Lifetime membership RANT. Sort of. Major League group.

[69hurstolds]

I gave up joining clubs and causes years ago. And thats across the board.

There's ways to contribute to meaningful things and causes without money. It also keeps things on the up and up. These days message boards are, on the whole, kind of dying out. Without a dedicated core of members driving content and offering their knowledge there's nothing left. That core can revolve, but if it gets to where almost everyone is new, threads go unanswered, people stop coming back. So while some guys don't donate money, they contribute "in kind" which can be valuable in its own way.

Clubs are the same way too. If everyone shows up to one event here or there, who makes things happen? Who plans, sets up, cleans up? Soon events are gone, people forget what they pay for, and it dissolves away.

For around 5 or 7 years anyways I was part of running a buick chat room (remember those things?) and moderating a website/list. You never saw so much bickering and politics, well, I actually guess you wouldn't have since most all was behind the scenes. Quit and even deleted the accounts after burnout.

And if/when I PAY for something, I expect a fair say in how it's run/managed for my contribution. When I know I can't get that, I keep my money. When you don't pay for it you lose the right to b*tch about how it comes out too, and be grateful for what you get. (With cite to non-monetary support of course.)

Reality is, I think enthusiasts clubs and political action groups do not mix. Let them be separate from eachother, and if anything, have separate sister orgs that can appeal to the other membership groups for separate voluntary donations to the political causes.

To the original thread topic, back in the day I attended what was called a hunters education course in our town's 17th century meeting house as a kid sponsored by that major projectile club. Really it was firearms safety and was stuff id learned from around 7 yrs old participating at the volunteer fire dept turkey shoot fundraisers. It was free, and, helped me get a weapons permit as a youngin that the town police chief endorsed for automatic and high capacity.

I dunno if they still do much like that given the political climates. Especially in a town under 500 residents given their finances. But it's what they once did 30-something years back

I'm certainly in agreement with most of what you have said. Although that sh*t don't work here as GP403 has the only say in what happens here, even if you do toss in some bucks. Knew that going in though. He said if I didn't pay, I was going on a long vacation...whatever that means. 🙂 j/k

I understand that the group fights for legislation supporting rights and all that, and against any laws that restrict the amendment. That to me is extremely important because rights should not be taken or eroded away regardless. Again, I do agree they SHOULD separate their operation.

I sense the desperation in the communications from the said group. Money grubbing. I paid my LM dues, and I got nary a discount for it at the time, now they're discounting heavily just to "upgrade". I can say I haven't sent them another dime. I mean, if there was more of a "what's in it for me" deal, I may change my mind, but a trinket here and there and a new ball cap with their logo on it isn't going to sway me. They do well with the safety, or at least the guys that are in that arm of the organization. And that's really the important part to me. I mean, if you're going to be a f*ck face and act like a d*ckhole, that's fine, as long as I don't have to worry about someone at the "sometimes noisy gathering place to launch projectiles at paper with circles on them for practice" accidently launching one into my old azz because safety is paramount when it comes to this group.

If I'm going to waste my money on something, it might as well be cars.

 

[fleming442]

Just ask them straight up lifetime means.

 

[ck80]

I'm certainly in agreement with most of what you have said. Although that sh*t don't work here as GP403 has the only say in what happens here, even if you do toss in some bucks. Knew that going in though. He said if I didn't pay, I was going on a long vacation...whatever that means. 🙂 j/k

You know, similar thing happened.... asked me for "bitcoin"... Now I figured that sounded kinda gross and unsanitary but whatever kinks get someone's rocks off are AOK as long as they don't impact me. So, we washed some change down a few times in sanitizer, bit down hard on it our teeth till it left marks and sent it in.

Darned if it didn't just make em mad???

 

[joesregalproject]

I understand that the group fights for legislation supporting rights and all that, and against any laws that restrict the amendment. That to me is extremely important because rights should not be taken or eroded away regardless. Again, I do agree they SHOULD separate their operation.

The projectile launcher club kinda tried that with the ILA. Seperate but maybe not separate enough? I think it just wound up further complicating things. The hard part is that in modern society even owning a projectile launcher, especially a few particular ones, is viewed as a political statement, so it really blurs the lines between "good 'ole boys projectile launcher club" and "Washington D.C. legalese lawyers and lobbyists club".

Again, it's been mismanaged for years, they've driven away a lot of their core entirely by their own doing. It's run by guys in suits and while protecting the amendment is their primary mission, they have manipulated it for their own benefit, and their lack of sincerity is blatantly obvious. That said, they are far from the only ones to attempt to capitalize on a good cause. Someone else mentioned Wounded Warrior Project. How about yacht boy Joel Osteen?

Once again, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

 

[jiho]

And once in hell, the road to good intentions is not paved.

 

[ck80]

And once in hell, the road to good intentions is not paved.

Ain't that the truth? Just ask Clutch, he got trapped in jersey and hasn't been able to get back to the land of good intentions since!

 

[Wageslave]

NPR: New York Attorney General Moves To Dissolve The NRA After Fraud Investigation.

New York Attorney General Moves To Dissolve The NRA After Fraud Investigation

New York's attorney general announced civil action to dissolve the National Rifle Association after an investigation found millions of dollars in alleged fraud by CEO Wayne LaPierre and others.

www.npr.org

I guess the problem is fixing itself.

 

[UNGN]

Who was talking about the NRA? Never heard of them.

Is that some kind of a Street Rod Club?

 

[ck80]

Who was talking about the NRA? Never heard of them.

Is that some kind of a Street Rod Club?

I dunno, but in many ways NHRA can fit the theme of this thread....

 

[joesregalproject]

NPR: New York Attorney General Moves To Dissolve The NRA After Fraud Investigation.

New York Attorney General Moves To Dissolve The NRA After Fraud Investigation

New York's attorney general announced civil action to dissolve the National Rifle Association after an investigation found millions of dollars in alleged fraud by CEO Wayne LaPierre and others.

www.npr.org

I guess the problem is fixing itself.

That's been coming for a pretty long time. I'm not saying the NRA is flawless and I think my previous posts have made that pretty clear but I think this is partisan politics at it's worst.