Not a conservative issue

Some conservatives are upset over the possibility that the NRA may endorse Harry Reid for re-election.  Over at Red State Erick Erickson whines:

“…  these days I cringe when I see good conservatives with their lifetime member sticker from the NRA on the back of their cars …”

This may come as a shock to some, but the NRA is not a conservative group nor do conservatives own the gun rights issue.  This is especially true in New York where top ticket candidates Rick Lazio and Dan Donovan, both of whom have been endorsed by the state Conservative Party, are flaming antigunners.  I know Democrat party functionaries who are members of NRA and who support liberal candidates.  They are as much a part of the NRA family as the next guy and ought to be treated as such.

The NRA is a single issue advocacy group.  Like it or not Harry Reid has been generally supportive of gun rights during his tenure in the Senate.  I would not personally endorse him as I think he’s going to lose badly, but if NRA does go with him as a Patron Life Member I’m not going to get bent out of shape over it.

One thought on “Not a conservative issue

  1. Thank you for pointing this out. I’m a libertarian gun rights supporter, and happen to also support gay/LGBT rights, abortion rights, and church-state separation, putting me squarely at odds with the stereotypical “gun nut” portrait.

    I’m a dues-paying NRA member as well, and although I cringe a bit every time the NRA’s rhetoric strays a bit too far into conservative territory (e.g., the use of “god talk”), they’re a remarkably effective organization for defending such an important right. Even if gun rights supporters can’t agree on anything else, we need to stand together and support the NRA.

    I already have an NRA bumper sticker; maybe I should get one of the Human Rights Campaign’s LGBT rights “equal sign” stickers to put next to it, to help remind people on *both* issues that not everyone falls into neat “liberal” or “conservative” categories.

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