My name is Patrick Tomlinson, and I am a lifelong firearm enthusiast.

I started shooting at age 10, when my father got me a Crossman 760 Pumpmaster air rifle with Tasco scope. He was one of only three National Rifle Association training counselors in the state of Wisconsin for many years, certifying volunteers who would later go on to instruct citizens in rifle and handgun use, and self-defense. I began shooting competitively through 4-H Club, not long after, eventually shooting air rifle, air pistol and shotgun trap through the program. After 4-H, I went on to shoot small-bore rifle in local competitions. Today, I own four firearms of various kinds, make time to shoot several thousand rounds per year and am licensed through the state to carry a concealed weapon, which I do routinely with a modded Glock.

As a gun owner and defender of the Second Amendment, I'm here to tell you the NRA has lost its ever-loving mind.

The nation's largest firearms organization began its slide into moral degeneracy as late as the early 2000s, when actor Charlton Heston became its five-term president (a feat for which the NRA's rules had to be changed to allow him to serve longer), before going public with his battle with Alzheimer's disease and retiring. Under Heston's firebrand leadership, the NRA's rhetoric shifted its focus from working with lawmakers across the country to defend Second Amendment rights, to recasting the group as the front-line warrior in a crusade against the entire progressive movement in a culture war that they claimed had engulfed the country.

This took many forms, but included especially harsh attacks on members of the left that opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and equated any sort of compromise on gun-related issues as existential threats to the continued existence of the Second Amendment itself. This period was met with an explosion of gun rights victories at both the state and national level, including the sunsetting in 2006 of the Clinton-era Federal Assault Weapons Ban, rapid adoption of concealed carry licenses across the nation, "stand your ground" laws and the landmark 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller ruling, which cemented the Second Amendment as an individual, rather than a collective right.

The simple fact is Americans have not enjoyed the degree of freedom and protection in firearms related matters since the passage of the National Firearms Act of 1934, a law ironically supported by the NRA of the time. One would think after a rash of such successes, the organization could afford to tone down the apocalyptic rhetoric, but no. Less than a year after Heller, Barack Obama was sworn in as president, and the NRA's war on the left entered a new phase.

For eight years, we heard nothing but fearmongering, hate and vitriol about the insidious intentions of our first black president. Unhinged, fact-free screeds about how he was "coming for our guns" became fixtures of the Rifleman, the NRA's official magazine. At every convention, at every public event, the fear was ratcheted up among the faithful that at any second, waves of gay-married illegal alien shock troops would come sweeping through our small towns in heels and miniskirts to confiscate our weapons to be melted down to make Tony Awards. This fear pushed gun sales through the roof, causing a run on ammunition that sent prices of both skyrocketing, and only now returning to normal.

All for a president who, after two full terms, ended with a legislative legacy that only expanded gun rights. No, seriously. Obama only signed two firearm related bills into law. One which allowed concealed carry permit holders to carry on Amtrack trains, and the other which allowed us to carry within the National Park system. Seriously. Look it up.

Which brings us to today. With Trump infesting the White House and no convenient Democratic boogeyman (or woman) to scare the children with, the NRA's rhetoric has moved from merely unhinged to dangerously inflammatory. With the GOP in nominal control of the government, CEO Wayne LaPierre and his cadre of frothing-at-the-mouth lunatics have adjusted their sights away from politicians and turned them onto American citizens en masse.

In a one-minute ad narrated by the NRA's newest spokeswoman, Dana Loesch, a conservative talk show host, the organization accused the media, Hollywood, academics, protesters and its favorite target Obama of assassination and terrorism, imploring listeners to "fight the violence" of lies with the "clenched fist" of truth. LaPierre echoed these sentiments during a speech at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, where he conflated progressive protests against Trump with the Islamic State group's desire for violence to bring about a worldwide caliphate.

As if that wasn't bad enough, NRA TV host Grant Stinchfield accused the Black Lives Matter movement of trying to start a race war, warning that if the group is successful in its goal of containing the epidemic of unarmed black men being shot by police, white families will be tortured and killed just like in South Africa.

These are the words and beliefs of a political movement that has utterly lost its way and wandered off the path into fomenting a new civil war.

A responsible NRA would be working for, not against, universal background checks on all firearms sales. As a responsible gun owner, it's my job to ensure anyone I transfer a weapon to is in fact legally permitted to possess one. That's the bare minimum due diligence that should be expected of me, and the vast majority of Americans and even gun owners agree. But not the NRA.

A safety-conscious NRA would be working for, not against, thorough training requirements for concealed carry permits. Instead, they're pushing absurd "constitutional carry" laws across the nation that remove all certification requirements to carry a hidden, loaded handgun in public.

An NRA worried about guns in the hands of criminals would be working for, not against, better data-sharing between federal and state agencies to tighten the net on felons and domestic abusers who have previously slipped through the cracks. However, even this is somehow a bridge too far for these nut cases.

And finally, an NRA that was genuinely concerned about defending the Second Amendment rights of all Americans would have pitched an absolute fit over the murder of Philando Castile, a man licensed to carry a weapon by the state of Minnesota, who was gunned down by police while trying to comply with contradictory instructions. I have had half a dozen interactions with police while armed, and I took the exact same actions he did. Guess why I'm alive? Now guess why the race-baiting NRA made no public comments of any kind in defense of Castile's rights being violated with such violent finality.