Wayne LaPierre, et. al., The National Rifle Association
Gentlemen and Ladies,
I expect this morning that the esteemed members of the NRA board of directors are struggling to pull the knife out from between their collective shoulder blades after Donald J. Trump shoved it in to the hilt last night. As Trump has been accused of doing so many times in the past, he has defrauded those foolish enough to trust him and this time, the victim is this august civil rights organization.
As though suggesting making the abusive, counter-productive and unconstitutional former New York City Police Department practice of “stop and frisk” a tactic police use nationwide – and then amending that to “just Chicago” – wasn’t bad enough; Trump last night agreed that taking away the due process and Second Amendment rights of anyone the FBI thinks might be a bad guy is a good idea. He agreed to what the House democrats threw a tantrum demanding this past June before Speaker Paul Ryan gaveled the body adjourned. In short, when it comes to defending the Second Amendment, what you’re giving him my dues money and the dues money of millions of other members to do, Donald J. Trump has completely waffled; there is now no material difference between him and Hillary Clinton on the matter of gun control. None.
Here we are in an unprecedented election cycle where neither major party candidate enjoys even a moderate public approval rating. Libertarian Party (the only third party) candidate Gary Johnson has gotten far more press than any other LP candidate in history, largely because no one can really stand Trump or Clinton. His campaign continues to attract younger voters and independents. If there was ever a time for a large organization to throw its weight behind a Libertarian Party candidate, it’s now. The Republican Party might not be able to dump Trump at this point, but there is no reason why the NRA shouldn’t.
Yes, there’s just over a month left until the general election. No, that isn’t a lot of time. Yes, changing course at this point in the election might be a largely symbolic gesture. However, history, and the American people, will look better upon the NRA for staying true to its members and withdrawing support from a candidate who doesn’t deserve it, even if it means backing one who can’t likely win; which, by the way, is all the NRA is doing now as it is.
We are the NRA. We set gun policy in this country, period. If the guy our money is going to doesn’t want to agree to those terms, cut him off. If nothing else, the NRA completely withdrawing its support for Donald Trump now would send a message to future “conservatives” who’d seek to court our favor: do not bite the hand that writes campaign contribution checks; do not bite the hands of those who send in the dues money behind those campaign checks.
Sincerely,
Kyle A. Lohmeier
Member
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