Apologies this isn't personal but I am going to be fairly blunt here
Self loading ban - support from NRA non existant. Quoted something similar to ' we don't need these type of rifles for target shooting.
'
25 years ago - get over it. Its not like that now
Pistol ban - support from NRA non existant.
15 years ago - get over it. Its not like that now
Evert target shooting club in the country contributes to the coffers of the NRA whether they like it or not. What exactly does the NRA do for them, where are the courses and support offered for clubs in Scotland, North England etc? How come BASC and the others actively attend club meetings up and down the country, offer firearms awareness events and courses for those interested (including juniors) ...... essentially how come they can be bothered to get off their arse and serve the needs of the many shooters who don't live on their headquarters doorstep?
See my other post in NRA staff - you want something then ask and we will do our best to do it if we aren't already
If it doesn't occur or can't be offered at Bisley, the NRA just isn't interested.
Not true
The NRA could be the largest, most powerful shooting organisation. Even the government would take them seriously. All they have to do is get off their arses.
Some of us do get off our arses but whether government would take us seriously is another matter - some of them do but not enough
I have said before we did NOT bury our heads - things were going on at the NRA all through the incident. Nothing to do with what type of firearm was used. As usual we agreed that one organisation would speak for all of us.
I have said before we did NOT bury our heads - things were going on at the NRA all through the incident. Nothing to do with what type of firearm was used. As usual we agreed that one organisation would speak for all of us.
Why don't people believe that? It is the truth!
Love
Karen
Thanks - then you need to find someone at the NRA with a bigger pair of boots than BASC - I appreciate you agreed to be one voice - but that voice needs to become the NRA at the front and not one of the others. That is why we ask these questions (Sorry if they are repetitive) as it is not the NRA name that is being associated with the press releases - the press releases/interviews did not mention it being a collaborative release, they just mention BASC.
It really needs to be the NRA name that is banded about and at the top of the list - as has been said the NRA can be a force to be reckoned with and be the "protector" and future of our sport.
BASC has about 130k more members than the NRA at present - about 95% of whom are shooters, whilst not "target/sport" shooters, they are still shooters. A high proportion of them will also shoot clays (As well as game) and as significant number will be FAC holders - you need to make yourself (THE NRA NOT YOU!) attractive to this market too.
I believe the NRA did let it go. Which was a strategic mistake as well as a tactical one.
Pistol ban
The NRA did a serious assessment. The day it happened I took an early lunch and wandered into the TV room at RAF St Mawgan with my sandwich. I saw the news and thought "there goes my sport". Two consequences:
First, I would not blame any of the NGBs in that situation from concluding that pistols were down the s*****r and the only rational thing was to try to ensure the survival of something. My personal response was to look up the regulations for transfer to the RAAF, RCAF or RNZAF.
Second, the NRA decided, whether right or wrong, to do the quiet diplomacy behind the scenes and in the background support others as the lead presentational organisation. Remember that shooting has always been criticised for having a fractured approach. Just once, we all allowed one organisation to lead on the PR front (and we all chose the biggest one with the biggest professional staff). I do not know, and neither do you, whether that was right or wrong. But I submit that it was not unreasonable.
Back to finances.
There are about 800 000 Certificate holders in the UK. Most are SGC holders. Of the somewhat less than 200 000 FAC holders, most use their guns to kill vermin or tasty animals. Target shooters (the NRAs core business) are in a minority. The Government has created a structure for target shooters that means that they get the essential services (licensing and insurance) from their primary club. Unless you live within striking range of Bisley, it is a geographical fact that you are unlikely to use the NRA as your primary club. So legislation takes the distant members away from the NRA. My estimate is that about 15% of target shooters are individual NRA members. Of the remaining 85%, about 35% are members of affiliated clubs. The rest are smallbore shooters who associate with the NSRA if anyone. Its a small pool, with limited bait. It is not the case that the NRA can attract the entire firearms community in the UK as if it was the NRA of America.
So the concept that we can magic up tens of thousands of members by being better / more campaigning / more anything is, I fear, fantasy. We can carry on quietly improving our image. Today I dealt with the search for two guns on behalf of the widow of a longstanding member, advised a member whose doctor will not support his FAC renewal on how to exploit the Firearms Acts to continue in the sport, and started the legal sequence to support a member who had his guns confiscated in a manner that did not adhere entirely to due process. All of that comes free at point of use to the members. And while the NRA is employing me at a great deal less than I think I am worth (which I accept because I love the sport and I love Bisley), they still have to pay me a moderate salary, and the money for that, and all the costs of employing me, has to come from profits somewhere. And the same applies to everyone else delivering.
Karen
"Get over it," you say and "We're not like that now."
Why the bloody hell should i get over it. I paid my subscriptions, foolishly believing the promise that the NRA would represent my sport and they not onlt failed, they actively stabbed us in the back! Yet one of the many examples of the NRA staff considering the organisation an elite club solely for those using target rifles at Bisley.
I'll 'get over it,' when you reimburse the many years' subscriptions forced from myself and the many other ex-pistol shooters.
I complain about the lack of training courses and support offered outwith Bisley and you reply that i only have to ask. What the hell do you think we have been doing? I challenge you to offer the same service outwith Bisley that even a small organisation like the BDS does. How can they have a national training manager and supporting training staff who actively visits all areas of the UK and offer courses, both free and charged?
Why must we push and complain for services that the smaller organisations actively offer pro-actively?
You respond with a glib, 'Not true,' when i accuse the NRA of being disinterested of shooters and shooting sports outwith Bisley, but where is the evidence? Time and again you are left standing by the other organisation. Speaking from one voice - what a joke! Did the Countryside Alliance, BASC, Scottish Gamekeepers and the BDS speak from only one voice after the murders in Cumbria? No they bloody didn't!
You approach the government from an almost apologetic stance and are either ignored or seen as an inconvenience at best. We fund you, without us Bisley would just be another housing estate and you'd actually have to work in a competitive environment. Start bloody representing us and forget the narrow minded, 'old elite club' attitudes.
If it wasn't for the fact that the government would use the oppertunity to further restrict the sport of the many thousands of law abiding shooters, i'd hope for the NRA to collapse or at least someone competent take charge and gut out the incompetents and small minded jokers that seem to inhabit the organisation. Maybe then a stronger, more aggresive organisation could take up the space created and actually work for us.
