TexasCHLforum.com

smason wrote:I was going to wait to register until we got to Houston in hopes of getting a good discount on membership because money has been so tight this year. We went ahead and, instead of them reimbursing him on the credit card, put that $300 to my lifetime membership.

A hearty round of applause and a big "Welcome."

We need to figure out some way that Forum members can recognize each other in the exhibit hall...

BHill wrote:MRs. BHill got hers today so the number is still going strong. Now for more recruiting.

Congrats, and many thanks.

I have no insider knowledge, but I have to believe that Q1 of 2013 has seen more new NRA Life Members and Life Upgrades than any three months in the long history of the organization.

There are still 10 days left this quarter to send this massive message to President Obama, Vice President Biden, and the House Majority Leader.

Every new or upgraded NRA membership counts.

Every membership counts.

Purplehood wrote:I have sponsored a number of folks through this method and have yet to see any e-mail from the NRA.

I am not sure what it is I would be circumventing.

I explained it as best I could. There is no "sponsorship" associated with the current offer. The discounted life membership is intended to be a gift purchased by the current member for the prospective member, not a mechanism whereby the prospective member purchases a discounted life membership for himself.

You haven't seen any emails because they went to the new members' recently-input email addresses...although the emails were addressed to your name.

Give NRA HQ a call and talk to 'em about it.

smilner01 wrote:Hmmm, I used a life members number, and zip on the website, but my credit card info, thy took the money from my account so well see if I get my member packet.

You probably will.

Point is--as I learned after my call to HQ--what you did is you claimed to be the life member by using his or her membership number, zip code of record, and email address to sign-on to http://www.NRA-2012.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. If you received a confirmation email after the transaction--which I'll bet you did--I'll guarantee it was addressed to the life member, not to you.

Is the NRA actively cross-checking the name on the credit card used against the life member giving the "gift"? Probably not; likely not cost-effective to do so. Will skirting the intent of the promotion work and buying a discounted life membership for yourself be successful? Probably.

But since there is expressly no "sponsorship" option with the current program, and that the NRA's intent is for current life members to be able to purchase reduced-price life memberships for others as gifts, will current life members in good standing choose to behave contrary to the NRA's intentions and give out their information so a potential member can bypass the purpose of the membership promotion? Nope.

If it was truly a sponsorship program as we (last?) saw circa 2006-2007, I'd be first in line to lend a hand to recruit new life members. As it is, though, this current promotion is intended to be a gift purchased by the life member for the new or annual member. I don't think current life members will want to try to circumvent the NRA's intent.

Millerk420 wrote:Has anyone confirmed the legitimacy of this website?

It is hosted on GODaddy.com I never got a notice from the NRA about this site. and there doesnt seem to any links on the main NRA site for this. I am sending an email to NRA webmaster and see if I can get a confirmation of this site. It might be a phishing website wanting to get your info.

The site is absolutely legit. Not only did NRA HQ mention it when I called, it's featured prominently in the February issue of the NRA's American Rifleman magazine, in Wayne LaPierre's keynote article, "All In!" (see page 41).

The domain name may be registered through GoDaddy, but the registrant is the NRA, and when you sign-on to the site it connects to the NRA membership database and pulls your current member information and status on an SSL connection.

The name registrar doesn't indicate where or who actually hosts the site. In this case, it's a managed server (64.29.201.96) in Irving, TX, at Terremark, a provider of managed and cloud services with data centers in the US, Europe, and Latin America. In fact, Verizon just agreed, days ago, to acquire Terremark for $1.4 billion. This is the same place and in the same IP range that operates nra.org (64.29.201.199), nramemberservices.org (64.29.201.98), nrahq.org (64.29.201.103), and probably others.

waycostation wrote:Mom of two teen boys in upstate Ny is looking for a sponsor to help sign me up under the NRA's "Family and Friends for new life memberships" @ the $300 price. Any lifetime members willing to help out?
I have the number to call but need of course "a sponsor" and:

Lifetime members #
Your zip code
And email addy? (no clue why they need that)

If you can help and/or have more info for me I would really appreciate it!

Please see above. There is no "sponsorship" option at this time. The only option is for a current life member to use his or her own credit card to purchase the special offer as a gift for family or friends.

Mike1911 is correct: we jumped the gun in interpreting this one.

While a life member isn't restricted to family members for a gift--friends do qualify--it is still a gift, not a sponsorship. HQ confirmed I could buy a gift life membership for any NRA non-member or annual member, but there is no provision for anyone to buy a reduced-price life membership on their own under my "sponsorship."

When you go to https://www.nra-2012.org/ and enter your personal membership data, you are presented with your relevant information. HQ says that the options available will differ by member; that I personally have the option to upgrade to patron member (which I'm thinking very strongly about doing), and/or I can buy a discounted life membership for someone else using my credit card. But there is no "sponsorship" as there was in an offer that ran several years ago.

Well, folks, it's now lookin' to me like the $300 life membership is available, but only if purchased by the current life member as a gift . There's no sponsorship involved.

Lemme call NRA HQ in the morning and find out the skinny on this. I'll post tomorrow after talking with membership support.

jekoenig, you have a PM.

Others: this is a monumental opportunity to grow Texas NRA membership.

To be able to sponsor new Life Members for only $300...well, I would be humbled to help.

PM me your real name and your real email address.

It would be a privilege to sponsor you as a new NRA Life Member.

Let's get this Lifer party started!

—NRA Endowment Life Member

Wrightwing wrote:I paid off my Easy Pay Life Membership last week. Received my new credentials today

Congratulations! And, thank you.

I haven't heard of a current promotion, but from past experience I'd call NRA headquarters at 800-672-3888 (option #3), and ask for the lifetime membership department. The folks staffing the general information line at 877-NRA-2000 are not necessarily told about life member upgrade opportunities.

The NRA does make these available from time to time, and I sure wouldn't hesitate to call the life member staff directly to get all the facts.

And what a nice Christmas present, Grandad. (How did you get to be a Grandad as young as you are?)

Your grandson may not appreciate it now as much as he will later, but that's definitely a gift that will keep on giving, year after year.