NRA Telemarketing Scam - March 1, 2004

[Shooter 2.5]

1. Gun Owners of America: $4,130,000*
2. National Rifle Association: $1,150,000**
3. Citizens Committee to Keep and Bear Arms: $1,020,759
4. National Shooting Sports Foundation: $200,000
5. NRA - Insititute for Legislative Action: $80,000**
6. Safari Club International: $40,000
7. Fifty Caliber Shooters Poicy Institute: $20,000

*GOA spends the most on lobbying; but spreads the wealth over their 5 in-house lobbyists. NRA and NRA-ILA combined hired 35 lobbyists and 6 different firms, spending $490,000 on their in-house lobbyists. CCRKBA spent all their money on a single full-time in-house lobbyist.

[El Gato]

There is absolutely NO evidence, that the above statement is not 100% correct, yet Mini14, feels the need to add "telemarketer alleged". Mini14 also offers NO evidence, nor any further discussion as to why he disputes this statement.

The fact that you can buy it on Amazon would seem to be prima facia evidence that it has not been "blacklisted by booksellers" You can also get it on Barnes and Nobel, thebookserve.com, in addition to Amazon and A bunch of other places

[RogueIsland]

Huh, I got that video too. Never watched it. I don't know if they've been hitting me up for money for it. I'm a life member and never open their mail anymore because it's always a fund raising letter. I donate when I feel like it by calling them up directly.

[Salo]

I've gotten a call like that recently from them, and one asking me to email them every time I see a negative story about firearms in the press. I told them to put me on a do-not-call list and haven't been bothered since. Pissing off members is a bad long-term strategy.

[Squantos]

Thanks for the info Shooter ......... Stay Safe !!

[Doohickey]

You're wasting your time with FairOpinion, FRiend.

[Shooter 2.5]

Those are interesting numbers the GOA and the Citizen's Committee have.
Personally, I don't care what they do with their cash. As long as they get the job done with results. I'm really happy for Missouri and I can't wait for New Hampshire to change to a no license required Green state. Next up, Kansas and Nebraska.

[FairOpinion]

Of course there is no "official black list", but I found that frequently book stores don't like to carry conservative books, and if they carry them, they put them somewhere way in the back on some shelf, to make it hard to find.

I remember something about O'Reilly's book at the very beginning that someone went to several stores and nobody had it.

[B4Ranch]

Trust, but VERIFY. That's what Mini did and you are jumping on him for it!

I'm the guy who doesn't trust the NRA, jump on me.

[Squantos]

I think when an industry is charged to fix roads then they survive on the potholes. Trust is not an option with regards to liberty. It must have checks and balances. If my questions is one of those checks then so be it......

Hope yer Well Friend......Stay Safe !

[FreePaul]

A scam is someone asking for a $45.00 donation for a $19.57 book which may be donated to a library. If the telephone exchange was accurately described this may be closer to fraud than scam. Unless there is something very unusual about this scam the telemarketer is going to get most of the money "donated" to whatever cause. If an organization lends themselves to this kind of operation then they are part of the scam. My first thought would have been that this was not connected to the NRA and I would have called them to find out. If they were involved I would have told them what I thought of their scam.

Before we started monitoring our calls we were regularly solicited by telemarketers representing police agencies, alleged charitible organizations and others. These were scams where the telemarketer kept ninety percent or more of the gross revenue. In some cases the agency lending their name to these scams got nothing.

[edwords]

Yeah, well, one of my definitions of a scam is receiving an unsolicited video and then letters demanding payment. I belong to numerous trade groups, hobby groups and so on, but the NRA is the only one to pull a stunt like that on me. Shame on them for abusing members who simply want their voices heard on an important issue.

[B4Ranch]

Pissing off members is a bad long-term strategy.

What makes you think they are concerned with long term? What would it take for the President to issue a national security order that all longarms shall be confiscated immediately. A simple treaty with the UN and Bingo, it's done.

[Inyo-Mono]

"...I found that frequently book stores don't like to carry conservative books, and if they carry them, they put them somewhere way in the back on some shelf, to make it hard to find."

How true. I live in a small town with only one little book store, so first thing I do when I go out of town is hit the big book stores. When I was in Sacramento last year I went into a Barnes & Noble store and asked the clerk where his books on guns where located. He looked at me like I'd just urinated on the carpet and said "Guns? We don't have any books on guns!"