The list was found deep in the official NRA Web site by a group of grass-roots anti-gun campaigners and publicized by them two weeks ago to garner support for two pieces of gun control legislation going through Congress. The NRA initially denied compiling a blacklist as such, saying it was merely responding to members wanting to know which individuals and corporations opposed the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment on the right to bear arms. The campaigners set up their own Web site(http://www.NRAblacklist.com) and urged Americans to voluntarily put their names there. Americans Flock to Get on NRA Blacklist LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Most blacklists are designed to intimidate. But thousands of Americans are clamoring to join one drawn up by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Actor Dustin Hoffman was so dismayed to find his name missing from the NRA's shadowy 19-page list of U.S. companies, celebrities, and news organizations seen as lending support to anti-gun policies that he wrote to the powerful pro-gun lobby group begging to be included. (Adds explosive device, paragraph 1, 6, easing of movement, 13) "As a supporter of comprehensive gun safety measures, I was deeply disappointed when I discovered my name was not on the list," Hoffman wrote in a letter to the NRA that was released Tuesday. "I was particularly surprised by the omission given my opposition to the loophole that makes it legal for 18- to 20-year-olds to buy handguns at gun shows," he added. Hoffman's name has now been added to the list which reads like a Who's Who of American business, culture and religion and which ranges from the American Jewish Congress to A&M Records, ABC News and talk show queen Oprah Winfrey. An NRA spokesman could not be reached for comment. The list was found deep in the official NRA Web site by a group of grass-roots anti-gun campaigners and publicized by them two weeks ago to garner support for two pieces of gun control legislation going through Congress. The campaigners set up their own Web site (http://www.NRAblacklist.com) and urged Americans to voluntarily put their names there. A full-page ad Tuesday in Daily Variety -- the Hollywood trade magazine -- urged movie and music artists to sign up. "What the site tries to do is turn it into a badge of honor to get on the blacklist by saying 'Hey Julia Roberts is on the blacklist. Why don't you join it?.' It's been incredibly successful. Since we have launched, 25,000 people have signed on to ask to be put on the blacklist," said Wendy Katz, spokesperson for the group. The NRA initially denied compiling a blacklist as such, saying it was merely responding to members wanting to know which individuals and corporations opposed the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment on the right to bear arms. But National Rifle Association Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre said of the list last week; "Our members don't want to buy their songs, don't want to go to their movies, don't want to support their careers." Katz said the campaigners hoped to expose the NRA's influence in Washington, D.C., spur opposition to a bill that would grant immunity in civil cases for gun manufacturers and dealers, and gather support for renewal of a 1994 ban on the sale of military assault weapons.
LMFAO, people are actually doing that? When I read about for the first time in the Times a few weeks ago, I was searching all over the NRA's website for an email address so I could get on it. Thanks for the link, now I can be on it!
Yes the NRA is trying desperately to get the ban lifted, and Bush and his appointees are back and forth on the issue. In surprise move, Bush backs renewing ban on assault weapons By Shannon McCaffrey Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is bucking the National Rifle Association and supporting a renewal of the assault-weapons ban, set to expire just before the presidential election. "The president supports the current law, and he supports reauthorization of the current law," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told Knight Ridder. Tossing out the ban on semiautomatic weapons is a top priority for the NRA. President Bush said during his presidential campaign that he supported the current ban, but it was less clear whether he would support an extension. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who like Bush is a staunch gun-rights supporter, muddied the waters in a recent appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee when he refused to say whether the administration supports an extension. Ashcroft cited a 1999 Justice Department report that said the ban's impact on deadly gun violence is unclear. Ashcroft has been pushing a pro-gun rights agenda at the Justice Department, seeking to have federal background checks on gun sales destroyed after 24 hours and embracing an expansive interpretation of the Second Amendment's guarantee of gun ownership rights. "That's lousy politics," said Grover Norquist, an NRA board member who leads the conservative pro-Bush group Americans for Tax Reform. Joe Sudbay of the Violence Policy Center said it "creates a huge problem for Bush with the NRA." http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/nation/5613894.htm
I am a gun/rifle owner but wouldn't join the NRA anymore than I would join PETA.....That said, the 1994 ban is only stopping the sale of newly manufactured semi-automatic assault rifles right? I own a Russian SKS that is completely legal and you can by the suckers out of magazine articles if you have a basic FFL. The stuff about destroying back-ground checks is just idiotic---I hope the gov't knows the wack-jobs who AND honest citizens who are buying these types of weapons, I have nothing to hide. I am a "Bush-hater" but kudos for dubbya in keeping a sensible ban on these types or weapons.
Destroying the background check records is one of many issues that drive me crazy with this administration. While they push the so-called Patriot act down our throats and various other invasive government regulations that keep track of our every move. They then attempt to pull a completely hypocritical move and destroy the gun records of possible 'terrorists' etc. – makes no sense at all IMHO.
its not like kids with rifles and shotguns is bad enough, now we are open to Assault weapons... look at what eddie G went through, imagine if he had one of these banned weapons on him
Give me a break. I own guns, several in fact, have been around them all my life. But for you to sit here and argue that there is a great need in our society for the citizens to own these types of weapons, you're doing a great disservice to those of us who advocate reasonable, responsible gun policy in this country.
I thought it was pretty obvious. As long as assault weapons are available and in circulation, if someone wants to own one, they should be able to. If they choose to commit a crime with said weapon, they should go to jail.
but there is no way a dead person can be brought back... and these weapons just make it easier to kill
I thought it was pretty obvious. As long as assault weapons are available and in circulation, if someone wants to own one, they should be able to. If they choose to commit a crime with said weapon, they should go to jail. Interesting. Do you think it should also be legal to own these various items/substances? (1) Cocaine (2) Hand Grenades (3) Anthrax (4) Bombs (5) Sarin gas After all, each of these things is already available for the right price. We should allow people to have them and only go after them if they use them, right?
Once again Buck....you and me.....in the minority of sensible gun-owners...all that aside--it's opening weekend on Sat baby!!
Well, take out cocaine because there's no amendment saying we can have cocaine. But good points with the other four. That's what I've never really understood about the NRA and people of its ilk. Where do you draw the line, because you have to draw the line somewhere.
