![\"nra](\"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nra-logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
In the 1930s, after the passage of the NFA, which the NRA supported after removing handguns from the bill, they formed the Legislative Affairs Division. This division would review and update members on the facts and analysis of upcoming bills. From the 1930s to the 1970s, the NRA was not necessarily a political organization and supported several gun control bills.<\/p>\n
In the late 1970s, large swaths of the NRA were disenfranchised, and prominent members were displeased with the support of the Gun Control Act. This led to the Cincinnati Revolt in 1977. This outed the Old Guard of the NRA and instituted changes to make the organization opposed to gun control and to begin political lobbying. This led to the NRA becoming the gun rights organization we know today.<\/p>\n
History of the GOA<\/h2>\n
Gun Owners of America was started in 1976 by California State Senator H.L. Richardson. Senator Richardson was disappointed in the failures of other organizations at this time period, namely the NRA, prior to the revolt.<\/p>\n Since then, the organization has grown and developed a tenacious appetite for opposing gun control. From its start, it has been a political lobbying and legal organization designed to protect the right to keep and bear arms.<\/p>\n Gun Owners of America works heavily with both Federal and State laws and has numerous state-level organizations that fight for gun rights. Since the beginning of their organization, they’ve been a no-compromise organization. Ron Paul once even declared them, “The only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington.”<\/p>\n The NRA offers the following membership options:<\/p>\n The standard membership can be purchased by the year or up to five years. A discount is applied for multiyear purchases. One year starts at $45 and five years starts at $150.<\/p>\n Junior Membership is aimed at younger shooters and can be purchased for $15 a year, or a Junior life membership can be purchased for $550.<\/p>\n The Distinguished membership is only available to disabled veterans and members over the age of 65 years. Distinguished membership can be purchased by the year or by multiple years. A single year costs $40, and up to five years costs $145. Additionally, a $750 Distinguished Life Membership is available.<\/p>\n Associate membership is the budget-friendly membership option. For only $10, you can be an associate member, but this budget-level membership lacks the benefits of the standard memberships.<\/p>\n The highest level of NRA membership is the Lifetime Membership. At the time of this writing, a Lifetime membership costs $1,500. This can be one payment or a downpayment followed by monthly payments of $25.<\/p>\n The GOA streamlines its membership with three membership levels.<\/p>\n To become an annual member, you must pay $25 dollars for a one-year membership.<\/p>\n A Patriot member pays a monthly donation of at least $10.<\/p>\n A Life Member of the GOA pays one payment of $1,000 or numerous monthly options that equal $1,000.<\/p>\n Both organizations offer numerous benefits to their members, which might entice you to swing one way or the other.<\/p>\n Additionally, NRA members are given access to several discounted programs. Some gun related, and some are not. For example, you gain discounted access to:<\/p>\n Different levels of membership offer you different benefits. For example, life members can choose a special jacket, and those who make hefty donations can be recognized at events.<\/p>\n There is also the inherent benefit of protecting gun rights by joining either organization. These groups offer the benefits of communication and messaging. They make it easy to contact your representatives and to be aware of upcoming challenges to gun rights.<\/p>\n Which should you join? That will be a personal decision. In recent years the NRA has faced criticism for its partisanship and its compromise on firearm rights based on that partisanship. While the GOA has never compromised, they aren’t as large or capable as the NRA. The GOA never backs down, but the NRA and its power come from its members.<\/p>\n Both do offer you an instant heads up on actions they’re committing, need help with, or threats to gun rights, and information is incredibly useful in the fight for your gun rights. While I can’t make that decision for you, maybe it’s best to join both if your finances allow it.<\/p>\n Maybe neither organization is for you, and you should look at state-centric, ground root efforts to preserve rights. All I will say is that if you are serious about your gun rights, join an organization that supports your rights. Be it the NRA, GOA, NSSF, FPC, or any number of state or specific organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The two largest 2A organizations in the US are the massive NRA and the pugnacious GOA. How are they different, and what are the benefits of membership? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":387896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-386234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-insights"],"small_media_thumbnail":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/GOA-vs-NRA-300x225.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386234"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":389913,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386234\/revisions\/389913"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"GOA](\"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/GOA-logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
NRA Membership Levels<\/h2>\n
Regular Membership<\/h3>\n
Junior Membership<\/h3>\n
Distinguished Membership<\/h3>\n
Associate Membership<\/h3>\n
Lifetime Member<\/h3>\n
![\"I](\"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/i-am-the-nra.jpg\")
GOA Membership Levels<\/h2>\n
Regular Membership<\/h3>\n
Patriot Membership<\/h3>\n
Life Membership<\/h3>\n
![\"GOA](\"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/goa-state-image.png\")
NRA and GOA Membership Benefits<\/h2>\n
An NRA member receives the following with a membership.<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"NRA](\"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nra-annual-meeting-inlineimages_attendeeprofile.jpg\")
\n
The GOA doesn’t offer such fancy things. Members receive:<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"Goa](\"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/GOA-Mesh-Back-Cap-1000x1024.jpg\")
Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n