IFC, do you support NRA?

by admin | Feb 28, 2022

IFC is often asked if we support the NRA. It helps to seek the context of such a question. In every question or statement, we should always search for the context behind it so we can ascertain the premise. When we don’t, we skip vital information and risk arriving at the wrong conclusions. Always be cognizant of this.

Some people are searching for our affiliations when they ask us about the NRA. IFC has worked its tail off for years to move from being an affiliate club to the one and only official NRA State Association in Iowa. Through years of hard work and perseverance, we accomplished this lofty goal in January of 2019. This coveted recognition is reserved for the very best of the best and we continued to work daily with the NRA.

The legislation alone we’ve pushed forth with NRA-ILA is akin to moving mountains. If you look at where Iowa was just a bit over a decade ago, things were average at best. With Shall Issue, Castle Doctrine, Preemption, Stand Your Ground, Dove Hunting, Constitutional Carry, repeals of a dozen bans ranging from Youth Shooting to ATV and Bow Hunting Carry to legalization of Suppressors, SBR, and SBS, the list of liberties opened up to Iowans, is nearly too long to list.

From a “programs” standpoint, as the NRA Official State Association here in Iowa, we brought the first Refuse to be Victim classes into the fold. IFC arranged the first NRA School Shield training for Iowa’s Law Enforcement community. IFC and NRA work together to put on various meetings, rallies, and our huge 2A Day at the Iowa Capitol each year. Some of IFC’s sponsored shooters took top marks at the NRA Nationals in 2019. These are all things that would be exponentially harder without NRA’s cooperation and we’re glad we work together on your behalf. We do these things for others, not ourselves.

The other question we see is one regarding subjects like Wayne LaPierre or specific allegiances at NRA. People want to know if we support Wayne LaPierre or we denounce him. Frankly, that’s a false choice at this point, and we’re not entertaining it. I, like you, have serious questions I expect to have answered about operations within the NRA. However, I also understand that NRA is in the fight of its life against the behemoth we know as New York State for their right to even exist, as they are chartered in the State of New York. Every shred of communication they offer can and likely will be used against them in New York’s court. Thus, I understand not offering up words that will be twisted in court at this moment. My hope is the NRA gets done with this suit, moves the charter to a friendly state, and we learn the truth about the questions we have.

I have no doubt mistakes have been made. Why? Because the NRA is comprised of human beings and we’re prone to err. I won’t be dicing up anyone without the full facts, and I won’t complicate the issue by juxtaposing what I hear with brash statements, conspiracy theories, or grand claims. I have no doubt mistakes have been made, but frankly, I’m more concerned with how the mistakes have been realized and corrected than I am with playing the blame game. I, personally, worked for years under the kind of short-sided management that was more interested in blowing their stack over a mistake than illuminating and repairing the core problem so we could avoid the mistake a second time. I’m chiefly interested in those kinds of healthy and wise actions.

I recognize NRA has external and internal challenges. We all do, whether as organizations, corporations, congregations, or families. IFC holds the relationship we enjoy with NRA in the highest of value. I won’t be letting a series of well-timed hit pieces coming from New York publications and New York authors as the state of New York shakes down the NRA simultaneously, reshape my fundamental reverence for an organization like the NRA that has done so much for 2nd Amendment virtues over the span of nearly 150 years. I want the facts, but I’m willing to wait until they become available. If I form an opinion without them, I’m guilty of the same nonsense our opposition employs as they lobby against our fundamental civil rights on a daily basis. 

As the longest-standing civil rights group in the country, NRA has my support.

-Michael Ware – IFC Board