Who to support first?

[The Original Godfather]

I was talking to a good buddy of mine about recent gun control regulations going on and he stumped with a good question: "Which gun rights group do I support first?"

I couldn't really give him a solid answer. I just told him to take whatever you can offer and perhaps split it up between several organizations. Then he asked, "Well, if you had to choose, which one would you join or send money to first?"


I naturally said CGF since it's local, but I couldn't really give him a straight answer when he asked me why I would choose them over others.


Which organization did you join first and why?

[Foulball]

Here is how I rank them and how I donate:

1. NRA - They pull the strings at the big boy level. If you can't stop Congress from passing crap laws and infringement, then we will be crushed.
2- SAF (Second Amendment Foundation), you see them involved in a ton of lawsuits all around the country and they are absolutely awesome!
3- CGF, local *** kickers! Smacking down stupid CA laws, cities, sheriff's and legislature critters by the bucket full.
4- CRPA, better now than it has been in the past.

I do not now, nor ever will, donate to GOA.

my .02c

[wash]

I would swap CGF and NRA on that list.

NRA already has tons of money, CGF needs it more and spends it very effectively.

[The Original Godfather]

I would swap CGF and NRA on that list.

NRA already has tons of money, CGF needs it more and spends it very effectively.

thats what i was thinking.

[4DSJW]

TOG, I think it is useful to look at the issue of who to support as two separate issues, membership and financial support. I believe that it is useful to any organization to have as many members as possible. Since annual membership in many of the pro-firearms organizations is fairly low I would encourage anyone to become a member in as many of these organizations as they can, or would like, to support, in order to help bulk up the membership numbers.

With that done then you can decide what group, or groups, to support financially with any larger donations that you make during the year.

For me personally, in no particular order-

-NRA Endowment Member for the numbers and minor donations

-SAF Life Member for the numbers and small donations

-CRPA Life Member mostly for the numbers in the past but will be increasing donations if they come up to speed with some (hopefully) upcoming changes.

CGF- I'm just getting involved here but I will be using at least half of my donation money for CGF because I think that they are doing more for CA shooters than any other group. NOW, if I can just figure out how to set up GPal to make recurring monthly payments to CGF I'd be on my way.

Best of luck with your choices!

[wildhawker]

CGF will soon have a new website with many really cool features, including recurring donations using different funding sources. In the meantime, I recommend your bank's online billpayer system since it is very reliable and does not incur any fees for either side (in almost all cases).

I will say that the "membership vs. contribution analysis" has a tremendous amount of merit. That said, all of the organizations who have been mentioned positively in this thread work very hard to protect and advance our rights. We're proud and honored to be considered a part of your charitable giving.

[HunterJim]

I would like to salute NRA, CRPA, 2AF and CGF because all of them are *active in current court cases attacking the forces of darkness here in California, something that has only recently become true. Since 2008 I have sent money to all of them and CCRKBA.

GOA, GOC, and JFPO are noisy guys at the sideline, and I don't send them money.

jim

[Vox]

What's wrong with the GOA?

[Skidmark]

Money is dear and precious, so I give to CGF. No bloat, no bluster, no mis-guided campaigns, no annoying phone calls or mailings... just effective tactics that yield results.

[HunterJim]

What's wrong with the GOA?

They aren't doing anything here to help, just background noise...jim

[hoffmang]

Money is dear and precious, so I give to CGF. No bloat, no bluster, no mis-guided campaigns, no annoying phone calls or mailings... just effective tactics that yield results.

By the way, thank you for noticing.

-Gene

[Paladin]

Look at your budget for the amount you can give this year.

If it is under $35, I'd give it all to Calguns Foundation.

If it is $35, I'd join the NRA (https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp), for a year.

If it is more than $35, I'd join the NRA for a year and give everything above that to Calguns Foundation.

Why not everything to CGF for maximum impact in the PRK? There are something like 90,000,000 gun owners in the US, but only 4,000,000 are NRA members. Yet look at the fear the NRA puts into the Washington politicos. If we could make merely 10% of all gun owners NRA members (that would be a 150% increase in membership), and have that for only 6 years (3 elections for all Representatives; 1 election for all Senators; and 1 presidential election), we'd get EVERYTHING we want, incl good Supreme Court justices (and other federal court judges). So, like it or not, we're in a two front (at least) war: judicial and political-legislative. CGF doesn't do political action or legislative lobbying -- the NRA does both those at the federal and state levels.

One of the most important things you can do is sign up for the NRA-ILA Alerts at: https://secure.nraila.org/EmailSignup.aspx
They are free! Get all your family, friends, and shooting buddies to sign up too. And then make those calls/faxes/emails to Sacto or DC everytime the NRA says to. That is how we put the fear of the NRA into the antis.

More NRA political stuff at: http://www.nrapvf.org/

Ck my sig line's "16 things YOU CAN DO" for more ideas.

[Legasat]

I paid to join NRA and donate a little extra everytime I buy from Midway.

I paid to join CRPA so I could vote.

CGF is the only one I have sent money to.