About

Who Are We

The Socialist Rifle Association is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to education, advocacy, and action on a wide variety of topics related to self and community defense. Seeking an alternative to the toxic, individualistic culture that surrounds mainstream American gun ownership, various communities containing left-wingers of all stripes discussed the possibility of working together to create a group of their own. Thus, the SRA was officially born in March 2018, and it has rapidly expanded to become one of the largest dues-paying leftist organizations in the United States, with several thousand active members located all across the country. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island were initially united under one Southern New England chapter, with the plan to separate into individual states once membership reached sustainable levels. Soon enough, that time came, and the split was initiated. In January 2022, our new bylaws were ratified and we became an official chapter of the SRA. The chapter is operated entirely by hard-working members who volunteer their time to promote a cause they believe in.

What Do We Stand For

We are a pan-leftist organization that welcomes and celebrates our differences in identity and ideology, united under the common thread of a love for liberty, equity, and humanity. This is exemplified by our Points of Unity, which read as follows:

• We are working class and poor people dedicated to educating our class in the safe use of firearms for personal and community defense as well as encouraging and enabling education in all manner of skills related to community defense such as disaster relief, medicine, and agriculture.
• We are a multi-tendency association of socialist united by our class, for our class.
• We unite against the capitalist state and its repressive arm, the police.
• We respect one another's political stances and differences, especially when we disagree.
• We are dedicated to liberation and freedom of all peoples, especially the working class and Black communities, Indigenous communities, and communities of color.
• We oppose all forms of oppression and exploitation, including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, fascism, and religious discrimination.
• We are party to our local communities and act as such. We volunteer in various ways to further the connections between leftist political activists and the communities in which we live.
• We help feed, house, and protect other working class and marginalized peoples.
• We recognize the extractive processes endemic to capitalism that impact our ecosystems are a systemic threat to all people and require earnest and radical action to prevent and reverse.
• We stand against the disarmament of the working class.
• We are dedicated to arming the working class, both literally and figuratively.

What Do We Do

Firearms education and advocacy obviously play a large role in our operations, but it takes a whole lot more than just that to protect one's community. The SRA believes that an armed and educated population is more difficult to oppress, but that oppression can take many forms, and so our response must be holistic as well. Check out the Projects tab for a list of things we've been up to lately! The Socialist Rifle Association is not a militia, nor does it have a desire to become one, nor does it engage in paramilitary activity of any kind. The organization exists to promote safe and effective firearms ownership and community defense from a left-wing perspective. Our chapter takes your privacy and security seriously. We take every step to allow your participation to be as anonymous as you would like. Before receiving full permissions including access to our communication platform, our Welcome Committee reaches out to all new members to have a chat and vet for red flags.

How Can You Help?

To join our chapter, sign up at socialistra.org and forward your membership confirmation to Massachusetts[at]srachapters.org. We look forward to working with you!