Even the National Rifle Association sometimes misfires.
NRA recruiters recently sent a "temporary membership card" to Bernard Welch, an alleged master thief convicted of fatally shooting a prominent Washington physician during a burglary at his home in 1980, U.S. News and World Report said in its latest edition. Welch is serving a 143-year sentence at the Marion, Ill., federal prison for killing cardiologist Michael Halberstam and for other convictions. Marion is the nation's highest security prison and the successor to Alcatraz.The NRA letter addressed Welch as a "fellow sportsman" and told him it is "important that America's gun owners - you, Bernard Welch - make our side of the story heard," the magazine said.
U.S. News and World Report said Welch was puzzled why the gun lobby would want a career criminal like him as a member. What's more, he claims to be pro-gun control.