Starting with the headline “Gun club blinks on NRA membership” and going downhill from there (Herald, March 20), this was possibly the most biased story I’ve read in the Herald in years. While the editorial board was a bit more forthcoming in identifying the fact that the NRA separates its political activities (March 20), the implication that the city’s lease could be construed as an endorsement of the NRA political positions is a real stretch even for the left-leaning Herald.
There is the NRA that promotes gun safety and offers financial grants to small community gun clubs, and then there is a separate organization NRA-ILA (Institute for Legislative Action) that is a 527 – kind of like the Sierra Club that promotes responsible outdoor activities and the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, renamed Earthjustice in 1997, and the Sierra Club Voter Education Coalition, a 527 that pushes a political agenda.
References were made to the recent recalls of state senators implying that these were orchestrated by the NRA with more than $300,000 in contributions. While a legitimate observation, where was the fact that the former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, poured millions of dollars into the same recalls and saw Colorado voters reject the these anti-gun positions? When Earthjustice sues some farmer overgrazing, does the press incorrectly blame the Sierra Club for filing the suit?
I’m looking forward to renewing my Durango Gun Club membership and taking advantage of the upgrades at the indoor range that will be done with city grant money.
Dennis Pierce
Durango
