Another NRA ‘alternative' formed
There seems to be no end to the groups that take potshots at the National Rifle Association. It goes with the territory, I guess, when an organization is as successful, determined, and as radical in its stance as the NRA. Remember the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), which was organized to protect citizens' guns and hunting rights? It turned out to be a group with ideas diametrically opposed to those of the NRA — even allied quite closely with Handgun Control, Inc. Its moves were largely thwarted by gun groups. The plan now is for a fresh group to reach gun owners through a conservation organization and automatically bolster the numbers involved in the effort by enlisting labor unions. I'm sure that a considerable percentage of the NRA's 4 million members are also members of labor unions. That's a considerable number — an influential bloc of voters if they can be manipulated through their membership. Union chiefs, working with the Democratic Party, are using the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership to give the movement credibility with sportsmen/conservation groups and are forming an alternative to the NRA. The TRCP has a solid membership — thousands of sportsmen who joined an active group that displayed a worthwhile agenda, tackling many of the key issues facing the future of hunting, fishing, and conservation. These are, obviously, traditionally conservative issues supported by the Republican platform. But now the TRCP leaders have decided to enter the minefield of partisan politics and get involved with those entities (OK, only Democrats) that strongly favor controlling the private ownership of firearms. The newly formed Union Sportsmen's Alliance (USA) offers union members an “alternative” to the NRA. The group claims the NRA is anti-union and that the NRA opposes political candidates that labor unions endorse. [Anti-gun candidates are often Democrats who bow to labor on other issues. NRA opposes them because of their anti-gun record only.]. http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070809/SPORTS/708090342 Professor Joseph Olson, J.D., LL.M. o- 651-523-2142 Hamline University School of Law f- 651-523-2236 St. Paul, MN 55113-1235 c- 612-865-7956 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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