After endorsing Begich for Congress, Alaska Outdoor Council suspends ties to NRA over Peltola

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Alaska’s premier outdoor organization has voted to end, for now, its affiliation with the National Rifle Association. The Alaska Outdoor Council issued the statement on Saturday, saying differences over the NRA’s controversial endorsement of Rep. Mary Peltola was at the heart of the decision.

The Alaska Outdoor Council has endorsed Nick Begich.

The outdoor group will review its decision about being associated with the NRA at its next annual business meeting in 2025.

“On Oct 5th at the Alaska Outdoorsman Banquet in Anchorage AOC proudly announced its support for Nick Begich for U.S. Congress. The Board of Directors for AOC felt Nick Begich is the best candidate as his beliefs and platform are aligned with AOC Bylaws and Policies. NRA’s continued endorsement of candidate Mary Peltola for Congress is not in the AOC membership’s best interest,” the Alaska-based group announced on Saturday.

Many saw the endorsement of Peltola as a purely political chess move by the NRA, which has been embattled by various organizational controversies. The NRA was trying to look like it is bipartisan and could not find any other Democrat in the country to endorse, thus settled on Peltola as its choice for Alaska.

Alaska members of the NRA contacted Must Read Alaska and said they were withdrawing their membership from that organization and joining Gun Owners of America, a group that is seen as stronger on the Second Amendment.

Alaska Outdoor Council is a federation of 50 member clubs with the common interest of access Alaska’s natural resources through hunting, fishing, trapping, public access, or just enjoying a day out in the wilderness. Organizations belonging to the Alaska Outdoor Council stretch from Southeast Alaska to Fairbanks.

55 COMMENTS

  1. Why does the nra back a democrat whose party wants all the guns.
    Nice to see someone stand up to the lefts views and call out the nra.

    • Apparently the NRA bought into river boat cpt’s bs story about owning couple hundred firearms. Not the first and it won’t be the last time NRA makes a bad decision.

        • Same old tired argument right wingers always tout. What guns have been taken away from you? Stop acting like a spoiled child.

          • You have no clue what is happening at the ATF and if it wasn’t for gun rights organizations continuing to fight for the 2nd amendment you wouldn’t have a first either.

            • Frankly, I think we have way too much first (and used piss poorly), and not enough second (also used piss poorly).

          • Cman stop being a child because your childish arguments don’t add up to a very smart person.
            You’re out of your League.
            You’re so much fun to look at your posts that can’t hold water.

          • One would argue the policies against specific capacities, a “scary” looking firearm, and the obscure “loopholes” they don’t explain how to close, much of which they’ve already done at the state level(looking at YOU California) count.

          • Same old tired argument from the commies. “Hey, we have not yet taken them so stop complaining”.
            FACT, the politicians are trying to dramatically reduce gun ownership and will do whatever they can to achieve that goal.
            Pretending that ain’t so is either totally ignorant or willfully obtuse.

    • Answer: the NRA fell into a trap of their own foolishness. Mary Peltola promotes the wrong premise the 2nd Amendment was passed to preserve hunting rights. It appears she may have inherited a large collection of rifles, 176 of them, from her husband Buzzy (rest in peace). Buzzy, as a law enforcement officer, was known to often confiscate hunting rifles in the name of the US government. Having such a large collection of rifles begs the question of whether he properly relinquished every rifle he confiscated into the federal depository or held in his own possession. Mary Peltola now owns the questionable rifle collection and is foolish enough to boast of it to the world. The NRA was even more foolish to view her boasting of the collection as a good thing.

      • “…….The NRA was even more foolish to view her boasting of the collection as a good thing………”
        Maybe. Maybe not. The NRA has been somewhat following the trend of major Republican entities first endorsing Dahlstrom, but then later endorsing Begich (reluctantly?) after Begich (finally) won a primary, even if it was a jungle primary. Do all these entities know something that the rest of us are going to find out down the road? Dunno, but the trend is there, nonetheless.

  2. I have been a Lifetime Member of the NRA for years!
    Today I canceled my membership as I told them their endorsement of Mary Peltola was INSANE!

  3. I suppose the NRA might give “kudos” to Peltola for not being among ‘The Very Worst Members of Congress’ with respect to the Bill of Rights, among other things. Still, we Alaskans and skeptical NRA members can certainly elect a Congressman who in countless ways will be far, far better than Peltola.

  4. Most Alaska candidates removed their social media claims to NRA endorsement out of embarrassment (or being associated with) the NRA’s endorsement of a congressional candidate who voted for every single bill that limits 2A, including voting numerous times for Hakeem Jeffries (a noted anti-2A Congressman) to be Speaker of the House as well as red flag laws. Many of us wrote letters to the NRA.

    The noted exception is Representative Eastman. This is puzzling because his Chief of Staff is on the board of AlaskaGunRights. Alaska gun rights vehemently opposed Speaker Tilton’s HB61, the flagship bill of the NRA, last session. It is no wonder people are confused.

    Is Alaska Gun Rights and McClure about 2A? Or something else?

    (full disclaimer, I am a life NRA member – I now regret spending that money). I suggest Gun Owners of America and Firearms Policy Coalition as reasonable alternatives.

  5. Longtime Life member here. After so many missteps, this that final straw. I am contacting to rescind my membership and cut all ties. I’m overdue on this.

  6. You can be quite sure this never would have occurred under the leadership of LaPierre. Ollie North and Letitia James succeeded with the NRA while failing on Trump. If we didn’t have Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, we would have lost the 2nd Amendment by now.

  7. I am a lifetime member of the NRA, but I do not own a gun. I became a life member because of what I thought was a strong stand for the 2A. It appears I am now mistaken in my thought processes, and no longer am in agreement with the board of the NRA. What a sad turn of events.

  8. I have not canceled my NRA membership, as I have already poured enough money into my lifetime status that they owe me the benefits of belonging. However, I did write and tell them that I will never send them another penny, until they apologize for their endorsement of Peltola. Now in today’s mail I get a postcard urging me to vote for RINO Kelly Merrick. NOT happening.

    • Something odd is happening. Mary Peltola and Kelly Merrick endorsed. Ok. But now I got 2 endorsement cards RE: D-7 endorsing Jesse Bjorkman over Ben Carpenter & Justin Ruffridge over Ron Gillham. This is across the board. I could see a disagreement over a candidate or two but this is like a clean sweep. Every candidate I like is not endorsed. What’s the deal? Gun Owners of America will get my next dues.

  9. Think princess Lisa has anything to do with this endorsement?
    She knows people that know people. All of whom I’d never want as a neighbor.

  10. The NRA’s continued endorsement of candidate Mary Peltola for Congress is not in the best interest of the NRA and its membership. The radical cabal in power has not had the interest of members in mind for five plus years. Here’s hoping that is changing with the NY court’s help.

    • Tell us about GOA and its sponsorship, investments, operation, and support of gun ranges (no, not the local gravel pit full of shot up kitchen appliances), shooting sports, Civilian Marksmanship Program, and countless other firearms infrastructure and organizations. Believe it or not, firearms ownership consists of a whole bunch more than fighting with brainless morons with expensive lawyers and propaganda dealers (media).

      • The CMP is not part of the NRA. And after WLP and his cronies got done raping the organization, there’s not much of anything else left. They ran on keeping gun owners in a state of fear to drive donations. If the hundreds of millions of dollars squandered by the leadership of the NRA had been actually used to protect gun rights, the 2A community wouldn’t have a thing to worry about.

        • SCOTUS cases over the past 20 years have been a virtual slam dunk for gun owners, so much so that government has refocused their efforts in ammo……..successfully. GOA is a 100% political organization. It has no role in shooting sports, gun ranges, or any other aspect of firearms ownership. If you want to contribute to GOA, go right ahead with my thanks. Badmouth the NRA? Not without a response. I got tired of your type 40 years ago with the Neal Knox gang.You guys are a big part of the problem, not the solution. Oliver North did what he is known best for: leaving a devastated landscape behind him.

        • “……..The CMP is not part of the NRA……..”
          Correct, but you qualify for CMP activity by activity in NRA shooting events. The NRA is the standard bearer of official firearms ownership. GOA won’t even get you a hello from CMP. In fact, the CMP would no longer exist if it hadn’t been saved by the NRA.

  11. This is my problem with “endorsements”. It’s another form of virtue signaling in most cases.

    I have a hard time believing the Outdoor Council just recently figured out Mary was not in their best interest.

    They waiting until they had a strong idea Nick would win before throwing their .02 in. Hardly a group standing on principle.

  12. Want to bet that the NRA will endorse Kamala? There is a reason that she is making these weird gun ownership statements.

  13. The NRA “leadship” has sucked for a very long time. They used our donations to live extravigant lifestyles. LaPierre was removed after a court case:

    “The jury also determined that Attorney General James has shown cause for removal of LaPierre from the NRA based upon his violations. The jury also found that the NRA failed to properly administer charitable funds and violated state laws that protect whistleblowers.”

    Now the NRA has chosen a vile, twisted nut job- as reported by the Daily Mail:

    “The National Rifle Association’s new boss was involved in the brutal torture and killing of a cat when he was a fraternity brother in college.

    Douglas Hamlin, who was appointed NRA CEO this this year, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty in the vile killing of his fraternity’s cat, BK, in 1980.

    Hamlin was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor when he and four of his Alpha Delta Phi brothers were accused of capturing the cat, cutting its paws off, stringing it up and setting it on fire.”

    I’ll never give the NRA a penny. GOA is the way to go.

  14. Thanks, AOC! How the NRA made the decision for Peltola will never be known. She’s proven herself unreliable on most issues that Alaskan’s hold dear. Perhaps this was a parting gift from Wayne LaPierre? Peltola may own firearms, most of them may have belonged to her late husband. That doesn’t mean she will be strong and stand firm on firearms issues. Michigan Democrat John Dingell was strong and stood firm on the Second Amendment rights of Americans. He coined the phrase, “Jack-booted Thugs” when referring to the ATF. Mary Peltola may be a (D), but she is no John Dingell. And the NRA should have seen this.

  15. “…….The National Rifle Association’s new boss was involved in the brutal torture and killing of a cat when he was a fraternity brother in college……..”
    Sounds like exactly what one would expect from a cabal of lawyers and journalists. I’ll bet his feet stink, too, and Letitia James powders her toes.

    • Your comment is unclear. Are you saying he was in a fraternity that tortured animals? Or, that he tortured animals while he happened to be in a fraternity? It makes a huge difference. Example: Eric Dahmer was a cannibalistic serial killer. He was also American. Does that make all Americans cannibalistic serial killers as well?

  16. I commend the Alaska Outdoor Council here, I know they tried to talk to NRA leadership and get them to rescind the endorsement to no avail. I’m as pissed as the rest of you, and I wrote the NRA leadership and let them know they really let Alaskans down. Still, I’m with Reggie on this one. I thought conservatives were above cancel culture. We can be pissed all we want about a ridiculous endorsement, but the amount of advocacy that NRA does in DC and they money and effort they put into firearm safety and the shooting sports is unparalleled. I don’t know much about GOA, but without the NRA, I know we would have countless rules and restrictions that they successfully fought off.

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