The NRA claims to have 5 million members, most presumably paying the $35/year fee, and gets outsized political impact from that claim, even though that's less than 4 percent of the voters in 2012.
But I have to wonder about that claim, given that the NRA essentially gives away membership.
One way to get in for free is by buying a gun from one of the NRA's sponsors:
A 2008 issue of the NRA Recruiter, a newsletter aimed at the association's evangelists, proudly noted that weapons makers and outfitters such as Browning, Beretta, Taurus, Tactical Rifles, and Wilson Combat were offering free NRA memberships to anyone purchasing their products.
The newsletter also talked up the benefits of "Join NRA, Get in Free" promotions at gun shows. "This is, by far, the most effective way to substantially increase your numbers," it said. "…[A]ll you have to do is 'sell the sizzle.' People are always looking for a bargain."
Another way is to get on the NRA's email list, where free membership is constantly on offer.
Like the email I got today.
Here's the complete text of this "limited time offer," which is repeated one way or another every month or so.
It's in the form of a letter from multi-millionaire NRA honcho Wayne LaPierre, with his usual over-the-top fear-mongering right up front:
Dear Friend,
Right now, your constitutional right to own a gun is under attack by anti-gun politicians, gun ban bureaucrats, and the freedom-hating media elite.
They've vowed to fight on and never surrender until they've destroyed your right to own a gun for shooting, hunting, and personal protection.
NRA is the only national organization with the power to fight for your rights in Congress, the state legislatures and the courthouses. Our voices... our votes... and the promise of Election Day defeat are what keep the anti-gun forces at bay.
If you want to save your fundamental freedoms before they're dismantled and destroyed, then click here and join us TODAY.
And if you join NRA within the next 72 hours, I'll send you a FREE Gift - a $25 Gift Card to be used towards The Sportsman's Guide store or online purchase. PLUS, I'll knock $10 off your $35 annual membership so you only pay $25!
In addition to your Gift Card, you'll also receive your choice of one of NRA's award-winning magazines... upon activation, valuable insurance for YOU and YOUR guns... invitations to NRA events in your area... and MORE!
Remember, NRA is the one firewall standing between your rights and those who would take them away. But our strength to fight and win comes from YOU!
So please, don't wait. With our biggest battles just ahead, we need your help more than ever. Click here and join today. Thank you!
Yours in Liberty,
Wayne
Wayne LaPierre
Executive Vice President
P.S. Hundreds of dollars in benefits - for just $25. Plus, you get a $25 gift card to The Sportsman’s Guide! Act now. Join NRA today!
I have no doubt that voters who support the NRA's extreme position on guns exceed their membership.
Polls show that 10 to 20 percent of respondents support less gun control, and another 30 percent or so want no more gun control.
And the NRA's micro-minority of gun nuts are continuously propagandized, via email and direct mail, to be active politically and one-issue voters.
That's enough to scare most politicians, of both parties, away from doing anything effective to reduce gun violence.
The majority who are sickened by too-frequent stories of awful gun mass murders have never been organized enough to change that.
Nancy Nall nailed it:
For the millionth time: America has made its bloody bed, and now we have to lie in it.