From this thread.
Marion Hammer, if you're unaware, was the past NRA President.
She enjoys near legendary status within the NRA for her past accomplishments, which by all measure were in fact significant. Her former title and accomplishments, are now however overshadowed by her lying and gross failures as the NRA's point person for the State of Florida.
She has allowed a near total abandonment of the NRA within Florida, while sitting back year after year and watching anti-gun groups steal easy victories in a state who's legislature is top to bottom GOP and riddled with NRA "A" rated politicians.
Over the past few years the same exact story has unfolded in Florida.
Open Carry, Campus Carry, Airport Carry and School Carry were all on deck to be heard by committee and then to be brought to a vote for the passage of their respective laws. This has gone on in near identical fashion for at least the past 3 years. The big ones have been Open and Campus Carry. Each time these items get brought to committee for a vote, these bills have been summarily killed in committee by Florida GOP politicians. Most recently by NRA "A" rated Senator Flores.
Each time these GOP "A" rated politicians kill pro-2A legislation in committee, Marion Hammer makes some asinine statement about how she has no clue how it happened, didn't see it coming, but she's going to "Stand and Fight!".
The first time this happened, ok, I guess it's possible Marion Hammer and the NRA-ILA got blindsided by some rogue GOP politician who killed these bills in committee.
The second time this IDENTICAL situation occurred the following year, same bills, same GOP legislature, bills stopped in committee by these GOP politicians, Hammer once again is seemingly bewildered as to how it could have happened. Again, didn't see it coming, no clue how it happened. It's now getting tough to stomach these excuses. When the previous years failures seemed to serve as a clear example to every gun owner in Florida, yet Hammer and the NRA-ILA are once again "bewildered" in the face of yet another failure.
Welcome to this year, 2017. Let's see if you can guess what happened based on the above.
Multiple pro-2A bills. The same bills as in prior years. They go to committee to determine if they'll receive full House votes. (In a State legislature run top to bottom by the GOP). And again, the bills killed in committee, never to even receive a vote, by you guessed it another NRA "A" rated GOP politician, Senator Flores. NRA "A" rated Flores sided with Bloomberg backed anti-gun group "Moms Demand Action" and did a public victory lap after killing these bills once again.
As in the past years, Marion Hammer races to find the nearest microphone stand to make her statement. No clue how this happened, didn't see it coming, bewilderment... but Hammer once again vigorously proclaims the NRA's latest slogan to "Stand and Fight!!!!".
3 consecutive years of watching identical events unfold.
3 consecutive years of a Florida legislature run by the GOP.
3 consecutive years of watching the same easy pro-2A victories killed in committee by the GOP and NRA "A" rated politicians.
3 consecutive years of Marion Hammer with the same, pathetic and stunningly arrogant excuses for watching failures repeat themselves while claiming total ignorance as to how it could have possibly happened.
To add insult to injury, Hammer and the NRA-ILA just released the following statement regarding this....
Florida: Bloomberg Groups Falsely Claim Credit For "Defeating" Second Amendment BillsDATE: May 10, 2017
TO: USF & NRA Members and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
USF Executive Director
NRA Past President
In a celebratory email blast yesterday, NY Mayor Bloomberg's anti-gun groups, Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety falsely took credit for "defeating" pro-gun bills in Florida.
They said:
"After months of heated debate in Tallahassee, we're closing out the 2017 legislative session with BIG wins for gun safety in Florida:
* Open carry: DEFEATED
* Guns on campus: DEFEATED
* Guns at airports: DEFEATED
* Guns in elementary, middle, and high schools: DEFEATED
In reality, none of those bills were defeated. No pro-gun bills were defeated by a vote of any committee or on either floor of the Legislature. Some just didn't get heard in committees or on the Senate or House floor. In short they just didn't make it all the way through the process.
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So these bills simply "didn't make it through the process" Marion?
No Marion, that's not the complete story. While you continued to claim political ignorance once again in the face of yet another failure, despite it LITERALLY BEING YOUR JOB, NRA "A" rated Senator Flores aligned with Bloomberg backed "Moms Demand Action" and killed these bills once again in committee.
Bloomberg did win. You and the NRA-ILA (and most importantly Florida gun owners) lost again, and you had every opportunity, you had been put on notice from the previous years IDENTICAL failures, and yet once again have the fucking gall to make the statement above? If this is how you "Stand and Fight" as you have claimed now for 3 consecutive years in the face of HUGE and REPETITIVE failures, Florida NRA members could be represented by an eggplant in a pants suit and garner the exact same results. WHAT IS YOUR WORTH TO FLORIDA GUN OWNERS Marion? This NRA Benefactor member says YOU ARE WORSE THAN WORTHLESS. You veil yourself in a false persona as a person of action and results, giving a false sense of effective representation to Florida gun owners. Your "action" consists of excuses at press conferences after your repetitive failures. Your results align with failure. Over and over again. You have no accountability and clearly no shame.
The NRA's greatest strength is the state level battleground. The state of Florida and these repetitive failures highlight the enormous need for new NRA leadership. You were given the absolutely best conditions for easy wins in THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS. And never better than this year. The GOP across the board on the Federal level in 2017. GOP control across the board on the state level in Florida.... again. You were given the benefit of learning from and responding to IDENTICAL past failures, to adapt and to win.
Not only did the NRA-ILA and Hammer fail Florida gun owners not once but 3 times, while enjoying IDEAL conditions for easy wins, Hammer now has the fucking nerve to release a statement somehow claiming Bloomberg somehow failed.
No, Bloomberg and his ilk won. You and the NRA-ILA have once again failed in a catastrophic manner. You know it, we know it and you remain untouchable in the halls of the NRA to the extent you are beyond reproach and beyond any form of accountability. I and other Florida gun owners and NRA members are disgusted by this.
So let this serve the NRA membership here as a warning and a lesson. When there's another election for Board members, and you have the opportunity to vote, please, for the love of god, STOP VOTING FOR FUCKING CELEBRITIES LIKE ERMEY AND SELLECK, and get behind men like Adam, Nolo and others who will actually DO SOMETHING.
Well said. Now, how do we get Marion and the NRA-ILA to read it and give a shit?
ReplyDeleteI went searching for her email address, or where I could send an actual postal letter. Shouldn't the all-powerful state director have contact information? Couldn't find anything except for NRA-ILA "contribute to us!" links. Then again, they keep saying she's a "force of nature", I guess like a hurricane, and they don't have email addresses.