Exactly where does the NRA draw a line?

[shayes51]

Serious question: Just where does the NRA draw the line on personal ownership of arms? Do they think it's okay for people to walk around the mall with assault weapons? Is it okay to take them to sporting events, bars? Would it be fine if people could own their own little atomic bomb? After all, the government has them, and if they throw one my way, should I be able to throw one back at them? And what about people with mental illness? If you've ever been diagnosed with depression, does that disqualify you from gun ownership? Having a national registry of persons with mental illness would not have stopped the shooting at Sandy Hook as the shooter did not buy the gun.

[Turbineguy]

1. Their job is to sell guns.

That's it.

It's not the principle, it's the money.

But then again, maybe it is the principle. The principle of creating terror.

[SWTORFanatic]

3. Winner winner chicken dinner

They don't give a fuck. Whatever helps sell more GUNS and GUN accessories.

Explosives, tanks, jets, etc? They aren't in that business.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. How does the NRA profit from gun sales?

Their books are open and its just not there.

[SWTORFanatic]

6. Are you sure?

The NRA is a 501(c)(4) organization and indicated that the NRA's total income in 2004 was $205,402,491

The report, Blood Money: How the Gun Industry Bankrolls the NRA, reveals that since 2005 contributions from gun industry "corporate partners" to the NRA total between $14.7 million and $38.9 million. Total donations to the NRA from all "corporate partners"--both gun industry and non-gun industry--for the same time period total between $19.8 million and $52.6 million. The vast majority of funds--74 percent--contributed to the NRA from “corporate partners” come from members of the firearms industry: companies involved in the manufacture or sale of firearms or shooting-related products

Now the second paragraph is a report from early 2011. I don't know if the report is stating contributions per year, or contributions from 2005-2010, or what their exact timeframe is. I looked at the report and didn't find that information either. Regardless, based on the first paragraph their direct gun manufacture corporate donors are small compared to their other donors and membership dues - but if those gun manufacturing companies go out of business (and no one takes their place), the NRA loses those donors. The gun industry promotes more gun buying. Many of these new gun owners join the NRA. Their membership dues and donations also bankroll the NRA. Less new gun owners = less new NRA members.

So yes, they do profit from gun sales.

[aandegoons]

7. Of course he knew that.

But not his goal here.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. So your claim is based not based on direct profits

[SWTORFanatic]

9. I never said direct profits.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Certainly inferred it in the your first post

What you should be looking at is the affiliated PACs. That is where the real money is

[SWTORFanatic]

12. No, I did not imply that. If you want to infer that, that's your misunderstanding.

[Chorophyll]

19. I certainly hope the progressive professor is not a professor of English.

[SWTORFanatic]

21. I am actually a math professor. Not sure what the progressive professor teachers but

as a mathematician, I say exactly what I mean.

[Chorophyll]

22. Not sure what he teaches either, but if he doesn't know the difference between "infer" and "imply,"

his students are screwed.

[stultusporcos]

2. It will take the death of one of their own by guns before they even think about changing.

It is just they way they are wired, profits over people.

[Kablooie]

14. One of their own won't matter.

It will take a whole room full of them slaughtered with an assault rifle.
And it would probably have to happen more than once to get them to reconsider their position.

[11 Bravo]

5. They draw the line with chalk ... to outline the bodies of the victims.

I'm a gun owner, and I fucking DESPISE the NRA and virtually everything they stand for.

[Zoeisright]

18. That was my first thought too.

[Tippy]

11. The more guns that are in the hand of consumers/members

The less likely they will be taken away...

[Recursion]

13. AFAIK they don't oppose the 1934 NFA, but do oppose the Hughes amendment

So, roughly, they think in general civilians should not be able to go out and buy machine guns.

Now, that may be a tactical lack of opposition (as in they know there's no way to overturn it in actual politics), but I don't have a window into their souls.

[MurrayDelph]

15. They don't draw lines

they draw concentric circles.

[Empowerer]

16. I have a feeling that if black and brown folk started stockpiling guns, the NRA and its minions

would start to think that some type of gun control is a good idea . . .

[meow2u3]

17. Maybe when one of theirs is mowed down?

[Chorophyll]

20. Doubt it. They're too far gone.

They have too much invested (literally) in the mythology of the gun.