The SRA is a national organization with chapters all across the country. We are a non-profit 501(c)(4), and our primary goal is to educate leftists in the safe use of firearms by providing a space free of the toxicity and bigotry that permeates American gun culture. Many chapters also involve themselves in mutual aid initiatives around their communities.
We’re a big tent organization, so we accept leftists that run the gamut of political ideologies. Our chapter has Marxists, Anarchists, Syndicalists, Maoists, Democratic Socialists, etc. We keep on task by sharing our knowledge on firearms with anyone who wants to know. We also endeavor to be a safe space for people in marginalized communities. We don’t tolerate bigots of any kind, and reactionaries and cops are banned from joining.
We at the Pittsburgh chapter have a training subcommittee that regularly organizes outings for our members to safely familiarize themselves with guns. We also get out and help teach members of other leftist organizations in the area. Just recently we helped teach some members of the Pittsburgh DSA, and we also held a class to teach members of the local SWOP. We’ve also been discussing ways to offer training to people who just want to learn but who aren’t affiliated with any local orgs. Our chapter has been around for about two years now, and since then we’ve built a core community of members from across Southwestern PA, and we even have some members from as far up north as Erie.
The joining process is as follows:
- Go to this link and sign up with the national organization: https://www.joinit.org/o/socialist-rifle-association/. The org does ask for those who are able to pay dues, but if you are not in a financially stable situation, you can fill out a dues waiver and be considered a member without having to pay.
- The organization will send you an acceptance email with a link to the national forum. You don’t have to make an account there but it is the primary method of communication between members across the country. It’s also where a lot of people go to sign up with their chapters.
- After you get your acceptance email, you can either introduce yourself on the forum and mention where you’re from, at which point our secretary or a volunteer will contact you, or you can email and tell us you’ve joined.
- Once you’re in contact with our secretary, we will send you an introductory questionnaire, as well as set up a vetting meeting with you. We do this to make absolutely sure that the people who sign up with our chapter aren’t just reactionaries who are trying to dox our members. We do these meetings in person, but we will do our best to make sure you’re not traveling too far for a meet and greet that usually lasts an hour at most.
- After the vetting meeting, the secretary will contact you with a link to our Discord server which is where a lot of our communication happens when we’re not together in person. It’s where we announce all of our goings-on like range trips, mutual aid requests, parties, meetings, and the like. You will from that point on be considered a provisional member of the chapter.
- There are two stages of membership: provisional and full. The only difference between the two is that provisional members can’t vote on chapter decisions, or elections. You become a full member by attending two official chapter gatherings, and getting three full members to vouch for you. This is an extended vetting procedure, but as a provisional member you can still come to all of our events and meetings, and train with us on range days.