NRA at it again.

[dromia]

I have been doing that for nigh on three decades to no effect, I am still a member for the very reason that it is better to pish in the tent that out of it. At the last few elections I have been returning a spoilt ballot paper as none of the people standing seemed to have any appreciation of the needs of legal gun owners beyond Bisley and represent my needs as a shooter. I just see my membership as a waste of money, I get nothing back from it and continue to get shafted by our anti legal firearms institutions with no or ineffective representation from the likes of the NRA. I suppose I still pay the annual fee because, against all reason, not to do so admits to giving up hope.

[Strangely Brown]

Yea but wot have the NRA ever done for us, apart from:

New Toilets? (with hot water)
Electronic Targets?
Competitions throughout out the year?
Armoury storage space?
Taking back control of Cottesloe Heath so more lanes can open on century?
Taking control back of some of the pepper corn rents? (profit is not a dirty word)
Fat Tony's? (forget that he's never open!)
Something for the no sayers to whinge about?

Yea yea, but apart from that wot have the NRA ever done for us?

[@nd]

And dont forget the new road brothers

[@nd]

And sister

[MistAgain]

Yea but wot have the NRA ever done for us, apart from:

New Toilets? (with hot water) A must to keep the government people happy who use the ranges.
Electronic Targets? As above.
Competitions throughout out the year? Who actually runs them ?
Armoury storage space? Who are the main beneficiaries , police or civilians ?
Taking back control of Cottesloe Heath so more lanes can open on century? Why negotiate when we can evict ?
Taking control back of some of the pepper corn rents? (profit is not a dirty word) How many more empty clubhouses do you want ?
Fat Tony's? (forget that he's never open!) He is supposed to be cheaper than the NRA cafe.(cant see him lasting , can you ?)

[dromia]

I have never said that the NRA haven't done anything for people who shoot at Bisley my whole case is that the NRA "note the N stands for national" are developing Bisley at the expense of shooting in the rest of the country.

The real fact is that unless you are in a position, geographically and financially, to take advantage of the Bisley ranges regularly then the NRA is absolutely of no relevance and the claim to be a national organisation developing target shooting across the nation is no more than a damned lie.

[Strangely Brown]

Yea but wot have the NRA ever done for us, apart from:

New Toilets? (with hot water) A must to keep the government people happy who use the ranges.
Electronic Targets? As above.
Competitions throughout out the year? Who actually runs them ?
Armoury storage space? Who are the main beneficiaries , police or civilians ?
Taking back control of Cottesloe Heath so more lanes can open on century? Why negotiate when we can evict ?
Taking control back of some of the pepper corn rents? (profit is not a dirty word) How many more empty clubhouses do you want ?
Fat Tony's? (forget that he's never open!) He is supposed to be cheaper than the NRA cafe.(cant see him lasting , can you ?)

I think it was very telling that you left out, Something for the no sayers to have a whinge about?
Bit close to home perhaps?

[FredB]

I don't keep paying my annual subscription, for the reason that I have been a life member for many years. I used to make it to Bisley 3 or 4 times a year---I live 150 miles away by road--- but, with advancing age, I only got there once last year and it looks like the Trafalgar meeting will be my only visit this year. When I arrive, it always gives me feelings of stepping back in time and coming home. Military ranges do nothing for me. When I shot there, I always felt that it was under sufferance and we were not really welcome. Even at Altcer, where I used to organize an annual pistol meeting, we felt that we were being put up with and not what they were really about.
Bisley is primarily about belly floppers with rifles and they naturally get the most attention --they deserve to as they make up the greater part of the membership--but, despite this, we were always made to feel welcome and part of the shooting fraternity.
The new administration has made some dreadful mistakes. I wrote to the CE about them not renewing the Muzzle Loaders lease on the Exhibition Hut and was given a number of reasons for this, all of which made some sense if you were new to the place and did not know how it worked. The North London club fiasco is another example and for me, probably the last chance if they do not sort it out to the benefit of shooters.
All the improvements made have cost money and would not have happenned under the old administration, which I believed to be somewhat corrupt in that it was running Bisley for itself.
I wait with interest so see what happens and especially to see results in the regional initiatives.
Fred

[breacher]

I have been doing that for nigh on three decades to no effect, I am still a member for the very reason that it is better to pish in the tent that out of it. At the last few elections I have been returning a spoilt ballot paper as none of the people standing seemed to have any appreciation of the needs of legal gun owners beyond Bisley and represent my needs as a shooter. I just see my membership as a waste of money, I get nothing back from it and continue to get shafted by our anti legal firearms institutions with no or ineffective representation from the likes of the NRA. I suppose I still pay the annual fee because, against all reason, not to do so admits to giving up hope.

Have you ever attended any of the meetings / AGMs etc ?

That way you can have your voice heard - to me, a spoilt ballot is an indication of someone unhappy with the status quo but without any indication to those that see the results, of exactly what the reason is !

As to beyond Bisley - its far from being my local club.
In fact its a 200 mile round trip for me - much of it at 5mph or less on an overcrowed M25
And the cost of accomodation as a day trip is not really worth it.

Yet, I feel its worth the effort - I rarely miss any of the big comps unless I am totally indisposed.

[dromia]

When I used to travel to Bisley to shoot I quiet often attended the AGM's, however travelling to the remote south is something I don't do any more. Also when the NRA used to hold regional meetings I attended all of them.

I can assure you that over the years I have made my views well known to the NRA, I also used to email them but got tired with just being fobbed off.

At the end of the day the membership of a self proclaimed "national" organisation should not have to explain to the organisation what national means, the NRA are well aware of my views and the views of many other shooters in a like position, the fact is they choose to ignore the national plight of shooting and legal gun ownership and bury themselves head first in the Bisley sand.