LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) -
Thousands of East Texans belong to the nationwide group,
Friends of NRA. They're the kind of people represented today by the nation's
largest gun rights group that met with the vice president this morning. They
represent the likes of Lufkin businessman Mark Oliver, owner of Oliver
Plumbing.
Customers
may walk into his store for a faucet or drain plug, but they might leave as a
National Rifle Association member. The NRA recruiter proudly displays
information about the grass roots support group by the cash register
"They look at
the sign and say, ‘Boy, "I sure do like that right there. I like to see people
in that'. I never had anyone come in here and say anything bad about having it," said Oliver.
Oliver's recruiting
efforts of Friends of NRA haven't really changed that much, but he has noticed
discussion centering around the national issues has certainly picked up.
"Everybody talks about, of course, about wanting to take the guns away," shared Oliver.
Still Oliver is
pleased the Obama administration is wanting to hear from the NRA and gun
retailers.
"You
not going to get anything done without discussing it. And there does need to be
something done in certain areas," said Oliver.
Limits on high
capacity clips wouldn't affect Oliver. What does he prefer?
"A 12 gauge single
shot It's just a protection gun or good bird hunting, squirrel hunting gun," Oliver said as he pulled it from a corner behind his
desk.
The avid deer
and squirrel hunter says three shells at a time are enough for him.
"It's over with
anyway You either got him or you didn't", said the
hunter who doesn't even use deer stands or bait.
Oliver still wouldn't want to
restrict the responsible users of high powered rifles with high-capacity clips.
"There's still a lot of shooting competitions that
go on with those style rifles.They have a lot of silhouette type shooters. They
have speed shooting with those things," explained
Oliver.
Friends of NRA sponsor many of the events which raise money for local youth.
"We give the 4H
shooting team here in Angelina County, we give them a little over $20,000."
He'll leave the
politics to national leadership.
"Guns don't kill
people, people kill people," he said.
Mark Oliver is selling tickets for the upcoming Friends of NRA banquet to be held
this March in Diboll. Stop by his store for details or go to the Friends of the
NRA website.
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