I’m not a member of the National Rifle Association. I used to be, but I let my membership lapse for the same reason that I registered as an independent voter — I prefer to think for myself rather than drink anyone’s Kool-Aid. In today’s highly polarized, black-or-white, if you’re-not-for-us-you’re-against-us world, calling yourself a Republican or a Democrat (or an NRA member) does more than merely label you — it makes people assume they know you and what you think.

The NRA has become an organization that looks only inward, and they seem to have only a single answer for any question you might think to ask: All guns good, all gun laws bad. How did it come to this? The NRA I was a part of in the 1990s stressed gun safety and fought for your and my Second Amendment rights, but they did it with common sense. Back then, the group supported the idea of universal background checks. In fact, before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in 1999, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said, “We think it’s reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone.”