Is New NRA Same as the Old?

The NRA of the past has had its...issues. No one can pretend otherwise, and I don't think anyone has any willingness to.

However, there's been a serious reform effort over the last few years, and with the most recent annual meeting out of the way, some are asking whether the new NRA is really any different in ways beyond the financial mismanagement.

One such voice is Texas Gun Rights, which has...concerns.

At this year’s NRA convention, leadership rolled out a familiar message: the scandals are behind them, the books are cleaned up, and every dollar is now being scrutinized.

After years of revelations about lavish spending, internal corruption, and a collapse in trust under longtime leadership, the pitch was simple:  

Trust us again.

But for many gun owners, the financial scandal was never the real problem.

It was just a symptom.

The Real Problem Was Always the Strategy

For decades, the NRA positioned itself as the dominant voice of gun owners in America. But over time, a pattern became impossible to ignore. 

Instead of drawing hard lines, the NRA negotiated.
Instead of killing bad legislation, it worked to reshape it.
Instead of holding politicians accountable, it often protected them.

That approach didn’t stop gun control.

It made it possible.

Gun registration schemes branded as “background check” systems became permanent fixtures. “Compromise” bills expanded government authority. And politicians who backed those measures continued to receive cover from the very organization gun owners trusted to defend them.

Even when the NRA opposed legislation publicly, the end result was often the same: more regulation. More bureaucracy. Less freedom.

Politicians knew there would never be any real consequences…

Now, I get the concerns, and they're not without cause.

The NRA's approach in the past did include negotiating. However, it was often about measures that were likely to pass anyway, and the NRA was simply trying to water them down to make them suck a bit less.

Not everyone is convinced that was a winning strategy, and there are times I'm quite sure it wasn't, but I get where they were coming from there.

Is the new NRA likely to do the same? Probably.

Like it or not, the NRA didn't position itself as the dominant voice of the pro-gun movement just by pure force of will. They did it by being the proverbial 800-pound gorilla that was bigger than all of the other gorillas, probably combined.

While they've lost some of that luster, they're still a big old ape.

Look, the way I see it, there's room for all approaches. I tend to favor the “no compromise” version, myself, because I don't like letting anyone off the hook for voting for gun control. However, I also see wisdom in knowing the reality of a given time and trying to nerf legislation.

For example, let's talk about those background checks for a moment. I remember that debate. The NRA got us the instant check system when we were looking at a three-day waiting period, and it there was a high likelihood that it was going to happen just like that without the NRA's negotiating.

I don't like it, but there's room for all here.

The NRA's big problem was always the mismanagement under Wayne LaPierre. If they keep having a problem getting members back because that's all they're focused on, they'll adjust. Until then, I think we're looking at enough of a difference to matter to those inclined to be part of the NRA in the first place.

Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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