Not dissing, Larry, just stating facts. In case you have forgotten, the NRA national leadership created an image problem for itself by ill-advised name-calling back in 1995. That one blunder overshadowed the organization's good work, embarrassed many of their friends, cost them a significant number of members, and - for a while - made the NRA an 'untouchable' in much of the political world.
Fortunately, the NRA has regained much of its credibility by putting the "jack-booted thugs" rhetoric behind it (although the same leadership is running it). But a few NRA members still seem bent on reminding us by continuing the name-calling tactics.
The congress is not neatly divided into pro- and anti-gun extremes, as you seem to imagine. Nor is the American public, most of whom are somewhere in the middle. Yet they are the ones on whom our gun-owning minority depends to help preserve the Second Amendment.
Even today, some moderate politicians are reluctant to be seen meeting with NRA lobbyists, yet they may be willing to listen to other groups with a pro-gun agenda. And they may be persuaded to help us. That's why it is important to carry the RKBA message with more than a single voice. It's fine to be preaching to the choir, and no one does that better than the NRA. But we need to be heard by the congregation as well.
