NRA and my car was vandalized

[hi-impact]

I suggest not putting stickers on your car. There's no reason to advertise for the NRA on your vehicle to make yourself a target. I wouldn't even put a "Don't worry, be happy" sticker on my car. Given, the world we live in, some freakazoid would take issue with that.

 

[old lady new shooter]

This is the ad that caused all the fuss. Not one word about the Second Amendment

I wish Dana Loesch didn't always seem angry.

 

[old lady new shooter]

The mall in Christiansburg Va banned guns, after the Community college satellite location was shot up.

The same mall that I refused to go into after that as I avoid places that become high risk areas where gunman like the kid who shot up the college (a so called "gun free zone" by state law) go because they know we're not carrying.

The news won't tell that a young lady is dead because of the trauma of the shooting. The college ignores it because she wasn't killed during the shooting. And the AG of VA is appealing a law suit they lost because of the colleges negligence. But the commies in Northern Va reelected him, an anti-gun nut that makes Tim Kaine look sane and a Lt. Gov that is as bad.

They still allow it to be called Christiansburg? How long will that last?

 

[SteadyD]

I agree with those who keep their vehicles message-free. I remember when folks could have a difference of opinion and be amicable about it. It's a rare thing these days.

 

[Tommygunn]

.....Then how come when I go to NRA sponsored functions, I see hardly any women, minorities, or transgender people? If the NRA were truly "as diverse as our country" then the majority of its membership would be women.

Do you suppose that NRA functions where you live represent all in America?
Do you expect the NRA to use a quota system to vet it's members?



I would tend to agree that the NRA is a basically conservative organization.....but despite the fact that some liberals are progun (I note atleast one here posting in this thread) it seems that being conservative and progun intersects on the Venn Diagram more often than liberal and progun does. An organization of voluntary members would be likely to form in that pattern.

 

[MistWolf]

I’m very glad you’re open minded, but all NRA members aren’t. It’s become a left vs right issue and the NRA has become a far right organization. I’m a pro gun guy, but I don’t do conservative social policy. Where does it leave me?

I won’t stand with anyone who doesn’t respect the rest of my rights.

The NRA should stick to guns. There’s plenty of other organizations out there to promote the conservative christian agenda.

The belief that marriage is ordained by God to be between a man and a woman and gender is an essential characteristic of individual identity and purpose does not make someone closed minded. The belief that such beliefs makes one closed minded is in of itself closed minded. Whoever stuck the unwanted rainbow sticker on a strangers' car is closed minded.

 

[TomJ]

Maybe that's so, but it didn't need to be said by the NRA. We can all understand that there are causes and social issues that we might feel strongly about, and that we might agree with each other or disagree with each other about. And each of us may deeply believe that there are opinions that "need to be said." But that's not the NRA's job -- at all.

And making a statement about a social issue places you somewhere on a political spectrum, in the eyes of everyone watching, in relation to that issue. So stepping outside of their lane to say what some of us think someone should say, accomplishes nothing beyond social positioning. In this case reinforcing the common notion that the NRA is in a particular place on social justice issues.

Nothing, at all, of the crucial goals of the NRA and the RKBA movement as a whole was furthered by making such a statement.

I think the NRA did need to say it. One of the responsibilities of the NRA, arguably their most important responsibility is to protect our 2A rights. The far left has made it no secret that they want to do away with private gun ownership. That video does a great job of flushing out who those people are, and exposing them will help make sure they are not elected. In regards to the social justice issue, Dr. King, a man I greatly admire stood for social justice as have many civil rights activists. I wouldn't put the people the video targets, such as teachers who use their position to force their leftist opinions on students and rioters in that category.

 

[Poper]

The NRA is its membership. And vice versa.

If the NRA membership can only function in an echo chamber of homogeneous ideas rather than welcoming all who share their core mission irrespective of whether they share the same views about abortion, gay marriage, hybrid vehicles or what have you, then it is doomed. The members of the NRA are the ambassadors of the organizations mission and principles and they must be willing and eager to share it with everyone; whether the person looks and sounds like them then or not.



Then how come when I go to NRA sponsored functions, I see hardly any women, minorities, or transgender people? If the NRA were truly "as diverse as our country" then the majority of its membership would be women.

Well, I can't help it. I gotta quote a fellow that appears long gone from THR:

The NRA is a service organization for all firearms owners and users, and for anyone more concerned with Second Amendment rights than in spouting nonsense about them. It's available to everyone and can't possibly be considered an elitist or exclusive group except by the malicious, the ignorant, or the dimwitted. - Robert Hairless

I believe Robert Hairless said best.
Are there some bad apples in the NRA barrel? Yes. But I challenge you to show me any other barrel that is pure and sweet.

You might find that you get along better with people in most groups (NRA included) if you don't expound a viewpoint you expect to be offensive to them. For instance, I have a neighbor that is all wrapped up in animal rights. I hunt. I do not discuss my hobbies or political views with her at all.

 

[Wisco]

The belief that marriage is ordained by God to be between a man and a woman and gender is an essential characteristic of individual identity and purpose does not make someone closed minded. The belief that such beliefs makes one closed minded is in of itself closed minded. Whoever stuck the unwanted rainbow sticker on a strangers' car is closed minded.

Thanks for the unrequested lesson about your god’s will and your belief in it, but why is that directed at me? I’m not defending the vandal. I’m applauding open-mindedness, not close-mindedness. The victim here, the OP, seems like a nice person whose car was vandalized because someone mistook him for a bigot due to his NRA sticker. That’s wrong and not respectful of the OP’s property or expression.

 

[MistWolf]

Thanks for the unrequested lesson about your god’s will and your belief in it, but why is that directed at me? I’m not defending the vandal. I’m applauding open-mindedness, not close-mindedness. The victim here, the OP, seems like a nice person whose car was vandalized because someone mistook him for a bigot due to his NRA sticker. That’s wrong and not respectful of the OP’s property or expression.

It was directed at you because of your implication that some NRA members are not open minded because they have a conservative Christian agenda. Below, I have put in bold which part of your statement I am referring to for clarity.

I’m very glad you’re open minded, but all NRA members aren’t. It’s become a left vs right issue and the NRA has become a far right organization. I’m a pro gun guy, but I don’t do conservative social policy. Where does it leave me?

I won’t stand with anyone who doesn’t respect the rest of my rights.

The NRA should stick to guns. There’s plenty of other organizations out there to promote the conservative christian agenda.

You were imposed with the unrequested belief because you imposed your belief on others that the belief marriage should be between a man and a women is closed minded. You also go on to impose the implication that believing marriage is between a man and a woman is bigotry. That in of itself is bigotry. To think one can impose their beliefs on others and not be challenged, or not have the flaw in the logic of their presentation of those beliefs pointed out, is closed minded.

 

[Wisco]

It was directed at you because of your implication that some NRA members are not open minded because they have a conservative Christian agenda. Below, I have put in bold which part of your statement I am referring to for clarity.



You were imposed with the unrequested belief because you imposed your belief on others that the belief marriage should be between a man and a women is closed minded. You also go on to impose the implication that believing marriage is between a man and a woman is bigotry. That in of itself is bigotry. To think one can impose their beliefs on others and not be challenged, or not have the flaw in the logic of their presentation of those beliefs pointed out, is closed minded.

I see what you did there. I’ll consider this finished.

 

[Tilos]

That's not at all what the video said they were countering. The video was countering everything left, not just guns, which weren't mentioned. Which is exactly my entire point - be pro-gun, but don't bring all the other junk into it.

pro-gun...
I have generic 2 inch mail box letter/number/stickies on my motorcycle, and the back of my helmet "2A".
I've been asked what it means in a group setting, and another gun owner usually answers the question before I have the chance too.
That's what I have, no other stickers, and only other gun owners get it.

 

[MistWolf]

I see what you did there. I’ll consider this finished.

But will you ponder the point?

 

[drk1]

Sorry to hear about your problem, but as others have explained, the growing intolerance and belligerence of the political left only assures that it will get worse. Just today a friend was telling me that he had just returned from his latest trip to Gettysburg. Unfortunately, it wasn't as enjoyable as his previous trips. Everything was going great until he and his family got to some of the larger Confederate monuments where there was a small group of a certain ethic background screaming, hollering, waving banners and beating on the monuments with signs on sticks. He confronted the woman leading the group and she and her group then went after him. He escaped with only a few scratches on his car.

It could have been worse. Back in about 1996, I was working in a local gun shop when I received a phone call from one of my customers. He was an older, retired fellow who was normally pretty calm, cool and collected. In this case, I could tell by his voice and he was tired, frustrated and angry all at the same time. He explained that he was calling from Niagara Falls, Canada. He knew that I had a friend who had a trailer for hauling a car and was wondering if I and my friend could drive up to get him and his car. I said, sure I could, but what happened? Did he have a break-down? Fire? I needed to know what happened so I could decide what tools to bring. He said, no, it wasn't a break-down or anything like that. He and his family had decided to go across the boarder to see the falls from the Canadian side and when they were coming back, the Canadian Boarder Patrol (or whatever they are) stopped him and asked if he had any "contraband" or "illegal items" in the car. He told them "no, nothing illegal," but just about that time they noticed the NRA sticker on his car. They told him to pull over to a spot near the station for inspection and after he did, demanded he and his family get out and "come in the station to answer a few questions." He did and four hours later, when he was allowed to leave that little station and the interrogation they put him and his family through, he discovered that they had taken his car apart! Not only were the tires off the car, they were off the rims, the seats were out along with most of the interior, the gas tank was out, and large parts of the engine were scattered around on the ground. No apologies, nothing other than something like "we know all you NRA types violate our laws by bringing guns into our country, we just couldn't find it... this time!" My buddy and I scrapped the NRA sticker off of his car and drove to Canada to bring him, his family and his car back to freedom!

PS. There are a couple of products out there that will take care of that stick residue on your vehicle. Try "GooGone" or "Goof Off" and then rinse thoroughly. A couple of minutes at most should take care of it.

 

[JSH1]

let's not forget the (in)famous "jackbooted thugs" solicitation.

That's when I left the NRA and they haven't given me any reason to come back.

 

[csa77]

I have an NRA and a GoA sticker on my car.
knowing it Has the power to give some unhinged leftist a grabber is priceless. I sleep like a baby at night don't care if it makes people angry, I fact I hope it does.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I have an NRA and a GoA sticker on my car.
knowing it Has the power to give some unhinged leftist a grabber is priceless. I sleep like a baby at night don't care if it makes people angry, I fact I hope it does.

Remember that if they trash your car

 

[jstert]

guilt by association is the left’s best friend: all anticommunists are hitlerites, all gunowners are babykillers, all southerners are kkk, all conservatives are fascists, all white males are “privileged.” my only car magnets are a two blue stars flag for my two sons in the armed forces and a polish flag for my heritage, and im starting to worry about those.

 

[Elkins45]

I agree, I haven't seen any social conservatism coming from the NRA, just their annoyingly constant pleas for money.

Either way, regardless of the view it is not OK to deface or vandalize another's property.

You haven't seen the commercials with Dana Loesch talking about anti-Trump demonstrations?

 

[GBExpat]

I have an NRA sticker on both of my vehicles. After doing Black Friday shopping we came out of the mall to find two larger rainbow stickers placed on our back windshield. They were not easy to remove and left a lot of residue now meaning I have more work to get that off.

The point of my thread is not necessarily the vandalism, ...

I have only read the OP ...

Sorry to hear about that happening, Yo Mama.

My initial thought, if it had happened to me, would probably be that the miscreant opted to not vandalize my vehicle, choosing instead to only apply 2 stickers to glass where it would do no actual damage.

One of the reasons that I have never put bumper/window stickers on any of my vehicles is to avoid making them the passing focus of someone's discontent.

 

[Kookla]

I've had family members get their cars messed with from the far right for having liberal stickers, so self righteous vandalism goes both ways.

I think the big issue here is the mass perception of the NRA- and it's not what most people here think it is. The NRA comes across as very white, very conservative and very right wing- that loony right wing, and almost exclusively male. Is this the reality? No, but it's the light that it's seen in and it's something the organization needs to recognize and needs to address.

 

[Sam1911]

Thanks for the unrequested lesson about your god’s will and your belief in it, but why is that directed at me? I’m not defending the vandal. I’m applauding open-mindedness, not close-mindedness. The victim here, the OP, seems like a nice person whose car was vandalized because someone mistook him for a bigot due to his NRA sticker. That’s wrong and not respectful of the OP’s property or expression.

It was directed at you because of your implication that some NRA members are not open minded because they have a conservative Christian agenda. ...

The problem isn't that people hold different views. The problem is when those people -- self-identified, or identified by others due to their hat, stickers, or presence at an NRA event or a shooting range as "the NRA" -- are unwelcoming or downright hostile to other sorts of people who don't share these sideline, unrelated, beliefs.

Wisco's point didn't appear to me to be that he attended some NRA function or met NRA members and tried to make them join the social justice movement, or tried to make them date people of the same sex. I took his point as when the members he had met got to know him a little better they turned hostile to him because of issues unrelated to gun rights and made him feel unworthy and unwelcome.

THAT is unacceptable. THAT is hostility to a fellow gun owner and gun-rights advocate. THAT has to stop.

I’m very glad you’re open minded, but all NRA members aren’t. It’s become a left vs right issue and the NRA has become a far right organization. I’m a pro gun guy, but I don’t do conservative social policy. Where does it leave me?

I won’t stand with anyone who doesn’t respect the rest of my rights.

The NRA should stick to guns. There’s plenty of other organizations out there to promote the conservative christian agenda.

You were imposed with the unrequested belief because you imposed your belief on others that the belief marriage should be between a man and a women is closed minded. You also go on to impose the implication that believing marriage is between a man and a woman is bigotry. That in of itself is bigotry. To think one can impose their beliefs on others and not be challenged, or not have the flaw in the logic of their presentation of those beliefs pointed out, is closed minded.

Ach. This "impose your beliefs..." talk. Gets so OLD from both sides. "You're a bigot!" "NO, YOU'RE a bigot!" "No, you're a bigger bigot than I am!" "NO! You're the biggest bigot that ever bigoted!" Etc...

Gawd shut it UP! Step back, breathe, and be thankful (to your god!) that there are people in this world who understand and support our gun rights, and it isn't just people who sit next to us in our pew on Sunday, or who dress, talk, and look like us, or cuddle with the same flavor of human beings we like to smooch on.

Be welcoming to them. That's all there is to it! Smile, extend a hand, and be eternally grateful to have them on our side!

If you get to know them REAL well and it seems like you can have a productive discussion -- far down the road -- and you want to ask them about what they do or believe in a fair and friendly way, great. Do that, then, as peers and friends. Understanding that peers and friends don't have to be identical to each other, and that the goal is to understand and appreciate a fellow gun owner, shooter, and human being. Not to drive them away.

 

[TomJ]

You haven't seen the commercials with Dana Loesch talking about anti-Trump demonstrations?

The objection in the video was not to anti Trump demonstrations. It was to leftists physically assaulting Trump supporters (you can see a bloodied man wearing a Trump shirt) and rioters destroying property, using violence as a means to a political end. The difference is significant.

 

[Tirod]

I have to ask, just how does a shooter involved in an NRA event, or on a range, discover their views aren't acceptable to the rest of the membership there?

I do get it, tho, it does seem that there are a few guys who like to spout off about their beliefs and make no effort to consider that others just don't want to talk about it. However - in my experience over the last 60 years, everybody of all beliefs does that. I've yet to see any one side that didn't have people pushing their beliefs on others.

Blaming the NRA for doing that yet not seeing how it's done by the opposite view is a bit close minded.

We have had discussions here about some members of the shooting community, in conversations about, say, negligent discharges, poor tactical decisions, even unlawful activities. And the obvious conclusions were that those people doing it needed more education, training, or a good lecture about their poor decision making skills. Well, it's exactly the same thing on the other side of the argument - "Hey, I don't like that guys NRA stickers, I CARRY RAINBOW STICKERS JUST TO VANDALIZE CARS, I'M PUTTING SOME ON THIS JERKS!" And there you go, a statement of acceptance and diversity by an apparently close minded liberal. We assume.

Who's pointing fingers here? One side MUST accept diversity yet the other can't? If the problem is intolerance, then there is something BOTH sides need to work on. "You white male Christians are pushing your agenda thru the NRA!" Well, he have had a LONG history of socialist antigun agitators who have been undermining it for a century, and they largely espouse anything but. Therefore, it's guilt by association on both sides. By all means, show me a Libertarian Candidate who is pro gun, anti large government, and not in the pocket of globalists or statists. Sorry, all I get from them is the feeling they are basing their politics on whatever sells best at the moment. They have no core beliefs to sell to me.

We've been at this junction for quite some time, each takes the road they prefer. If someone wants to be pro gun, welcome, but by no means can you insist that we all toe the line on a common system of belief. We can't even agree that your granddad's sporterized milsurp was ok and my AR pistol is, too. Drawing lines in the sand over marriage, gun rights, and politics, then blaming the NRA? Don't forget that when you point one finger, the others always point back at yourself.

 

[hi-impact]

Sam1911,

Amen. Well said!. The thoughtfulness of your posts, what you say and how you say it is very impressive.