NRA LEADER FIGHTS FOR GUN RIGHTS : NRA LEADER HOLDS FAST TO 2ND AMENDMENT.Byline: Kermit Pattison Daily News Staff Writer When defending the rights of gun owners, Michael Mason
``I believe the Second Amendment to the Constitution is the glue that holds the rest of them together,'' said Mason, president of the National Rifle Association National Rifle Association (NRA) Governing organization for the sport of shooting with rifles and pistols. It was founded in Britain in 1860. The U.S. organization, formed in 1871, has a membership of some four million. Both the British and the U.S. Members Council in eastern Ventura County. ``I feel to the core that the day we citizens no longer have the right to keep and bear arms, the other amendments won't mean very much.'' Over the last year, the Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. resident has found himself in a crossfire A multi-GPU interface from ATI for connecting two ATI display adapters together for faster graphics rendering on one monitor. CrossFire machines require PCI Express slots, a CrossFire-enabled motherboard and, depending on which models are used, either a pair of ATI Radeon adapters or one of debate over concealed weapons (Law) dangerous weapons so carried on the person as to be knowingly or willfully concealed from sight, - a practice forbidden by statute.<- in some states! -> See under Concealed. See also: Concealed Weapon permits, gun control and local politics as the new NRA NRA (National Rifle Association of America) organization that encourages sharpshooting and use of firearms for hunting. [Am. Pop. Culture: NCE, 1895] See : Hunting group in east Ventura County has flexed political muscle. ``We have given up our Second Amendment rights a little bit at a time to the point it's very difficult to own a gun,'' said Mason. ``Every time we turn around, somebody wants to put a permanent restriction on a particular firearm or just make it more difficult in general. . . I honestly believe right down to my toenails that the majority of these people just want guns banished from the face of the Earth.'' Mason's unyielding stance on weapons has earned him plenty of support in the conservative area fertile for NRA organizing. But it also has made him a target for his outspokenness. ``He seems to be a reasonably nice guy,'' said Simi Valley Councilman Bill Davis For the artist, animator, creative director, see . For the baseball player, see .
Mason, a 49-year-old grandfather who works for Eastman Kodak, said he has been shooting and hunting since his boyhood in North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. and owns about 30 guns. Although he has belonged to the NRA since his youth, he said he renounced his membership a few years ago when the organization failed to chide Congressman Elton Gallegly Elton W. Gallegly (born March 7 1944), an American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1987, currently representing the 24th District of California (map). for his support of a crime bill and Brady Bill. ``When the time came to renew my membership, I tore my card up and threw it in the trash,'' he said. Later, he recalled, NRA executives urged him to reconsider. The national group was encouraging local grass-roots members' councils, so Mason became a born-again NRA member and helped found a chapter that he said has nearly 100 members. ``We have tried to stay away from the fringe,'' he said. ``We're not trying to appeal to militia groups and people who only wear (camouflage). . . . We've tried to appeal more to the middle-class person than the fringe.'' Simi Valley Councilwoman Sandi Webb said she met Mason when he came to her office to discuss forming a new NRA members council. ``He seemed like somebody who could get things done,'' said Webb, a right-to-bear-arms advocate who generated national media attention last year when she revealed that she sometimes carries an illegal concealed weapon concealed weapon n. a weapon, particularly a handgun, which is kept hidden on one's person, or under one's control (in a glove compartment or under a car seat). . ``I always hold my judgment in reserve to see if people go out and do something. Mike promptly went out and did what he said he was going to do, and to me that is the mark of a leader,'' Webb said. She said her relationship with Mason was strained slightly when he was quoted as criticizing Webb for making an obscene gesture at U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein during a hearing in Washington, D.C. But the councilwoman said they have put the disagreement behind them. ``It's water under the bridge,'' she said. Mason became embroiled em·broil tr.v. em·broiled, em·broil·ing, em·broils 1. To involve in argument, contention, or hostile actions: "Avoid . . . in city politics when Simi Valley revised its concealed-weapons regulations earlier this year. The NRA strongly criticized a new policy drafted by Police Chief Randy Adams to require a psychological exam and $1 million liability insurance to carry a concealed weapon. Adams and Mason have maintained a polite relationship even though ``we certainly don't see eye to eye on every issue,'' the police chief said. ``He's very interested in meeting, dialogue and approaching the issue in a rational manner,'' Adams said. ``I appreciate and welcome that.'' N`ow Mason said the NRA group plans to assert itself in upcoming elections for city councils, school boards and park districts in east Ventura County. ``We're not anti-anybody,'' Mason said. ``We're for people who think the way we do. We're not out to get anybody, but we definitely are going to look for people to support.'' |
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