Sure, the leaders of he National Rifle Association (NRA) are going to spend $40 million dollars of their members’ money in a campaign against Senator Barack Obama. But, we may have reached a tipping point on gun policy and gun politics. Because, according to CQ Politics, even the NRA’s own members aren’t buying the anti-Obama spin:

It is time for a change in the gun debate.

NRA members know their gun rights are safe. In the recent D.C. gun ban case, Justice Scalia, who, believe me, the gun lobby really wanted to write that critical decision, found that we do have a constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. But, in language that is consistent with the view of most gun owners, Scalia, "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited." That’s not a surprise to most of us.

I run a progressive gun rights organization, the American Hunters and Shooters Assocation (AHSA). We welcomed the Scalia’s decision. The Court made it clear that most guns are now safe from government confiscation. That’s also the position of Barack Obama. He voted against gun confiscation in the Senate and supports an individual right to keep and bear arms. That’s why I endorsed Obama – he gets it. That’s also got the NRA worried. The group’s top political honcho, Chris Cox, told CQ Politics a couple weeks ago:

Cox and his colleagues at the NRA should be concerned. Gun owners are ready to move on and to hear from AHSA.

My guess is the NRA’s members aren’t listening to the NRA leaders because those leaders have become too entrenched in partisan politics. They’re still fighting battles from the seventies and eighties. That may be good for fundraising, but it’s not doing much for hunters and shooters.

For years, we’ve heard endlessly about the NRA’s lobbying strength. But, what do they do with all their perceived power? They're not working on issues that matter to hunters. The NRA leaders aren’t fighting to protect the Roan Plateau from drilling. The NRA leaders aren’t fighting global warming. The NRA leaders aren’t fighting to protect public access. That’s why this year is different.

Sure, Senator Obama isn't going to be perfect. But, in the new world of gun policy -- which includes public access, conservation, global warming -- we know he’s on our side. That’s more than we can say about the leaders of the NRA.

Earlier this year, on behalf of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), I endorsed Barack Obama for President. My message was simple: He gets it. And, the NRA doesn't.

See, contrary to the punditry’s view of guns, the NRA doesn’t speak for all gunowners. In fact, the NRA leaders consistently ignore the concerns of our nation’s hunters and sportsmen and women.

They’re at it again. Officials at the NRA recently announced plans to spend millions and millions of its member’s money against Barack Obama. But a funny thing is happening. NRA’s members aren’t buying it according to a report in CQ Politics:

In the Heller case (the D.C. gun ban), the Supreme Court ruled that government can’t confiscate our guns. That debate is finally over. But, the NRA leadership wants to keep fighting the gun rights battle that we’ve already won. They’re going backwards. As a gun rights organization, AHSA strongly supports the decision in the Heller case – and we think it’s time for new leadership on gun issues. We’re ready to move on to address the issues that continue to affect gun owners including conservation, global warming and community safety.

A lot of the huffing and puffing from the NRA should have dissipated after Justice Scalia found that gun ownership is an individual right. Barack Obama, a former constitutional law professor, supports that view. It’s hard to stir up gun owners when they know their rights are constitutionally protected and Obama is on the right side. So, the hysteria promoted by the NRA’s leaders is starting to fall on deaf ears. And, there’s another reason: My organization, AHSA, has challenged the NRA’s monolithic voice and started speaking about the real issues facing America’s guns owners, which include global warming, public lands, resource conservation and community safety.

Even the NRA’s top politico had to admit that AHSA is a challenge to his group:

We’re not going to sit back and let the NRA’s leadership define the gun issue anymore. They’ve had their chance and for the past several decades have chose partisan politics over sound policy. Our Executive Director, Bob Ricker, summed up the situation to CQ Politics:

Those issues do have the NRA leaders worried, but not in the right way. But, the NRA is worried about its political position, not worried about the issues of importance to most gun. the NRA’s leaders have long ignored conservation, public access, global warming and community safety. In fact, the group actively fights the issues that concern America’s hunters. For example, while 670 hunting and fishing groups organized to fight climate change, NRA Board Member Grover Norquist was using his organization’s resources to fund a conference for global warming "skeptics."

The NRA leadership should be concerned as Bill Schneider at New West explains the new dynamics of the gun issue:

There is a lot more and that is why the NRA leaders are worried. They’re out of touch – and represent the past. Also, they’ve finally met their match. AHSA speaks for gun owners who care about gun rights but understand that it’s not worth having a gun if there’s no place to shoot or no game to hunt. Barack Obama understands that. The NRA doesn’t. The gun issue is much broader than the NRA’s very narrow and very self-interested definition. Sure, the NRA will keep trying to scare its members into giving more money so they can play the same political games. But, most gun owners know that it’s time for a change.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a diary about the 670 hunting and fishing organizations that signed a letter to Congress urging action on climate change. My organization, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA), was proud to sign that letter. As, hunters, we see first hand the impacts of global warming or "climate change".

There was a conspicuous absence from the signatories to that letter: The National Rifle Association.

You’d think the leadership of the National Rifle Association would be highly concerned about one of the most important issues facing our sporting community -- climate change -- because it is having a dramatic impact on hunters.

But, I’ve figured out why the NRA didn’t sign the letter.

Leaders of the NRA are playing politics again with issues of grave concern to America’s hunters and shooters. They have assumed a key role in the movement of "global warming deniers".

If you want clear evidence, check out the Heartland Institute’s "International Conference on Climate Change" held in NYC this week. Don’t let the name fool you. These are the folks who want to disprove global warming, a rebirth of the "flat earth society" if you will. Diarist Target Global Warming liveblogged the event here and here. Even the New York Times provided coverage:

One of the "most powerful political actors" is none other than NRA Board member and right wing guru, Grover Norquist. His group, Americans for Taxpayer Reform, was a conference co-sponsor for the gathering of the self-proclaimed global warming "skeptics."

NRA Board Member Roy Innis, from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was a speaker and his group was also a co-sponsor.

Not like we needed any further evidence that the current NRA leadership is nothing but a front for the radical right wing agenda, but there it is.

This is another example of how far removed the NRA leadership is from its membership. Not only does the group not focus on the real concerns of hunters, they’ve got board members sponsoring a conference that claims climate change doesn’t exist.

The NRA’s leadership has repeatedly worked against the interests of hunters and shooters. That’s probably because many of the NRA’s leaders don’t hunt. If Wayne LaPierre, Grover Norquist, Roy Innis and their allies actually hunted on a regular basis, they wouldn’t be skeptics. They’d know firsthand the problems climate change is causing. They’d understand why those 670 hunting and fishing groups consider it "our moral responsibility to confront climate change in order to protect our outdoor heritage and our children’s future."

There is no getting away from what the current leadership of the NRA has become. They’re a right wing front group in bed with the GOP -- lock, stock and barrel.

To the great detriment of America’s hunting tradition, NRA’s leadership has abandoned hunters for their cozy political allies. Their actions speak louder than words -- there is no room for real hunters. We hunters don’t fit into their extreme political agenda.

So, NRA board members sponsor a conference that denies global warming while 670 hunting and fishing groups are demanding action. That says it all.

The NRA lackeys have put a lot of time and energy into attacking AHSA and me. I just wish every now and then, they’d put half the amount of energy into something worthwhile that would have a positive impact.

They’ll keep launching full-scale attacks on AHSA and me. They don’t intimidate me. What I am fighting for is too important.

Earlier this week, over 670 hunting and fishing organizations – including my organization, the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) – signed a letter urging Congress to take strong action on global warming.

The letter speaks of "our moral responsibility to confront climate change in order to protect our outdoor heritage and our children’s future."

Our hunting heritage is in danger. But you wouldn’t know that from the NRA.

Also, this week, in what was supposed to be a show of political muscle, 300 members of Congress and V.P. Dick Cheney, signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court about the DC gun ban case. The NRA used its muscle to get all those names on the brief.

Support for the Second Amendment isn’t the issue. Hunters and shooters believe in the individual right to own guns. As I wrote last week, I was proud to submit AHSA’s own amicus brief to the Supreme Court and was honored to be joined by11 influential retired military leaders.

But every time I see the NRA leadership put on a display of their alleged political power, I think, just once, just once, I’d like to see them use their muscle to help hunters and shooters. For example, despite the dangers posed by climate change to hunters (and hunters are among those who notice the changes every year), there is no signature from the NRA leadership on the climate change letter. They are afraid to alienate or stand up to Dick Cheney and George Bush – not even for the sake of their own members.

It is especially ironic that Dick Cheney purports to defend gun owners. He’s been vice president for almost eight years now. And I’ll issue this challenge to the NRA: Name one thing Bush and Cheney have done for hunters. You can’t. They haven’t. They don’t have to.

As the letter signed by those 670 hunting and fishing group shows, we are extremely worried about the state of the environment. David Crockett said it best, "Sportsmen want America to lead on global warming solutions."

Again, where’s the NRA with all its great political connections? Weren’t they going to be working out of the Oval Office? Bottom line is they don’t care. The NRA leaders place more value on their political clout than the needs of rank and file gunowners.

The group that is supposed to represent hunters and shooters is far too busy trying to stop common sense measures that would protect kids and keep guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorists. But, they leave the big issues – the issues hunters care about – alone.

There are millions of progressive hunters and shooters. The NRA is not their voice. AHSA is. And we are going to go head to head with the NRA to make sure hunters and shooters vote their interests – not the NRA’s Republican interests.

The hunter and shooter vote is critical in battleground states across the south, midwest and the mountain west. We cannot let the NRA leadership dictate who wins anymore.