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Socialist Rifle Association

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Socialist Rifle Association
AbbreviationSRA
FormationOctober 8, 2018;
6 years ago (2018-10-08)
Founded atNew Mexico
Merger of
  • Socialist Rifle Association LLC
  • Socialist Rifle Association Inc.
Type501(c)(4)[1]
Focus
Location
Services
Method
Membership
10,000 (November 2020)[4]
Legislature
Assembly of the SRA
Websitesocialistra.org
This article is part of a series on
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The Socialist Rifle Association (SRA) is a socialist gun rights advocacy group based in the United States, which is dedicated to "providing working class people the information they need to be effectively armed for self and community defense."[5][6] The group advocates for Second Amendment gun rights from a left-wing perspective.[7]

Background

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The Socialist Rifle Association was initially created as a Facebook page in 2013, initially with a facetious intent.[8][9] As time went on, its supporters decided to make it a reality, and incorporated as a limited liability company (LLC) in New Mexico.[10] On October 8, 2018, the Socialist Rifle Association Inc. was founded in Kansas,[11] under the 501(c)(4) tax code provision.[12] On October 16, 2018, a merger agreement was agreed between the two extant SRA nonprofits.[13]

The City of Charlottesville, et al. vs. The Pennsylvania Light Foot Militia, et al. (2018)

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Individuals associated with an unrelated community Facebook page calling itself the SRA attended the Unite the Right rally on the counterprotest side,[14] and were subsequently sued for their involvement.[15] In October 2018, the city of Charlottesville filed a lawsuit against 25 groups and individuals[16] for alleged paramilitary activity based on a recently adopted state statute.[17][18] In addition to several white supremacist figures and organizations such as the Traditionalist Worker Party, League of the South and Jason Kessler, the lawsuit also listed two anti-racist groups, the original SRA group and the left-wing gun group Redneck Revolt.[19][20]

Natural disaster mutual aid

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Hurricane Michael

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In response to the landfall of the category 5 Hurricane Michael in 2018 and the perceived inadequate response of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), both the SRA and the Tallahassee branches of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Party for Socialism and Liberation formed the Hurricane Michael Mutual Aid project, which sought to distribute direct relief to those in need, including those who were unable to receive FEMA relief due to their undocumented status.[21][22]

Hurricane Dorian

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On August 29, 2019, the SRA began a fundraiser under the new organizational name "SRAid" for Hurricane Dorian disaster relief.[23] On September 5, the SRA announced it had several volunteers staging equipment on the east coast in preparation for supply deliveries to under-served communities in Charleston, South Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina, and the Lumbee Tribe in Robeson County, North Carolina.[24]

Membership

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In July 2019, a third of the SRA's 2,000 members identified as LGBTQ and 8 percent are transgender.[25] The organization claimed 10,000 active members in November 2020.[4] The SRA has 52 local chapters operating in 33 states.[15] The organization is headed by a National Assembly consisting of elected representatives from each chapter.[15]

Ideology

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The SRA describes the goal of their organization as "to provide an alternative to the mainstream, toxic, right-wing, and non-inclusive gun culture that has dominated the firearms community for decades. We seek to provide a safe, inclusive, and left-leaning platform for talking about gun rights and self defense, free from racist and reactionary prejudices, while providing a platform for the working class to obtain the skills necessary for all aspects of community defense."[26] The group describes itself as "working class, progressive, anarchist, socialist, communist, eco-warrior, animal liberator, anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, PoC, LGBTQ-plus."[27]

Points of unity

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Membership of the SRA is predicated on the acceptance of particular points of unity:

  • We are working class and poor people dedicated to educating our class in the safe use of firearms for personal and community self-defense as well as recreation and subsistence hunting.
  • We are a multi-tendency association of social democrats, communists, and anarchists united by class, for our class. We respect one another's political stances and differences, especially when we disagree.
  • We are dedicated to Liberation and Freedom of ALL people and therefore oppose all forms of oppression and exploitation.
  • We are party to our local communities and as such we volunteer in various ways to further the connections between leftist political radicals and the unorganized communities in which we live. We help feed, house and protect other working class and marginalized folks.
  • We stand against the disarmament of the working class.
  • We are dedicated to arming the working class, both physically and mentally.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Tax Exempt Organization Search". Internal Revenue Service.
  2. ^ a b "Socialist Rifle Association Promo Cards" (PDF). Socialist Rifle Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  3. ^ "Socialist Rifle Association on Twitter". Twitter. September 9, 2018. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. To everyone responding about the books: These photos we upload are submitted by membership. We are a multi-tendency organization.
  4. ^ a b "The SRA is proud to announce we now have 10,000 official members!". Twitter. November 3, 2020.
  5. ^ Goldberg, Michelle (November 2, 2018). "Rise of the Armed Left". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 2, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Socialist Rifle Association". www.socialistra.org. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  7. ^ CoastAlaska, Jacob Resneck (November 19, 2018). "Meet the Socialist Rifle Association. The left's answer to conservative gun culture". KTOO. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  8. ^ "r/SocialistRA - SRA Founder's Recollections". reddit. August 24, 2019. Archived from the original on March 30, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  9. ^ "Armed and socialist: Inside the Socialist Rifle Association". www.wbur.org. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 31, 2024.
  10. ^ "Corporations and Business Services". March 17, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  11. ^ "Kansas Business Entity Search". www.kansas.gov. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  12. ^ Humva, Alex (October 22, 2018). "The Future of the SRA". socialistra.org. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  13. ^ https://sos.ks.gov/scannedWM/5254417.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  14. ^ Green, Jordan (April 11, 2018). "They Hate Racists. They Love Assault Rifles. Meet Redneck Revolt". Indy Week. Archived from the original on September 23, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  15. ^ a b c Baars, Samantha (October 12, 2017). "Militia madness: City files suit against August 12 participants". C-VILLE Weekly. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  16. ^ "3 Militia Groups Connected to Unite the Right Rally Settle Lawsuits". www.nbc29.com. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  17. ^ "§ 18.2-433.2. Paramilitary activity prohibited". law.lis.virginia.gov. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  18. ^ Arria, Michael (April 29, 2018). "Why Is Charlottesville Suing Two Anti-Racist Groups Over Last Year's Violent "Unite the Right" Rally?". Truthout. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  19. ^ Dwyer, Johnny (June 12, 2018). ""Alt-Right" and Anti-Fascists Unite Against Lawsuit Designed to Prevent Another Charlottesville". The Intercept. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  20. ^ "CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, et al. vs. The Pennsylvania Light Foot Militia, et al" (PDF). Georgetown. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  21. ^ Arria, Michael (December 14, 2018). "Left-Wing Disaster Relief Efforts Spread Goodwill for Socialism". Truthout. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  22. ^ "Socialist Rifle Association". socialistra.org. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  23. ^ "Socialist Rifle Association on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  24. ^ "Socialist Rifle Association on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  25. ^ Pein, Corey (July 2, 2019). "Antifa Is Arming Itself Against a Trump Crackdown". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Archived from the original on July 5, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019. A third of the Socialist Rifle Association's 2,000 members identify as LGBTQ, and 8 percent are transgender.
  26. ^ "Socialist Rifle Association". socialistra.org. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  27. ^ Tarr, Joe (March 14, 2019). "Socialism's safest place". Isthmus | Madison, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
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