Wow. That stinks.
West Bend, WI – The United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) today announced that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has disinvited the organization from its 2017 Annual Meetings & Exhibits and the 2018 Great American Outdoor Show because of “concerns regarding its programs.”
The move shocked the leadership of the USCCA because they were given less than two weeks notice that they had been banned from the annual show, even though they had attended for the past several years. This decision also came as a surprise because over the past two months, the leadership from the NRA and the USCCA met twice to discuss the shared goal of the two organizations in support of the Second Amendment.
In a note sent to millions of USCCA supporters, Founder and President Tim Schmidt said that even though the NRA might be fearing the competition, USCCA will still support the NRA’s efforts to protect the Second Amendment.
I suspect that the real reason is that the NRA offers a competing insurance product and the USCCA has been gaining too much market share for the NRA’s liking. What’s unfortunate for 2nd Amendment supporters is that we have two advocacy organizations who won’t work together due to competing business interests.
I’m an Instructor with both The NRA and The USCCA and it needs to be said that The USCCA had the legal defense insurance BEFORE the NRA even thought about it. It should also be noted that many of the USCCA members and instructors (like the founder Tim Schmidt) are Life Members of the NRA and openly support the NRA and will continue to do so.
I believe that the NRA’s problem is that it’s management is becoming Lawyer controlled and directed. They like to give orders and silence anyone with a fresh idea. The idea that a group of people that are not in D.C. might have solved a huge hole in firearms education and training that is in very high demand by the American Citizens is simply intolerable to NRA Brass. So when faced with a second group of leaders, instead of embracing them, D.C. mentality is to silence them before more people realize they are right.
I have taught both programs and when asked the question which course is best for a student my answer is do you want to be good on a shooting range or are you interested in self defense and defense of your loved ones? If the answer is self defense, the best is the USCCA all the way, course, membership and training. I encourage joining the NRA in addition but, this kind of bad move by the NRA Brass will make me think twice. Maybe we need to let it to rethink what they really stand for.