Okay. Now I'll chime in.
Mr Wrightme has been pretty much "spot on." I've known him since approximately 1999. He served on my SFA Board of Directors for several years. I can attest to his extreme credibility.
The NSRPA was for many years the official NRA Nevada state organization; for many years now it has been inactive - impotent, if not dead. Why? I do not know for sure; I could only speculate and present a personal opinion, which I'll not do here. For years I tried to keep open a dialogue with the NSRPA president but got nowhere. And, three of the NSRPA Directors live right here in Fallon and for many years I've asked what is going on in NSRPA and not a single one knows a thing. The NSRPA website hasn't been updated since early 2007 (and was weak before that.) Haven't seen an NSRPA newsletter in many years. Hence my comment the NSRPA is impotent if not dead. If you know of ANY NSRPA activity, please share it.
I joined SFA in 1999. Frankly, the primary reason I joined was to have a place to shoot my varmint rifles from a bench rest. In 2003, the acting president fell quite ill. I volunteered for the vice president position. I found we had 62 paid members. For some years, to have six to 15 members show up for a monthly meeting was good. There was virtually no club activity.
A couple of us decided to host some shooting matches. Big success.
So I went through the membership roll, obtained email addresses and brought SFA into the online/email world. We hosted more events of various types.
In 2005 I became the President. We never went on a formal membership drive, but endeavored to host events and sent press releases about the club and events. Membership continued to grow.
In 2009 I elected to step down from the President position but remained on the Board of Directors. At that time, we had 502 members - a nice increase from 62. (I served as a Board member until August 2011, and continue to serve as Chairman, Legislative Action Committee and Public Affairs Officer.)
SFA has long been affiliated with the NRA - our affiliation number is B2244. And in recent years, SFA had several opportunities to become the official NRA state organization. The Board of Directors decided to decline that opportunity. (In my opinion, that is irrelevant to this topic.)
To say that "SFA has had too many successes that are counter-productive to the NRA agenda" is ridiculous. I/we have worked closely with the NRA-ILA since becoming legislatively active in the 2007 legislative session. It has been a superb relationship.
Do I always agree with the NRA? No. And I have not been shy about letting that fact be known. But is the NRA still a large, vocal, helpful and good organization? You bet it is. And I can tell you the NRA-ILA has been there - many times "behind the scenes" - working for you and me.
Ladies and gentlemen, the loss of 2nd amendment rights happened over several scores. We'll not, in all likelihood, regain all rights "overnight." As much as I would love to have a large number of pro-gun bills, or one huge omnibus bill, and correct a LOT of issues in one fell swoop, it likely will not happen that way. I have a rather lengthy list of things I believe should be fixed! Priorities must be set and unfortunately one must look at the political environment and shoot for legislation that has a chance of passage. On that note, how many of you have communicated with the NRA-ILA? And/or attended bill hearings in Carson City? (Okay, I know a lot of you guys here have done that!)
Prior to the recent formation of the Nevada Firearms Coalition (NFC) (happily, the name I suggested was adopted!), we really did not have a statewide organization. I think I can safely say that SFA was the "defacto" state organization since 2007 as we were and continue to be quite active, lobbying in the NV legislature, host numerous shooting and other events, and grew to about 800 members in 10 Nevada counties.
The NRA did NOT form NFC. However, in my opinion, the NRA did like seeing a new statewide organization and encouraged it; hence the recent NFC decision to request to become the official NRA affiliate (and NSSF) state organization.
I do not yet personally know many of the Directors of the new NFC. But I am perplexed by the presumptious opinions presented here. Why not give this new outfit a chance??
I am honored to serve on the new NFC Board as Northwest Area Director. I can assure you that I'll not bow to any pressure to diminish in any way our battle to restore our God-given rights guaranteed by Article 1, Section 11 of the Nevada Constitution and the 2nd Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.
Do I REALLY expect this new outfit to fight for Constitutional Carry, when one of the leaders is in the business of servicing the current law? Yes, I do expect that. I'll be the first to speak up if it does not. Bear in mind that we need to elect more pro-gun legislators. We had TWO such bills this year, but neither got so much as an initial hearing because of the current majority party. (I'm not sure of which NFC leader you speak; please send private message with some details.)
About Open Carry, how strongly do I expect NFC to defend it? Again, I personally DO expect NFC to support/defend open carry. And again, if not I'll be the first to speak up.
In reference to, "This is a "Gray Flag" operation", well, that is presumptious at best.
I've long believed Nevada desperately needs a strong statewide organization. Here is our chance.
Instead of discussing why you think the new NFC will fail, I respectfully request everyone get onboard and support it. If you see it going south, speak up! Communicate your thoughts to the NFC Board. And nothing says you have to renew membership. Get involved. I ask that with all sincerity.