Tag Archives: nra

Open Letter to the NRA

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An Open Letter to the NRA from Member #217380171

10/13/16

Dear Wayne LaPierre and all at the National Rifle Association,

As a socialist, I may not fit the stereotypical gun owner stereotype, yet you might be surprised how many armed Americans reject right-wing politics. In fact, long before the NRA entered its modern incarnation, it was leftists who proudly defended the 2nd Amendment as applicable to all citizens, no matter their race, identity or gender.

While representing a minority within the NRA, I am still among many members appalled by your endorsement of Donald Trump for president. The man is an obvious opportunist, with no clear lifelong commitments other than his own personal gain. An individual who has repeatedly demonstrated sheer incompetence for public office, degraded nearly every vulnerable section of American society, and, as recently revealed, even bragged about using his fame as a tool for committing sexual assault.

I’m sure the rational went something like this:

Best case scenario, Trump wins and remembers NRA voters fondly, at least until his stance on gun control changes again. The worst? Surely something along the lines of current developments. A campaign flailing wildly against scandals smearing it bow to stern. Personal behavior so shamefully conducted that a politician as widely reviled as Hillary Clinton can leap ahead in the polls and appear ethical by comparison.

Therefore:

I demand the NRA retract its endorsement of Donald Trump and issue a strongly worded condemnation against his racism and misogyny.

That endorsement has potential to forever taint the NRA and everyone else who advocates for the basic right of self defense. I am not suggesting an endorsement of Clinton, who I absolutely distain for many reasons, yet maintaining the course in this situation is unacceptable. Missing the opportunity to distance gun politics from such a repugnant figure as Trump would be a huge mistake. This is a simple human decency issue. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Ross Eliot
Portland, Oregon

Cascadia and the NRA

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IMG_2865One of the side benefits to joining the NRA (see my embarrassed confession in a previous weblog post) was the offer of a free duffle bag. Who doesn’t need a way to carry more stuff around? At any rate, it showed up the other day, a cute mini-duffel that looks like it might make a decent range bag or handle enough gear for an overnight. The only glaring problem was its logo. This leftist certainly wasn’t going to be caught with N-R-A in giant white letters on his luggage! The only question was, which patch to sew over it?

I’d recently gotten some Cascadia liberation patches from cascadianow.org and selected one for cover up duty. It wasn’t hard to choose. I used the rainbow gay pride version of the classic tri-color, superimposed with a Douglas fir tree. One could hardly imagine a better counter against socially regressive messages from the NRA. However, it’s not as oppositional as some suppose.

IMG_2866A major intellectual thinker behind the modern Cascadian successionist movement was the writer Ernest Callenbach (1929-2012). In 1975, this Berkely professor published a book called Ecotopia, concerning his vision for the Pacific Northwest breaking away from the US and forming an independent nation. As the title suggests, this new country focused on bringing ecological balance back to the bio-region, with a great deal of economic equality and various other progressive values as well.

However, Callenbach didn’t buy into, what at the time, was a relatively new crusade among liberals, that of gun control. In his imagined society, the military was largely replaced by militia units and citizens were expected to form the bulk of self defense forces. Firearms abounded, but as with the examples of Switzerland, Israel and Canada, greater social equality translated into low interpersonal violence, despite their availability.

Ecotopia

Several years ago, I corresponded with Callenbach in the course of a book review for my old ‘zine AGCR, and questioned him on that front. He explained that he came from rural Pennsylvania and grew up in countryside where everyone had firearms and there was little crime, so for him, it never made sense to blame guns, and carried that idea into his writing.

In the end, I thank the NRA for their bag, but am proud it now represents a much more noble ideal. That the citizens of Cascadia should be free to choose their own destiny, whether it remains part of the greater US or not, with equality and respect for all. Armed or unarmed. Gay or straight. Douglas fir or Pacific red cedar.

Country,Hip-Hop and the NRA Lifestyle

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One feature of the NRA’s regular magazine, America’s First Freedom, is a column called “NRA Country.” It highlights contemporary country music artists who adhere to the so-called, “NRA lifestyle.” No, I didn’t know what that means either. Fortunately, they provide a definition on their internet page. It more or less boils down to being patriotic, respecting the military and, naturally, supporting the 2nd Amendment, while showing background photos of exclusively White people waving flags or engaging in sporting activities. In other words, it portrayed a carefully cherrypicked version of America.

This is no accident. A curious aspects of the NRA is how doggedly it reinforces its own stereotypes. That causes problem for everyone who takes the right to be armed seriously. A hazard often encountered defending gun rights is how enmeshed the 2nd Amendment has become with regressive social politics. Of course, the NRA bears major guilt for this because of their strict party line Republican support and non-firearm related conservative causes.

You might think, when linking themselves to a subject like modern musical acts, the NRA might relax a little bit, but no. Only country music. Well, why not tweak perceptions and include other styles? There are Americans musicians from rockabilly to electronic noise who enjoy shooting. Why not, say, hip-hop?

An obvious reason is that firearms are lyrical staples among gangsta rappers, which in some people’s minds IS hip-hop, and the NRA would dislike association with a sub-group known for celebrating gun use while drug dealing or amidst gang warfare. However, is country music really much better? The artists they feature may be clean cut, but as a genre, country isn’t all ballads about hound dogs and pickup trucks.

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(above) Move along, just karaoke murder music, folks

Take two prominent examples. Even a mainstream singer like Dwight Yoakum wrote a song called “Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room” which approvingly describes stalking an unfaithful lover and shooting her in the head. Then there’s Garth Brooks, whose upbeat song “Papa Loved Mama” tells the story of a truck driver who murders his wife for cheating on him. In NRA country, is it morally worse to kill a person you love or just someone who owes you drug money?

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As far as I can tell, the NRA doesn’t necessarily pick artists who write songs about guns, only those whose image appears consistent with the “NRA lifestyle.” That shouldn’t disqualify rappers. (1) Take, for instance, the Mississippi artist David Banner, who previously put on shows for US troops, (Respecting the Military, CHECK), testified before Congress about controversial subjects in hip-hop music, (Patriotism, CHECK) and is also a gun owner. (2A CHECK!!!)

Banner has been quoted, saying “…I love guns . . . because I don’t plan on doing anything but protecting myself with my gun. My thing is that I don’t want anybody to be able to tell me that I can’t protect myself.” (2) Now, Banner isn’t seeking out endorsements from the US firearms establishment, but there have been other rappers who did.

Back in 1995, a crew called Smif-N-Wessun released their first fill length record to warm reviews and, soon enough, a cease-and-desist letter from the lawyers of firearms manufacturer, Smith and Wesson. Interviewed ten years later, Tekomin Williams, from the group, still sounded bitter.

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“That just let you know, even in this day and time, or that day and time, hip-hop’s still not appreciated in some places. . . If anything, they should have supported us, as many guns as they got floatin’ in the hood or they sellin’ to us. If anything, they should have been our number one sponsor. You know what that could have done for their sales?”

Perhaps a spotlight from the NRA’s magazine might have been just the thing to smooth over their legal dispute. However, we’ll never know, as long as the NRA continues to portray itself as an institution supporting only right wing politics and White music.

 

  1. Colt Ford, a country singer/rapper who the NRA has, in fact, featured, doesn’t count.
  2. Rodrigo Boscunan and Christian Pearce. Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent. Random House Canada, 2007. p. 141.
  3. Ibid. 33.

O2A & the NRA

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Let me get right to the point. I never thought this day would come, but last month I joined the NRA. It’s something I’ve proudly refused to do for years, so my reversal deserves an explanation. Let’s take a deep breath together, this is hard for me too.

You see, opposing the NRA has been my most effective tool in a over decade of pro-2nd Amendment activism, from publishing my old ‘zine American Gun Culture Report, to conducting firearm training among communities not comfortable with mainstream US gun politics. I remember one incident in particular, while tabling for AGCR at an anti-war rally. A middle-aged woman approached, and after scanning my materials, scowled, asking:
“Is this something to do with the NRA?”
I replied: “Absolutely not!”
At this, the woman grinned and proved very receptive, engaging in friendly conversation, despite our differences.

I can’t even count the number of times disowning association with the NRA created an immediate icebreaker, paving ways for calm discussion among groups traditionally considered hostile to pro-gun politics. Why would I want to join a group that, by it’s association with regressive right-wing politics, has sorely tainted the basic human right of self defense?IMG_2498

It really wasn’t their free duffle bag with membership.

The thing is, I’d like to provide a more comprehensive critique of the NRA, especially as dialogue over American gun politics heats up during this election cycle. It’s a lot easier to do if they’re sending a regular magazine to my house. However, I wanted to make sure the NRA understood I wasn’t a typical subscriber, so I wrote OBAMA VOTER on my check in block letters.

If it makes anyone feel better, the same day I renewed both my ACLU and Amnesty International memberships, besides signing up for e-mail updates from the Violence Policy Center and Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. As things get interesting, I want to have all perspectives available. IMG_2499