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In the video below, NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre appears on Fox News’ Hannity to tell the world that his organization doesn’t believe bump fire stocks should be banned or confiscated. And yet there’s no love lost. “I mean, any look at it,” Mr. LaPierre admonishes his host, “it takes a semi-automatic firearm and it makes it perform like a fully automatic firearm. It makes it function like one. And, what the NRA has said is . . .

“We ought to take a look at that and see if it’s in compliance with federal law, and it’s worthy of additional regulation. That being said, we didn’t say ban. We didn’t say confiscate.”

First of all, bump fire stocks are in compliance with federal law. The ATF approved their sale. Why would Mr. LaPierre cast doubt on their legality?

Second, if the Trump administration doesn’t follow the NRA’s recommendation and direct the ATF to reclassify bump fire stocks as NFA items — which would require some pretty fancy legal footwork — Dianne Feinstein’s bill banning their possession will pass and will lead to confiscation.

That will not be pretty. And would set a dangerous precedent.

IMHO, the NRA tried to split the baby and created nothing but a bloody mess. Again, if President Trump doesn’t come through for the NRA ATF-wise, Wayne’s mob will have played this one exactly wrong.

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126 COMMENTS

  1. If a semi-auto rifle with a bump stock is a machine gun, then so is a semi-auto rifle WITHOUT a bump stock. There is absolutely NO difference in the two rifles. The gun-grabbers are SALIVATING over this one.

    • This worthless tool will get everything with a disconnector banned by a Republican president at this rate. I’ve lost what little patience I had with the NRA on the NFA, they have ceased their policy of frustrating silence and have (again) become actively hostile toward law abiding gunowners, many of whom are their most diligent supporters (like my former self)

      • Not to mention they were completely silent after that black guy in Minnesota was shot by a trigger happy, probably drug addict, cop.

        • Oh boohoo, the guy smoked a bit of pot.

          Fuck off, NRA. Marijuana will be legal longer than guns will at this rate. Get with the times and support the stoners against tyranny. They just want to chill out.

      • I also have lost patience with the NRAs constant money-grubbing poiticalism of stabbing their members and donors in the back every chance they get. I just lost it back in the 1970s when they bent over backwards to give the Head Peanut Farmer in the White House whatever he wanted. They called it “compromise”, to give one’s opponent slightly less than whatever he demanded in return for NOTHING! Even as a stupid youngster in those days, I knew enough to realize that WASN’T a compromise.
        I see that a lot of people are noticing that now, however…

        • And then you went to sleep for the last 40+ years? Welcome back. Now catch up Rip.

          Search on – NRA Revolt in Cincinnati 1977

    • Exactly! How do you legislate this? A bump fire stock works by your own finger, pressing the trigger. You can bump fire a semi-auto without a bump fire stock. Legislating this would be a grave mistake. It will be abused later by the ATF. There will be more ATF games and ATF interpretations with future legislation and rule changes just by the ATF’s opinion on the interpretation. Bad move.

      • It’s possible that the NRA was running a gambit on this.

        Call for ATF to re-evaluate bumpstocks, show everyone you’re concerned and willing to ‘compromise’ just this once.

        ATF does its evaluation, comes back that a bump stock simply facilitates what any user can do themselves with a little practice and any restriction would be unenforceable.

        Everyone returns to their corners satisfied.

        What I suppose they didn’t anticipate, and I’m not sure how they could have missed it, is the massive public backlash from NRA members over caving.

    • Hopefully the gun grabbers salivate enough to dehydrate, turn to dust, and leave all of our lives with the next, big, wind

    • Other than the inconvenient fact that the bump stock equipped weapon has a bump stock. The bump stock will be found to be a device that effectively turns a semi auto into an auto. Everyone knows that the bump stock is just a cute little work around on the ban on machine guns. Everyone needs to quit wasting electrons in wanting the ban on machine guns repealed. Get real. You all know that the vast majority of the public would be against lifting the ban, and Congress is not about to repeal that ban. The NRA is quite aware of these facts. I am an NRA member, CHL holder and have 10 guns. Have hunted for 50 years. Some of you guys are just delusional.

      • You forgot to add “and I’m a fucking FUDD” to the list bro. Glad to help you out. It’s what I’m here for.

        • He already said that when he said “I’ve been hunting for 50 years” during a gun control discussion.

      • “I am an NRA member, CHL holder and have 10 guns. Have hunted for 50 years…”

        Was that suppose to give you street cred or something?

        • I have been waiting for someone to go through the process of obtaining a legal machine gun and using it in a mass murder, knowing it would do two things: One, finally make the point that there is a definitive difference between auto and semi auto and it is not just a nerdy detail gun nuts obsess on to our ignorant press corps. They definitely have finally got that message. Second effect I expected would be it would have people rising up to close the option for ordinary rich people to buy full auto weapons. I know Dorner used one, but it was years ago and Dorner was law enforcement and obtained his auto through his job.
          As regards the NRA tactic, I think it was smart. I think a lot of us were surprised when the ATF approved these, given that they had convicted people for shoelaces before. The statement above, “First of all, bump fire stocks are in compliance with federal law.” is only because the ATF says so. I am not a fan of the ATF, but ultimately if you want to know if something is in compliance with a federal law, you need a federal agency behind you or a court ruling. The ATF just ruled against a glove. What the NRA does not want is a gun bill being debated in congress with Republicans so wishy washy. The Hughes amendment we hate so much was tacked onto a Fire Owners Protection Act. The FOPA was actually a Republican gift to gun owners, it “addressed the abuses noted in the 1982 Senate Judiciary Subcommittee report. Among the reforms intended to loosen restrictions on gun sales were the reopening of interstate sales of long guns on a limited basis, legalization of ammunition shipments through the U.S. Postal Service (a partial repeal of the Gun Control Act), removal of the requirement for record keeping on sales of non-armor-piercing ammunition, and federal protection of transportation of firearms through states where possession of those firearms would otherwise be illegal.” All good. The Hughes amendment was slipped in at the last moment. The justifiable fear here is that the same thing will happen again. I expect it is almost a certainty with the crew we have in office right now. As regards the NRA, given that their own gun range bans Bump fire stocks (and most ranges I know), their position of re-looking at the status of bumpfire under ATF would be the better option. Congress is likely to jump at it, as debating gun control with the democrats just gives them more face time and takes away time from tax reform.

      • The MAJORITY of gun owners are like you. The lovely folks on this forum like call people like us “Fudds” because we’re not part of the extreme factions of Second Amenment supporters (call ’em TTAGtards).. The problem is that TTAGtards don’t realize that they are their own worst enemy, and that their paranoid, shrill rhetoric will lose them the moderate allies that ALL of us gun owners need. We should all consider ourselves very lucky if all that happens is bump fire stocks get banned.

        • I guarantee you that if the NFA were repealed the “majority of gun owners” would buy one in a SECOND.

        • Maybe your’re right. Maybe the majority of gun owners are what TTAGers would call Fudds, and all the muggles and fence-sitters are turned off by the “shall not be infringed” rhetoric.

          And maybe the vocal 2A absolutists are the major reason why we now have shall-issue CCW laws, can still own semiautomatic arms, and aren’t being treated like Jews in Germany circa 1939.

          What I’m saying is, this cuts both ways. Maybe both types have a role to play. At the end of the day, we’re all interested (I hope) in keeping our freedom intact.

          Also, don’t forget, the progressive (regressive) left wants nothing short of absolute control; they hate ALL guns and ALL gun owners, and no concession we make will ever satisfy them. The next time some horrible tragedy happens, they’ll be back demanding another slice of your freedom. Do you trust the uncommitted moderates to have your back when that happens?

        • Just lay on your back, expose your belly and beg for mercy. That always works against vicious enemy who aims to steal remainder of our rights. Then be glad they leave you crumbs and kiss their hand.
          Makes me sick.

      • Its what they have always done. Its the NRAs SOP. Stab their members in the back, and when they yell too loud, back the knife off a little bit.
        Does that sound like the Modus Operandi of any other Washington organizations we all know?

    • We often cringe at the knee jerk reactions of the lefties when tragedy happens….lets not have our own knee jerk until we see how this plays out. I have to believe Wayne and his guys have a plan up their sleeve. If it doesn’t unfold soon…then pull out the pitchforks…

      • I’ll admit that my first reaction to them (along with hearing repubs) saying things like “open to discussion” was “YOU COWARDLY TRAITOROUS RATS!!!” Then I had a thought. Given the political reality and the shrill hyperbolic vitriol spewing from the various orifices of the statist’s and their MSM conspirators, I wonder if their words are more akin to when our parents said “I’ll think about it” but what they meant was “no, but I will make you think I am considering it long enough for you to be distracted by some other shiny object and forget about this.”

        However, I still don’t trust ANYBODY in politics (not just elected officials) so I maintain a healthy degree of skepticism that they will hold fast and not sell us out…….again.

  3. Bullshit. They know that the ATF will change their status and make them illegal. They’re just lying cowards who want to try to play both sides.

    Speaking of cowards, Hickok45 has announced on his Facebook page that he’s all in for banning bump fire stocks too. His fans are not taking it well, to say the least. Tim from the Military Arms Channel has dropped his support for the NRA and is going to try to use his connections to talk to them directly about this betrayal.

    • I don’t know why one dude doing something bad with a bump fire stock is causing so many second amendment supporters to be ok with a ban on it. Why suck up to feinstein now? What are we afraid of? What about the next time a murderer, excuse me, gun man, er, they say shooter now, uses a semi auto “high powered assault weapon” with “high capacity mags” or even a silencer? I guess we can ban those too, never mind the millions of them in legal use.

  4. This kinda crap right here is why I’m not an NRA member. I want to be but I can’t bring myself to do it because of this kind of pussyfooting nonsense. Grow a set of balls, look ’em in the eyes and say, “No, I will not budge one inch.”

    • LaPierre’s already halfway down the “slippery slope”, I hope he gets out over his skis, falls, and breaks his neck.

    • For at least 50 years, the NRA has been a gun control group lying to gun owners about being against gun control in order to milk their wallets. They gave us the ’68 GCA, the Hughes Amendment, the Brady Bill, they wrote the damn 94 scary looking weapons ban, they tried to rewrite history to make Mitt Romney’s gun control bills look like a good thing for gun owners, and now this.

  6. What’s that? Bawk bawk bawk? All that time they took to read the situation and craft a position and thay’re still flip flopping. Gutless idiots.

  8. They should’ve framed it as a trade off, bump fire stocks for national reciprocity.

    This way, both sides get to say they did something to help public safety.

    • The only trade I would even consider for bump-fire stocks for is putting them on the machine gun registry but opening the machine-gun registry up again (or repealing that entirely, but that would NEVER happen as a trade). The problem is the NRA NEVER talked about trading anything. They talked about having ATF (you know, the organization they claimed was out of control and abused its power?), not congress, retroactivly reclassify without consent of the governed.

    • Nick is very simply and succinctly stating what I’ve been thinking all week. Where is the strategy, the long view? It would make the whole “NRA is heading off a shit storm at the pass” angle so much more palatable.

      Most of us with rifles know what a silly toy the bump fire stock is, sure. But to restate the obvious: we cannot allow something like this to be summarily banned because it sets a precedent, yes “a dangerous precedent.” It says that a free American’s ingenuity that follows the letter of the law (e.g., the arm brace, ejection port speedloaders for Cali fixed mag AR rifles), on a semi-auto firearm that follows the letter of the law, somehow fundamentally changes a tool protected by Constitutional right into an illegal and unprotected destructive device that can be outlawed… and because an accessory is never more than that, the minute somebody gets a “win” with the accessory that makes a “good gun” instantly an “evil gun” well, it logically follows that the semi-auto firearm itself is in deep jeopardy. (See: California and the “evil features” mess that is on the verge of banning semi-auto arms from a campaign that whittled away semi-auto firearms beginning with no essential part of the firearm at all….) And this is something that cannot stand. Few, if any, of us give a damn about the stupid bump fire stocks. We will all regret the compromise, though.

      Unless… the very idea of interstate illegality and gun control is fundamentally challenged by law-abiding EDC’ers via National Reciprocity. There are those who fear the slippery slope of federal registration and federal permits evolving from the simple practice of states honoring other states’ licenses. But there are more of us who believe that National Reciprocity will eventually result in the end of gun control and the normalization of armed citizenry in a free country that codifies this in a Bill of Rights… wallet, keys, cellphone, gun, and society didn’t fall apart as hysterically predicted, but instead continued to get safer and hopefully, more polite.

      The NRA has an opportunity here… and it just seems that they keep saying, “now is not the right time… waiting for a favorable climate” …well, wait until when? Roll the dice on a high profile mass shooter being taken out by a CCW holder? That’s just nutty luck. These things are ultra rare and ridiculously random, notwithstanding that the media isn’t at all likely to play along with the script, no matter how squeaky clean it is (e.g, they sure didn’t when a young man successfully defended his home from violent criminals with an AR recently…). As the thought goes, mass shootings are an awful time to be politicizing things anyway.

      But if we’re in this bump fire hysteria-of-the-month mess, and the NRA is going to play along, then why just give it away for nothing? I just don’t understand that. There’s plenty of opportunity to say, “the likelihood of an criminal being 32 floors up ain’t much… vigilance… taking care of each other…,” and so on.

      Anyway, Nick said it. Trade, as long as it’s one step back for three steps forward.

      Be safe.

      • “Where is the strategy, the long view?” Your’s (Mort) is the best take on the topic I’ve seen so far.

        I’m convinced that the NRA has accumulated the insight to strategize for the long view. That said, what is their long view? The cynical among us is that the NRA’s long view is self-perpetuation; often, that perception seems overwhelming.

        Nevertheless, the NRA is clever enough not to discuss its strategies in an open forum. We can’t presume to know what it has up its sleeve.

        A bump-stock ban is foolish for all the reasons thoroughly discussed elsewhere. Nevertheless, such legislation IS on-the-table and we have to deal with it somehow. What will each of us contribute to the evaluation?

        For better or worse, the NRA is the gun-owner’s designated hitter for the time being. NRA is going to do what it decides is best; whether the best thing to do is in: A) its view of it’s corporate interest, or B) the best thing to do in its members’ interests. There is NOTHING we can do about this in the relevant short run.

        Your point on trading National-Reciprocity for bump-stocks is – I think – the practical path. Giving up bump-stocks is bad, from the well discussed aspects. However, gaining National-Reciprocity is a far greater good for the long-run health of the 2A.

        Hunters, marksmen and carriers in the 40 Right-to-Carry States won’t out-vote the remaining populous, metropolitan Blue States. The 40 R-t-C States barely hold onto their respective legislatures because their own metropolitan centers (e.g., Austin in TX) have plenty of Progressive voters.

        How do we “sell” urban dwellers on the 2A? By selling hunting? Selling marksmanship? Or, selling self-defense? Will gun-in-the-home be enough? Or, do we need R-t-C plus gun-in-the-home to maintain a 2A constituency in urban areas? We need every voter in every urban area to know someone whom they have respect for to be a carry practitioner. Because of that objective, the trade of N-R for bump-stocks is a bitter but preferable deal.

        The Democrats may not accept this trade; which would be FINE politically! The voters are persuaded that N-R makes a lot of sense legally/Constitutionally. Yes, they may have lots of reservations and wouldn’t themselves vote in favor of N-R. Yet, most of them DO understand the arguments for N-R.

        If the Republicans announced: ‘We offered the Democrats N-R for bump-stocks; they declined. Apparently, they don’t think bump-stocks are important enough to negotiate away a restoration of your Constitutional right to bear arms. So, if you think bump-stocks are really a serious problem, talk to your Democrat Congressmen.’ I think that is a politically palatable position to maintain.

        • Ideally (NOTE I SAID IDEALLY) we could put bump fire stocks under the NFA, add National Carry, and the SHARE or HPA (whichever we prefer personally I’d like to see suppressors sold as accessories but we all know that won’t happen right off the bat soooo just have a background check on em for now fight the rest of the battle later) put ALL that on one bill. Now once it makes it to the floor for a vote Dems will have some rough choices to make. Do they A) Hold their nose and vote “yea” on it? or B) scream and holler and block it with all their might? Now my money is on B and when that happens and the bill fails our side can say
          “Well just look at this, they had a chance to do something to ban something they said was dangerous and wouldn’t compromise with us to get what they wanted.”
          Then come midterms and probably 2020 watch them reap the whirlwind they created from this when they decided to alienate their base by not doing something to stop the evil bump fires.

  9. “We ought to take a look at that and see if it’s in compliance with federal law, and it’s worthy of additional regulation. That being said, we didn’t say ban. We didn’t say confiscate.”

    This is an asinine statement. What “additional regulations” does he think would be put upon it? Obviously a ban. Ridiculous statement. Rhetorical fancy footwork for the masses he perceives as morons, perhaps? Ridiculous statement.

    Second, if the Trump administration doesn’t follow the NRA’s recommendation and direct the ATF to reclassify bump fire stocks as NFA items — which would require some pretty fancy legal footwork — Dianne Feinstein’s bill banning their possession will pass and will lead to confiscation.

    I want to to see this. Give it to me. Bring it. I want Trump to say to his base, “sorry fellas, but this legislation is for your own good.” Otherwise he vetoes it, and they need a super-majority. I want to see the super-majority. I want to see who they are. And lastly. I want to see the confiscation. Show me the confiscation. Want to see it now.

    • It’s already been found BY THE ATF&E (the “I’m in charge here!, now what’s going on?” Crew that gets to jerk the nations chain with the ATF’s classification schizophrenia) to BE COMPLIANT WITH THE LAW, OR ELSE THE ATF&E HAS COMPELLED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO BREAK THE LAW BY ASSERTING SO.

      Further proof, the ATF can’t even protect you from itself, and has E.D., and CAN’T EVEN FV<K you without the NRA, the evil (D), and the three branches of government coating you in KY first.

  10. I give up on the NRA. They have no wits about them, they can only seem to plug leaks with they’re cocks because their fingers are too busy plugging their ears, and it’s always a losing battle.

    Since 1934 it’s been a slow losing battle and the NRA is the Captain for the losing team. Sure, we won Heller and we have more shall issue and permitless carry states, but I don’t consider having SCOTUS say the 2nd Amendment applies to citizens as a victory, it actually scares me that SCOTUS had to ever make that ruling or take up the case.

    NFA, GCA, FOPA/Hughes, AWB… they were all compromises spearheaded by the NRA. HPA and SHARE were the closest things we ever got to suppressor deregulation and you can see how well the NRA got Congress in gear on voting on those bills.

    Most powerful gun lobby? PFFT! They couldn’t lobby a diabetic to buy more sugar free candy.

    • You can’t hang the NFA or GCA (the 2 greatest infringements so far) on the NRA. IIRC the passage of GCA was what spurred NRA to start NRA-ILA to be political rather than just education.

      As for the others … Yeah, they’ve been more political and less hardline than many of us prefer.

  11. Regardless of who says what to or about bump stocks modified triggers rubber bands or a belt loop.
    If the Gubbermint wants to ban something that was at the time, purchased land egal.
    Compensate the people who own the property if they expect the now made by a piece of paper illegal. Or STFU about it.
    Look at Conn for an example. They ban ARs and large capacity mags and almost NONE get turned in. See what that’s accomplished so far. You now have a state full of noncompliant criminals. These devices will be treated the same by those who own such items. Put away in drawer to maybe taken out and used for————- (fill in the blank). At some future date. Myself included if I owned one of said devices.
    I do how ever own a belt loop or 2 and some rubber bands. And know how to use them.

  12. WET SH_T

    It’s like a labor union, always blustering with the cry “strength in numbers, strength in numbers” but when it comes down to a company merger that brings in an additional existing union, it’s all ‘bend over and take it’ and the only strength your union ever exhibits is directed against you.

    F the NRA, the just admitted to wet sh_t move was (not even cut and run under pressure) an absolute proactive abdication and throwing of members, 2nd Amendment supporters, gun owners, and industry manufacturers, under the fing bus. Never forget this stupid crap when they offer you a POS duffle bag or (ass) hat if you “sign up” for their bs $$& grab.
    The NRA gives less than 11% of your $$$$ to lobbying and campaigns than labor unions, while having similar income from dues.

    Worthless, judas goat.

    • “NRA branded duffle bags & hats” you say?

      Just cheap trinkets “Made in ‘CHI-NAA'” as President Trump would say.

      #MAGA demand the NRA dump LaPierre before he frags law-abiding gun owners again.

  13. The crazy thing is its not too late to correct course. What he should of said was, I was wrong and I am sorry. Sure it would have hurt, but trying to make a deal with the Devil is what put him in this mess in the first place. Cut your losses and go on the attack!

  14. We fought so hard for flash suppressors and unpinned collapsible stocks…etc. Little battles that im sure someone rationalized were trivial but in the grand scheme important to principals. Premedated murderers are not restrained by words written on pieces of paper…period.

    • With the likes of LaPierre (I always thought that name was “fruity”/”flaky”) leading the fight to retain, restore, and expand our Constitutionally-guaranteed 2nd Amendment rights we will be lucky if they allow us to keep our slings and sling mounts never-mind buy a box of 20 shells/cartridges.

      And the name “LaPierre” says it all, like a typical Frenchman he’s dropped his rifle and run away without firing a shot at the first sign of trouble.

      Note: For the record I don’t own a “bump-stock” nor do I own an AR-15 or so-called “high/large capacity” magazines, it’s ALL about “the principle” with me.

  15. NRA Veep Wayne LaPierre:

    “We Didn’t Say Ban Bump Fire Stocks”?

    Sure you didn’t. (LOL)

    Hey Wayne (if you’re reading this),

    You’re a rat bastard (we all knew you were), a fuckin’ gutless coward and sellout, a traitor to the cause ready to bail at the first sign of trouble. If you want to screw us so badly go “big”, just stick a muzzle in your mouth and become a statistic the antis can use against us..

  16. Patron Life member here. I donated because I believed the NRA was the most effective weapon to fight the anti’s. Not another dime until they throw WLP under the bus by hanging this stupid move around his neck and forcing him to resign.

    • I’ve been a {life,patron,super duper} member of the NRA for {5,10,50} years and I own {5,10,50} guns including ones with {30 caliber clips, the thing on the front that goes up,assault bullets} and I {am sick of, hate, done with} {the NRA,Wayne LaPiere,them damn Republicans}. I guess {Moms Demand Action, the Democrats, The Brady Campaign} was right about them!
      {-MB,-Big Mike,-Mr. B}

  18. Let’s count the recent attacks and our losses brought about by the evil (D). We have Kapherdick fing with the flag salute [to also F up the NFL (a bigger national past time than baseball)].
    We’ve had a POS (D) hitman use all the buzzword weapons to do a mass killing in LV, that has the POS (D) reps/msm/hollywood pushing for repeal of the 2nd Amendmet, and Wayne LaPierre (“I have to cave, because they must have pictures of me in the barn with farm animals”) making us sh_t-can the NRA.

    Concerted and coordinated evil (D) Efforts???

    You Bet Your Ass!

    That’s a pretty full bingo card in the space of just the last few months. THE EVIL (D) say it best, “Time to RESIST ! ! !”

    F em All, FTW (the real salivating MFs).

  20. Both Wayne LaPierre and Pete Brownell owe us a serious apology for the NRA not representing gun owners in America and pussing out on these bump fire stocks. I don’t own one of these bump fire stocks nor would I ever buy one because I think they’re garbage and I fired True full auto machine guns before and it’s absolutely nothing like it, it is the biggest waste of $200 you’ll ever make. But for the NRA to give up and let this one go is absolutely Freaking ridiculous. Tomorrow I’m canceling my life membership with the NRA. And I also may stop ordering from Brownell’s as well. Screw the NRA!

  21. Wow, there is a LOT of hatred for the NRA on here. You know who constantly attacks the NRA? The Democrat gun grabbers, that’s who. No way that some Democrat gun grabbers could come on here and pretend to be 2A supporters, is there? Oh, of course not, just a bunch of serious 2A absolutists, right? And before you call me a “Fudd” or some other such bullshit, I hate gun control because I know it does NOTHING to stop criminals in the least. I hate Bloomberg, Feinstein, Schumer, Michael Moore, the “Moms for Socialism”, the whole damned lot of them. But I also know how much of a thorn the NRA is in the side of those scumbags, so pardon me if I’m not ready to give up on the NRA just yet, simply because some anonymous posters say so. The bumpfire stock didn’t kill anyone, a nutjob did the killing.

    • It’s sad that you’re so in denial about the NRA openly pushing for gun control. Maybe you should see a therapist?

    • “. . . how much of a thorn the NRA is in the side of those scumbags . . . ” You pinned the tail on the elephant. To quote FDR in a different context, “They may be SoBs; but, they are OUR SoBs!”

      For better or worse; for richer or poorer; the NRA is “our” 400 lbs. gorilla on Capital Hill. It took decades (following its founding) for NRA to achieve this clout. It continued to maintain this clout for a century. NRA reincarnated itself in Cincinnati in 1977. And, it has evolved in more subtle ways over the past 40 years.

      So many of us are disappointed in the NRA; many more are not entirely satisfied with the NRA. And, the vast majority of gun owners don’t bother joining; this is the big point!

      We gun owners regard ourselves as rugged individualists who would prefer to die than to agree with anyone else. That is why we lack the clout we would be entitled to as a constituency of 40+% of the voting population. We can’t close ranks; but the Progressives can! If we lose the 2A it will be because we can’t while they CAN!

      In my opinion, what we need to do is 2 things:

      1. – all join the NRA and give them $35/year as a membership count;
      2. – contribute as much money as we can afford to whichever national 2A organization that best coincides with our sentiments.

      It will take a century or more to build a competitor to the stature of the NRA. The 2A can’t wait that long. It will take only 10 years of contributions to a few competing national 2A organizations to register our sentiments with NRA’s management and board of directors.

      Remember the old adage: “We are our own worst enemy.” This guidance ought to temper and inform our instincts in every important decision.

      • The NRA is a rabbid gorilla as likely to attack us as defend us. Put the poor thing down and give its food to the GCA so it may become a 4000 pound tame gorilla.

  22. I’m afraid that we gun owners are going to keep shouting how we can make our semi autos go fast without bump fire stocks, that our semi autos are going to be band. I recently had a conversation with a government l.e.o. , ” I really don’t know how free this country really is. I had to sell my machine gun(stock SKS) to buy books for collage.” Scary that a Constitution supporter would consider an SKS a machine gun. I know it isn’t, you know it isn’t, and so does he. The high capacity mags will be banned, awb is going to come back, and we may lose semi autos all together. We will get on our soap boxes, rant, threaten,and scream Constitutional rights, when in fact there is no constitution. And the patriots whom physically oppose any bans will be dead or locked up. Trump will not do anything but keep his presidency, he’s made his bucket list and does not care about a second term. The NRA has been working with the government since it’s inception. When no one stood up for those who lost their so called right to be armed for a misdomeanor crime ( domestic violence) we 2a patriots should have demanded justice. The system has indoctrinated this society to disregard criminals rights,bad mistake.This bump fire using murderer has opened up a can of worms that has lain dormant since 1994.. I used to be one of those,” they can take my gun from my cold dead hands” people, and that’s just what ‘ they’ will do. In 1776 the native Americans and slaves found out what the framers meant when they declared ” all men are created equal”. …

  23. I don’t think the NRA’s heart was in pushing for the elimination of the NFA, rescinding the Ronald Reagan approved, Hughes Amendment; or getting the Hearing Protection Act, signed into law. If they accomplished these things; they would not be able to raise as much money as they currently do. The whole goal of using the carrot as a lure; is to keep the workhorse motivated.

  24. Watch the one thing the republicans do this year is approve gun control at the request of the NRA. This is why I’m a third party supporter and I support GOA and NAGR rather than the NRA. The best thing they ever do is play defense and they only do that when it’s going to make money or get their politicians in office.

  25. You are right Wayne, you DIDN”T say “Ban Them”.

    No, you want the ATF to regulate them right?

    You want them to use their broad and often nonsensical statutory rule-making authority right? And you want them to re-examine their approval letter because bump stocks mimic full auto right? because they are an end around on the NFA right?

    Absolutely they are an end around the NFA. NOBODY ever believed they were designed to help out handicapped shooters.

    Nevertheless, they were approved and now you want them disapproved correct? Taxed and regulated because someone smart circumvented the NFA RIGHT?

    Just like pistol arm braces right?

    Just like the Mossberg Shockwave “firearm” right?

    Just like everyone that built an import banned rifle using the seven proscribed U.S. made parts correct? After all, you allowed 18 USC SS 922r stand, even AFTER the 94 AWB sunset, to protect and keep your manufacturer donations rolling in right?

    Are you going to throw ban state AR-15 owners under the bus for every clever mod designed to make their rifles “compliant” even though they are blatantly sidestepping the law?

    What are you going to do when the antis wave one of those 100 round surefire coffin mags the murderer used in Vegas in your face?

    Right Wayne. Go right ahead, turn ATF, the most despised government agency gun owners could imagine, and sic them on us.

    Have them pull Slide-fire’s approval letter, and make who knows how many new felons with a pen stroke.

    Or have them make owners register them and pay the tax stamp. Maybe NRA can foot the bill right?

    See how you do with that.

  26. The stock is lawful dumb asses. WTF is going on here? We want ATF to make law here? Land of the coward, home of the slave.

    • An organization that I financially support, and which purports to represent my best interests as a firearms owner, does something I do not agree is in my best interests.

      What do you suggest I do about it? My choice is, I’m going to say something to them about it. If it’s egregious enough, I’ll stop financially supporting them until they change their position or I find an organization that I feel better represents my interests.

      This is one way freedom of association works.

    • Nope, the NRA indicated that it is willing to sell us out. I don’t have time for traitors; the NRA can either repudiate WLP’s statement or go piss up a rope.

  29. I used to be a member of the NRA. Not any more. In fact I am now actively campaigning against the NRA. I know they are the oldest game in town so it will be sad to see them go but the flip side is my rights will be much safer without them around.

  30. Not only did those domestic enemies idiots call for additional regulation of bump fire stocks, they blamed Obama for the simple fact that they’re currently legal to buy and own!!

    That’s right, an official NRA statement says Obama was too soft on guns.

    And the Lairds of Fairfax still wonder why we call them Negotiating Rights Away.

  31. I read their statement, and it was clear to me it was just weasel-words– to an idiot, it sounds like they want them banned. This might give them some political cover, thought it’s not what they said.

    But like the author here… WHY would they take that risk? They just lost 100K members (my guess). And I’ve hit the snooze for another decade before I would ever consider joining them… and after I had almost forgiven them for trying to stop Heller… anyway, there are other pro-gun groups that aren’t soft on gun rights, and don’t appear to use 50% of your dues on mailers trying to get more money out of you.

    • We often cringe at the knee jerk reactions of the lefties when tragedy happens….lets not have our own knee jerk until we see how this plays out. I have to believe Wayne and his guys have a plan up their sleeve. If it doesn’t unfold soon…then pull out the pitchforks…

  32. I got a table saw and a drill press. Free 2×6 bump stocks for everyone. Takes about 15 minutes to turn one out.
    A little secret…….whispers………Staples sells bumpfire accessories. Super cheap too. A bag of 5,000 is like $10.

  33. This isn’t about rights is about politics and money.

    Rifle manufacturers and class 3 dealers can charge more money for NFA items. The bump stock (or an NFA repeal, for that matter) negates that premium by letting every Joe Blow gun owner go rapid fire with any off the rack AR. I’ve yet to see a company or organization advocating the potential loss of profit margin.

    He is talking out of both sides of his mouth because he is trying to play to the dealers and manufacturers who don’t like the bump stock possibly taking business and the average gun owner who wants the bump stock to side step NFA BS.

    He’s a politician playing to the votes and donors, like any other.

    “A friend to all is a friend to none.”
    -Aristotle

  34. With all due respect, almost every comment here is off point. The ultimate problem is not the NRA. The NRA may be clumsy, but they are making a calculation based on politics as they see them.

    The problem lies with GOP Senators and Congressment. Having failed to deliver anything (ANYTHING*) to the gun owners who GOT THEM ELECTED, they now cave to …. wait for it…..wait for it….PROGRESSIVES.

    The real question isn’t what are we going to do with the NRA, but what are we going to do with the GOP. They have proven themselves utterly useless in the last 9 months.

    *But lets face it: they haven’t delivered for any other conservative constituency either.

    • You are really ON-POINT! The GOP takes the gun-owner vote for granted; just as the Democrats take the minority communities for granted. As long as poor inner-city voters remain committed to voting Democrat they will never see school vouchers for their children nor any other public-service improvement. As long as gun-owners remain committed to either staying-home or voting for the Republican we will never see a Congressional vote for gun-rights. As simple as that.

      Our only choice is to convince the GOP leadership that their position and power are at OUR pleasure to vote for Republican candidates. We will primary every RINO we see in jeopardy. We will vote for the Democrat of every RINO to express our dissatisfaction.

      Why should we re-elect a RINO when our interests could just as well be sold-down-the-river by a real Democrat? Think about that! There is no good-enough reason to re-elect a RINO. There is EVERY reason to threaten EVERY RINO’s candidacy.

  35. This is all so convenient…A Mysterious Mass Shooter, Who was a Millionaire to boot! Who could buy anything his little heart desired… Shooter is Dead ; Because Dead men Tell NO Tales…Very Elaborate planning..(Still Smells Very “Deep State.”.) Then you had all the PRO2@ groups, and Self-defense groups go silent…Telling THEIR members to just chill out, and sit back….Unfortunately, The Liberal Progressive left-wing, and Globalist already had an agenda ready…While all the PRO2@ Groups just stood silent, Turtled, and didn’t do anything…Now, everyone’s late for dinner…Scurrying around trying to stop the Globalist Agendas, the caterwailing of the media, the SJWs, and the low information voters…Now we are seeing political sellouts that are jeopardizing our US Constitutional-Bill of Rights….Going right back to “Creeping Incrementalism…” Once you allow Government, The Globalist Agenda, Corporate Fake News media, SJWs, and the Low information voters start determining what Arms you can keep and bare…Obviously, you can just forget about them stopping at “Bump-Fire ” stocks…It will keep going to Semiautomatic arms…Then to Magazines, muzzle breaks, fancy optical sights, back to military style rifles, so on and so forth…You folks do the math….I’m not a firearms owner…You civil rights groups have got to get your acts together…Because every thought they were winning 2nd Amendment restoration..But instead, This coincidental event occurs, and Anti-2nd Amendment forces are rallying and marshalling their forces…Now wil be back to trying to fight government ” Paternalism” again…It’s just so convenient this incident happened…And continues to beg questions….But, I don’t think we’re going to get any….Except the chilling, and curtailing of American Freedoms in the name of public safety…Apparently, because there’s “guilt by association”, and of course…The Government knows best….

  36. I had no idea the NRA was omnipotent, and controlled all gun legislation at it’s whim. I had no idea the NRA was directly involved in the legislative process. I had no idea the NRA are actually the guys writing the laws that anti-gunners are putting in place. It’s incredible. I wonder what kind of masks Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox put on to disguise themselves when they enter the California or New York State legislature to craft malevolent anti-constitutional laws? I also had no idea that an organization that represents roughly 5 millions gun owners somehow also represents 10’s of millions of gun owners. I’m also shocked to learn that somehow the current NRA administration is responsible for what the organization was doing in the 1930’s, before any of them were born. Maybe LaPierre is a secret immortal/vampire? I’m also shocked to learn that people can’t see why blaming the current administration for the organizations alleged past failures makes sense. It’s a bit like blaming white men in 2017 for owning slaves. But I digress; at least we have the world’s most powerful, heavily armed lobbying group/militia/imperial overlords, the NRA, to be the boogeyman.

    Did I learn all this from reading the comments of gun owners or virulent liberals? Seems the hysteria of both can be hard to distinguish.

    • Once upon a time, they were the only omnipotent gun control group in the country.
      If Wayne said ‘we won’t oppose this bill’, or ‘we won’t use votes for this bill against legislators on our scorecard for the next election’, then that gun control bill was guaranteed to pass.

      Then the internet came along, and GOA, and JPFO, and about ten years ago legislators found out that a free pass from Wayne didn’t give them a free pass from receiving 1000 angry faxes, emails, and letters from people who actually voted for them in the past and vow not to vote for them in the future. The poor RINOs felt blindsided and betrayed, getting called out on anti-gun votes after Wayne told them it was cool to be anti-gun.

  37. This is a rough one.
    A calculated step to try to head off more restrictive regulations but the sad fact is – it won’t be enough.

    NRA showed their hand, it’s not going to stop feinstein and Jimmy Kimmel and all the others for calling for full California style regulations. Those in congress and executive branch are far from staunch proponents of 2A IMO.

    That’s the whole not 1 inch arguement right?
    You give them something but it’s never enough.

    They better have the math right on who will vote for what because if this doesn’t plug the leak they pretty much just bet the house.

  38. “We ought to take a look at that and see if it’s in compliance with federal law, and it’s worthy of additional regulation. That being said, we didn’t say ban. We didn’t say confiscate.”
    ~Wayne LaPierre

    Hey Wayne, are you actually claiming you didn’t imply it? Of course you did. Don’t try to flip-flop and have it both ways, or gun owners will say in response,
    “We ought to take a look at the NRA and see if it’s an organization gun owners should be members of. That being said, we didn’t say quit the NRA. We didn’t say cancel your NRA membership.”

  39. I personally feel screwed over by these bump stocks. An accessory invented to skirt the law, used by a madman, can now unravel everything. They’re going to regulate them out of existence, and set precedence to regulate everything else away too. High capacity Magazines, fore-grips, flash suppressors, etc… Everything we see in those pictures and more are on the list. Within the next few days they’ll be discussing the availability of tannerite. It will be gone too.

  40. There IS actually a difference between a semi auto equipped with a bump fire stock, and a semi auto without one.

    A bump fire stock does not *simulate* full auto fire, it is in fact a device which (even if poorly and inefficiently) enables mechanical automatic fire.

    A properly equipped full auto mechanism (usually) has three components. A reciprocating bolt, an auto sear which while the trigger is depressed will take over the function of actuating the trigger each time the bolt reciprocates, and (usually) a mechanism which disengages the auto fire system, returning the firearm to single pull semi auto operation.

    Mechanically, a ‘bump stock’ is a mechanism which allows the entire receiver to reciprocate, and relies upon the operator’s stationary finger as the auto sear. The feature which allows the gun to return to semi auto operation, rather than being a receiver mounted selector, is a stock mounted selector which for semi auto operation locks the stock into a traditional stationary position,

    One can argue the semantics endlessly, but in effect the bump fire stock could easily be reclassified as a machine gun (and probably will) with a simple administrative ruling from ATF.

    • Incorrect.

      A fully automatic weapon enables firing more than bullet per trigger pull by – as you correctly state – more or less disengaging the trigger and using the sear.

      A semi-automatic weapon fires ONE bullet per trigger pull. A bump device or crank merely repeats trigger pulls, each pull firing one bullet.

      This is NOT “mechanical full auto fire”. It is a simulation of full auto fire.

      As I said in earlier threats, bump devices are TOYS for people who want to shoot faster and experience something similar to firing a fully automatic weapon they can’t otherwise experience. It is an ENTERTAINMENT device and nothing more.

      The fact that a criminal used one to commit a criminal act is IRRELEVANT. This was a one-off crime (which, however, IS likely to be repeated now that other criminals are aware of these devices.)

      You don’t ban an object which has been used for legal purposes for who knows how many years by who knows how many people just because it was used for a criminal act. It makes no sense.

      Not to mention that banning an object will not stop it being used in future crimes unless you can retrieve and control every single existing object AND prevent ANYONE from reinventing, recreating or manufacturing such objects.

      Which is demonstrably impossible for most objects. They’ve been warning for years about “homemade nukes” and only the sheer expense, difficulty and danger in making one has prevented that.

      The NRA is demonstrably trying to “cut a deal” and stave off the expected political firestorm by the Las Vegas incident. That is NOT going to work. The anti-gun crowd does not comprehend any of the above points I’ve made. They will apply the same “no one needs these things” argument that they have repeatedly tried to apply to semi-auto pistols, semi-auto rifles and high-capacity magazines.

      If the NRA does not stand up to that argument, the next target will be semi-auto rifles and semi-auto pistols – until the 2nd Amendment is gutted and all we have left are muskets and DEWATS.

  41. What has amazed me is they went so hard after bump stocks. Which makes it obvious what we already know and that is they have no clue about firearms. I don’t know of anyone who views a bump stock as anything other than a novelty item, and we all know the shooter could have done as much damage without using them. My first inclination was to toss them this bone and let them think they got steak, but we know that will keep them coming back for more. So if they think it is such a big thing, the politicians should use it and trade bump stocks for something else more valuable to us. The problem is the GOP is spineless, and will wimp out and give this up without getting anything in return. If the NRA really was looking out for gun owners they would apply pressure to make a trade rather than rolling over.

  42. We often cringe at the knee jerk reactions of the lefties when tragedy happens….lets not have our own knee jerk until we see how this plays out. I have to believe Wayne and his guys have a plan up their sleeve. If it doesn’t unfold soon…then pull out the pitchforks…

    • Except they aren’t. The ATF has no power to regulate beyond deciding it is a machine gun, which is an instant ban (thanks to the NRA, see Rusty Owen’s above post for a scan of the NRA’s own news paper saying how they were going to fight the Hughes Amendment.). Either the NRA’s statement is opposing the 2nd amendment, or it’s opposing any concept of the Constitution and the rule of law.

      • Your response presumes that they actually think the ATF will do something. Chess is about thinking several steps ahead, not one step ahead.

      • Your response presumes that they actually think the ATF will do something. Chess is about thinking *several* steps ahead, not one step ahead.

  45. When I first heard this I immediately thought, and still think, they were talking about making it a title 2 weapons. If that is the push then it is a wise, although not my choice, chess move. This would force the democrats to vote on a NRA/republican backed bill that would add bump fire to machine guns, SBR, SBS, and suppressors-which they can’t disagree with being safe because they are fighting so hard to keep suppressor under. If they refuse to vote on it then it will be laid at their feet as a complete failure. I also think it would wise to remember that this shooting occurred during a gun friendly time in politics. Would it be wise to remind the public that there are other options then outright ban,

  46. Can someone tell me please, why is LaPierre still VP of the NRA? Why has he been kept around this long? Time for someone new I think.

  47. NRA petaled the Idea of gun control back in the 60’s so senility has set in, Gifford’s and CO must be giving free passes to the XXX ring!

  48. Could be just playing for time. After all, what can they do but review what they already did at the ATF and conclude the same thing. Meanwhile stuff happens, or doesn’t happen, and that’s the thing.

  50. To all you nra spokesmen and ladies tell us how much you make from each gun, each bullet, each sale that has killed hundreds of thousands of patriotic law abiding americans. Tell us that. You are the problem, the reason, the people who have murdered my fellow Americans. Your disgusting rethoric reeks with the rotting stench of all the dead corpses left in the wake of your bullshit about the second amendment. It’s all about the money, I wish you were never born. You have blood of patriotic citizens on your hands and want more. You’ve become the gasoline that feeds this out of control fire. Keep your guns close because it’s a matter of time when this fire engulfs you. They should come on handy to you cowards when the pain you’ve created heads toward you. An easy way out, unlike the living americans that have to deal with a gun death for the rest of thier lives.
    .

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