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Thrill
03-09-2011, 07:56 AM
OK, so I join the NRA to get a discount on my local gun-club membership,...
Was this a HUGE mistake or what?
I have had just about enough of the B/S NRA SPAM in both email and snail mail!!!
HOW do I make it STOP? Should I QUIT the NRA?
Does anyone else have this problem?
And,... MOST of the SPAM is trying to sell me junk that has very little or nothing to do with protecting "gun" rights, or them selling my info to other companies who are trying to sell me still more useless JUNK!
(Sorry for ranting!)

gtmtnbiker98
03-09-2011, 08:21 AM
So now you are spamming us?

Joining the NRA to get a discount? You should have joined the NRA for the underlying basis for the organization, not for a discount.

MechEng
03-09-2011, 08:31 AM
While I agree that the NRA sends out to much spam and junk mail, you do have options. There is always the trash can, shredder and junk mail filter on your preferred email program.

ToddG
03-09-2011, 08:46 AM
OK, so I join the NRA to get a discount on my local gun-club membership,...

I'm fairly certain that's not supposed to be the primary purpose of the NRA.


HOW do I make it STOP? Should I QUIT the NRA?

Call and ask to be taken off their mailing lists. Problem solved.

MechEng
03-09-2011, 10:13 AM
I'm fairly certain that's not supposed to be the primary purpose of the NRA.

Call and ask to be taken off their mailing lists. Problem solved.

…for about a year or two and then the junk mail starts up again. I think when you renew your membership they take that as a sign you want more junk mail. :rolleyes:

With all that being said, I still completely endorse joining the NRA despite their affinity for junk mail. The reason for joining the NRA is that they are the 500 pound gorilla in the room when it comes to fighting for your right to keep and bear arms. Small Grass Root pro-gun organizations are great but the Local and state anti gun politicians cringe when the NRA show up to fight some proposed anti-gun laws.

MTechnik
03-09-2011, 10:23 AM
It is required for one range I joined.

And yes, the spam drops off significantly when you tell them you don't want your mailbox filled with crap. I even get PDF delivery of American Rifleman in stead of mailbox cluttering.

If only midway and cabelas would get the hint......

JV_
03-09-2011, 10:29 AM
I have multiple email address.

1. Friends & family.
2. Message Boards & Bulk Mailing Lists
3. Online Orders
4. Places where SPAM seems highly likely

Kyle Reese
03-09-2011, 10:32 AM
OP,
Don't quit the NRA over such trivialities. For better or worse, they are our proverbial front line defence against the endless assault on our freedoms. No organization is perfect, and surely the NRA does have some faults, but think where we would be today without them?

Ga Shooter
03-09-2011, 11:05 AM
OP,
Don't quit the NRA over such trivialities. For better or worse, they are our proverbial front line defense against the endless assault on our freedoms. No organization is perfect, and surely the NRA does have some faults, but think where we would be today without them?

Ditto. Plus if you join as a life member (like me) they mainly just send crap about upping to a higher level (I forget what they call it). But in addition think about a few things some having already been mentioned here.

1. They are the largest, best organized and effective Pro Gun lobby out there.
2. They really do protect our rights and have won some major victories lately
3. They probably sell their member list which helps generate revenues for these very expensive battles.

If it really bothers you and you want the protections of your rights I suggest calling them and offering them some money in exchange for you being dropped from the emails and snail mail lists going out. WIN WIN for both parties.

SecondsCount
03-09-2011, 11:13 AM
I tend to side with Thrill on this. While I joined the NRA almost 20 years ago because I believed that they are the big stick of gun rights, their marketing department has gotten a little crazy as of late.

My issue is that I expect them to send me information about pressing matters in the gun community. When I get an email with a subject line of "2011 NRA analysis reveals incomplete benefits" and then open it to find that they want me to sign up for cancer care?? Really?

Do I now put the NRA on my spam list so that if I get a legitimate alert email it gets tossed in the trash? They need to stick to the job at hand which I paid my dues for.

MechEng
03-09-2011, 11:14 AM
I have multiple email address.

1. Friends & family.
2. Message Boards & Bulk Mailing Lists
3. Online Orders
4. Places where SPAM seems highly likely

I use this technique as well. Another thing you can do is learn how to setup and get creative with the email filter tools on your favorite email program. If your Spam filter isn’t working the way you expect it to, just set up custom filters to sort everything into folders and/or send them straight to the trash.

Pennzoil
03-09-2011, 12:06 PM
Send it to my house I can't hardly read my NRA stuff anymore as my girls love to look at gun magazines! I don't get emails from them but guess it's becouse I was a life member before I had email in the dark ages.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9323/edited1232.jpg

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8936/picturebackup1230.jpg

Ga Shooter
03-09-2011, 12:17 PM
Send it to my house I can't hardly read my NRA stuff anymore as my girls love to look at gun magazines! I don't get emails from them but guess it's becouse I was a life member before I had email in the dark ages.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9323/edited1232.jpg

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8936/picturebackup1230.jpg

YEAH YOU!! My girls like my gun mags to and my wife always freaks out that I am turning them into rednecks. HAHA. I love it

David
03-09-2011, 12:27 PM
I used to belong to the NRA for several years, I no longer do due to various issues I feel they sold out / compromised on and this happened over and over again. I think they tend to look out for themselves far more than the average gun owner. The spam was also very annoying, I emailed and asked to be removed from their list but I still got their spam. I've come to the conclusion that if any organization has a 3 letter acronym they use more than their actual name then they're not looking out for you. I realize admitting to not liking the NRA in some groups of gun owners is like being Roman Catholic and hating the Pope.

Pennzoil
03-09-2011, 12:51 PM
I used to belong to the NRA for several years, I no longer do due to various issues I feel they sold out / compromised on and this happened over and over again. I think they tend to look out for themselves far more than the average gun owner. The spam was also very annoying, I emailed and asked to be removed from their list but I still got their spam. I've come to the conclusion that if any organization has a 3 letter acronym they use more than their actual name then they're not looking out for you. I realize admitting to not liking the NRA in some groups of gun owners is like being Roman Catholic and hating the Pope.

It's a free country do as you like but if it wasn't for the NRA members before us we would of lost 99% of our gun rights in the 70's and 80's for sure. Pretty sure the NRA is the only thing that kept our rights from getting taken recently when the democrats had complete control as they fear the NRA's power. Do I agree with everything they do...No but it's easier then ever to send politicians and groups feedback now with email on your thoughts. No more paying for a stamp and a weeks travel. Only way we can improve the NRA is from honest communication over disagreements in their policy.

My local pro gun group AZCDL is awesome and hope they can inspire the NRA on some issues.

jslaker
03-09-2011, 02:00 PM
Small Grass Root pro-gun organizations are great but the Local and state anti gun politicians cringe when the NRA show up to fight some proposed anti-gun laws.

This hasn't really been the case for us in GA, FWIW. GCO did more in 3 years to fix GA gun laws than any other organization in over a century. Worse, there were points where the NRA let their national agenda put the most important gun law reforms we've ever had in this state in jeopardy. It's my understanding that they've more or less refused to cooperate with GCO toward our mutual goals, as well.

On the national level, they do some good work, but they could use some serious rethinking about how they interface with local groups who better understand the situation on the ground.

VolGrad
03-09-2011, 02:14 PM
This hasn't really been the case for us in GA, FWIW. GCO did more in 3 years to fix GA gun laws than any other organization in over a century. Worse, there were points where the NRA let their national agenda put the most important gun law reforms we've ever had in this state in jeopardy. It's my understanding that they've more or less refused to cooperate with GCO toward our mutual goals, as well.

On the national level, they do some good work, but they could use some serious rethinking about how they interface with local groups who better understand the situation on the ground.
Commander is 100% factual in his account of the NRA's recent involvement in state level gun legislation in Georgia. I have spoken with folks that were literally on the legislative floor during the debates and the NRA lobbyist's were directly working against GCO due to differing agendas.

I'm not bashing the NRA here. I'm just backing up what Commander said before folks jump all over him. It has turned a lot of Georgians off to the NRA .... in spite of the good things they do at a National level. Facts is facts folks.

jetfire
03-09-2011, 03:23 PM
A lot of people don't realize that NRA is made up of two separate organizations. The part of NRA that does the lobbying and political activity is the NRA-ILA (institute for legislative action). The NRA that membership dues go to support is "general operations", which covers everything from Hunter Education, shooting sports, range grants, Eddie Eagle, etc. Most of the "junk" mail is sent by General, and the revenue generated from the responses to those mailings go to support the "general" programs.

If you're interested in the political activism side but not the general operations stuff, you can get political alert emails from ILA by signing up on their website. You can also donate to ILA and the NRA's PAC if you want to support their political activities but don't want the mailers from General.

That being said, I do both. I support ILA and General, because without general we wouldn't have Bianchi Cup, and without ILA I wouldn't be allowed to own the guns I need to shoot the Cup.

Thrill
03-10-2011, 08:35 AM
This (post quoted below) is exactly the point I was trying to make!
Thanks so much, to SecondsCount!
Yes, I understand the NRA is our Gorilla in the corner,
Yes, I understand that they are a vital necessity for our rights,
No, I don't understand why they inundate me with 99.5% junk mail,
while I have NEVER gotten an email to call any of my representatives to
voice my opinion on a critical fire-arms issue.
THAT is what I would expect them to inundate my mail boxes with!
Sorry for not being more clear in the original post,...
As to the suggestions to add them to my SPAM list, thereby depositing the hundreds of
SPAM mails into the trash automatically, then HOW will I see the one-in-a-million that
IS important and requires immediate action?

Just as a reference,... how many people here have actually "bought into" any of the offers?
In other words, how much revenue are they actually generating with these SPAM efforts in
relation to how much they spend to send it? Personally, I wonder if they even break even?
How many other are at the point where they automatically delete everything they get from NRA?

Sorry for poking the stick into this hornets nest!

I do support the NRA, I won't quit over this, I do appreciate what they do, and the discount on the
gun club membership motivation was a good thing, since I, an admitted n00b, probably wouldn't
have joined the NRA (just yet, anyway) without that offer.


I tend to side with Thrill on this. While I joined the NRA almost 20 years ago because I believed that they are the big stick of gun rights, their marketing department has gotten a little crazy as of late.

My issue is that I expect them to send me information about pressing matters in the gun community. When I get an email with a subject line of "2011 NRA analysis reveals incomplete benefits" and then open it to find that they want me to sign up for cancer care?? Really?

Do I now put the NRA on my spam list so that if I get a legitimate alert email it gets tossed in the trash? They need to stick to the job at hand which I paid my dues for.

jetfire
03-10-2011, 03:15 PM
Thrill, if you want to get the political emails from the NRA, you need to subscribe to the NRA-ILA alerts. Go to the NRA-ILA Action Center (http://www.nraila.org/ActionCenter/), hit the "email signup" link and you'll get the important political action messages. If that's what you're interested in getting from NRA, I'd recommend that course of action.

Thrill
03-10-2011, 09:04 PM
Thanks, caleb! Will do.


Thrill, if you want to get the political emails from the NRA, you need to subscribe to the NRA-ILA alerts. Go to the NRA-ILA Action Center (http://www.nraila.org/ActionCenter/), hit the "email signup" link and you'll get the important political action messages. If that's what you're interested in getting from NRA, I'd recommend that course of action.