canvasbck wrote:Seriously, we had a concentrated message coming from the NRA and TSRA prior to fringe groups like OCT, OCTC, CATI, NAGR, etc. splintering off because the NRA wasn't going as far as they wanted to. Instead of trying to change the nationally recognized groups from the inside, they decided to start their own David Coresch (sp?) type groups.
I'm an NRA member. I'm not part of OCT/OCTC/GOA/AEAEIOU/what-have-you. I don't agree with many of the tactics used by the "splinter groups." That doesn't make their ideals wrong. In fact, I -strongly- agree with them, in that, absent strict scrutiny, no governmental entity in the United States has any right whatsoever to regulate arms owned or carried by the citizens of the United States. I do believe that any and all firearms laws, to -include- CHL laws, is an un-Constitutional infringement. Guess I'm a Branch Davidian too, hey?
This is -exactly- what I was referencing in my previous post. If we as gun owners, as rights advocates, ever hope to be taken seriously in places like Austin, we HAVE to stop "eating our own." OCT/OCTC-type tactics came about entirely because things were not moving fast enough. They gathered support from folks who have been told for years, decades, that they had to compromise, when the language of the Constitution is uncompromising. They're tired, frustrated, and angry, at their enemies, and at their friends. After being treated for so long like petulant children, is it any wonder they're acting like it?
Charles IS right, this behavior is off-putting, and unless adopted by a LARGE majority, it will result over and over in defeats and failures. There is a reason for compromise, sometimes, even when we hate it. I hold a New Mexico CHL, and held a Texas CHL before that, even though I believe their requirement to be un-Constitutional. However, sometimes a movement needs its radicals, too. Sometimes, they're needed as a fringe for the mainstream to point to and say "We're not as bad as them; we're reasonable." But this only works with a cooperative media. We tried this with OCT/OCTC and the rest; see how well it's worked?
... Sometimes the fringe radicals are needed to remind the mainstream of its end-game, of its ultimate goals. I believe this is where we are now.
Instead of continuing to cast them out, we should take their existence as a cautionary warning, try to draw them back -in-, make them allies once again. We've seen how good they are at garnering attention; imagine what that talent could be used for in a coordinated effort!
Sadly, I don't expect to see this any time soon. People are too human; the fringe has been allowed to fray TOO much, and I don't know that they'd come back even if invited. Likewise, the mainstream, the old guard, is too affronted by the tactics being used by the fringe, such that I don't expect them to put forth any invitation either. There may be one or two, here or there, but on the whole, I expect the rift to widen, not narrow.
And that saddens me.
+1