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American socialist gun rights organization From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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][self-published source] The group advocates for Second Amendment gun rights from a left-wing perspective.[7]
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| Abbreviation | SRA |
|---|---|
| Formation | October 8, 2018 |
| Founded at | New Mexico |
| Merger of |
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| Type | 501(c)(4)[1] |
| Focus | |
| Location | |
| Services |
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| Method |
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| Membership | 10,000 (November 2020)[4] |
Legislature | Assembly of the SRA |
| Website | socialistra |
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The Socialist Rifle Association was initially created as a Facebook page in 2013, initially with a facetious intent.[8][self-published source][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][self-published source] On October 16, 2018, a merger agreement was agreed between the two extant SRA nonprofits.[13]
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]
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][self-published source]
On August 29, 2019, the SRA began a fundraiser under the new organizational name "SRAid" for Hurricane Dorian disaster relief.[23][needs independent confirmation] 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][needs independent confirmation]
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]
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][self-published source] 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]
Membership of the SRA is predicated on the acceptance of particular points of unity:
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