December Ramblings
December 2001 President's Column
Last month we held the NCRPA Annual Meeting at the Outer
Banks Gun Club in
Dare
County. We had a wonderful time!
Thanks to the OBGC for hosting us at their excellent facility, and thanks
to everyone who came. I have quite a
bit of news, from the Annual Meeting and from other areas.
Web Site
First, we’ve decided to offer State Shots as a PDF
file on the NCRPA web site for those who are interested in viewing it
electronically instead of in paper form. This
will save the Association valuable funds that we currently use for printing and
postage. Printing and mailing State
Shots is the Association’s largest single expense.
If you’re interested in an electronic version of the newsletter instead
of a paper version, send an email to webmaster@ncrpa.org
indicating your preference. We’ll
reply to you with instructions and a “go-live” date.
If you want to continue getting a paper version, do nothing and you’ll
stay on the paper mailing list. There
is no need to email if you want to continue getting the print version.
Dues Increase
Another item that was discussed and decided upon was a dues increase.
As I explained in my last President’s Column, we are using nearly all
of your annual dues to provide basic service, leaving little with which to
expand our programs. Based on
your input and on projections, we’ve decided to implement a 5-year dues
increase plan beginning in 2002. Here’s
how it will work:
·
Individual membership dues will increase to $20 per year beginning
July 1, 2002
. All renewals and new memberships
processed prior to July 1 will be at the current $15 rate.
If you decide to renew early, you can do so at the $15 rate.
·
If a member wishes to prepay for five years of membership
(“Annual – 5 year”), the member can do so at the $15 per year rate until
July 1. After that, the 5-year dues
will increase to $100.
·
Life and Life-plus membership dues will not increase in 2002, and
become more financially attractive compared to the Annual dues.
If you’ve never considered becoming a Life member of this Association,
2002 would be a good time to start considering.
·
After 2002, Annual dues will increase $1 each year until we reach
a $25/year figure in 2007.
So, becoming a 5-year member now, prior to the July 1
increase, will result in substantial savings over the next 5 years.
Something to think about….
Legislative Front
As I write this the NC Legislature is finally talking about
adjourning, after one of the most bizarre and contentious sessions I can
remember. Unfortunately, it appears
(at this moment) that the infamous SB 680 Firearms Lawsuit Preemption bill is
going to be allowed to die. This is
unfortunate, because we really need the preemption legislation, and there was
some additional positive language regarding concealed carry reciprocity and fees
in the final House bill. NRA and its
members and supporters worked hard to try to get the bill passed, but it all
came to nothing because of what amounted to a "urinating contest"
between a State Senator and another NC gun owners group.
There are several lessons we should learn from this:
1.
Even though it’s easy to think of politicians as sub-human
bottom feeders, we all need to remember that our elected representatives are
people who respond emotionally to attacks just as we do.
Treating our representatives like dirt doesn’t help us, because they
will treat us as we have treated them. Lobbying
styles that depend on rudeness and shouting might work once, but will fail
miserably in the long run.
2.
Personal vendettas have a profound effect on legislation.
If leaders in the pro-gun community engage in a personal vendetta against
a lawmaker, the lawmaker is going to win, and the rest of us will lose.
3.
Don’t believe everything that you get in an email “alert,”
or see on someone’s web site. There
may be ulterior motives at work.
US Senate Campaign
By now everyone should be familiar with most of the serious
contenders for the Senate seat being vacated by Jesse Helms.
In an NCRPA exclusive, Elizabeth Dole furnished us with a statement on
her 2nd Amendment position. She
was the first candidate to do so, and others have promised to do the same.
We welcome position statements from all the candidates, and will publish
them just as we did Candidate Dole’s.
As yet another example of the petty jealousy, bickering,
and infighting that plagues the pro-gun movement in
North Carolina
, another gun group in NC, which has formally made an endorsement for the
upcoming Republican primary, has issued a statement implying that our
publication of Dole’s position constitutes an endorsement of Dole.
They have further claimed that NRA will endorse Dole for the primary!
To set the record straight:
- Our
publication of Dole’s statement was for news and information purposes
ONLY. We specifically disclaimed
any endorsement. This should
have been pretty easy for anyone to figure out.
- The
NRA has not made any endorsements.
Unlike some other people I
don’t have a magic crystal ball that tells me what the NRA might do in the
future, but based on past experience I do not believe NRA will endorse any
candidate for the Republican primary since all the major players have publicly
supported our issue, and none of them have voting records to back it up.
In closing, I want to wish each of you and your families Seasons
Greetings, and I hope for a safe, fun, restful holiday season for us all.
Perhaps in the New Year we will see an end to the hostility that has
descended upon segments of the firearms owning community, a return to a
realization that we are ALL in this TOGETHER, and an understanding that our NRA
is not the evil monster that some have attempted to portray.
