Obviously coming here we are going to get a shit load of pro gun responses, I would expect nothing less.  My sister in law is going to check this thread over the next 48 hours.  If anyone could give facts, statistics or educated opinions about the NRA, firearms & politics it would be appreciated.  It is for her sociology class, if that matters.  My sister in law is pretty neutral on the gun rights; she is more about gun safety. This might be a good chance to bring another over to our side.  Any tasteful and constructive input is welcome.  Thanks for your help.

Quoted: Obviously coming here we are going to get a shit load of pro gun responses, I would expect nothing less.  My sister in law is going to check this thread over the next 48 hours.  If anyone could give facts, statistics or educated opinions about the NRA, firearms & politics it would be appreciated.  It is for her sociology class, if that matters.  My sister in law is pretty neutral on the gun rights; she is more about gun safety. This might be a good chance to bring another over to our side.  Any tasteful and constructive input is welcome.  Thanks for your help.

that leaves me out......

What area of information is she looking for?  Whether the NRA is effective?  What people think of the NRA?  Why Chicago and NYC and D.C. are so much safer than other cities because of their strong gun control laws?  Why Chuck Schumer should be dipped in Gravy Train and thrown to a pack of starving chihuahuas voted out of office?

My experience with the NRA is that they come in late after local grassroots groups do all the work, then take all the credit when things finish.  That's basically what happened in Washington state with I-676, a handgun licensing initiative that was defeated 71%-29%.  As bad as SAF/CCRKBA is about wasting donated money, they were the ones who really fought off I-676, and they did a great job on it.  People have said the same thing about the current Richmond situation -- local grassroots people were the ones who put attention on the ATF abuses, but then the NRA came along and sent out letters boasting about what a great job the NRA did in bringing it to lawmakers' attention.

So, at this point I am an ex-life-member of the NRA, still on their lists as a member but I haven't donated a dime since I-676.

As far as safety issues, all she has to do is pick up any of the books or studies by anti-gun activists who realized that they were wrong -- John Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime", for example.  Or just read the stories about the elderly women who have fought off attackers thanks to having a handgun;  Bessie Jones or that new one which was posted here repeatedly in the last couple of days.  Here's a link to an article mentioning Mrs. Jones' ordeal:
www.davekopel.com/2A/OpEds/Why_Good_People_Own_Guns.htm

Quoted: If anyone could give facts,

Easily found on DOJ, FBI, NRA web sites & links here.

statistics

See the above.

or educated opinions about the NRA, firearms & politics

Well, I know an armed person is much less inclined to be a victim of robbery (armored cars excepted), rape or murder. All one has to do is have the smallest female in class stand up & the have the largest male stand up & then ask the class to think which one would win a physical fight between the two? Then ask if she had a .39/9mm/.45acp, which one would win???????    

Pretty simple, except for liberals.      

Assigning 'pros' and 'cons' to the NRA (an advocacy group for gun owners) is like assigning 'pros' and 'cons' to the AARP (an advocacy group for senior citizens) - They both represent the interests of their members, and can be expected to act accordingly. There is nothing inherently 'good' or 'bad' about what they do, in spite of what your premise implies.

So, rather than framing the issue in terms of "Is the NRA good or bad?", I might suggest that you instead address the root issue: Is an armed populace good or bad?

This is a very common topic (seems that someone does a research paper on it about every other week!), and there are websites dedicated to exploring it in much greater detail than any impromptu AR15.com thread could ever hope to accomplish. GunCite.com would be a good start.

I think gunfacts.info or something similar used to have a lot of good facts. I did read today about how in Australia, armed robbery went up 300% the first year after making everyone turn in their guns. Gives the Libs something to not think about.

A little late.  Sorry.

If she's still interested in the topic, she should check out this article in Stanford University's magazine about Sandra Froman -

www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2006/marapr/features/froman.html