This not so humble blogger got a surprising shock last night at a meeting of a local unit of the National Rifle Association, an organization in which I am and have long been a life member.
I was suggesting that despite its successes elsewhere the NRA over the years has failed in its efforts to prevent the erosion of our gun rights in California*, and intended to initiate a discussion of alternate strategies that might be more successful. This made me a persona non grata at the organization's West Contra County Member Council. Before I was able to get to any details of possible alternative strategies, I was directed to be silent and invited, quite forcefully, to leave the meeting.
While I may have been overly blunt, direct, and forceful, and insufficiently circumspect, deferential, and delicate, it is clear that notwithstanding its professed dedication to the Second Amendment the NRA, at least at the level of this members council unit, has a very limited appreciation and view of the first one -- it is intolerant of, and ready to suppress any expressions of criticism and dissenting views.
It appears that the folks running the NRA show at this unit's level prefer maintaining tight control over a small** unsuccessful organization to even considering cooperation with other liberty loving people in collaborative efforts over which they would have less sway but that might succeed in the essential political arena.
Notes:
* Other states in which the NRA has been unable to protect individual firearms rights include New York, Illinois, and Hawaii.
** Embarrassingly, the meeting, in a large venue, had fewer than two dozen attendees and almost all of them were very long-in-the-tooth to say the least.
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