by John Boch
Dudley Brown: He’s the head of the National Association of Gun Rights and the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, two supposedly pro-gun organizations that are as often as not aligned against gun owners’ best interests. He’s also know as the guy who is always got his hand out, decrying the need for donations for his loose-cannon groups to do something against one crisis or another, too often perceived only in Dudley Brown’s mind.
Sadly, it’s not uncommon that he works against gun owners’ best interests, both in Colorado and nationwide.
What have they done? Let’s look at the recent recall elections of two high-profile, anti-gun Colorado Democrats who voted for the new gun restrictions in 2013. From David Kopel of the Volokh Conspiracy website:
The Republicans (for a change of pace in Colorado) ran near-flawless campaigns with strong candidates: new Senators Bernie Herpin (Colorado Springs) and George Rivera (Pueblo). I’ve long known Herpin for founding and leading the Pikes Peak Firearm Coalition, and I have high respect for him. He has dedicated a quarter century of his life as a civic volunteer to defense of the Second Amendment. At the same time, he has a sense of what is politically realistic in a given situation, and does not press issues for the mere emotional satisfaction of being “hardcore.” Thus, in the Republican nomination process, he was opposed by Dudley Brown’s fund-raising organization Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. Brown’s preferred candidate, a believer in the nutty legal theories of “sovereign citizens,” would certainly have lost the recall election.
Kopel is masterful, noting that the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners isn’t a gun rights organization, but a fundraising organization.
Another story titled “Dudley Brown’s War” in the Denver Magazine has quotes from a couple of folks summing things up nicely:
“All Dudley wanted to do was create controversy. He makes his money when there’s turmoil, real or perceived, because that’s what gets his members to write him checks.”
Brown even tried to embarrass Owens at an annual GOP state assembly by sending a group of supporters wearing “Tyranny Response Team” T-shirts to loudly boo the governor’s renomination. “The attacks just never stopped,” marvels Sean Duffy, who moved from Pennsylvania in 2001 to become Owens’ new communications director. “He’s exactly what’s wrong with the Republican Party all rolled up into one guy. He’ll say or do anything to destroy viable candidates and legislators who agree with him 90 percent of the time, because you’re either 100 percent with him, or you’re 100 percent against him.”
So here comes Dudley Brown today, working against a proposal to modify Colorado’s 15-round magazine limit to 30-rounds. Why? Because it’s not a complete repeal. It’s not perfect.
In other words, he would rather Colorado gun owners get nothing than make 99% of magazines completely legal to own and use, while gun activists work on a complete repeal.
Sure, it’s not perfect, but neither is the real world.
And in politics, the fastest way to get nothing is to demand everything.
I was a member of Brown’s NAGR for a couple of years.
And then I learned more about some of his stunts and how they’ve set us back.
Unless you like endless spam, don’t give them your email. In fact, your life is a lot simpler without him in it.
They don’t represent me well at all.
He needs the fundraising to pay his paycheck. He gets paid quite nicely to run those two groups.