Fake "Gun Rights" Group Supports Gun Control - American Rifle & Pistol Assn

[Bartholomew Roberts]

http://www.pagunblog.com/2013/07/03/the-latest-not-really-pro-gun-group/

Yet another example of a 4 member astroturf group pretending to support gun ownership while advocating against concealed carry, supporting background checks and gun bans and generally trying to work a split between different groups of shooters. Just thought I would get the word out there as they are trying to sell a little more subtly - they use the traditional bitch about the NRA approach and are out of Austin, TX. They are also real vague about the policies they do support on their website. However, our friend Bitter has done the research to show how their self-appointed CEO supports Obama, background checks, MAIG, and congratulated Connecticut on their new gun laws. He even had the foresight to capture screenshots of these items.

Apparently, they had a ton of press releases/friendly press stories announcing them this July 4 as an "alternative to the NRA." So let's spread the word about this organization.

Also see this AR15.com thread: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1504642_.html&page=1

 

[TarDevil]

Thanks. I'll spread it around.

 

[SuperNaut]

I got invited to like their FB page, they are definitely more subtle than the AHSA. Looks like there is some money behind them though, probably Bloomberg money.

 

[Trung Si]

They are definitely under a False Flag, we realized that here as soon as they popped up a couple of Days ago!

 

[Hacker15E]

I got invited to like their FB page, they are definitely more subtle than the AHSA. Looks like there is some money behind them though, probably Bloomberg money.

Looks to me like it is oil money and internet.com money.

 

[cauldron]

There has been some sites telling people about it good and bad. (mostly bad)

The good is mostly uninformed with good intentions.

 

[SuperNaut]

Okay everybody, get active. Go to their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanRiflePistol

and do this:

1. Click on the "Message" pull-down on their FB page
2. Select "Report Page"
3. Select "It's Spam or a Scam"
4. Select Continue
5. ???
6. Profit

 

[bannockburn]

Thanks for the comedic entertainment; I especially enjoyed the link to their Facebook page. There's misguided and then there's just plain stupid. It appears these ARPA people are both.

 

[W.E.G.]

Find out who the officers are, and check their campaign donations.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Find out who the officers are, and check their campaign donations.

I checked Open Secrets against the names of the lead officers. While the group is out of Austin, TX, at least one of the group's main officers is a transplant from Stamford, CT. So I checked against the names nationwide and for the 2008, 2010, and 2012 election cycles.

Peter Vogt, Chairman - too many Peter Vogts to say; but none from Stamford, CT or Austin, TX. His facebook page however (as detailed above) shows him as a support of MAIG, Obama, Mothers Demand Action, and another gun control group that called Senators "child-killers" for opposing gun control.

Waylan Johnson, CEO - nothing

Robert Gelinas, President - donations to Bob Casey (D) and Barack Obama in 2012 from a Robert Gelinas in PA.

Lance Culbreth, COO - donations to two Healthcare PACs in 2007 and 2009 from a Lance Culbreath in GA.

Jerry Boguskie, CFO - nothing

 

[40-82]

This kind of thing seems to be a common tactic. The group or individual insists that "We are one of you and we support gun rights. It's just that we support reasonable laws and compromise." Reasonable laws and compromise always seems to be defined as anything that has the remotest hope of becoming law.

I can respect someone who honestly disagrees with me, but I cannot respect an individual or group who misrepresents their intentions.

 

[JSH1]

There are plenty of gun owners in America that would like representation from a group more moderate than the NRA-ILA. Not everyone fears background checks as a slippery slope to confiscation. I for one welcome a group that represents my beliefs. I may have to look into this group.

 

[Cosmoline]

It isn't a real group, it's astroturf.

Not everyone fears background checks as a slippery slope to confiscation.

I don't either, but these people are friends of Bloomberg. So supporting them WILL help lead to that slippery slope.

 

[General Geoff]

I was under the impression that the NRA is moderate. I haven't seen them calling for the repeal of the '86 machine gun ban, '68 GCA, or '34 NFA. The NRA is pro-status quo more than anything, at least at the federal level.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

There are plenty of gun owners in America that would like representation from a group more moderate than the NRA-ILA. Not everyone fears background checks as a slippery slope to confiscation. I for one welcome a group that represents my beliefs. I may have to look into this group.

Is this group actually moderate though? The Chairman of the group has indicated he likes groups that called Senators "child killers" for opposing gun control. He also apparently supported the recent gun control changes in Connecticut - which went a LOT further than simply expanding background checks.

I won't even get into the subject of how anyone could trust this government with universal background checks after it has horribly abused its trust with the IRS, NSA, Post Office, etc. As it stands right now, the House is investigating whether the NSA has used the strained legal interpretation to ALREADY compile a list of gun owners, so to say it just awes me that someone could think that universal background checks present zero risk of a slippery slope problem is to understate how naïve I find that belief.

 

[mljdeckard]

Do they really think this will work?

 

[mljdeckard]

And Supernaut has a GREAT idea. Done.

 

[Shadow 7D]

The best way to handle this is to tell your friends

 

[Midwest]

Interesting how the anti's are going about this. First they had the hard sell approach with Feinstein taking about certain rifles must be registered or banned, the magazine ("clip") limit. Then they have Mayors Against Illegal Guns and the Bloomberg tour doing the mid-sell approach.

An now there is the soft sell approach (See http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=721598 ) With the Giffords 7 state tour with a stop yesterday using an Independence Day parade in Cincinnati to further gun control. They even stopped in Alaska to shoot at a range to make it seem like they are 'one of us' but 'just want' expanded background checks.

And now there is this group that 'sounds' pro-gun but appears to have another agenda. It appears that the anti's are pulling out all stops using different approaches.



Thanks for the info

 

[TennJed]

There are plenty of gun owners in America that would like representation from a group more moderate than the NRA-ILA. Not everyone fears background checks as a slippery slope to confiscation. I for one welcome a group that represents my beliefs. I may have to look into this group.

I sent a message to them on their facebook page asking their stance on conceal carry, high cap magazines and assualt weapons. Not expecting a response, but I read over their webpage and could not find anything addressing these issues. Do you really want to support a organization that either:

A) Is againsr conceal carry, standard mag capacity, and sporting rifles
or
B) Doesn't have the guts to address these issues.

In this day and age you cannot start a "pro gun" organizatioin and act like these issues do not exist.

Smells fishy to me

 

[jstein650]

JSH1: "There are plenty of gun owners in America that would like representation from a group more moderate than the NRA-ILA. Not everyone fears background checks as a slippery slope to confiscation. I for one welcome a group that represents my beliefs. I may have to look into this group."

Our own JSH1 is either painfully naive, or already a member.

 

[zonzin]

Man I love the 2A and Firearms community. It didn't take long for the wool to get pulled off of this wolf. Now it can die a slow painful death.

.

 

[JohnBT]

Send me $5 and you can be a member of the American Rifle, Pistol & Shotgun Association. You heard about it here first. No web site, no magazine, no hat, no decal, no e-mails, no nothing. All for $5.

 

[TennJed]

Send me $5 and you can be a member of the American Rifle, Pistol & Shotgun Association. You heard about it here first. No web site, no magazine, no hat, no decal, no e-mails, no nothing. All for $5.

Is that a year? Can I buy a lifetime membership for $20?

 

[Archaic]

I'm a proudly liberal THR member, and even I can see these guys are a bunch of gun grabbing sheep in wolves clothing. No thanks. I'll keep my SCI membership and keep hoping Bloomberg gets a boil on his ass.