Thanks for the invite, Wayne LaPierre.

I have, on occasion, found myself on a somewhat surprising mailing list. 

Usually, I can figure out the breadcrumbs that got me there.

For years, I was on a number of Republican mailing (and phone) lists. At that point, I was subscribing to the Wall Street Journal online. I'm thinking that's who sold me good name.

More recently, I've been getting mailings from ultra-conservative Hillsdale College. Huh? It's been a long while since I've subscribed to the WSJ...

And then there's the NRA...

The other day, I opened my (physical) mailbox and, what to my wondering eyes did appear, but a missive from Wayne LaPierre, the head of the NRA.

Dear Friend, Wayne wrote:

There has never been a more important time for you to accept the enclosed NRA membership card and carry it with pride.

Right now, hundreds of gun-hating politicians, judges, radical billionaires, and freedom-hating media elites are attacking your freedom with everything in their arsenal. They're attacking in the courts, the state legislatures, the media, and even the U.S. Congress.

Little does Wayne know, apparently, that I've been donating to some of those very gun-hating politicians. 

So how did they get my name?

I only donate to Democratic politicians. And I give to many causes associated with the Democratic Party/liberals: registering voters, transporting voters to the polls, Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, Union of Concerned Scientists, the Obama Foundation. The charities I support are politically neutral.

I subscribe to The Atlantic and The New Yorker. Hardly centers of conservative thought. 

I read the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the New York Times. 

So the NRA is definitely barking up the wrong tree. But let 'em. Let 'em spend their marketing money chasing a donation from me. Because even with all the swell enticements, I'll be taking a pass - make that a hard pass - on signing up for the NRA.

For a discounted membership rate - $30 a year vs. $45; that's 50% off!!! - I'm entitled to three benefits:

• A credentials package with a personalized membership card that I guess is more official than the one they sent me.
• My choice of an NRA magazine - "month after month of eye-popping photography, information-packed reviews of the hottest new guns, gear and ammo, hundreds of hunting tips, plus all the news and strategies you need to defend your freedoms."
• An NRA Rip-Stop Camo Duffel Bag that, presumably, I can stuff with ammo and the like.

But I'm wondering about that eye-popping photography in their magazines. 

Personally, I get enough eye-popping photography when I see pictures of the grieving families of those massacred in the latest mass killing in a nightclub, grocery store, or synagogue. When I see the school pictures of the sweet little kiddos killed at Uvalde and Shady Hook. Pictures of the surviving youngsters streaming out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida, hand over their heads, as if they've done something wrong. 

As for Wayne LaPierre looking for my money. Har, har, hardee har har.

Still, gotta wondering how I got on their mailing list. Did Hillsdale College dime me? Hope the NRA paid for the privilege.