What is it with the NRA?

[InigoMontoya]

So I'm a long time gun owner and I finally decided that I should join the NRA. I sent them my check and requested the American Rifleman..

That was something like 6 months ago.

I have yet to receive an issue of the AR but now a fair percentage of the mail I receive is junk mail from them wanting additional support in one way or another. Now, I get it that they need money to do all their Good Deeds and such, but the sheer quantity of the bulk mail from them is both mind boggling and annoying as all hell! Maybe if they cut back on their bulk mail bill they'd have plenty of money to fight the good fight? And where is my magazine?

Ugh.

Just a rant, but I suspect I wont' be renewing. With that said, does anybody have a similarly minded but less annoying organization that could use my money without pestering me 3X a week?

 

[Casimer]

I know. They send me so many solicitations to buy life insurance that I'm afraid they're plotting to kill me

 

[Nickel Plated]

Just so you know, the money they get from membership dues and donations does not really go toward fighting the good fight (such as changing laws) as many people assume. It all goes towards funding shooting events and education programs. You need to donate to the NRA-ILA to pay for legal action.

 

[TMackey]

I am in the same boat as the OP.

I am also starting to realize why I let my membership lapse in the mid 90's.

 

[geetarman]

I have been a member and quit so many times. . .

I joined for the last time a few years ago and told them from the get go, that I was not interested in the pleas for money, insurance, credit cards and all the rest and told them that was the reason I had quit before.

They put me on a "do not promote" list. I do not get the barrage of stuff from them.

I am a life member now. . .

Geetarman

 

[Mr Lucky]

It is easy enough to call the NRA about your magazine subscription. There may have been a miscommunication with the publisher.
They know your address though if you are getting mail every other day like the rest of us.

NRA is still a strong lobby in Washington that is much needed.
The NRA-ILA is a worthy cause that does participate in 2A related law suits.

You can opt out of most of the mailings or tell them to send you electronic mail. Then just filter your email if you don't want insurance, credit cards, merchandise, stickers and other junk they solicit.

 

[540mope]

I am also starting to realize why I let my membership lapse in the mid 90's.

that's exactly why my membership lapsed.

i donated whenever i had money to spare...but that only made things worse. their constant hounding for more money, with the same old tiresome message "we need more from you or else all gun rights will disappear overnight" got old fast

 

[WVfishguy]

The wife and I are both life members. We get a lot of junk mail, but SO WHAT? Just toss the junk mail. It won't kill you.

A lot of lifers just get their memberships and never help out again. We give a little every month.

The NRA fights for our gun rights in a way no other organization can or will.

Stop whining, show little appreciation. It's fashionable nowadays to trash the NRA, (it's the Age of the Ingrate) but without it, out lives as shooters would be a lot harder.

Don't bother telling me about the NRA's faults, unless you can show me a gun rights organization which is perfect in every way.

I've had a lot of friends, and NONE of them are perfect. But the NRA is the best friend we shooters have.

 

[Rembrandt]

Amazing how people take the time to complain and grumble on a forum, yet never put out the effort to go directly to the party that can do something about it. Like forum members here can solve these issues?......there are whiners and problem solvers.

 

[TMackey]

Whining about the whining.

ROFL

 

[Wag]

I let mine lapse quite some time ago for the same reasons but I've since been told, as others said in this thread, that you can ask them to stop bugging you and they will.

I'm about to re-up.

--Wag--

 

[357 Python]

The phone number for NRA is 1-800-672-3888 give them a call. If you are not recieving the magazine they really want to know. About 20+ years ago mine stopped all of a sudden. I gave them a call and they sent me the replacements. It turned out the letter carrier like them as much as I did. He is no longer there. BTW I have been a Life Member for more than 25 years.

 

[lamarw]

Sounds like both my college alma maters not to mention the AARP.

 

[jborushko]

nra could save some money and stop sending so many mailers though... use that money to fight or do like the other lobbyists and bribe the senators

 

[Ballenxj]

Listen guys, I know The NRA sends out a lot of ADS & junk mail to try and raise funding to fight the gun grabbers. I get tired of it too.
One thing to remember though President Obama has nominated Andrew Traver to head up the BATF. MR Traver is about as anti second amendment as they get.
The NRA sends out advisories about this type of threat on a regular basis.
Here's a letter they sent me recently;

Click here to vote in this week's poll.

The NRA strongly opposes President Obama’s nomination of Andrew Traver as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). Traver has been deeply aligned with gun control advocates and anti-gun activities. This makes him the wrong choice to lead an enforcement agency that has almost exclusive oversight and control over the firearms industry, its retailers and consumers. Further, an important nomination such as BATFE director should not be made as a “recess appointment,” in order to circumvent consent by the American people through their duly elected U.S. Senators.

Traver served as an advisor to the International Association for Chiefs of Police’s (IACP) “Gun Violence Reduction Project,” a “partnership” with the Joyce Foundation. Both IACP and the Joyce Foundation are names synonymous with promoting a variety of gun control schemes at the federal and state levels. Most of the individuals involved in this project were prominent gun control activists and lobbyists.




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This is just like what happened with people bitching about having Obama for a president, and when I asked them if they voted, a lot of them said NO!
I told them that "they" were part of the problem, and why someone like Obama got in in the first place.
If you guys & Gals can spare it, put your money where your mouths are. Vote with your money.
If they get this on and you didn't pitch in, then guess what I'm going to tell you when you start bitching?
Roll your sleeves up and help fight this thing! Be as proactive as you can.
-Bruce

 

[Tom Servo]

Amazing how people take the time to complain and grumble on a forum, yet never put out the effort to go directly to the party that can do something about it.

Welcome to the internet, where posting "what part of my cold dead hands don't you understand" on a blog counts as speaking truth to power, and sending a similarly-worded comment to a news site constitutes activism.

 

[InigoMontoya]

I truly don't care about the magazine, but I didn't see an option for, "Nah, just use those funds to do good deeds." I just find it.... disheartening to see that their junk mail division latched on like the proverbial flies on fresh bovine droppings while the magazine division hasn't heard of me.

I see in the thread that what I really should have been donating to is the NRA-ILA.... Fair enough. Is there any way to do that without the "other" NRA ever hearing my name again? Call me crazy, but I think THAT level of junk mail should be "opt in," not "opt out."

 

[JohnKSa]

If you don't want the magazine you can opt to get the electronic copy. It saves them the money of printing it and sending it out. If you really want to read the magazine just be aware that the electronic version is definitely not as handy to read as a paper copy.

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[InigoMontoya]

I don't particularly want the electronic version either. Let's just say that I work in an extremely gun friendly environment. A sizeable percentage of my coworkers are former special forces and just about every gun publication that I could ever want to read is sitting in the mens room at the office for me to peruse during my "leisure time."

 

[JohnKSa]

The electronic version doesn't actually "come" to you. If you want it you go to the website and login to access/read it online. If you don't want it you can just pretend you don't have a subscription.