shallit@gargoyle.UChicago.UUCP (Jeff Shallit) (01/06/85)
In a previous posting, I asserted that the NRA had fewer than 2 million members. This is incorrect, and I would like to apologize for misquoting from memory. The actual number, as reported by the 1985 Index of Associations is 2.8 million. The number of life members, which I reported to be 100,000, is apparently also incorrect. The information sheet I copied this from is 7 years old, and NRA membership has apparently increased quite a bit. Since I think accuracy in posting is important, I apologize for these mistakes. At the risk of getting involved in a debate that sounds suspiciously like "My dog is bigger than your dog", I would like to correct Kleinpaste's assertion (taken verbatim from the American Rifleman, that bastion of truth as the NRA sees it) that HCI [Handgun Control, Inc. ] has six hundred members. This is ridiculous. As a public-affairs group and information service, it is true that HCI doesn't have members in the NRA sense of the word. But it would be ridiculous if they did- -what are we going to do, go out to non-target ranges and shoot non-bullets? HCI has more than a million members who have signed cards stating their agreement with HCI's fundamental goal: stricter federal controls on handguns. These members regularly receive HCI mailings. When HCI sent notices to its members alerting them to the infamous McClure-Volkmer bill, members sent about 500,000 notices to Congress. In the category of people who regularly give money to HCI, the 1985 Index of Associations, already referred to above, states that HCI has 150,000 members. NCBH, the National Coalition to Ban Handguns, also has 150,000 members. It strikes me that this sort of argument is not terribly productive, but I hope this clears up any misunderstanding regarding HCI and the NRA. Jeff Shallit University of Chicago