I just read quite a bit of the Olofson thread on AR-15 and someone brought up a very good point. GOA is helping Olofson with appeal. Where is the NRA in all this? This is a HUGE case about gun rights. Where are they?
That is odd, considering the ONLY cases the NRA is ever involved with are high-profile cases...where they get to pat themselves on the back in public.
Yep, the NRA is a dastardly outfit. Without the NRA you could not own a BB gun in this country. The NRA has to pick its fights very carefully and this is one that will probably be lost. Only about 10 percent of NRA members ever contribute to the PVF or the ILA. Then we have all those folks who do not belong to the NRA complaining while they get their free ride. God Bless our Troops
They might gain more popularity and funds if they broadened their appeals for donations to other than their contributing members. They might even increase their member base significantly by helping those members that request their help in local anti-gun battles instead of limiting their involvement to strictly national headline-grabbing issues. If my dues don't fund any local efforts which affect me and members in my area, we might as well hire local attorneys - which, by the way, is what the NRA suggests when you call the ILA for help! It's nice to fight the big war, but it's the victories in the many small battles that eventually win that war - something the NRA and some of it's members don't seem to get...
I lost more freedoms during the years 2001-1007 than the other 63 years altogether. I will do my write-in vote and will not complain. God Bless Our Troops
The NRA is about politics, not justice. Most folks, particularly in urban settings, think only crazy nuts would want to own an AR-15. It may be difficult for any group to spin an AR owner in a good light for the general, vast population of sheep out there. The NRA would have a particularly difficult time of it, seeing as so many people look down on it as a lobby group that defends "gun-toting criminals and violent crime". Even if the AR had been operating correctly and the NRA proved the BATFE had tampered with it, people would still look at Olofson as a dangerous freak for wanting to own an AR in the first place, and would hold the NRA in even lower regard. Personal experiences at the range many, many times have had older guys with their hunting rifles tell me I can't shoot there with my AR (that's wrong), that an AR is a good-for-nothing firearm, that I'm crazy to own one, etc. One guy threatened to call the cops because "they're illegal". (I offered to let him use my cell phone.) All these guys had NRA stickers on the backs of their trucks. Perception is a hard nut to crack. And evidently, principles are very difficult for many people to stick to.
Hey, if I could find some public land anywhere near me, I'd use it in a heartbeat rather than pay to use that range anymore. (It's a private range, by the way, that costs a $150/year to belong to.) But the D.E.C. down near me can't give me an answer where I can shoot legally and without getting harassed by cops.
That's a lot to pay for range time! Pick up a free hunting syllabus at WalMart or wherever hunting licenses are sold. They list the public lands open to hunting, trapping, and shooting (multiple use state land) Do you have any friends with land that would let you shoot on their property? I extend invitations to several people every year, but up here most people have land or have customers that give them permission to use their land. For the last 20 years I've been lucky enough to buy relatively cheap land to build and to hunt/shoot on. Before that I used to visit farmers in the area and offer to reduce the woodchuck population (the 4 legged kind). Most farmers were very open to that due to the damage to fields, tractors, and cows that woodchuck burrows cause.
Must be a geographical thing. Here in Texas it's rare to find someone at a public range not shooting an AR. Last time I went out of 6 on the rifle range, 3 were shooting AR variants.
Did you at least call him Elmer Fudd to his face? It's the Zumbos of this world that will helpfully send us down the river.
? We have a state owned range about 8 miles away. A game warden told me once that you needed a hunting license to use it. Does not seem to be true now? But you may only load one shell at a time. And they have fined people for it. So takes the fun out of an Ar. I bring either a bolt action or a Contender. Also strict hours for the neighbors. We also have a $1 fee where they pay land owners to list their places so you can hunt. I never used it but I read it was limited how many hunters can be their at the same time. Bob.
