Consider the latest recruiting campaign by the NRA to try and increase their membership numbers with the “35 and under” demographic:
[youtube=http://youtu.be/VButiaH4hu0]
Now I don’t know about you, but after I watched this sixteen minutes of rambling non-sense, I had the overwhelming feeling I had been robbed, quite subliminally I might add, of both my time and brain cells at the same time. What is the NRA thinking? or to put it another way, Why are they NOT THINKING? Obviously, in their vain attempt to pad their membership numbers with the “hip” and “cool” demographic of what I am guessing from this clip, involves mostly “urban gun enthusiast” (Don’t even get me started on what that really means!) They have forgotten the cardinal rule of recruitment: NEVER DUMB DOWN YOUR MESSAGE TO GAIN MEMBERS. GIVE THEM THE FACTS AND THE ONES WORTH KEEPING WILL COME TO YOU. If you want to qualify that with a relevant historical example, look at what happened to the US Army during the recent Iraq War. Recruiters across the Nation admitted to lowering testing levels (through the “Waiver” program) to gain recruitment numbers. Military Strategist Author Fred Kaplan examines the negative repercussions HERE.
I look at it like this: When I was introduced to firearms at a young age, I new from the start that being a “gun enthusiast” was about more than owning a gun. It was about becoming a responsible citizen. It was about a lifestyle that promoted respect for firearms and the understanding that the right to own one had to be defended at all cost. To me, this is what the NRA has always represented..why change now? Popular Culture and Guns have a very dysfunctional relationship due to Hollywood and Video Games. The NRA cannot rectify that by trying to “blend in” with the younger generation. The NRA has to have the mentality of “You have to come UP to our level”, not, “We will come DOWN to yours” if they are to survive the 21st Century.
My .02 cents.
Stay Responsible, Stay Armed and Stay Dangerous!
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