Dear NAGRI members/ supporters,
It has been a while since we posted any updates on the activities NAGRI has been undertaking, so it’s time to apprise everyone of what has been going on in the last few months. The efforts to sensitise appropriate members of the bureaucracy as well as the political leadership are carrying on and we have been recently getting encouraging responses from many such people who had previously shown outright hostility to our cause.
- If you recall, last August NAGRI representatives along with several Members of Parliament (across party lines) had met the Hon’able Prime Minister of India to apprise him of the genuine grievances of existing and prospective gun owners (please see http://www.indiansforguns.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10710 for more). On the 12th of Oct 2011 Mr. Naveen Jindal (MP Lok Sabha & NAGRI Patron) met the Hon’able Prime Minister to remind him of the hardships being imposed upon all gun owners and arms license seekers. This time he went armed with a letter that had the signatures of 108 Members of Parliament. The entire credit for mobilising so many Members of Parliament against the Government’s anti-gun policies goes to Mr. V.P. Singh (MP Rajya Sabha & NAGRI Patron); Mr. V.P. Singh has been a huge asset to the cause of gun rights in India. He personally framed the letter, which included comprehensive suggestions for positive changes to the existing law, and approached the 108 MP’s to sign it. To single-handedly garner so much political support for this cause and to present our grievances directly in front of the Hon’able Prime Minister are both praise worthy tasks and deserve to be applauded by all gun owners & freedom loving citizens. It is also note worthy that just like last year, even this time MP’s across party lines gave their unconditional support to the issues raised by NAGRI and signed in favour of making the arms act citizen friendly. This clearly shows that contrary to what the left leaning media will have you believe, across the entire nation, pro-gun sentiment runs deep; once we unite and get organized we will be able to amass tremendous support both from citizens as well as political leaders. Mr. V.P. Singh’s & Mr. Naveen Jindal’s efforts have shown us that so long as we are fighting for a just cause under a united banner, it is only a matter to time before we start seeing our efforts translate into a better tomorrow for us & our future generations.
- NAGRI is now also affiliated with IAPCAR (International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights, see http://www.iapcar.org/ for more). Events around the world including India have emphasized the need to protect the individual’s rights to defend oneself and one’s family against grave threats, including crime, civil unrest and terrorism. IAPCAR is dedicated the need to protect the individual’s rights to defend oneself and one’s family against grave threats, including crime, civil unrest and terrorism & to preserving these human rights. We are really excited as this gives us access to and makes us accessible to the world and all the international pro-firearms groups around the world. We can all learn, support and help each other fight for our rights and liberty. This puts us on a global platform and gives us exposure to the world. We will be exposed to the international press and media and get another dais to voice our opinion and concerns. They need our help in the fight. It is well known that, international anti-gun rights groups such as the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), Small Arms Survey (now also present in India), etc. are well funded in their campaign to infringe on firearms rights. IAPCAR was formed to counter and oppose those groups by rebutting the misinformation and myths about firearms that are often internationally published by these groups to mislead the uninitiated and neutral people of the society.
We at NAGRI are not sitting idle, we are working albeit slowly. There have been multiple challenges, not the least of which have been administrative challenges like logistics, finance, etc. to name just a few. We would like to remind members that none of the volunteer office bearers are professional lobbyists and are learning about how lobbying works as we go along - driven purely by their passion for our common cause! Not to mention the simple fact that the people who are trying to get things done have regular day jobs and the complexities of day-to-day life sometimes get the best of us.
I hope this is encouraging news for all our members and supporters .We request you to support us all the more by increasing the membership numbers. If you have sent in your forms make others send in their forms. Start your own NAGRI membership drive, aim for 10 forms you may end up with a 100. The acknowledgements and membership numbers are on the way but I urge you to be a little more patient. I promise that I myself along with other volunteers of NAGRI will mail/ email them to you in due course. I also request all of you to volunteer for this task and many more to support NAGRI in the future. NAGRI is not some vague entity, NAGRI is ALL OF US, it is You & Me standing TOGETHER!
Let us unite in our efforts to make a difference in the lives of our people and society. Please come out and support NAGRI and RKBA. We all want to live in a free democratic country where our rights and liberties will not be taken away. Citizens when united have a lot of power. We can make a difference so let’s hold hands and be a part of the RKBA revolution in India. We will make a difference and change things together.
Regards,
Rakshit Sharma
Secretary General, NAGRI
BRAVO.. 
. It is this sort of drive and commitment to the cause that has perhaps been lacking in our society in general. When people take up an issue and follow through with it some thing good is bound to come out of it. 
