The president of one of the National Rifle Association's largest state affiliates has criticised the increasingly angry and inflammatory pro-gun advocates who “scream obscenities” and “pound their chest and tell the attendees to prepare for war” at large rallies.



In a letter, Tom King, the head of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said that holding such rallies was like “preaching to the choir”, and that “rabidly” anti-gun types would never be converted. Advocates of gun rights must instead concentrate on “the soccer moms, the guys who say: 'I’ve never shot a gun but would like to try it,' and the people worried about their safety,” King said. King is also a national board member of the NRA.

King initially announced he would not attend a rally on Tuesday in the state capital, Albany, to protest the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (Safe) Act of 2013. He has since said he will attend, but not in any official capacity.

The New York gun control laws were passed in the aftermath of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in December 2012. The rally on Tuesday and others like it are aimed at persuading state lawmakers to repeal the restrictions.

In February, King revealed that the NYSRPA's membership had grown from 22,000 to 41,000 since the Safe Act was passed a year ago. The act requires universal background checks on gun purchases and contains the toughest assault weapons ban in the US.

King has come under fire from some quarters for saying he would not attend Tuesday's rally, which is expected to feature Donald Trump, Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino, and Carl Paladino, a former GOP candidate who lost to governor Andrew Cuomo.

According to the New York Daily News, King sent the letter to 100,000 people, and said that the population of the state of New York could be broken down into: 22% “rabidly anti-gun”, 46% “somewhere in between” and 32% “avidly pro-gun”. Lobbyists would “never convert” the 22%, he said, but had to convert a sizeable proportion of the 46% in order to “ensure the second amendment rights for our grandchildren.”

Pro-gun voices were becoming more “contentious and threatening”, which frightens the very people the organisation must attract, King said.

The letter said the NYSRPA's board of directors had decided to concentrate their efforts against the Safe Act by a number of alternative means, including a lawsuit against the act, and organising voters and supporting appropriate local groups.

"We do not make threats, we do not tell people to prepare for war – nor do we sell bumper stickers that proclaim 'Ballots or bullets',” the letter said. "We don’t buy billboards. We spend our money where it does the most good in the courts."



The rally on Tuesday will include frackers, anti-abortionists and land owner rights groups.

Neither the NYSRPA nor the NRA responded to the Guardian's request for comment.