Lurp said:
If tomorrow they decided to endorse the semi-auto ban the monthly members have the option to stop paying dues causing the NRA to loose members, but the life members are stuck being used as a statistic of the NRA membership. I am a member of the NRA and renew at my local gun show every year for $25 along with getting into the gun show for free, which makes the value $20 per year.
I am curious. On what issues exactly has the NRA acted in a way that compromises the RKBA? I don't claim to be an expert, and I've only been a member for 13 years now (7 as a life member), but I just don't see it. Furthermore, if you are an NRA life member, and you get that pissed off at them (although I don't know why one would), I am sure that there exists a mechanism for resigning your membership; and if you resign your membership, then you can no longer be carried as an NRA statistic.
Now, it is possible that at the state and local level there are other organizations that are more effective than the NRA in supporting the RKBA
at the state or local level. However,
NOT ONE OF THEM will have any influence which can be brought to bear at either the national level, or at the level of a differing state. The RKBA is a
national issue, not just a local one, and I have yet to hear of any organization which has the clout possessed by the NRA at the national level. Also, the membership of the NRA may comprise "only" 3-4 million people, but the spending power of the NRA far outstrips that of other organizations, and they can get more accomplished because of it. We are lucky if, in a national election, 45% of all eligible voters turn out. That is considered huge. But, I will bet that the percentage of eligible NRA members who vote is much higher because they are strongly motivated to protect the RKBA.
Additionally, the NRA performs an invaluable function as a clearing house for information, and that information reaches more than just the paid membership. I'm guessing that, in my personal circle of family and friends, fewer than half are NRA members. However, those of us who are members diligently share information relevant to protecting the RKBA with those who are not members, and this influences how those non-members vote AND to which RKBA causes they support financially. Thus, the influence of the NRA extends far beyond its paid membership, and that is invaluable in the cause of supporting our 2nd Amendment rights.
However, I think that comments to the effect that non-members are getting a free ride serve no purpose other than to insult the non-member and boost the ego of the person doing the insulting. Just because a firearms enthusiast is not a member doesn't mean that individual won't support the NRA's causes or donate to them, or at least act financially and with their votes in parallel with the NRA. After all, one doesn't have to be a Catholic to donate money to the Catholic Children's Fund or other charities which feed starving children, and at the end of the day, that particular agenda gets served.
Just my 2¢.