The National Rifle Association is a long-standing organization that seeks to represent the opinions and ideals of gun owners while protecting the rights given to us as citizens under the Second Amendment. They influence politics and legislation around guns and gun ownership unlike any other organization, both pro-gun and pro-control. They also provide many different forms of outreach such as gun safety classes and information regarding such, including online materials and training on how to be a certified firearms instructor. They are credited as being one of the largest organizations to push widespread safety awareness and training from new to experienced shooters.
While they have been influential in maintaining our rights — to bear arms and how we choose to arm ourselves — they are not without criticism. Many have seen them as a gargantuan affront to “common sense” firearms regulations that could restrict certain types of weapons or buyers from the market. Some see them as profiteers of gun-related deaths and violence, only representing a portion of gun owners but stifle any conversation stating that fact.
However, many pro-gun individuals recognize their pitfalls as well, and recognize that the NRA isn’t the perfect gun-rights-oriented organization that it claims to be. While its cause is important to defend, many feel that the NRA either provides a poor public image and — most importantly — a lack of an offensive strategy to restore gun rights where they have been restricted. Other organizations have stepped in to represent what they won’t, and are beginning to gain more recognition as the NRA’s esteem drops.
While it is understandable that pandering to certain minority groups could make their more conservative base somewhat uncomfortable, the lack of focus regarding minorities is somewhat off-putting. There are large contingencies of people of
