NRA just isn't what it used to be

I got some mail last week from the National Rifle Association.

They wanted money.

I would have been inclined to donate years ago, when I remembered the NRA as the sponsor of my gun safety classes when I was a kid.

That was when the NRA advocated for the Second Amendment by emphasizing responsible gun ownership and safe shooting.

I apologize for what I am about to say to the NRA members in Quay County, whose guns are for predators who prey on their livestock, for hunting that provides recreation and meat, and for just-in-case, because it can take police a long time to get out to their homes.

Today’s NRA is not the one they have belonged to for generations, the sensible advocate for the right to keep and bear arms.

Last week’s letter was signed by a shameless, self-aggrandizing charlatan, whose name and title made up the second line of the NRA’s letterhead, right at the top of the page, of course.

“Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president.”

He was hysterical.

“I’m not talking about run-of-the-mill gun control,” he spluttered.

Then, in arm-waving, boldface type, he screeched, “I’m talking about armed government agents storming your house, taking your guns, and hauling you off to prison.”

Really, Wayne? I know better and so do you. We’re as close to this scenario as Tucumcari is to Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

Later, in breathless boldface, LaPierre continued, “And make no mistake. If we as free citizens let down our guard for one moment, it will only be a matter of time before we lose our guns and our precious freedoms -- FOREVER.”

Not to mention, as Gen. Jack D. Ripper warned us in “Dr. Strangelove,” that great documentary film, “our precious bodily fluids.”

LaPierre’s scenario ranks right up there with the Zombie Apocalypse in urgency and credibility.

Nobody from the left or right is coming for your guns. Some think access to military-style weapons should be reserved for combat by trained soldiers, but no one plans to take away yours, not that they would object if you chose to give it up on your own,.

The Second Amendment proclaims the necessity of a “well-regulated militia,” not an undisciplined mob with excessive firepower controlled only by individual whim.

Once I got past LaPierre’s blustery self-lampooning, the letter asked for money.

As I stated earlier, at one time I could have been talked into donating, but now I cannot in good conscience give the NRA a penny.

LaPierre has turned the NRA into a QAnon-like, conspiracy-minded cult by appealing not to responsible gun owners, but to fearful, frenzied people itching for a chance to unload a magazine or two into real people who are imagined enemies. They give generously, though.

LaPierre has amply demonstrated in the past that his main concern is maintaining a lifestyle that would make Nero envious. He aims low to live high.

It is past time the Second Amendment’s best-known defenders dump the buffoon LaPierre and make the NRA great again.

Steve Hansen writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

[email protected]