NRA: We Should Be the Only Ones to Speak for RKBA

The National Rifle Association has lost a member after their change in stance on HR 5175 (DISCLOSE Act).  The DISCLOSE Act was designed to require 501(c)(4) organizations to disclose all donors and funding sources for any campaign advertisement for any issue or candidate.  It would make it unreasonable for an organization to participate in the political process.  This was a legislative response to the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United.

The NRA took a strong opposition to this bill because it would silence political speech, which I agree with that stance.  They also were strongly opposed to the Schuler Amendment which would have exempted ALL 501(c)(4) organizations.

However, after the Schuler Amendment was edited to essentially amount to a carve-out for the NRA and other political lobbying organizations that are already part of Washington's Inner Circle, the NRA changed to a neutral stance.

Essentially, the NRA has said that usurping free political speech is okay as long as it doesn't affect the NRA.  In my opinion, they have effectively took a strong supportive stance on the legislation.  After all, this bill would limit competition with the NRA for lobbying efforts.  What happened to the free market?

Here's a run down of the restrictions the NRA approves:

• 501(c)(4) organization must have existed for at least 10 years
• 501(c)(4) organization must have had 1,000,000 or more dues paying members in the previous year
• 501(c)(4) organization must have at least one member in each of the 50 states
• 501(c)(4) organization must not receive more than 15% of its income from corporations or unions
• 501(c)(4) organization must not use that 15% of income for independent expenditures or electioneering communications

Now, where's that cancel button?