Educate Cabela's re: protecting assault weapons that could kill US Troops in the world's hot spots.

[patrice]

Source: Omaha World Herald, By Janice Podsada

Cabela's, the Sidney, Neb.-based hunting and outdoor retailer, won't attend or sponsor this year's Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show, one of the largest hunting and outdoor consumer shows in North America.

Cabela's pulled out of the show, which will be held Feb. 2-10 in Harrisburg, Pa., after the show's organizer, Reed Exhibitions, said it was dropping a display of assault-type weapons and accessories at this year's event. Reed's announcement came a week after President Barack Obama announced new gun-control measures.

On the outdoor show's website, Reed said that while it “strongly” supports the second amendment .., “this year we have made the decision not to include certain products that in the current climate may attract negative attention that would distract from the strong focus on hunting and fishing at this family-oriented event and possibly disrupt the broader positive experience of our guests.”

On its Facebook page, Cabela's said it would be a no-show at the event, where it traditionally has had a significant presence.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20130123/MONEY/701239965/1685#cabela-s-pulls-out-of-show-after-organizer-drops-weapons-display

Here is a Cabela's email link http://cabelas.custhelp.com/app/ask & a phone: [phone]

My concerns about Cabela's behavior have to do with this piece of legislation from the 112th Congress, sponsored by Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, and currently in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=journals&uid=113133

My email to Cabela's regarding this situation:

I take Cabela's withdraw from the Eastern Sports and Outdoor show, because of Reed Exhibition's removal of assault weapons from their booth offerings, as Cabela's confirmed support for protection of American domestic assault weapons' markets and their inherently related and much much bigger such markets in troubled countries around the world.

Apparently these markets in countries into which US made, and NRA protected, assault weapons are flowing fully un-regulated to eventually produce the necessity of US troop killing and being killed in order to "defend" "our" "interests abroad", have Cabela's seal of approval. Hence your protection of assault weapons propaganda in a PRIVATE sports show that will result in the expenditure of PUBLIC funds, not to mention the lives of those who have little say in what happens so far after the fact.

Please review Senate bill S. 2205 introduced during the 112th Congress and in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee right now. In this bill the NRA, through it's wholly owned senators, seeks to prevent U.S. involvement in U.N. treaties that try to control the flow of US made and other weapons into troubled places like Libya and Iraq and all over the continent of Africa.

America's history as "the Policemen of the World" and our standing non-UN treaty involvements mean that it is highly likely that US Troops will end up facing the weapons that Cabela's is protecting in some horribly sad and damned places, while you enjoy your assault weapons' profits in the comfort of your homes.

You can be certain that there are many of us who will not forget your ir-responsible attitude toward what happens to ordinary Americans in OUR own streets and to OUR soldiers in harm's way around the globe.

Please reconsider and offer Reed Exhibitions an apology and thank them for their responsible behavior in this matter.

Thank you for reading this,
(signature)

[Lugnut]

1. There will be no Eastern Sports and Outdoor show this year.

40 exhibitors pulled out so the show has been cancelled. As per WNEP Noon news broadcast.

http://www.easternsportshow.com/

[regjoe]

2. Complete with

somewhat of an apology and weak attempt to justify their rash narrowminded decision.

Maybe next time they will stick by those who come to the shows instead of trying to pander and lure in those who don't.

[frylock]

21. the show caters to more than gun humpers

it was an outdoor show, not a black gun porn show.

[regjoe]

25. Yes, an outdoor show

where the vast majority of outdoorsmen and women who participate respect the 2nd Amendment. An outdoor show that gambled and made a rash decision to support the unfounded fears of the paranoid few, instead of supporting the views of those who actually attend the event. A decision that ended up causing the show to cancel. A decision that will end up having a negative impact even on the local economy.

The war on the 2nd Amendment failed here.

[frylock]

29. more fucking derp..

an outdoor show that was cancelled because of a very vocal minority of insecure assholes.

[regjoe]

31. LOL! You just go on believing that fantasy

and maybe one day, when millions of gun fearing nature hikers start flocking to these events, you will be proven right.
Until then, these shows will either cater to the typical outdoorsmen and women and make money, shrink their size or cancel.

[frylock]

33. the "typical outdoorsman" doesn't have an ar15 fetish..

the "typical outdoorsman" doesn't need a 30 rd mag to bag a deer. the "typical outdoorsman" harbors no illusion of overthrowing a tyrannical government. the "typical outdoorsman" includes people that fish, hunt, and trap. I come from a family of "typical outdoorsman" who enjoy hunting, fishing, backpacking, and camping. I myself am a "typical outdoorsman" with firearms and fishing gear. you don't speak for the "typical outdoorsman" anymore than I do.

[regjoe]

35. I don't claim to speak for anybody

results however, do.
And the results show that this event was cancelled due to a lack of support that resulted from jumping on board with your personal opinion.
Are you really so naive as to believe that the majority of typical outdoorsmen and women are against themselves or others owning a semi-automatic rifle?

[frylock]

36. who said anything about banning semi-autos?

the outdoor show decided that they weren't going to allow vendors that sold military-style carbines. there was nothing preventing folks from buying or browsing for Mini-14 or Mini-30 or any other semi-auto (including pistols). so people got all wadded because they couldn't drool over their precious Bushmasters or a SU-16s.

[regjoe]

38. I very clearly stated

against "owning a semi-automatic rifle." The AR-15 is a semi-automatic rifle.
Banning the AR-15 from the show was seen as support for banning the AR-15 everywhere.

The outdoor show decided to not allow vendors that sold a "scary looking" semi-automatic rifle and that decision created a backlash that ended up getting the event cancelled.

[frylock]

39. i OWN semi-auto firearms, so i really don't know what the fuck you're going on about..

my personal opinion is that no civilian needs or requires a 30 rd mag. and yes, the humpers got their nuts all twisted because the organizers decided that they didn't want to show or sell "scary looking" semi-automatic rifles. now all the vendors and customers that attend the show for purposes other than buying or viewing "scary looking" semi-automatic rifles are screwed because a group of crybabies fucked it all up by taking their ball and going home. too bad for everyone who likes camping, fishing, or hunting. and too bad for the local economy that potentially lost around 80M in revenue. but you guys go on ahead and continue to cut off your nose, as it's probably the best thing to getting normal people to realize that their views are likely more aligned with those of us calling for common-sense gun laws then they are with the black gun brigade.

[patrice]

30. Domestic gun issues aside, what about how our troops, you know, the ones we all "support"? What

about the historically validated probabilities that they end up following these private gun sales into places where those weapons, or weapons sold in the same markets by our big arms competitor, China, have become part of situation that OUR soldiers have to "fix"?

It all starts with gun seeds and escalates into anything and everything else we and others have in our arsenals, including the blood of millions of INNOCENT people.

What is wrong with countries who have those kinds of problems trying to do something about that by soliciting our agreement, and that of other nations around the world, to arms control treaties through the U.N.?

Does 2nd Amendment ideology take precedence over ONE soldier's life? - especially when things COULD be different in a way that would work for everyone, except that it would make our billionaire arms industry, on the tax sugar tit, btw, somewhat less rich.

[regjoe]

34. You are grasping at straws

By your logic, anybody who supports semi-automatic rifles being protected by the 2nd Amendment in the US, also supports fully automatic weapons being sold to other countries. An unfair and ridiculous assertion.

IF you are all that concerned about US made weapons being sold overseas, your problem and its solution is with our export laws.

[patrice]

37. If you are part of a larger entity that does any of that, including protecting export laws, you are

responsible and if you don't care about that responsibility, then you don't care about what happens to the US military, just as long as you can whatever weapons you want here at home.

[bongbong]

3. Lotsa scared Delicate Flowers out there

I'm amazed at how many people "need" an assault rifle to work up enough courage to leave the house.

[Lizzie Poppet]

4. Oh yeah, that makes sense.

Semi-automatic versions of military weapons, bought from Cabela's at US market prices, are going to flood the market in global hotspots where actual fully-automatic AK-47s can be readily obtained for the equivalent of about $50. That makes perfect sense.

[patrice]

5. No, NRA the same organization that supports Cabela's assault weapons market, also is pushing S.2205

[Lizzie Poppet]

6. Now that does indeed make sense!

It's a bit over-broad as a reason to condemn Cabelas, IMO, but I certainly don't support the NRA's position on that bill.

[patrice]

7. The NRA is bascially a manufacturers' trade association. Bushmaster CEO is on their board, so are

others and those big arms manufacturers and dealers who aren't represented with the NRA damn well DO know others who are and I'd bet they keep in real good touch with one another, informally, and through other professional associations . . . because THAT's how we are governed by corporate personhood.

[Lizzie Poppet]

8. Yep. One reason I abandoned them a good while back.

The other is that they've become, in the political arena, a de facto branch of the GOP.

[patrice]

9. I've always known the US is the biggest arms seller (= with China) in the world but those stories

that broke last summer about US guns flowing into Mexico, the stories that went under a heading of "Fast and Furious" and a bunch of people were attacking Erick Holder about these private gun sales for some reason . . . that caught my attention with some figures on the high-volumn of that gun trade, millions of guns of various kinds. That's pretty disturbing, because if there's anywhere our troops could likely end up going due to treaty obligations, since we actually have a history of mucking around in that region with our "School of the Americas", it's points southward, beyond our border, not to even mention the human rights travesties going on down there for decades in drug cartel countries using whose???? hardware?.

[GreenStormCloud]

10. You mean all those 4+ million voluntary members are all firearms manufacturers?

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the industry trade association. http://www.nssf.org/

The NRA does indeed represent the membership, or they would not continue to be members.

The NSSF and the NRA get along well together because the members of the NRA want to buy guns and the NSSF wants to sell guns.

Once a year the NRA membership votes on the board. They serve at the pleasure of the members and execute the will of the members. The membership WANTS a very strong pro-gun rights organization. They are not the only gun rights organization. Here is a list of some other national ones:

Second Amendment Foundation
Gun Owners of America (“The only no compromise gun lobby in Washington” That’s what they call themselves.)
Gun Owner’s Action League
Second Amendment Police Department (Cops who are pro-RKBA)
National Association of Gun Rights
Students for Concealed Carry
Students for Second Amendment
Constitutional Rights Enforcement & Support Team
Second Amendment Sisters
Pink Pistols (Armed gays don’t get bashed.)
Armed Females of America (They want to repeal ALL gun laws including NFA 1934)
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (They are a “never again” group)
Liberty Belles
Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership
Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws (Note: Not same organization as above but both have the same purpose. Strongly pro-gun)
Citizen's Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Mothers Arms
The Paul Revere Network
NRAWOL (They think the NRA is AWOL in the fight for gun rights.)
The Liberal Gun Club

[patrice]

11. You don't have to be arms manufacturers to support those who support arms manufacturers. nt

[GreenStormCloud]

12. Kind of hard to buy guns if you don't support the gun makers. N/T

[patrice]

13. Surely you're not saying that the business of gun-making cannot survive as a business, without

corporate personhood buying up Congress . . .

and all of the tax advantages that entails . . .

and all of the eager support from media & entertainment brainwashers . . .

and getting us into wars wherever they can for the benefit of war profiteers . . .

all made possible by size and dollars riding on the back of a business model that you're telling me would not survive by itself, without all of this and much more besides???

I'd call that a really bad business model, perhaps an example of a toxic form of socialism for guns.

[GreenStormCloud]

14. You are shifting the subject.

You claimed that the NRA did not represent the members but was a trade assc. for the manufacturers. I proved you wrong. The manufacturers trade assc. is the NSSF.

[patrice]

15. I'm saying it would not be unlikely that both organizations know one another quite well. NRA is one

dimension of that lobby in D.C.

And all anyone would need is to pay attention to the politics, which lobbyists do quite successfully, in order to stay in synch, so they wouldn't need any actual concrete policy/programs connections. Just reading the news about D.C. & about one another would be enough, but it is possible that the connections could be deeper than that and most of us would not know.

[GreenStormCloud]

16. Read your own post #7.

You claimed that the NRA is a trade association and doesn't represent the members.

There is a difference between being a trade asssc and working closely with a trade assc. The NRA and the NSSF are separate organizations but both service the same public - gun buyers. So, of course they would have the same goals and would cooperate strongly. Last year Ruger made that part of their advertising. Ruger advertised that $1.00 of each gun sold would go to the NRA. Ruger set a record year for sales, with over a million new guns sold. But those guns were bought by individuals.

[GreenStormCloud]

17. Bad business model? They are making huge sales, and huge (for them) profits.

BTW - Most gun makers don't sell to the government.

[patrice]

18. You appear in #12 to be saying buying guns from gun makers is not enough & one must "support"

gun makers too

Since it is a business and has a business model that produces profits/dollars, if the dollars produced, from buyers buying what is sold are not enough, i'd say there's something wrong with the business. If the business can't survive without that other stuff, perhaps they should adapt their business model appropriately.

If a price includes something more from me than just money; if I have to "support" the manufacturer, in this case, of a gun, too, if I must give them political powers, if I have to join a cheer-leading squad and say only positive things, if I am prevented from saying negative things about a product/a gun, all of that exceeds the basic traits of good business. It's not a successful business if it can't simply produce enough of something to sell it at a price that the market will bear, to make enough of a profit to pay for the salaries and overhead of producing what is being sold.

If I and others refuse to pay that extra non-monetary price for guns, if we refuse to "support" the NRA or whatever other gun organization, and guns can't succeed as a business without that other non-monetary "support", then guns should not be sold, because they are a bad business. I'll have to make my own or hire an artisan or go without.

[GreenStormCloud]

19. By support I mean to oppose overly restrictive laws, and most gun bans.

Kind of hard for me to buy a gun if the gun I want is banned.

[patrice]

20. Chicken or the egg stuff there. Self-fulfilling prophecies that try to get us to think all of the

factors in gun violence are of equal weight, so guns shouldn't be regulated, e.g.

"you can kill with a teaspoon, so now we're going to regulate teaspoons?"

"mental illness and social corruption cause people to kill, so guns shouldn't be regulated."

This idea that people just start cranking out "overly restrictive laws" and "gun bans" for no reason/cause whatsoever, just doesn't hold up. All of that "support" sketched above has lead to more reasons to be concerned (comparisons to other countries really are interesting), so some people are trying to reduce the availability of the drug.

I'd love to see us talking more about root causes too, but that's not possible in this climate and the NRA et al have no interest in that, so neither will their respective memberships.

[patrice]

32. Google "Fast and Furious" it wasn't about selling guns to the government & it COULD result in,

at minimum, human rights travesties and even American troops, and/or other resources, committed south of our border.

[frylock]

22. that number is highly questionable..

and likely counts lifetime members who are now deceased among their membership.

[GreenStormCloud]

23. Prove your assertation, Please. N/T

[frylock]

24. Does the NRA Really Have 4 Million Members?

<snip>

In March 2001, the Denver Post pegged the NRA's membership at 2 million. A few months later, an NRA spokesman put the number at 4.5 million; the Columbus Dispatch and Colorado Springs Gazette put it at 3 million. What was going on here? One possible explanation comes from Richard Feldman, a former NRA lobbyist who wrote the 2007 book, Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist. After George W. Bush was elected, Feldman recently told Bloomberg, "there was no perceived national threat to gun ownership. The NRA's membership dropped to under two-and-a-half million, although they never admitted it."

<snip>

Two years ago, David Gross, then an NRA board member, confided to me that a substantial number of the group's 1 million Life Members are, well, dead. "There just isn't that much incentive to go find out when someone passes away," Gross explained. "Not when the cost of maintaining (a dead member) is minimal and when they add to your membership list."

<snip>

In 2008, Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the pro-gun control Violence Policy Center, came across more evidence of the NRA's fuzzy math. He pointed to a piece of junk mail that the NRA's treasurer had sent to members peddling a specialized insurance plan aimed at gun owners. The pitch stated that "with about 3 million NRA Members 'on our side of the table,' we negotiated a bargain price." Sugarmann has an intriguing theory why this number may be more credible than the one that the NRA routinely gives the press: The underwriter for the insurance plan was in California, where making "untrue, deceptive, or misleading" statements in insurance materials is outlawed.

<snip>

UPDATE: A source writes in with another strong indication that the NRA's true size is closer to 3 million. The NRA gives members a free subscription to one of four magazines: American Rifleman, American Hunter, America's 1st Freedom, or NRA InSights. The first three magazines are audited by the Alliance for Audited Media, which as of July gave them a combined paid circulation (including newsstand sales) of 3.1 million. NRA InSights is an online-only magazine for kids, with a circulation of 25,000. Though some NRA members may opt out of a free magazine, it's likely that others pay to subscribe to more than one of them. Add in the fact that non-NRA members can pick up the magazines on the newsstand, and the 3.1 million figure is almost certainly an upper-bound for the NRA's true size.

<more>

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/01/nra-membership-numbers

[lastlib]

27. good e-mail, patrice! I'm going to send them a similar one

(may borrow some of your ideas, if it's ok).

As an avid backpacker and camper, I really liked shopping at the Cabela's store by the KS Speedway. (Although their gun shop gave me the willies!) But I think I may have spent my last $$ there, until I see a significant attitude change from them. And will definitely let them KNOW that! Hit 'em in the wallet, it's the only language they understand clearly.

Thanks for the update!

[patrice]

28. Thanks lastlib I would be honored if you'd like to use any of my words & attribution isn't necessary