I joined the NRA for exactly 1 year, and in that year their spam made it amply apparent that they are a partisan mouthpiece for the GOP and not a bipartisan gun rights organization. This is exactly the wrong thing to do.
Now, I've never voted democrat and I don't intend to start, but I remember when the VCDL gave Creigh Deeds an A+ (for very sound reasons), and his competitor McDonnell got... TBH I don't remember, but it wasn't an A+. Then a little while later the NRA comes out with their usual BS, vote McDonnell because the democrats are going to take your guns! I hadn't thought much of it before, because it seemed exaggerated but otherwise more or less accurate much of the time, but this was the single instance it all became clear. And every election cycle it's the same crap, "OMG DEMOCRATS TAKE YOUR GUNS BUY THEM ALL NOW".
I suppose it's good salesmanship for gun companies, but my goal is not to pay for their advertising, but to pay for someone to lobby for my 2A rights. The NRA quite simply does not do that.
Partisan team cheerleading will kill this country faster than either side could possibly manage on their own.