The following is a message taken from the Cdn-Firearms-Chat email list. It's excellent, and I suggest it should be mandatory reading for every firearms owner:

How far is your head in the sand?

Many firearm owners fear that somehow being on a “List” like the membership list of a pro firearms group, or joining a gun club will somehow place them in danger. These firearm owners, many hunters who have applied for hunting licenses every year for years, seem to think that if they can remain hidden out of sight, that somehow the latest round of firearm legislation will not affect them.

This “Neville Chamberlain” approach to saving firearms is one that did not work in 1938 and 1939 for then British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his appeasement of Adolf Hitler. It won’t work with Jean Chretien, Allan Rock and Anne McLellan.

There is also no need for either outright defiance of the law as some organizations are suggesting. We are after all law abiding tax paying Canadians, or at least I am. This is still Canada, and we are still a democratic country. Sure, some of those rights are not what the used to be, but then, what ever stays golden? The approach firearm owners, and other Canadians who care about property rights in our country could be taking is to join firearm organizations and other property rights organizations in Canada with proven track records of defending the rights of firearm owners.

If you are looking for a “perfect” organization, you are in for a long and likely fruitless search. There is no such thing as a perfect organization defending the rights of Canadian firearm owners. By the same terms, can you name any organization of any type that is “perfect”? What I look for is an organization with a bit of history behind them. The number of years they have been around usually says something about the financial prudence and responsibility of the organization. It also suggests that the people involved are truly dedicated to the cause.

I think that a fair trade for my “dues” are getting information back in the form of monthly, or quarterly newsletters. If the organization has other member benefits, they are an extra bonus. They do however, also say something about the responsibility of the organization. Companies that work with organizations check them out, if they have a poor track record, they won’t work with them.

You should look for an organization that you can call on the telephone and get a real person to talk to, it doesn’t have to be twenty-four hours a day, but it should be at least nine to five. If they have an internet web site, some might figure that this means they are worthy, but remember, you can write a web site and put it up on one of the free web hosting services, it doesn’t mean they are a real organization. It doesn’t mean they are not, it is just something to watch for. It might be worth checking to see if they have actual offices, or if they are merely working out of a spare bedroom is their house. After all, many urban centers are starting to crack down on unregistered home based businesses, not to slam the growing number of home based businesses, but just how credible or successful do you think any organization could be operating from a spare bedroom.

I am a new member of a firearm organization, after months of “lurking” on the Internet. I checked out all the organizations I have read about. There are some that appear very good on the surface, but after checking them out, are not what they seem. There are some that I think are only out there trying to get you to give them money. There are some that are trying very hard, but are likely too far away from becoming powerful enough to make a real difference in this fight.

We are only 28 months from the full implementation of Bill C-68.

We have a lot of work to do.

Oh yes, the organization I joined, the National Firearms Association (NFA).

What are you doing to protect your guns?

- Scot Blackwell
New NFA Member