Worries about new anti-gun laws and statutes

[Steve m]

Mods;
Please remove if offensive.

That being said, I am in NC and belong to the NRA and other pro-gun organizations. I am terrified of what is going on at a national level with the amount of states and federal judges ruling against "assault weapon", "high capacity" magazines and military looking firearms. Like most decent people, I am law abiding, pay my taxes, vote and provide for my family. I spent over 20 years serving this great country and I'll be damned if I'm gonna see it go down the toilet. I've seen first hand the results of what governments can do to a population that cannot protect themselves. London for gods sake has banned knives, I have some questions that I could use some common sense answers/insights too.
1. What can I do as a citizen to ensure that my children can still enjoy the same rights that I do? I email and call my representatives and get the standard robot type response.
2. Truly how effective is the NRA at ensuring the above mentioned stuff doesn't get passed, is my money better spend other ways?
3. Is it effective to show up at a meeting like the fine gentlemen did at Greensboro mentioned in other threads?
4. Other than b****ing and whining what else can/should I do?

Thanks

[blues]

Steve, I think we're all in the same boat and experience the same concerns.

Aside from writing to legislators, I've expanded my support beyond the NRA to both the Second Amendment Foundation and Gun Owners Of America. (There are links in my signature line below.)

There are no guarantees but hopefully the current administration will be able to appoint more federal judges (including, hopefully, the Supreme Court) before their term is over.

What we can do beyond that is be good representatives of responsible gun owners and carriers to the general public and keep up the pressure on our elected representatives.

As a fellow NC resident, I'm always concerned that the tide could turn in what has up to now been a reasonably 2nd Amendment supporting state.

[Robinson]

Thanks for your service.

I think a lot of folks, PF members included are rolling around similar thoughts as those you expressed.

1. Don't stop contacting your representatives and senators etc...

2. The NRA has been fighting the fight for a lot of years and has in the past been effective in varying degrees. I think this latest round of anti-gun hysteria is presenting a challenge the NRA is not currently well equipped to fight though, and it needs to update its image, vision, mission statement, methods, and the way it interfaces with the public like right now or it will start to become irrelevant. I mostly like Colion Noir but he's just one man. To me that is a reason to continue to support the NRA and not abandon it. My question is how can we members best effect change in the NRA? I believe there are a lot of people who do not join the pro-2nd Amendment side in the fight because they want to avoid association with the NRA. That is a big problem. There are other organizations worth supporting too.

3. Attending a local meeting may or may not be effective depending on where you live and who's in charge. But if no one shows up to present the other side when a local government plans to enact some bullshit law then they will assume no one objects.

4. I wish I had the answers. I contact my representatives and try hard to never be part of the problem. I don't think it's enough.

[Steve m]

I generally don't trust politicians to do anything but what it takes them to stay in office. Especially in DC or Raleigh.

[Malamute]

London for gods sake has banned knives,

Point of correction, London hasnt banned knives per se, theyve banned carrying knives in public unless its under 3 inch blade and a non-locking folder, or if one has "good reason", such as work related, on the way to work etc. his seems to be misunderstood exactly what has been banned, though they still did not allow one to defend themselves with a knife or much of anything else for the most part previous to the knife ban thing.

https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives

[BCG]

London for gods sake has banned knives

[joshs]

NRA’s power has always come from grassroots participation by members. If you’re interested in doing more to protect our rights, I suggest taking a look at the options on this page and doing any that you can. https://www.nraila.org/grassroots/

At a minimum, I’d recommend signing up for the Grassroots Alert so that you get informed about any legislation that would potentially impact you. There are also a ton of options to volunteer. These range from becoming a Frontlines Volunteer to simply knocking doors or making calls to help pro-gun candidates.

Full disclosure: I’m the Director of Research and Information for NRA-ILA.

[Cookie Monster]

Don’t live in fear or terror. That is the way they win.

Stockpile what you need for the long term, eat steak, and get after it.

[CWM11B]

Keep voting, stay informed, hell, consider running for local office. Point out outside influence in local elections. That is what lost us one of our better governors in my lifetime last election. The governor is anti gun and anti LE. He was a disaster as AG. The current AG would impose a total ban if he could. Encourage like minded folks to move here. Left leaning migration is changing the political demographic significantly. I read an article recently that stated only 40% of NCs population was born here. The lefties are fleeing the hell of their own creation, but rather than be happy with escaping, they seek to recreate what they fled. My folks have been here since the 1600s. Sadly, I am seriously considering leaving. I'm afraid it is going to be just like the north east with a milder winter in ten years

[Cool Breeze]

While I support the NRA, it will only do so much. And if you are going to throw money at it, give it to the NRA-ILA which is actually the law portion of it. Additionally, they only take on or support so many cases and are particular about what they choose to fund.

The democrats are an amazingly organized group. Almost every single liberal organization shares lists and data with one another. The DNC knows if you give money to planned parenthood and planed parenthood knows if you give money to the DNC. State, county, and city parties all coordinate for mailers, etc. This is not necessary true with the GOP. I have been active or know people active on our side in several states and there is so much in-fighting and territorial disputes that makes it extremely hard for GOP candidates in purple districts to edge out dems because it requires more money and more coordination.

If you really want to make a difference, at least in my opinion, you have got to get good people elected and let those that are elected know that they won't get reelected if they vote against you on this issue. The problem is that it is a daunting task once you become part of the process because it is so messed up... The popular term sausage factory comes to mind.

Additionally, you have got to rally your neighbors or those that are like minded. So many people don't vote. You have got to somehow impress upon them why your issue affects them. The amount of people that think they don't need to vote because their vote doesn't matter or they think someone else will take care of it is staggering especially when you look at voter participation numbers.

Politicians only listen when they got something to lose. They only have so much time too. So if you want their attention, you have to speak their language. That means numbers of voters or money. Period.

All of this takes a lot of time. It's exhausting. You will have setbacks. But I honestly think it's the way it has to be done. Hopefully, speeches like that Greensboro one can be a rallying cry for our side. We really need that because dems have their rallying cry and it attracted a lot to march on DC.