NRA Supports China

[Mastiff54]

I wanted to share a very disappointling experience and ask for those of you who agree with me to write to the NRA to get this addressed.
I recently upgraderd to a NRA Life Membership, for doing so the NRA sent me a "Minuteman" statue, this symbol of American freedom was made in China.
Please see a copy of my letter to the NRA and their response which I pasted below. If you agree with me, I was advised we have to write directly to Wayne LaPierre as he is responsible for the sourcing decisions for NRA material.
NRA HQ
Wayne LaPierre
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030

Please remember this if you consider buying any other NRA promotional material.

________________________________________
From: Vince & Linda
Sent: Saturday, June 05, 2010 10:59 PM
To: Membership

Subject: Life Membership
Today I received my Minuteman Statue which was supposed to be in recognition of my upgrading to Life Member.
Upon receiving it I promptly destroyed this treasonous piece of garbage and threw it in the trash.
How dare you send me such a patriotic symbol that has been MADE IN CHINA.

China, one of our most dangerous enemies. An enemy that threatens the freedom of this country and the free world.
An enemy that has take our jobs with their unfair trade practices.
An enemy the supports other enemies such as North Korea, Iraq, Iran, the Taliban, Chavez in Venezuela, communists in Chile, and the list goes on.
This is an enemy that has made serious and continued efforts to destroy our country and way of life.
An enemy that shot at my father, another Life Member, in Korea.
And you send me a Minuteman statue made in CHINA!!

This is a serious breach of confidence and trust.

Every freedom loving gun owner I can contact will hear of this unbelievable act until you right this wrong and recall everyone of these treasonous items from every American you have sent them to.
I also expect to see a printed apology in your publications; American Rifleman, American Hunter and Shooting Illustrated.
A written apology directly from Wayne LaPierre is also in order.
NEVER again will I buy another NRA labeled item, nor will I visit the NRA store again.
Shame on you.

Sincerely
Vince
NRA Life Member
13388####


From: Membership [mailto:Membership@nrahq.org]
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2010 9:26 AM
To: 'Vince & Linda'
Subject: RE: Life Membership

Thank you for contacting us.
Due to American economic and production shifts in manufacturing, it has become more and more difficult to find manufactures within the U.S. who can meet our demand while being cost productive. Please be assured that whenever possible, the NRA does buy American Made products. Unfortunately, many of the items that Members want are either not manufactured in America, or the cost of an American Made product is too prohibitive to offer as a promotional item. We sympathize with your complaints and are continually working to meet the demands and expectations of our Members.
Thank you very much for your support and please feel free to contact us
if you ever need anything else!
Best Regards,
Ken
NRA Member Communications
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030
www.nra.org
E-mail: membership@nrahq.org
Phone: 1(800)672-3888

 

[fdshuster]

And my message to the NRA, to which I have been a Life member since 1965, and an Endownment 3 years ago: If you cannot find the item you feel you need, either pick another, or don't buy any! I too am fed up with all the "made in China" crap.

 

[fa18hooker]

Okay, I'm going to step on a landmine here and ask a question: One of the founding principles that makes a democracy great is a free market economy...capitalism. Capitalism is providing the best product at the cheapest price, at which point market forces will flow towards you. If you are willing to pay more for a product due to ideology, then the market will take that into account...but so far it hasn't done so, because the "ideological demand" isn't there. America is a country of firsts, and continues to be so in all areas that are important...China is great at production and copying things...it doesn't produce original work. Now to my question: Is your hate of China greater than your love of capitalism? If so, and you are willing to pay more...next time maybe let the NRA know that you're willing to throw in an extra twenty bucks to your membership for a made-in-America statue. That will drive market force towards made-in-the-good-ol-USA.

 

[bobinpa]

I for one, totally support your letter to the NRA. I also understand Capitalism........ If our government didn't let it be imported we wouldn't have an issue at all..... if our government didn't let it become outsourced we wouldn't have an issue at all, however, stupidity and greed are at an all time high and a large portion of each are in our government. Since government is too stupid to see what they are doing or too greedy to care about what they are doing it has to be every citizens duty to do exactly what Mastiff54 did!!!!!! I for one am very willing to pay more for a similar product when it says Made in U.S.A. My Grandfather served in the U.S. Navy on the SS St Louis during Pearl Harbor... watching his eyes well up with tears when he is telling stories is enough for me to try and buy American as often as I can. It's hard to do sometimes and yes I own some foriegn made products and guns, but if I have an American made option, I'll take it every time, no matter what it cost. Mastiff54 gets a huge pat on the back from me!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hammerhead]

You stepped in it fa18hooker I hope it smells good to you.
I for one am willing to pay the extra money.

Tim

 

[fdshuster]

Producing and selling a safe, quality product on the world market is one thing. Producing and selling toxic junk, laden with lead, mercury, cadmium, etc. in childrens toys, seems to be the accepted practice of Communist Red China, and that alone gives me more than enough justification for not buying "made in China" as often as possible.

 

[tinkerer]

I have a dumb idea. ???

Why doesn't the NRA put out a Request For Quotes for American industry only for this type of stuff?

Just an idea.

Larry
Tinkerer

 

[shootsanything]

I will pay more for US produced. I put my money where my mouth is if I have a choice, and will choose local if possible. I spend my Saturday mornings going to farmers markets to support the local producers, and get the best freshest produce. If my only choice is foriegn then I will always choose European instead of the Far East, because the Europeans play with a more level playing field. The far east countries always cheat - they have no comprehension of intelectual property and they pay slave wages and manipulate exchange rates in their favor.

As an example I am building another gun (like I need another gun) and the action will be a BAT. The Barnard action also looked like what I want and was less expensive but for $100 I will support a US company.

In my opinion the NRA's excuses are just that. They did not want to do the extra work to find a qualified US supplier. Support local jobs or yours might be the next one exported.

 

[Greg110]

Gentlemen,
Well, for the most part, the incentive prizes I have received from the NRA have been mostly substandard quality anyway. For my money, I would rather have those funds spent on recruiting, young shooter support, the National Matches, or increased lobbying perhaps.

 

[LWolken]

There are pleanty of Made in the USA suppliers for promotional products. I used to work in the industry and went to the trade shows around the country. The NRA is just being lazy. I get more crap from the NRA than any other club I'm affiliated with. Quit sending me junk and take care of business!

Lance

 

[RandyD]

I also support your letter, and agree with Frank. I don't buy the NRA's comment; "cost of an American Made product is too prohibitive to offer as a promotional item." I received a Bowie knife from the NRA for bumping my membership up to endowment, and the knife is a dissapointment, it is of low quality and made of cheap material. Instead of hanging it in my office or den, it is in a box in my garage. If the NRA is concerned about costs, they should realize they wasted their funds in sending me that knife.

 

[Steve Blair]

Amen to all the above about our Chinese "friends". I work in IT at a major defense contractor and we are constantly attacked from IP addresses traced to China. The sophistication of these attacks is such that they are almost certainly state sponsored. They may no longer call themselves communists but they are still the same thugs.

Keep the trinkets, NRA. Build more ranges, train more young shooters and fight idiotic legislation like California AB 1810.

FWIW, I am a life member.

 

[fdshuster]

Randy: And when I bumped up my Life membership (since 1965), about 2 years ago, to Endowment, they were offering the knife also. I told them to keep it. I'm curious now: was it "made in China"?

 

[RandyD]

Frank, I looked at the knife and it does not have any markings as to where it is made. The fake white ivory handle is actually a plastic material, and the scabbard is two sides of thin pieces made of some type of pliable resin material that are bound together by a heat process.

I agree, with the member above. Don't send me junk. Use the financial resources to build and improve ranges and get out there and recruit kids into this sport.

 

[flatlander]

dittos on using funds to build more ranges - I shoot XC, MR, & LR prone HP matches, and even with all the wide-open spaces here in Western Kansas, have to travel to Byers, Co. or Raton, N.M. to shoot in organized 1000yd. events. There's currently only one 600yd. range in Kansas, and it's somewhat threatened by development & high land prices.

My hat's off to the Colorado Rifle Club for having the foresight to purchase 1600 acres near Byers to build their range facilty on. And thank goodness for the generousity of the Whittingtons for donating the land SW of Raton the NRA's premier range facility is built on.

If it suddenly became unnecessary for the NRA to continue spending big bucks on legislative lobbying, I wonder how long it would take the decision makers there to pull their heads out and start investing in more range facilities?