r/canadaguns • u/Hot-Layer-7624 • Mar 27 '26
News / Politics / Activism CCFR Vs NFA
I’ve spoken to reps of both organizations and I still don’t understand what the difference is in their objectives and philosophy. Why do they hate each other so much? What led to the split? I understand how the CSSA is different but the NFA and CCFR are both lobby groups that can’t define each other except in opposition to themselves.
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u/CalibreMag Mar 27 '26
In ancient times, Rod ran for a director's position with the NFA.
Regarding what happened afterward, I wasn't paying close attention, but I recall a problem was raised about how the NFA conducted the election. It seemed as if there was a conscious effort to prevent Rod's election; something about quorum and meeting dates or something. I'm sure there are still threads on CGN about it.
Anyway, it created a big hullabaloo, which, when combined with a couple of other controversial issues the NFA was dealing with at the time, provided the catalyst for a splinter group of NFA members who felt wronged by how the election was handled to create their own new group: The CCFR. Rod was appointed president. I remember having lunch with him in New West, where he brought up that he'd been approached to run this new group. It feels like forever ago.
So, the genesis of the CCFR sorta came with some inherent acrimony with the NFA, and then the NFA (again, IIRC) brought a lawsuit over similarities between the CCFR logo and the "No Compromise" logo it used, which only served to increase friction. I always thought that was silly because they don't look really all that similar.
But all this is pretty ancient history at this point. The people who largely contributed to the controversy are long gone from the scene, and, to my knowledge, there is no hatred between the NFA and CCFR. They have broadly the same goals and similar philosophies, and perhaps differ most in their approach to achieving those goals. Which is good. We need a diversity of effort.
Footnote: Every org has at least a few people at the director or staff level who consider other orgs to be competitors. Not necessarily for membership bucks, though that's definitely a factor; more so in a "we can do it better" way. This is usually where the friction is found, but there's nothing to be done about it; it's simply human nature. The people who end up in highly visible, highly public positions advocating on controversial issues are often Type A, because it takes a lot of confidence to survive in that arena, and those sorts of folks tend to lean towards competition rather than collaboration. Furthermore, being a gun advocate in this country means generally always being on the defensive, which can lead to gun advocates becoming a bit defensive. Just is what it is. Nature of the beast.