Adventurer_96
Member
Bartholomew Roberts said:It isn't like the NRA has just abandoned California. They have been fighting in California for years, and getting their teeth kicked in for years as well.
I think gun owners in California have every right not to support the NRA if it isn't performing for them; but I really don't look at the NRA as a state-level organization. Here in Texas, I support TSRA to protect my rights at the state capitol and send money to the NRA to protect my rights at the national level.
I think that regardless of whether the NRA is or is not helping, California first has to strengthen its grassroots state-level groups. In California, you aren't just fighting a legislative battle, you are fighting a cultural battle against people who want to remove firearms from the culture entirely. Educating your neighbors and friends on guns is the only way Californians are going to change this trend.
This is quite possibly one of the best posts I've read in the last year regarding CA for two reasons. One, I think you really made an important distinction regarding state-level organizations. True, the NRA can have an impact, but I think that state organizations have a lot more influence w/state lawmakers.
Two, you hit the nail on the head regarding the overall issue in CA - it's a grassroots, cultural battle. When the perception is that owning a firearm makes you a criminal or a survivalist nutjob, that perception needs to change before you can get meaningful change. Having said that, can you blame people who are inundated w/images of gun violence for projecting their anger onto the easiest target, namely guns?