I know this is going to open a can of worms, but what 2A organizations would y’all recommend?
I joined USCCA for personal reasons, but I want to help those who responsibly and effectively defend the 2nd Amendment. I can’t join every 2A group, but I’d like to throw my money (and maybe some time) behind one or two groups that make a difference.
The best IMHO are the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and Gun Owners of America (GOA). I am a member of both and give donations to both on a regular basis.
I left the NRA several years ago after years of membership, and now send my support $ to Gun Owners of America. They are an effective organization w/o the controversy that plagues the NRA. I also support a group fighting for gun rights in my state.
I’m a member of ALL of these groups. NRA, JPFO(Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership), National Association of Gun Rights(NAGR), GOA, 2A Foundation, and of course USCCA. All great groups to belong to or follow.
I am a member of the NRA and GOA
NRA, GOA, and see if your state has a 2A organization. As an example, Virginia has the Virginia Citizens Defense Leauge. They were instrumental in stopping some very bad laws from passing recently.
Gun Owners of America (GOA), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF/2AF), and Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), and any pro-2A group in your state should get the majority of your dollars and attention. I’m a Virginian and the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) was instrumental (with help from GOA and others) in holding off much of the very bad gun control laws we had thrown at us this winter.
I’d also suggest the American Suppressor Association (ASA) as they help educate and push for suppressor laws and by extension NFA laws at national and state levels.
Lots of very valid reasons to throw shade on the NRA, but they are still the lobby group that instills fear in the hearts of anti-gunners, so I throw them a bone here and there
For me it is USCCA, NRA, ISRA (IL State Rifle Assoc.), and GOA.
Thank-you everyone for your answers.
The NRA question is interesting to me. I’m not involved with the politics of the organization, so I’m not sure what all the issues have been in recent years that drove so many people away from them. I’ve never been an NRA member, but it seems as though they’re still the largest pro-2A organization out there, and size does matter when it comes to politics. I’m neither promoting nor dismissing the NRA, I’m just a little curious why they’re so controversial among fellow 2A supporters.
They had some issues with Russia which don’t bother me too much, because everyone at this point from Trump to Hillary to Bernie has had russian involvement to some degree.
More importantly though, was them thoroughly wasting money from their membership. Millions spent on lavish hotels, travel, clothing, wining and dining, money going to board members for pretty much zero return. At the same time as they spend money like it’s going out of style, they are not spending money on lobbying, commercials/ads, campaigns for pro-2A candidates, etc.
In their home state of Virginia (my state) the NRA was outspent 5X by Everytown for Gun Safety alone during the last election cycle where DNC candidates basically bought the state house. NRA spent a little over $350k and Everytown spent over $1.5M, and thats not even including other anti-gun PACs that threw money into Virginia. I would much rather they spent money on campaign ads than a few more suits for Wayne LaPierre.
But we are in agreement, they are the largest pro-2A group, and they are the ones that anti-gunners keep pointing at during their campaign speeches. They are the ones that instill fear in anti-gun groups.
I support the NRA because they support me as an instructor. They have a lot of training guides as well. They also support Junior Shooting which is a passion of mine. I have an air rifle range in my basement for my daughter.
It’s very important to remember that the NRA does a lot for training, people just don’t see it. They support gun ranges around the USA. https://explore.nra.org/
The Friends of NRA group I support locally. They give back to our Junior program and we end up spending very little out of our 4K junior budget due to the donations from them. We submit a grant every year to NRA and Friends of NRA and are never disappointed.
GOA and NYSFA, a NY group.
Firearms Policy Coalition
Gun Owners of America
National African American Gun Association
Grassroots NC
The reason you hear about NRA issues so often is because they are the big 2A org . Their size and long history make them targets for every anti-2A group out there. If you forget about what you hear about them for a minute and look around at the real work they have done when it comes to safety training and education that alone makes the argument to become a member. If you can’t tune out the MSM complaints about the NRA think about what other 2A group has Trump spoke at? What other 2A group has the political ground game that the NRA has?