I have been a member of the NRA during much of the period he discusses, and my father was a member before me. I remember reading the American Rifleman before 1968.
Winkler is simply wrong. The NRA woke up in 1968, not 1977. There was a plan to subvert the orgnization away from protecting the Second Amendment, a task it took up in the late 1960's. That plan was extinguished by the "revolt in Cincinnati" in 1977, where the voting membership took control of the organization and put in place reforms to insure that the membership had a voice.
Mr. Winkler makes much of the fact that the NRA was not concerned with gun control legislation until the late 1960's. That is true, primarily because, except for the National Firearms act of 1932 (tepidly supported by the NRA, though Elmer Keith lead a revolt of members that prevented pistols from being classed with machine guns), there was almost no national gun control.
People could buy anti-aircraft and anti-tank cannon through the mail, with ammunition.
It wasn't until 1968 that the progressives were able to harness their growing power in the MSM to push through another major infringment of the Second Amendment.
That woke up the NRA membership, which pushed the leadership into defending the Constitutional right.
the real tragedy is that they think new gun control laws would prevent this stuff
A San Fernasco metrosexual telling US about the history of the NRA. ROTFL!!!
double barf, except - it’s so fun to read the tone of bitterness throughout - and know that most thinking people see right through it
I wonder what will cause more deaths in America this year:
a). Innocent people from mass murder
b). Pillow biters from AIDS
That is as far as I chose to read.
Whatever the good intentions, I reject unconditionally that a fundamental Constitutional right can be cancelled based entirely on (ignorant) opinion.
I have neither the time nor the inclination to educate the morons about history, culture, the social contract and human nature.
HELL NO!!
Left-speak for "The majority was able to vote out the out of touch leadership using the democratic rules of the organization".
It’s not about the NRA; it’s about the Constitution and liberty.
Listening to all of the liberals, progressives and whatever, yelling and screaming like the NRA is the equivalent of Pol Pot and we don’t need this or we don’t need that in relation to our choice of weapons, something came to mind.
Isn’t it a crying shame the NRA exists only to protect that inconvenient little thing called the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Very good recap of little known history.
Good synopsis, thank you.
The collectivists like to believe that opposition to gun control stems from an evil special interest group, when in fact it stems from an overwhelming majority of American citizens.
The Norwegian State’s Communist broadcaster (one of the only two in the game, the other one is the Party broadcast), was seriously bitter that the assault on the US 2nd amendment had failed.
Expect more from Norwegian labor.
Karl Frederick, who Winkler is so effusive about was a classic upper class insider. Here is a short biography:
Besides his competitive accomplishments at the 1920 Olympics, Karl Frederick captained the U.S. Olympic shooting team in 1948. He later became president of the National Rifle Association and a vice-president of the U.S. Revolver Association. Frederick attended Princeton, graduating in 1903, and then entered Harvard Law School, from which he earned an LL.B. in 1908. He made his career as a practicing lawyer in New York City for many years. He was also active in environmental causes, serving as chairman and president of the New York State Conservation Council and as a senior board member and Vice-Chairman of the executive committee of the American Forestry Association.
He was one of those people who believed the masses should have some liberty just not to much. The NRA was for a long time the preserve of TR types that were concerned about the decay of marksmanship skills as one of a number of issues that NE upper class WASP statists worried over in the late 19th century. The people should be encouraged to learn how to shoot so they could be used to fill the militia to defend the country or suppress hoe grown revolution, not that the 2nd Amendment was what it is, an expansive grant of liberty which is only in part to enable the state to defend itself against invaders but also that the states could defend themselves against aggression from the national government and the people could defend their liberties against any government state or federal that infringed them. TR was contemptuous of the wide grant of liberties the Constitution bestoyed and he and people like Fredericks and Pinchot felt the people had to be led from above by their social betters and a class of experts and the masses shouldn't presume to have to much freedom as they were incapable of exercising the control necessary to keep liberty from turning into license and anarchy.
The NRA today is a 2nd Amendment oriented organization sort of. It is to much a part of the Beltway culture and is to wiling to compromise with the permanent bureaucracy on gun rights issues. The NRA should have moved to Colorado or somewhere west of the 100th Meridian as was once proposed.
Today the President of the NRA is , and I don't know how the insiders pulled it off, the squishy so called conservative David Keene the long time head of the ACA. The ACA declined steadily into irrelevancy under Keene and the good thing about his NRA tenure is that NRA presidents generally don't serve multiple terms any more. Keene is a pleasant and intelligent man who lacks any sort of combativeness and I never heard of him having any particular 2nd Amendment interest prior to his candidacy. Further their are strong rumors that Keene is a not so well closeted gay. That makes him a typical inside the beltway bent personality who can be guaranteed to fold at a critical moment.
If gun rights are important to you belong to the NRA but join Gun Owner's of America. They are the real deal.
When the mental hospitals come back, the tragedies like we just experienced will decrease. Until then, we live with it. Thank you NRA for championing the 2nd Amendment. The 2nd Amendment had nothing to do with Aurora, Co. Not confining persons who endanger society is the problem.
“The NRA was founded after the Civil War by two Union soldiers - one of whom was a reporter for a newspaper known today for its opposition to gun rights, the New York Times..”
I see that the author neglected the fact that it was General Ambrose E. Burnside that founded the NRA.
adam winkler is some sodomites “brown eyed girl”.
LLS