they've gone to a platform of telling you what's good for you and pushing their personal thoughts and beliefs downward.
I don't, exactly, disagree with this. However, this is a distinctly two-edged sword.
On the one hand we want the organization to listen to us. On the other hand, we look to the organization (and others) to LEAD and EDUCATE.
Examples: 20 years ago, many, MANY gun-owners didn't care and probably had never really even thought about, concealed carry law reforms. Many factors have contributed to the explosion of that issue in importance, but a lot of the "grass roots" support of it can be traced to the NRA placing "Armed Citizen" stories and articles on CCW gear and legislation in the mail boxes of 4-5 million hunters and target shooters every month -- over and over until enough folks had normalized the idea of personal defense that the broader cultural swing could support good legislation.
20 years ago, an "Assault Rifle" was looked upon as a dangerous weapon with marginal legitimate uses by a large segment of the gun-owning population. Again, many things have contributed to the vast sea change in public opinion, but, again, we can thank the NRA for helping perhaps more than any other single element to open the minds of our fellow shooters and usher in the age of the "homeland defense rifle". Every time they feature some 15 year old girl shooting CMP with an AR-15, or an article on hunting with modern autoloaders, they're hammering into the collective consciousness of several million stuck-in-the-mud old fogies that these things are RIGHT and acceptable -- we're all part of the same scene -- and they should vote to support their fellow shooters.
Now, the NRA has not been anywhere near the cutting edge of those issues, nor many others, but it is a mighty tool for building consensus and educating the membership to the benefit of all.
So, yes, on the one hand we all want the NRA to listen to us -- our personal opinion -- and stop compromising, oppose this or that legislation, endorse our favorite candidate or whatever else. But we cannot be so blind as not to acknowledge that the Association also acts as a massive prod to advance the understanding about and drum up support for some of "our" more advanced issues among the large majority of the semi-educated and marginally-engaged joe average gun owners.
And remember, while you're sending letters (or complaining on internet forums) to the effect that the NRA aught to push for the repeal of the NFA'34, a significant number of fellows named Earl are telling Wayne and Chris to lay off this "extremist, bullet-hose assault-rifle, pistol-packing GUN NUT agenda" and get back to the "real" issues like skeet shooting and deer hunting.
It's just not a simple problem.
, and being such a large organization it moves slowly sometimes to address new issues that crop up. They represent and have finally recognized the "black rifle" or "mil-surp" crowd as a powerful part of the NRA.
