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Oregon Writer Seeks to Change NRA
Published 8/13 in the Argus Leader
Pat Wray believes if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. With that, he's tossed his hat into the ring for a seat on the National Rifle Association (NRA) board of directors.
Wray is an outdoor writer and newspaper columnist from Oregon, and as a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America authored the letter to NRA president Kayne Robinson that resulted in the NRA's leaving the OWAA and taking some 250 members and supporting members along with them.
I was on the OWAA board at the time and voted to send the letter. I still consider the letter a mild one.
Wray's reason for running for an NRA board spot?
"I want to protect our hunting heritage so my grandchildren's grandchildren can experience the same love, awe and respect for their habitats I've been privileged to know," he said.
It's a bit unclear how running for the NRA board will help Wray accomplish those goals, but the direction is clear in his mind.
"If I have a voice at the table, perhaps I can help put a stop to the incredible damage the NRA is doing to long-term prospects for hunting in this country," he explained. "Ever since (the NRA) succeeded in convincing hunters the organization protected their interests, it has taken hunter money and funneled it into the coffers of politicians they could count on as dependable gun rights voters. The problem, of course, is that many of the strongest gun rights advocates care nothing about the health of public lands or wild animals."
Wray added, "The NRA's ability to take money from hunters and use it in ways that will ultimately ruin hunting constitutes one of the most successful and dishonest public relations scams ever perpetrated on the American people."
Wray listed several elected officials as examples, including former Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., prior to his co-sponsorship of legislation permitting the sale of millions of acres of public land to mining companies. Or Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who has made a career of opening public lands for private exploitation. Craig remains a member of the NRA board.
"And, don't forget their support of the Bush Administration's effort to remove federal protection for 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas, in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence that roads and traffic diminish wildlife populations and hunting opportunities," he added.
Wray, a Life member of the NRA, said he supports their efforts to protect our right to bear arms and to be aggressive in that work, but he explained the organization in its present form is incapable of working simultaneously on behalf of hunters and as a gun rights advocate.
He further believes the NRA should:
1. Divest itself of all segments of the mammoth bureaucracy devoted to the welfare of hunters and hunting, and create a new, entirely separate hunting-based organization that succeeds or falls on its own.
2. Require honesty in NRA editorials and messages. Accusing them of shameless fearmongering, Wray says they've pushed thousands of reasonable people away from the NRA and outside the conversation that must be held regarding future gun ownership.
3. They should also put a stop to the endless search for enemies they conduct in their non-stop fund raising efforts. Not everyone who disagrees with the NRA is the devil incarnate; some just have a different idea.
4. Finally, he believes the NRA should search out and work with politicians who care about the environment, wildlife and wild lands.
The Oregon writer says he has been excoriated in several NRA publications because he has publicly disagreed with their methods and political relationships, and he says many other members are as concerned with the present NRA direction as he is.
And, if he is not elected, Wray feels his running for the NRA board will force an honest self-examination of the NRA way of doing business.
"I believe it will make the NRA leadership answer the question, 'Is the future of hunting an acceptable sacrifice on the altar of the second amendment?'"
Oregon Writer Seeks to Change NRA
