by Don McDougall
United States -(AmmoLand.com)- Gun owners are leaving the Democrat party. That decline in people who identify as Democrat is due to their attacks on gun ownership and the 2nd Amendment.
They may never go back and will not ever vote against gun rights. The anti-gun left will tell you the NRA is made up white guys over 60. 15+ years ago they were right. Today and over the past 15-20 years, the make-up of the NRA has changed. This has ramifications for the upcoming election and the nation as a whole.
So what does the NRA membership look like today?
- 40% women
- 40% minority mostly Asian and Hispanic men and women.
- Sure, the rest are a lot of white guys but the average age is down from 60 to 40-45.
The NRA is more inter-racial, younger and looks a hell of a lot more like America than the anti-gun left would have you think. The gun grabber like Hillary and her ilk are stuck in the 1990’s.
They see the NRA as it was 25-30 years ago. Old – White – needing to lose 30 lbs. They’re simply wrong. The NRA looks like America because it IS made up of average Americans.
Why are the gun banners so wrong? They confuse race with cultural assimilation. The Hispanic families or Vietnamese families that moved here 20-30 years ago have children who are Americans. These new Americans have American dreams listen to American music and are in fact slightly more conservative than their peers and parents. The women are the fastest growing demographic of new gun owners. The apparent assumption that anyone of color or gender will stay a liberal and not assimilate into American culture or change their views is a mistake.
The NRA, NFL, NBA and music,…etc. These new immigrants do what all new immigrants do given the chance – they BECOME LIKE US, they BECOME AMERICANS!
So when the anti-gunners read this (and they do), they will tell you I’m lying. That it is safe for you to hate and vilify the NRA because it is all white and made us of racists who grind baby’s bones to make bread and murder cats as a sacrifice to the goddess Hooku. Oh, and according to many of the left we’re also all “latent homosexuals who worship guns as sexual objects.” The fact is we are all just average people who just want our rights protected and to be left alone.
The anti-gun left wants to define the NRA. They want to tell you who we are, what we believe and what we think. They are 180 degrees off and are incapable of accepting how wrong they are. This is why their insincere calls for gun control fail. This is why their lies fall on deaf ears. The anti-gunners feel safe attacking a group they felt was made up of old white guys.
But when their target audiences are women and minorities, and they make up 40% of the group being attacking they look like fools.
So how can I tell you what the NRA make up is? It’s simple, and while the anti-gunners are crying foul, I am sure of my association and my numbers. You see while the NRA proper does not count the race of their members the Friend of the NRA does. So consider this 1,100 events with an average of 150 people plus per event. The fact is 3% of the NRA members by count come to Friends of the NRA dinners and events. We PHYSICALLY SEE 3% of the NRA membership by count every year. Friends of the NRA raised $600,000,000.00 in the last decade or so for juniors’ programs and women’s programs. Not a dime goes to politics. Women on Target touched close to 1 million women, all 1st-time gun owners and now happy and productive NRA members.
The gun grabbers who think an organization as effective of the NRA and it’s charitable foundations do not know the make-up of their members are just deluding themselves.
Some final statistics that you need to know.
The NRA is 23% Democrat! Only slightly less than the national average for the general population! (The national average is 29% democrat.) The NRA supports ANY politician who respects the 2nd Amendment and the Constitution. They are not a left or right organization. Most of the NRA support goes to the GOP because the GOP supports the 2nd Amendment, not the other way around.
The most popular rifle used in high power competition? AR in all its forms. The gun the anti-gun left want to ban is the most commonly used centerfire rifle used competition today! I wonder if they know that?
Funny thing facts.
About Don McDougall:
Don McDougall is an NRA instructor and member of the Los Padres “Friends of the NRA” committee. If he’s not at the range, you will find him setting the record straight with on gun issues and gun safety on AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.