Once again, the NRA compromises on gun rights

I have been a Life/Endowment/Patron member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) for some 35 years. My wife also is a life member. We are such because we are firm supporters of the US Constitution and the rights it guarantees. We have the impression that the NRA is the foremost leader in the movement to protect the Constitution.

I enjoyed attending the 2009 NRA Annual Meeting in Phoenix and the 2008 Gun Rights Policy Conference, also in Phoenix. I was especially pleased by the hearty welcome Phoenix and Arizona gave not only to the NRA and its members, but to their guns as well. As expected, that welcome was reciprocated by absolutely no incidents involving the firearms we gun owners brought into Phoenix, its convention center, and other venues.

My wife and I were eagerly looking forward to attending the 2010 Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC, too. But, we have been saddened to learn that the NRA has chosen to hold this meeting in a venue which is hostile to the rights that the NRA stands for!

Also, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has chosen to hold its 2010 Gun Rights Policy Conference in one of the most anti-gun cities in the nation!

In doing so, the NRA and the SAF are asking its most faithful members and supporters to subsidize anti-rights policies and laws with their hard-won earnings.

My wife and I consistently refuse to patronize any business which rejects our right to carry a personal defense firearm. We honor their right to establish their own conditions for being on their property by taking our money elsewhere. So, we have decided we won't attend the 2010 NRA Annual Meeting in Charlotte or the 2010 Gun Rights Policy Conference in San Francisco. This year, we will continue to take our money where we are more welcome and where people show by their acts that they truly cherish our Constitutional rights.

We will reconsider our decision to boycott the 2010 NRA Annual Meeting in Charlotte and the 2010 Gun Rights Policy Conference when the management of each of the venues that will benefit by hosting the NRA Annual Meeting agree to allow lawful carry of a personal protection firearm or if they agree to provide absolute safety for all persons who are disarmed by their anti-rights policies and/or laws.

Yes, we know that the NRA and other gun-rights organizations try to move their meeting/convention venues around to make the meetings more accessible to members and that this inevitably results in venues with a no-guns policy. In the future, we expect the leadership of the NRA, the SAF, and all other gun-rights organizations to use better judgement in selecting venues for all future board, staff, and member meetings. And, whenever faced with an anti-gun policy, they should take advantage of the opportunity to do a little educating!


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