I would like to answer this bon mot you dropped, since you decided to lock the thread for no apparent reason at all after dropping it.
“The mission of the Community is to help educate everyone who is interested in protecting themselves and their loved ones. We’ve always known that the people who are against self-defense will come to the Community and we will have to address them from time to time.”
First off, it’s not an either or proposition. Your company had a public and a private board that was members only. It worked quite well until you discovered Disqus (The company hosting the private board) was selling our email. I agreed with your company shutting it down. It does not mean there is no value in a private board, where members may discuss issues concerning safety and training frankly.
I wanted to respond to this little comment you made. Your companies “mission” should be in providing better service to the people who buy it’s products. Not acting as a gathering place where your members are afraid to answer a legitimate post from other members.
The current environment is not one I feel safe in answering in. So a member may ask a question that I know the answer to but I am not answering now.
I have always stood 100% behind the USCCA and it’s values. Locking a thread with no incivility in it for no other reason than asking for a private board. Seems a bit much.
The thread in question was closed because it went off topic. We do our best to ensure threads stay on topic so that people’s questions can be answered and a respectful discussion can be had.
Point of clarification, the commenting on the Disqus boards (the previous platform we used for blog comments) was not a private community for members only. We did move away from that platform as we wanted to help keep everyone’s private information private.
The mission of the USCCA is to help save lives, this is a quote from our home page of our website:
I know “save lives” might seem a little intense, but let me ask you a question … Have you ever genuinely feared for your life? Have you ever had an experience that you think: “this is it. I might not make it…”
Well if you have, I bet you can say with all certainty that you NEVER want your loved ones to feel that. You want to do everything in your power to make sure the people who are counting on you always feel safe and secure.
That’s what we really do here. The U.S. Concealed Carry Association is about peace of mind.
We want everyone to feel welcome and to be able to ask questions in the Community so they can learn. We know we can learn from people from all backgrounds and all experience levels when there is respectful conversation.
Our Community Guidelines share the rules for the Community to try to ensure a welcoming environment for everyone no matter where they are in their self-defense journey.
And we need everyones help to keep the Community a place where all can ask and answer questions without being attacked or belittled because they don’t know the information or have a different viewpoint.
There is a flagging system for everyone to use if comments are outside of the Community Guidelines.
If you don’t know what someone’s comment means, ask for clarification. If someone is personally attacking you or another, please let the moderators know so we can keep the Community a welcoming place for all.
All that being said, would it be a good idea for everyone here to be USCCA members? I think it would be a great idea. I also beleive that most of us would feel more free to opine if membership was required to be in the Community.
We have seen so many show up here, cause trouble, and leave. We have noted others that seem to have other agendas. It seems like a membership requirement might pre-filter some of the troublemakers.
I really like it here, but if this turns into a Facebook light, you will loose many of us. We come here to avoid such kinds of social media. I hope you folks consider this step. Thank you
There have been numerous conversations about a members only area and at this point it’s not planned in the immediate future.
The majority of the Community participants are USCCA members. Please remember, not all members are going to agree with other USCCA members, just like all non-members are going to disagree with USCCA members.
The only way the Community will continue to be a respectful, educational Community is if we all work together to keep it that way.
Every community (online or not) has its share of people who are going to appear troublesome. I don’t want to be a part of a community where everyone’s opinion is in lockstep with everyone else’s. A little friction now and again helps to keep the community vital. We can sometimes learn more from someone we disagree with than someone we are in complete harmony with.
I guess I’m slow. But why is it an either or proposition? You can have both. A part of the Community that is open to the public and a part that is not. People will have the ability to get answers on either side.
I know for a fact that some people’s behaviors have changed in light of the current environment. The reason I know. Mine has changed.
I had a question that I was really looking for an answer for and I could not get it so I called in to the USCCA because I didn’t want to put that question up in public. Would the community have been able to answer it. Yes. But in light of certain events I wasn’t comfortable. Someone asked a question on the Community, instead of giving the detailed answer I normally give, I said blah, blah and stuff.
Yes, I have. It’s why I EDC, it’s why I train, it’s why I live my life the way that I live it. I also know that I had that same feeling about my daughter. It’s why I pay for 3 memberships here, so that if the worst ever happens God forbid I might survive the event and it’s aftermath.
I don’t disagree with anything you wrote good sir. I don’t want an echo chamber either. I am not doing a good job explaining myself on this matter.
I guess I would say that the price of admission here should be a membership. The idea of a public and private area also seems reasonable. I don’t think that being a member would ensure that all of us would agree with each other either.
It is a moot point anyway, as nothing is going to change. Thanks to everyone for voicing their opinions. I just don’t want to see our Community devolve into a overpopulated melee. I would greatly miss this if all of our regular folks left.
Has USCCA done away with ALL private, or restricted access, forums in general?
Or, is it just that this forum, intended to teach and inform ‘all’ will remain public?
Where can/should members go in order to discuss member’s concerns?
We 100% agree that we do not want to see the Community devolving into melee - which is why we enforce the Community Guidelines and direct people to them when there is an issue. We love our regulars and are excited for new “regulars” to join!
At this point, the Community is completely public. We have had multiple conversations about a Members-only area and will continue to have conversations about a Members-only area and if it would benefit the Community at large and if it is feasible with the current platform.
Asking questions and giving good answers to other questions is happening throughout the Community. Why would you not want to ask a question publicly, @Zavier_D? If you’ve got a question, there’s a very good chance that someone else has that same question. If you don’t want to ask a question publicly out of fear of being verbally attacked, there’s also a very good chance that someone else is feeling the same way. The only way we can fix that is by addressing the situations as they arise and setting a good example for others.
Please ask your question and then flag inappropriate responses so that the moderators can address the situation and renforce the Community guidelines.
There has never been a strictly members-only forum for the USCCA.
Here in the Community is a great place to discuss members’ concerns (in the appropriate thread of course )
I’m not worried about being attacked I’m a big boy. It was a question that was of concern to gun owners. If you have a membership you are most likely a gun owner thus most likely to have an answer. Not random drive by viewer_008 . That was my concern.
Zavier,
Your opinion is shared. Asking a question publicy here is no different than walking into a grocery and asking the question. Who knows who is going to hear your question?
In the past, it felt like I was asking the question/making a comment in my living room–to friends and family.
Not the case anymore.
Moderators having the ability to shut down posts won’t be needed if we build a fence to keep the trolls out. Just sayin.
There are enough public forums. Catering to the masses is not good marketing or community service, nor does it differentiate your site from the competition. It just makes for another pedestrian site.
I like this analogy. Now it feels like walking into the break room at work, and asking the question. Most of the people have similar views, with a few outliers. But, that doesn’t stop me either. I will ask what I want, and say what I want, within the guidelines the community has agreed upon. Trolls, just serve to harden my resolve.
All this discussion about a previous discussion
is one major reason I’m not a huge forum fan
Including USCCA. I’ve joined a few forums where
I thought would be a learning environment. Sadly,
each, like this thread, turned into a discussion on
discussions where a myriad of opinions rained
down but with no resolution and nothing learned.
I am late to this discussion, so I apologize in advance. I do talk to folks who are interested in getting their concealed carry training and I do prop up the USCCA and this forum because they can get answers and learn other important and not so important (sometimes) information.
Making it totally private would deprive them of knowledge and building friendships that can keep them learning and training and considering improvements and options. Making them become members should be a goal that can be realised by the outreach of the members on here teaching out and giving valid opinions on issues.
Yeah, you get people who just have to use that big ol’ pot stirring stick to cause heartaches and attitude, making people mad and leave.
None of that is why I am late on responding, I never felt insulted or slighted in the least. This is home folks to me… I’ve poked some fun jabs on occasion and not in a hurtful way because that is a family thing to do. Everyone on here that I have responded to their comments is a brother or sister to me I’ve never yet met. And if I have been wrong I know they will school me on it, that’s what I expect them to do.
We need to reach the noobs and coach the learner’s and teach everyone how to stay safe.
Ok. Let me put this as bluntly as I can. I participate in the public forums. I have some ridiculous number of posts. The original topic of the thread was about being “Brown Shirted”. I had someone try to “Brown Shirt me”.
I asked about a private space for members as I know it can be done. I had a question that only a gun owner would care about. If you have been observing the news, you know the BATFE is about to go after a number of things w/the full support of the Biden administration. There is a Bill already prefiled to greatly enhance the powers of the BATFE. To be taken up before the new Congress.
I pay for 2 Elite, and a Gold memberships. So of course I believe in the USCCA. Asking for a private place to ask other members a question DOES not mean the public forums disappear.
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