and what it fights for and it's all calculated to increase "market share" profits. Everything they do is geared towards the goal of profits.

Everything.

The NRA is a non profit organization.
I would agree that they want to line their pockets (like almost everyone else) but they are still non profit.

I became an NRA Benefactor many years back when I was a bit more flush with cash and they offered one of their sales.

While I think they still do more good than harm, I would agree with others that they are not the same organization as they were a number of years ago.

I do still like the American Rifleman magazine but it too is not the quite same as it once was.

As far as bothering me for donations, I haven't gotten any phone calls in as long as I can remember

What I don't do anymore is enter any of their win a gazillion gun contests and have noticed the onslaught of mailed donation requests has drooped to only one every other month or so.
My trash can has plenty of room for that mail if I choose to dump it.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve 22X:

quote:

Originally posted by OcCurt:

The NRA has become and is foremost a business entity with the end goal of all business entities: to make as much money and profit as possible.

The NRA is very careful about when, where, and what it fights for and it's all calculated to increase "market share" profits. Everything they do is geared towards the goal of profits.

Everything.

The NRA is a non profit organization.
I would agree that they want to line their pockets (like almost everyone else) but they are still non profit.

Some of the wealthiest organizations are non-profit. its been said there is nothing more profitable than a non-profit business.

I have been an NRA member for over 40 years and have been an endowment member for several. I don't get any phone calls and the few mailings I get don't bother me. In spite of some things I don't agree with, they are still our best defense against the gun haters and they do a lot of good when it comes to promoting gun safety and training. They are very pro military and law enforcement. We would be a lot worse off without them.

Soon to be lifer, I have a couple of payments left on my easy pay deal. I guess I’m one of the people they listen to cause I asked to not be bothered and they don’t call. I feel the good that they do way outweighs any negatives.

After becoming a Life Member, I have not received any calls and less than 3 solicitations for money over the last couple of years.

They still send my Son (not a Life Member), regular solicitations, via USPS.

The NRA was the right choice for me. However, I understand some of the issues that have been brought up here.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I know I'm supposed to genuflect at the alter of the NRA, so you can accuse me of blasphemy and call me a heretic if you wish.

I wouldn't even consider doing such a thing, and I fully understand your position with regard to the NRA.

I believe I am currently living in the most Liberal state in the union. The idiots in Sacramento are bold and irrepressible in their attack on our 2A rights. We have a state organization called the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA). This organization doesn't wield the power that the NRA-ILA does, and so sometimes the CRPA requests assistance from the NRA. Just this year alone, the two organizations acting together have achieved great things in the courts.

Because of examples like these, I pay the $35.00 per year to keep them going. I believe I'm making a sound investment, but perhaps I'm misinformed. It could happen!

Life member.


I think I first joined in about about 1966, when I got my first rifle, a Marlin/Glenfield .22.

I think I got my Boy Scouts of America Marksmanship Merit Badge and NRA Hunter Safety card about that time.

I reveled in being on the Army ROTC smallbore rifle team at U.F. in 1970.

My local gun club is NRA affilated. That's where my son began competing in smallbore and I renewed my interest and went to practice and went to competitions with him, k including Camp Perry. The NRA was a big part of this.


I get the American Rifleman and enjoy every issue.

The Second Amendment ... our precious right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental pillar of the whole structure of our uniquely American experiment in individual liberty.

It does not defend itself against the forces of Evil in all His guises, including all those from our very beginning as King George to the current day Barbara Boxers, Bloombergs, Clintons, Bushes, ACLU's, Brady bunches, and on and on.

It's up to us as individuals, and groups, and organizations to fight the totalitarians in every place and time.



In my opinion, the NRA ( with all its flaws and shortcomings) has been OUR 800 lb organizational gorilla in the everlasting fight to remain free.

Maybe other organiztions would have stepped up to the plate, and gotten the hits and homeruns, as well as the pop-ups, and strikeouts, if the NRA had not. Maybe.

I truly believe that without the NRA representing us politically, as well as promoting safety and competition, that we would have long gone down the road to serfdom as have our compatriots, the British, the Australians, etc.

As in, "If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an out right ban, picking up every one of them....Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in. I would have done it. I could not do that. The votes weren't here," .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffI-tWh37UY

<---------------- There is a moment of complete candor that the GDC's will regret forever. She couldn 't get the votes.

Why didn't she get the votes? Because we, as individuals, and groups, and through the lobbying efforts of the NRA, (and GOA and CRKBA) staved off the onslaught.



I find the fundraising efforts to be tolerable, workable and forgivable in the face of the real onslaught from the Enemy.

These are my feelings.

quote:

Originally posted by lowflash:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
An incessant call for donations

That's the main reason and to a certain existent why I have a shredder. I'm a life member of the NRA but the constant hand out begging for donations is nettlesome.

Go to membership site. Uncheck the appropriate boxes related to communication

Call the membership number state to be removed from 3rd party mailings and calls

I rarely get anything but my American rifleman

Non-profit??? The NFL was a non profit until recently when they were caught taking Federal money.


They pissed me off when they screwed all their instructors with the Blended Training. Designed to put more in their pocket. Now their Carry Guard is the same thing. They screwed their own advertisers and supporters to push their version.

Endless calls are annoying, i blocked thier number. The big one for me was all the fear tactics on the phone.

Id be way more responsive to someone who is real with me than the scripts they write for the marketers.

Heres how it should be:
Hey Bill, its Jim look, you know who we are, your a life member and we appreciate it. We'd like to keep up the fight for 2A, would you be able to donate to the cause today? No? cool, no worries. Is it okay if I call you in 6 months? Too early? Okay how about a year. Great thanks for your support.

Reality:

Oh you dont want to give $25? How bout 20? 19.5? 15? 16.75$? 10? No, 7.50? Just 5 dollars? No. Well you will be letting the gun grabbers win and the future of america is at stake and people will drown puppies and kittens how bout 25$? We'd hate to see puppies and kittens hurt. No? Ok click. Waits 3 days and calls back again...