I have had my first and only rifle for about 6 weeks now (an AR-15) and have been curious about the NRA.  

Now I have read their website and looked at the member benefits, including insurance on my rifle and rental car discounts, but is it just me or does it seem like I am paying the membership fee just so I can get a magazine subscription and a bumper sticker?

I also heard that the NRA really pulls for hunters mostly, and owners of ARs and AKs really don't get much support.  If it isn't a flintlock, Heston doesn't want in his cold dead hands does he?

Now, on the intangibles, I know the NRA is one of if not the most powerful political organization in this country but the NRA's website alone hasn't convinced me.  I would like to be a part of such a community of gun-owners but have also read some stuff on how the NRA has compromised on issues at times.

Any actual members out there who can tell me what the REAL benefits are of the NRA, I would greatly appreciate it.

Any non-members who considered the NRA and decided against it can tell me their reasons why, I would appreciated that as well.

Quite frankly, I really don't know much about the NRA, and would like to start learning here.[>:/]

You get lots of mail; requests for donations, offers of junk for sale. Maybe even a few phone calls. Kind of irritating actually.

Primarily, I appreciate having a spokesman for gun issues before Congress.  Joining the NRA and paying dues provides them with the clout to get their attention.  It's unfortunate - but that is how our political system currently operates.

But, they also put out a good magazine every month as well.

A lot of spam and not a peep out of them in regards to unconstitutional SUR bans.

You will most definitely get enough junk mail to aggravate you.

NRA is more inclined to compromise.  They think in 'Realpolitik' terms.

Gun Owners of America (www.gunowners.org)is more of a no-compromise organization.  Check their site.

The magazine and bumper stickers are not the reason to join, you are correct when you say they are the most powerful lobbyist in the country. They are the 600 pound gorilla on Capitol Hill and that alone is reason enough to join. They also promote safe shooting programs for our children which is another good reason to join. The NRA is the biggest defender of our 2nd amendment rights. Do yourself a favor and join up.

I agree on the mail part, just throw it away if your not interested. GOA is an excellent organization, however, they don't have the political muscle that NRA has. The NRA is the only reason we have the freedoms we have concerning gun rights. If it wasn't for them the 2nd Amendment would of been history long ago.
Just my .02

If you own a pretty, inoffensive yet ridiculously expensive duck gun, you'll get a shitload of spam and their full backing of your right to own it. If you own EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL black rifles, you'll get the aforementioned shitload of spam, AND you'll get deafening silence next time a ban gets up for a vote.
Up to you if the 35 bones is worth it.
Pit

Well, you get to keep your AR.

Just think who is going to speak for you when you are up against adversaries such as Sens. Chuck Schumer, Diane Fienstein, Hillary Clinton and their ilk who have swore to take away for AR? Your itty-bitty lone voice would be like trying to put out a Calif. forest fire with a garden hose. All of the solicitation letters and requests for phone calls are part of the game. I know a lot of us don't like to get involved in "politics," but it comes with the territory. Of course if you wait until you are personally affected, i.e. they pass a law regulating your AR etc; then you are screwed, because all the talk is over and all that is left is to comply.

The NRA is not perfect but they are BETTER THAN NOTHING.

Do like I, and many other do, join other groups as well.

I have a membership with the [url=http://www.jpfo.org]JPFO[/url] and will eventually get one with the [url=http://www.gunowners.org/]GOA[/url]

The more voices on our side, the better - even the not so perfect one.

Think of the alternative!

Geez, some people are easily annoyed.  If you don't want to read the mail and donate...[b]then throw it away[/b].

At the very least, the NRA puts out the [i]best[/i] gun rags in the country.

Not the NRA.
Pit

[size=4]Warning: the NRA won't be able to repeal all gun laws with a single act through Congress. Also, because the NRA is national organization with a national membership, it may not deal in every local matter to your satisfaction[/size=4]

This gets on people's nerves; hence, they send money to organizations who apparently do nothing more than bash the NRA all day long. So be aware!

Let me tell you what I got for my $35 in 2000.  I got Bush for president instead of Gore.

I think the NRA was the reason why Tenn, WVa and Arkansas when for Bush.  Without anyone of those states Gore would have won.  The NRA put a ton of campaign money into those states.

If Gore had won no telling what kind of anti gun laws would have been passed by now.

Money well spent as far as I'm concerned.  I get to enjoy my black rifles for a few more years.

Well I am a life member of the NRA, LEAA and now a life member of the GOA.  I was planning on going to frontsight this fall for two days ($500).  GOA has the special if you become a life member you get a free two day course both for $500.  How can you lose on that deal?

As for all the junk mail from the NRA.  Well I have just learned to live with it and send them a few bucks every year.  I also buy a 1 year membership for someone at X-mas time.

So does Chuck, Diane, and Hillary speak for you?

I like the other gun rights groups GOA, JFPO etc also, but these groups are not even on the radar screens of the antis. When the antis are not railing against the NRA, that means they are not doing their job.

Ummm, no, they don't. And unfortunately, neither will the NRA. I am a member, but I am sorely disappointed in the NRA and it's disdain for black rifles.
Does the NRA have a function? Yes.
Am I a member? For now, yes.
DO THEY SPEAK FOR ME? Unfortunately, too many times, no.
And if you own black rifles, they don't speak for you, either. But they should.
JMO, YMMV.
Happy Shooting!
Pit

It amounts to a little more than that; I am still irritated from a recent incident that involved a phone call. And I [b]DO[/b] donate, probably more than most. But I can just say screw it and buy some ammo instead if you mess with me; and so I did. Maybe next year NRA.

I'll still say everyone should be a member.[rolleyes]

[b][i]National Rifle Association[/i][/b]

Has a nice ring to it, especially at election time.
Even better when the chips are down.
Membership is worth it.
Once you send in your bucks and start to get the magazine, read it and see how much the NRA is involved in.  You may appreciate the fact that YOUR membership helps all of us fight the good fight.  It'll make you proud.  
I'm proud.

Then, you'll see some liberal dickhead driving around in his Volvo full of kids with a sticker on his bumper that says: SHAME ON THE NRA!!!

That will probably piss you off, like it does me.
I looked at the car described above and mouthed through the window, "SHAME ON [i]YOU[/i] ", and drove off with my NRA sticker shining in the rear window glass.
Car full of ignorant kids, thanks to Mom & Dad who don't educate them.

I'm proud.
And, I educate my kids.
They'll be proud, too! [;D]

edited to say: CONGRATULATIONS on your first rifle!!!

The fight to preserve our Second Amendment and capture the hearts and minds of the undecided and timid American public goes on every day in quiet desperation. The lying socialists portray us as barbaric killers in the movies and media they control, while we write to our newspapers and get the message out to the public any way we can; that guns save lives; millions of lives every year. It is a life-and-death struggle to preserve one of the last remaining freedoms.  There are casualties; real people die.  This is NOT just a polite exchange of opposing political viewpoints.  Like the thousands of women beaten or shot to death by their ex-boyfriends the day after their permit to purchase came through, at the conclusion of the 10-day waiting period. Or like the poor resident of a rough neighborhood who couldn't afford a $500 handgun, gunned down by armed killers after wealthy lawmakers outlawed so-called "Saturday night specials."

Despite the constant and viscious attacks against firearms ownership, you still enjoy the personal freedom and the fun of owning a gun, and you enjoy the peace of mind that comes from ownership of a personal firearm, only because of the hard work and sacrifices of the NRA, and an army of determined NRA patriots. We have paid the cost of freedom, and will gladly continue to bear the cost as long as we live; sleepless nights spent writing an op-ed piece for the local paper; tracking down and calling for hours to reach a local politician; training and serving as a safety instructor to put a positive image before the public; and bearing the sneers and insults of humiliation from ignorant gun-haters when they discover that you participate in the shooting sports.

This is EVERYBODY'S fight, because EVERYBODY who owns a gun today is reaping the benefits and the freedom of gun ownership we have fought for so hard, so long, and won.  Each of us MUST TAKE HIS PART ! Each of us must make a small sacrifice and help pay the cost of freedom.

What has been your cost?  Exactly what contribution or sacrifice have you made to protect and preserve our Constitutionally-protected right to own and use firearms?   The right to keep and bear arms doesn't come free with your birth certificate.  It must be fought for and taken back from those who would steal it from you, every day, in every way.  If you have approached this question from a somewhat detached, "What-can-you-do-for-me," and philosophical point of view, as I suspect you have, it is time for you to put away your bargain hunter's club card, roll up your sleeves, grab hold, and PULL YOUR OWN WEIGHT! ! !

This seems to be a perfect example of what Jack Kennedy was talking about when he said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, as what you can do for your country."

Speaking as a life member and certificd handgun safety and personal protection instructor, this is the best reason I can think of to join the NRA.  But there are many more just as good. Like the fact that if you didn't have a powerful, fear-inspiring, ass-kicking, name-taking organization like the NRA working for you in Washington, you wouldn't be able to buy an underpowered slingshot OK'ed personally by the BATF, in the whole United States.

-Beldar
(Derek V. Pierson)