Last night in suburban St. Louis, Dirk Diggler, Tim McNabb and I – along with wives and assorted friends – attended the Gateway Friends of the NRA dinner. The whole thing came off without a hitch thanks to a lot of hard work by the organizers including the NRA’s Travis Scott. The good news: Travis told me that with well over 300 there, attendance was up by about 100 from last year. They were still collecting payments when we left, but you’d have to think that night’s haul was a good one. The bad news: Dirk and his friend Paul were the only black faces in the room, so there’s still lots work to do and room to broaden the org’s appeal. The best news: Along with some cheap cigars and a nice Spyderco knife sharpener, I managed to walk away with one of the most valuable prizes offered . . .
Don’t bother asking how much I bid for it in the silent auction. I’m taking that to the grave.
Correction: there was one more brother in the room. But 1% is too low indeed.
Yes, but unless there was a guard at the door keeping black people out, maybe it’s not the NRA’s fault.
Great work, Dan, Dirk, and Paul- the only way to change a large organization is from the inside. NRA appears to be listening- and at least acting smart on PR- Colon Noir, the Women of the NRA series, for example.
What happens on the ground in various chapters will reflect the flavor of that community- and waiting for someone else to do it, doesnt work…stick with it- you will be leaders of the next generation at NRA very soon, as its obvious that aging boomers like Wayne La Pierre are having limited impact, and fresh faces are needed. Thats not an indictment of all the good the many long-committed leaders at NRA have done- just the reality that they need to pass the torch, and mentor the new up-and-comers- and the demographics at that dinner prove my point.
So, kudos again Gents, for going there and writing for TTAG, for taking your time, cuz time is money, to do good for all of us.
I’m going to follow your example and see what I can do, baby steps, in my own community, to do my small part.
And a tiny shout-out to the rest here in TTAG- with respect and understanding to anyone else too busy, work, family- remember- giving up something as simple as eating out once a month adds up to a pretty subtantial donation- a basic annual membership at NRA, SAF, and your local state group, where the power of the group does WAY more than one voice, in government, especially in blue states.
Money talks, and you know what walks.
Just tried to donate, couldn’t sign on to the website. Wrote to complain, will try later.
PS: best and most respected analyst of the political trends in US IMHO is Michael Barone- coincidentally- here’s an article (h/t Instapundit) on the demographics-
and opportunity- I have shared my opinion there is a sea-change underway that smart Prog-tards get- and thats why they are increasingly desperate as they double down to seize power, just as its about to slip away, after 40 years of collectivism and radical Alinskite community organizing, as we see it most clearly in 2A rights.
http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/186362/
And why, as we see here at TTAG, in the young guys (and women) who come to an interest in guns, and freedom, from COD, or high-tech world, or business, or engineering, and manufacturing, and LEO and MIL, or any of the many other places and occupations, that value independent thinking and meritocracy, and integrity and honor,
well….the proof is the Truth in the Barone stats-
the Millenials are waking up, already 50% independent, and swinging fast from the liberal ideas that most young people start with, until they have a job, have kids, have a mortgage, ie they are “mugged by reality”
when they see how bad they got screwed by the Democratic Party, on their school loans, lack of mortgages, lack of jobs, and no job security, PLUS punitive taxes on them to support the prog-tard agenda, most especially ObamaCare- that keeps them a wage slave or a ward of the state otherwise, for life-
well, it aint gonna be pretty…
What to do in the meantime? Just keep spreading the Truth. Young leaders are emerging- thats the point to the PS to the NRA meeting- above-
and they arent the typical OFWG the Prog-tards like to paint the TeaParty, as – its the Silent Generation, and the Millenials combined- and thats the voters, now, and come to be who understand hard work, and value promises made promises kept, based on facts, not propaganda from the Community Organizer in Chief.
Facts, reason, truth are like kryptonite to progressive mind control, as history has proven over and over, and the faster cycles of information awareness and understanding provided by the intertubz is exactly what scares people like DiFi, who wants to limit bloggers from 1A free speech, and Dirty Harry Reid, and the community organizer in chief, who wants to transfer control of the internet (ICANN) to the UN. They are desperate, and too late…
Can’t stop the signal Mel.
“why they are increasingly desperate as they double down to seize power, just as its about to slip away, after 40 years of collectivism and radical Alinskite community organizing, as we see it most clearly in 2A rights.”
Wise words, however it’s not about the gun. It’s Liberty. The young ones fail to understand what it is. They believe liberty is a conversation, a blog, an abstract. They know nothing about gaining it, much less how to preserve it. But this oversight is not their fault, it is ours for teaching liberty should be included with all other social constructs our government offers.
PFFFFTTT
There are people who would pay money for Remington .22?
(I just had 2100 rounds of federal .22 I ordered in November 2012 arrive, so I’m spoiled though.)
I would pay for Remington .22. The 525 pack of golden bullets are the best ammo I have shot as far as .22. In a sr 22 the cci had 2 ftf’s and 3 fte’s, the golden bullets have had 0 problems in over 1k rounds.
All I have is a bolt-action .22, but I found Remington to be noticeably dirtier than most anything else I shoot
That’s interesting, I have an SR22 and the only thing it seems to like is CCI Mini-mags. I can’t remember ever having a single problem with them. Not that I’ve tried a lot of different brands, when I discovered the CCI’s worked I stopped trying other brands.
Golden bullets are great, but my Savage hates Thunderbolts.
Picked up a brick of Golden Bullet .22lr Friday and yes, it seems to work well with good accuracy. Thunderbolt, however, is not the same stuff.
Thanks for your support of the NRA. The racial makeup of the crowd is what it is. From my experience most black folks will NEVER support the NRA no matter the benefits. God bless men like Dirk. From an evil old white man married to a beautiful black woman.
I guess about $400, if a good haul and a lively crowd made the silent auction worth anything.
Now the question is, did any demanding moms try to take a picture with an NRA head while not carrying?
That ammo is awful.
the thunderbolt is awful, but golden bullet is great.
I don’t know how much you paid, but I paid $44.99 for that yesterday, lol.
(Not the best, but straight from the shelf.)
@Lurker. Shannon was not there. I even shaved real close, put on a suit,had on my “elect Nixon” cufflinks and wore a bowtie (with the G26 on my hip in a remora)
Congrats on snagging the .22 Dan.
And don’t let ’em tell you your baby’s ugly. They’re jealous!
Would have loved to watch the bidding on that brick.
We have a 15 year old can of spam at our church auction that routinely gets 200 bucks for the youth group. Then the can gets donated back for next year.
15 yo spam. Do you guys store it in a haz mat container between auctions?
Sorry I could not make it.
Wow, you must have brought Dirk and Tim along to provide security just in cast you snagged a brick of 22 .LR.
Congrats!!
Who is this group, the only “Gateway Friends of the NRA” I can find is a group in Ky not St. Louis. Is there a St. Louis based Friends of the NRA and what is their web site or FaceBook name and address?
I can’t find a STL Friends of the NRA or a Gateway Friends of the NRA !
I lol’d at the photo reveal! Nice work.
The absence of non – whites is due to the failure of gun rights groups to present our struggle as a civil rights struggle. I’ll leave it up to the experts to decide why but nothing illustrates the racial divide in America more than the failure to come together in this fight for our rights.
Saul Alinsky made it perfectly clear that 2A was critical to the “oppressed” and that arms were absolutely mandatory in maintaining the balance of power of citizens vs The Man. It’s mentioned many times in the notorious “Rules for Radicals”. Which most of today’s “radicals” didn’t read or understand.
50 rounds of thunderbolt through my 10/22 and I have to scrape slivers of lead from my barrel.
maybe because the brothers know that freedom is easiest to maintain when you don’t stick your head out. I’ve never gone to one of these events (pasty white on the outside here, 1/8 cherokee on the inside) and Ive been an NRA member for much of my adult life.
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