The gun hobby crowd needs a better image

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Now is not the time for people like Ted to be quite and stay home. Now is the time to FIGHT for our rights, and to keep fighting until the opposition quits.

I dont agree with everything the NRA or the SAM do but I give them my money so they can keep doing it on OUR behalf.
 
friendofthewild said:
The NRA has become a tool for the gun makers. Lots of money tends to eventually ruin anything.
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The NRA represents the firearms industry as well as me the firearms owner and shooting enthusiast. I am just fine with that. My donations to the NRA ILA will see to it they continue to represent the industry and me. I would rather listen to Ted Nugent than Michael Bloomberg and Bloomberg's ilk.

Just My Take
Ron
 
OP, how about some solutions coming from you, instead of just whining. What are you doing to fight the gun grabbers?
As far as I'm concerned, the "mental case" and the "tool for the gun makers" are doing just fine fighting for our RTKBA.
 
Ted is right, his delivery is just, "different". He was a performing artist first, then he came to firearms. He alarms people because he says out loud, what most people think in their heads. His style may not be for everyone, but his substance is correct.
 
Interesting. My opinion was that they were a industry lobby for much of the 20th Century until the member revolt in the '70s when they became a civil rights organization again. I don't see any signs of reverting to a trade lobby.



Mike
 
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Fella's;

I think there's a couple of points here to keep in mind. The first is that "our" image has largly been promulgated by the very forces that seek to deny our right to keep and bear arms. We're currently in a propoganda war and the O.P.'s comments certainly indicate to me that we're not winning. The film, television, and print media are demonstrably not on our side. The overwhelming theme from them is that guns are bad & people who have & use them are, at the very best, highly suspect. A generalization to be sure, but one that's borne out by any level of objective research. If I remember correctly, the NRA has published on the subject with verifiable sourcing.

Second, the opposition would like nothing better than for us to be meek and pull in our horns. Think of this fight as network marketing in today's consumer society. You don't see TV ads from Melaleuca, Amway, LifeVantage, or Shaklee, but they're sucessfully selling their products in the marketplace. Not through big-buck ads, but by person-to-person grass-roots marketing. We're doing pretty much the same thing, but need to be far more pro-active with it. Let's face it, if somebody comes up to you & starts a network marketing pitch, you're almost certainly in a negative frame of mind. Regardless of the company or product. Major entertainment & news media has sucessfully placed firearms owners in the same position as the MLM's. And we need to do the same thing the growing MLM's do, get out & talk to people.

900F
 
If you want to see what happens when gun owners are meek and conciliatory about their "hobby", just look at the UK or Australia.
 
friendofthewild said:
The gun hobby crowd needs a better image

I like shooting and have owned enough guns, but the NRA doesnt give a good image of shooters, more about gun profits..and Ted Nugent would do the hunting and shooting crowd a favor by being quiet and staying home. Doesnt surprise me that many Americans are not seeing those two activities in a favorable light.
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Well it sure looks like you need a better image, considering the responses you're getting.

So how about responding seriously to the following questions.

  1. Even if we perhaps don't all agree with everything the NRA does, they have been effective in many ways given the political strength of the opposition. However, granting purely for the sake of argument that the NRA as a representative of gun owners leaves something to be desired, what group would do a better job for gun owners?

  2. What should gun owners be doing to better assure that their interests are more appropriately, in your view, represented in the political and legal arenas?

  3. Who would you identify as possible, favorable spokespeople for gun owners and gun rights?

  4. In exactly what ways, in concrete terms, and for what reasons do the images of gun owners need to be improved?

  5. What exactly and in concrete terms should gun owners be doing to improve their image, if it needs improving? Why would any strategies suggested by you be useful?

  6. What exactly are you, personally, doing to contribute to what you think would be a more positive public image of gun owners?

  7. What exactly do you do, personally, to support and further the RKBA?

  8. Do you have anything at all positive or helpful to contribute, or do you just want to complain?
 
If you want to see what happens when gun owners are meek and conciliatory about their "hobby", just look at the UK or Australia.
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Or Colorado the last few election cycles. My state is a perfect example of meek and conciliatory, we now have a chance to speak up and be loud and proud.
I think the in your face MagPul/Ted Nugent template is more to to my liking than any thing the OP has put forth.
 
I have mixed feelings about this, I admit.
On one hand, yes I wish people would engage in meaningful discussion rather than rant on like Uncle Ted.
On the other hand, when fundamental rights are being ignored and violated, emotions will flare and rightfully so.
I do agree that Ted can spew nonsense and logic in back to back sentences. I do agree that sometimes his message is put out with the intention to offend. But then again, we should offend those who are trying to strip away our freedoms.

Also, you wouldn't have the gun rights you have today if it weren't for the NRA. They have fought the fight for gun rights by attacking where it does the most good, the people who vote on the issues. Do I agree with them all the time? Of course not, but I'll keep sending my dues in.
 
friendofthewild said:
I like shooting and have owned enough guns, but the NRA doesnt give a good image of shooters, more about gun profits..and Ted Nugent would do the hunting and shooting crowd a favor by being quiet and staying home. Doesnt surprise me that many Americans are not seeing those two activities in a favorable light.
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NOPE Ted is the best stick we got.
 
What I tell every person who is displeased with the NRA: the NRA is THE gun lobby. There's not a close second.

We're lucky the most entrenched gun lobby actually works to protect the Second Amendment and not "compromise" it away as would some other "pro-2A" organizations. We are also lucky the NRA is pretty common-sense driven, and not loony.

Uncle Ted? Oh, well. I'd rather hang out with him than many of ridiculous "gun guys" I meet in passing at local gun shops - those are guys we don't want being the face of our cause.
 
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Cosmoline said:
If you want to see what happens when gun owners are meek and conciliatory about their "hobby", just look at the UK or Australia.
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To be fair, there's a lot of room between "meek and conciliatory" and "ranting nut case." Thankfully for our interests there are only a very few of the latter, and we should never underestimate the importance of good pubic relations in a polarized, contentious political climate. The thing is to be respectable and respected while at the same time rigorously defending and promoting our interests.
 
All you can really do is represent is yourself as a gun owner. I'm pretty sure that if you are doing it right, you will NEVER be on TV..... (people who mind their own business and do what is right don't do well with Neilsen).

We can not control how Ted N. says what he says on FOX NEWS.

We can not control what some PLANT gun owner like Adam K. says and does for his/the liberial medias latest publicity stunt to make gun owners look lke kooks by association.

Given time, people that interact with you, will see the differences between you and the so called gun proponets on the latest TV clown show.

IMO, in the end the best thing "WE" as individuals can do - Is be responsible gun owners and honest representitives of our hobby when asked about it.
Will
 
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