Wayne LaPierre NRA
Dan Z for TTAG

In the last couple days, a new piece from Newsweek has the anti-gun world excited. Why? Because, it says, the NRA is slowly dying. The usual civilian disarmament suspects like Giffords, March For Our Lives, and Everytown slammed the share button, of course, because they think this means they’re winning. But anyone with an actual understanding of the gun rights world knows they’re getting their hopes up for nothing.

On the surface, there’s appears to be cause to cheer if your goal is to disarm the U.S. civilian population. The big, bad, evil NRA, the granddaddy of all pro-gun groups and the people ultimately allegedly responsible for every mass shooting and every gang drive-by, is having trouble retaining its membership. Instead of steaming toward 10 million members, the NRA has actually shrunk from a little over 5 million members to 4.3 million.

If the decline — and the cash drain — continues, they think, the wicked witch will one day be dead, the gun rights movement will be gone, and the United States will finally adopt the strictest European-style gun control laws…right? After all, the media and the gun control industry have been telling their fans and supporters that the NRA is basically the entire pro-gun movement (and the gun industry) for decades. So it must be true.

But, as readers here probably know, these civilian disarmament operations are actually smoking the same stuff they’re selling, and they’re getting high on their own supply. What they don’t realize is that when people running a drug lab do that, the second batch tends to go boom.

If they weren’t busy buying their own propaganda, they’d know that the NRA was actually their friend for many decades. When the “progressive” eugenicists (read: the KKK) wanted to disarm blacks and Hispanics, the NRA didn’t get in their way. When pesky coal miners went to war with the boss, the NRA was there to help them slap a tax on machine guns, allowing progressive era political donors to put down labor strikes with deadly force. When Democrat politicians got shot (perhaps by our own government), the NRA negotiated with them and agreed on even more gun control. Every time they wanted something, the NRA gave it to them.

They only got mad in 1994 when it all blew up in their faces. The gun-owning population was tired of giving the anti-gun mid-wit center-left what they wanted, because it was clear that the goal was complete civilian disarmament. Instead of anti-gun legislation passing, pro-gun laws like allowing licensed concealed carry swept the United States and crime continued to drop. Staunch opposition to gun control led to the sunsetting of 1994 “assault weapon” ban in 2004. And then, states started allowing concealed carry without a permit at all.

But the big secret — the one the gun control industry is apparently unaware of — is that the NRA wasn’t responsible for most of this. New gun rights groups started forming at the grassroots level because gun owners saw that the NRA wasn’t actually protecting gun rights or fighting to restore them.

Groups like the Virginia Citizens Defense League started to spread, with the Arizona Citizens Defense League securing the first constitutional carry victory in an urbanized state. Other groups like the Second Amendment Foundation and later the Firearms Policy Coalition took up the legal battle against gun control.

While all this was going on, the NRA slipped into disarray. Wayne LaPierre set himself up with some very nice benefits using NRA dues. The instructor program spent years half-heartedly making a new concealed carry curriculum, and the existing leadership was more concerned with protecting their own jobs and insane benefits than actually performing the mission of the organization.

Despite the continuing slide in dues-paying NRA members and the tens of millions of NRA money spent on legal fees, the gun rights movement continues to advance and secure victory. The more the members started to realize they’d been scammed, the fewer renewed or wrote checks when the fundraising letters showed up in their mailboxes. It turns out that America’s gun owners actually want results, not cheap range bags, more tired “cold dead hands” speeches, and idiotic “gun confiscation notice” mass mailings.

If anything, the NRA is just what the anti-gun groups need right now. Without being able to continually use them as a straw bogeyman and a distraction, they might have to admit to their donors that the push for gun control isn’t going well at all, and that the cash they’ve thrown at the gun control industry isn’t getting them any closer to the kind of gun-free society they want to see.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

90 COMMENTS

  1. Yes Wayne knows how to spend NRA money. $4,000 suits, paid for trips with his family to Europe and Big Game Hunts in Africa and an alleged very young mistress, I bet his wife liked that.

    For much of the last decade, membership levels hovered at around 5 million or just above. After The Trace broke the story of lavish perks and NRA cash going to LaPierre and other insiders, the group began to shrink, with member revenue hitting a 15-year-low of $97 million in 2021.

    In an April 2021 deposition, LaPierre placed NRA membership just shy of 4.9 million. At a January NRA board meeting, LaPierre gave a figure of 4.3 million — which would be a 12 percent drop in just a year-and-a-half.

    A recent report by Stephen Gutowski in The Reload, based in part on an internal financial statement, gives a detailed picture of the collapse. According to the statement, the NRA picked up 289,950 new members in the first 11 months of last year, 176,402 fewer than anticipated. Some 781,500 members renewed; that’s 164,899 fewer renewals than the group had projected. A chart included in the statement indicates that the organization has lost roughly 1 million members since 2018, the year NRA membership reached its peak.

    The tumbling member figures contributed to overall revenue erosion, with $186 million collected through November last year, according to the statement, $55 million less than anticipated.

    https://www.thetrace.org/2023/02/nra-membership-decline-corruption/

    • “2AF is the King of defending gun rights….”

      Along with a few others.

      Anyways –

      The NRA isn’t as needed today as it was back then. The NRA used to be the go-to source for 2A stuff, but thanks to the internet, there are now *lots* of sources of 2A news doing even better work.

      Even if they could shut it down, its demise will be negligible. We’re now doing what the Fascists do, *organizing*, sharing ideas, etc… 🙂

  4. Meanwhile FPC, SAF, et al are kicking the crap out of them in the courts.

    I don’t give a damn about the NRA and Wayne’s suits, except in as much as they are a useful red herring for the Everytown Moms while other groups do the real work… and get my money.

    • Let ’em waste their time attacking the NRA, that’s less flack they can focus on the other 2A rights orgs now doing the heavy lifting…

  5. The idea that the NRA did not do the heavy lifting with shall-issue and SYG is a canard worthy of Dacian. Boomer zealots were certain they would have handguns banned by 1985 – if it weren’t for the NRA, punk “pro-gun” grifters would not even know what a handgun is…

    There is a reason the commiecrats are trying to use the DoJ to destroy the NRA, but ignoring the legions that compete for funding – and it has NOTHING to do with the hater’s odd obsession with Wayne’s underwear.

    Send money to whoever you want. Then match it with a check to NRA, if you are serious about your rights…

    • Sure they had wins way back when. We also got acquiesce on a myriad of gun laws that turned inches into miles. Background checks, the 10 year AR ban, and the bump stock fiasco were negotiated on members dime.
      Don’t ignore the inflated compensation and ruthless purges WLP is responsible for while many states outright ban ARs, large magazines, carry in some areas and put “red flag” laws on the books.
      The smaller but hungry gun groups are the one’s willing to take it to them while the NRA sits back to issue press releases at the right time.
      I’d like to join some shooting clubs near me but all of them make NRA membership a requirement. If they open it up a bit and allow GOA, 2AF, or others as well then I’m game.

      • “Sure they had wins way back when…”

        Yeah! Bruen was waaaaay back, wasn’t it?! For all of you that think NYSRPA set the language and paid the bill, their president (and NRA BOD member) Tom King would tell you that over $4 million spent to bring Bruen across the finish line came from NRA.

        And it’s been even longer since Heller, that was NRA as well. And the Bruen “clarification” case moving now? That’s also NRA.

        The majority of the issues senseless Sensiba puts forth came about long before there was ANY 2A activity in the US, back before anyone even dreamed America would elect people who would even think about disarming their constituents. (Even I can remember those times.). And NRA at the time was a safety/marksmanship organization of not quite 100K members, one which members either had to be military/veterans, or receive a special invitation to join.

        On the other hand, we are heralded here (TTAG) daily about “wins” in court that are immediately appealed. But to listen to the hawks here, you’d think open and permitless carry was now the norm in Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington (State and DC), New York, Colorado, and especially California due to all those “wins”.

        I’m not trying to marginalize the use of lawsuits in keeping/restoring our rights of any kind, but a law suit, even a win of the magnitude of Bruen, does not insure states or localities will comply. They’ve doubled down against Bruen and are scoffing at those from SAF, FPC, NAGR and GOA as well, none of which are anywhere near a SCOTUS deliberation. We must win elections if we expect to correct the direction of this nation.

        If this game is to be won on the side of the Founders, per guns or any of our rights, we- the ones who seem to care, are going to have to become more active in the political works of our states, cities, counties and schools. This means running, helping candidates who are like us, providing financial support, and (here’s the bad word…) compromise with candidates who do not agree with us 100% of the time. WTH? Most of us (if we’re still married to the same spouse) don’t even agree with them 75% of the time, if that.

        • Bruen is going to be a real bitch when lazer gunms are a thing.
          “Uhh, Uhhh, the military has it ,how come I dont get none?”
          And eventually there will be no gunm powder, no bullets for us.
          RTKBA Shall Not Be Infringed.
          Whom ever started mish mashing those words were traitors to the Constitution.
          The Second Amendment was written expressly for We the People to have arms as good as or better then any military.
          The Right to Self Defense can be found in your states Constitutions.

    • As a Patron level NRA member I’ll send them a check again when the salaries of all employees is capped at matching what the President of the United States gets and when they trim the Board of Directors down to thirteen in honor of the thirteen original states.
      And maybe set term limits on both Board and executive positions.

      • And the Presidents salary should be capped at the national minimum wage.
        I ask, what employer pays their employees more then they make?
        Ahhh, but we citizens are no longer their employer are we.
        Big Government has seen to that by creating an economy that is dependent upon .giv.
        Let them eat cake Mary.

      • There are already “term limits” on Board members, just like the US Congress and Senate. Who’s really to blame if people either don’t vote or don’t educate themselves?? I’d bet you’d keep running, too, if you could get elected. Don’t want to be elected to a position of high responsibility? Don’t complain about those who do…

  6. Sadly NRA leadership is tainted. Until new leadership happens expect the NRA to be stuck in the muck. If what should have happened years ago had happened chances are good NRA would have teeth today.

      • Then they’re doing just fine without my contributions. I canceled my membership about three years ago.

        I believe in the NRA of old, just as I believed in the Boy Scouts of old. But the leadership is not in lockstep of the members they claim to represent. I’m fine with the NRA surviving, but until WLP is out of the picture for good, my $$ will continue to go to other orgs of my choice such as FPC and CRPA (here in CA).

        TEHO.

        • Walter’s giving you good advice, Haz, but you’ll have to wait until 2025 now, the NRA BOD ballot’s already set for 2024.

          And scoffing at 4.3 million members, by the author’s estimate? Think all the other groups have that many together?

        • I’m with you on this Haz. As long as WLP is still there my money goes elsewhere. The $4K/mo hotel room for the ho, uh, I mean intern in VA was a big part of the reason. There are many others.

          Sorry, but not another dime as long as WLP remains in the organization.

  7. Excellent article. Spot on in every respect.

    The NRA is so irrelevant today that not even its members are aware of the mismanagement and corruption in the internal governance of the organization.

    The NRA will probably not survive. The membership will gradually stop renewing, drying up the flow of dues money. The budget will continue to be cut for programs the members want and will eagerly pay for. They will discontinue membership when they see the programs don’t exist or don’t function.

    Ongoing litigation will bleed the treasury dry faster than its executive director can with his contracted perc’s. Eventually, it will have to be put into receivership. A trustee will clean out the ineffective board and fire the executive director. The best they will be able to do is salvage the museum.

    The programs for hunting and marksmanship will have dried up and will be unrecoverable. No one will be interested in the NRA’s advocacy for gun owners’ interests. All the other organizations will have usurped that role. And every one of those organizations – without exception – is already a more vehement advocate for gun rights than the NRA ever was.

      • Demographics coupled with election games will turn PA blue. The NRA would do FA to prevent that. But you already knew that.

        • “Vehemence” doesn’t win many elections, and scoring a few injunctions ain’t “kicking the crap out of them in the courts”.

          PA maybe is lost, but dissing the NRA ain’t helping anybody keep their guns. You don’t like Wayne? Vote him out.

      • Keep in mind that if PA was so blue, they wouldn’t need hundreds of thousands of completed ballots shipped in from NY. Instead of investigating, the FBI harassed the whistleblower. Then Barr shut it down. Nothing to see here. Move along.

        The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania certified its 2020 election despite the undisputed fact that it had recorded 202,000 more ballots cast than voters. That disparity probably made the election certification illegal under Commonwealth law. Eventually, Pennsylvania “found” more voters, but not enough. To this very day it appears that there were 91,000 more ballots cast than identified voters. Of course, that number exceeds Biden’s winning margin. It also lends credence to the claims of Jesse Morgan.
        https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/06/jesse_morgan_and_the_200k_missing_ballots__an_update.html

        • Dude, if you recall, PA was considered a “swing state” in spite of the reported lopsided Democrat enrollment. But the allegations of the “whistelbower” have not been debunked. The allegation was not ever really investigated.

          I would not put it past the Democrats to do such a thing, expecially with the degree of Trump Derangement Syndrome that was/is so prevelant.

    • Members have been bailing on the “Negotiating Rights Away” group for years now and joining effective gun rights groups instead. The snowball is rolling and won’t be stopped.

      Good riddance. The NRA has been the most damaging anti-2A group ever since it has been a poison in our midst and helped pass much of the gun control we have now in the name of “compromise.”

      let them just whither and die.

      Those members so out of touch with how bad the NRA has been for our 2A will hopefully gravitate to more worthy groups and only make them stronger. Some Fudds will never get it, and we are better off without them. They are just as bad as the mom’s action type. The end results are the same.

      • Those members so out of touch with how bad the NRA has been…”

        As a non member (I assume), how in the hell would you know that? Oh, yeah, from reading the replies on TTAG or Ammoland. Got it.

  8. The anti gunners can gloat all they want.

    Years ago I became a Benefactor Life Member of the NRA…but that was then and this is now. I haven’t donated to the NRA in quite a while because I don’t trust their leadership to use my money wisely. Not only that, but the NRA is never on the forefront of defending my rights. They let other gun orgs do the fighting and then NRA tries to take the credit. Instead, I give my money to SAF, GOA, and others.

    The anti gun extremists focus on the NRA but the NRA hasn’t been relevant for a long time. If it goes belly up there are plenty of other more effective gun orgs out there…and they aren’t going away.

    • I am also an NRA Benefactor LM and have not sent anything to NRA for a while, except to ILA. If NRA goes away the grabbers will start focusing on GOA, FPC, and others. Let NRA be the boogieman and take the incoming fire. Let’s hope the others can stay below the radar of the left-wing media. I will support NRA again when Wayne and his cronies are gone. I support FPC, GOA, CCKBA and others monthly, and so should you. Lately NRA has been a tag-along in suits by these organizations who are carrying the load. Let NRA be the lightning rod for the opposition.

  9. The National Rifle Association is the only organization I’ve ever seen, or even heard of, where the executive staff employees have complete power and control over the Board Of Directors.

    It’s supposed to work the other way around. That in and of itself is the hallmark of corrupt leadership.

    • “The National Rifle Association is the only organization I’ve ever seen, or even heard of, where the executive staff employees have complete power and control over the Board Of Directors.”

      And you know this how?? Ever been to a Board meeting?

  10. I’ll say this but the NRA did step up in 2013 after Newtown. Back when they weren’t mired in legal issues I was a member. As mentioned that was then this is now. I let my membership expire a few years ago never to be renewed. Not even for old Wayne’s incarceration🙄

    • Bruen, hard to not give some support to the NRA when they did the heavy lifting for NYSRPA once the case grew legs and got expensive. We will see how they step up for rounds 2-whatever it takes.

  11. He sold his sole to the government dole! Green greed! I want my lifetime fee refunded!

  13. The NRA is like a huge dam made out of Fudds which is actually holding back effective 2A organizations like GOA, FPC, SAF and others which are actually no-compromise RKBA groups that don’t Negotiate our Rights Away like the NRA has done ever since since way back when they first helped write the NFA, the GCA, and even the 90’s AWB among many other “comprise” gun laws. The NSSF is no better.

    The NRA is a poison in our midst and the 2A will be much better off once it shrivels up and dies the Traitor’s death it so richly deserves.

    Let that dam holding them back burst and allow the true patriot gun groups descend on the anti-gun forces and wipe out their village below as effectively as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

  15. We need to be members of ALL the organizations, not just one. Caveat is no extra money to the NRA until Wayne is gone. I haven’t opened my wallet to NRA fundraisers, when they call, I tell them “When Wayne is gone, I will reconsider extra funding.”. I choose to donate extra to those groups with lawsuits that defend our rights. Giving the opposition a “win” by letting the NRA fail isn’t in our long term benefit. Hope you will consider these thoughts.

  16. The NRA shouldn’t die but the definitely need a restructuring of the executive board… Wayne HAS GOT TO GO and along with him all his sycophants… New blood is necessary….

      • Wow, that’s really your solution to the complete systemic shit-show going on at NRA? How can you say “I’m part of the problem” without actually saying I’m part of the problem?
        The cure for invasive cancer is to excise it.

        • well it is a solution if one wants NRA to survive. Not him specifically maybe, but the concept that for a “restructuring of the executive board” to happen its going to take some replacements by elections. So his “So get elected to the Board of Directors”, the concept, is a solution because that’s whats its going to take for “restructuring of the executive board”.

        • unicorn, Yeah, it is a solution. The shit show is when people like you throw up their hands and walk away and whine.

          How can I say you are part of thw problem? Very simple. People like you rather than trying to fix what they perceive as a problem walk away. Yes, unicorm you are not only part of the problem but a cancer festering with the “problem.”

      • There was a movement of some board members to force Wayne out. They are no longer on the board. ‘Nuff said. I quit when he got rid of the head of the legal division and the head of their lobbying division, both of whom were actively working to protect our rights. It is true though, that the NRA, through its local state organizations that do not have “NRA” in the their names, have been very actively litigating cases in California, New York and New Jersey. So have other groups. But the fall out from the cases against the NRA by the New York AG have seriously hurt the organization’s image, and Wayne should have fallen on his sword several years ago before the organization incurred tens of millions in attorney’s fees.

        • Mark N, the reason they are no long on the board is because they weren’t reelected to the board. As I pointed out, people like unicorn have walked away rather than trying to do something about what they perceive to be a “problem”.

      • Yep “TRAITOR” Wayne, got the rules changed, so you can get kicked off the “BOARD” easier!!!!

        Talk about “CORRUPTION”!!!!

      • I think the NRA has made it really really difficult for anyone who doesn’t tow the line for Wayne to get elected to the board, or have any power to do anything. If they aren’t following the leader, they get kicked from committees and such and become powerless. It doesn’t seem like the board can provide oversight or steer the ship back.

        • The Un, seems that too many people who perceive Wayne as a problem, walk away and don’t vote.
          It’s like the same problem we have with voters. They “think” that their vote doesn’t count. And yet many elections are decided by only a few votes…

        • “Tow the line” — that’s funny (it means to pull/drag a rope behind a boat), instead of “toe the line” (which means line up with your toes precisely on a line, as in old-style gym classes and the military).

        • And that may be the issue the prosecutor can finally achieve some part of their goal; boards of NfP organizations are supposed to be responsive to the membership, not to executive personnel. I keep hoping to hear the court has decreed that LaPierre must go and the Board has to shrink to around a dozen members (I want thirteen, to reflect the thirteen original states). I also want to see executive salaries topped at the same salary the U.S. President gets, but I doubt the courts are going to meddle with compensation issues.

        • @ Walter
          People who walk away should at least have the gumption to write a letter and say why. If NRA HQ had gotten half a million letters saying, “No more money till Wayne is gone!” it would have had an impact.
          And for those who stay, we should be writing that same letter at least once a year.

        • @Raymond
          Letter was done! Also replied to every email: “Please do not send anymore email solicitations for donations until Mr. LaPierre has left the organization.”

          They did eventually stop sending emails but Wayne is still there.

          So, I would ask, send a letter every year to what end? To have the board continue to vote him in at 54 to 1? Nope, he’s got a lock on the organization and, as membership continues to fall will drain it dry on its way down. He ain’t goin’ nowhere!

  17. The NRA was not formed to be a pro-RKBA organization. It has never been a pro-RKBA organization. It was formed to encourage rifle marksmanship, mostly through competition. It got involved in marksmanship training because that was needed to accomplish its goal. Then it got involved in firearms safety because that was needed as they brought in new rifle shooters. The NRA had no interest in supporting RBKA because no one was attacking rifles used for hunting or competitions (back then). In fact the NRA was AGAINST carrying, particularly concealed carry (which was really only a pistol thing that had nothing to do with rifles).

    Then the NRA got into lobbying congress.

    The NRA was the main lobby supporting the National Firearms Act, which was the start of federal “gun control” legislation. Karl Frederick, NRA president in 1934, while tetifying to Congress in support of the NFA said “I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I seldom carry one…. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses.”

    The NRA was also the main lobby supporting the Federal Firearms Act of 1938 that gave use the system limiting firearms sales to federally licensed dealers.

    The NRA lobbied in support of the Gun Control Act of 1968.

    THEN when American gun owners were screaming about the impact of the GCA, the NRA suddenly discovered the 2nd Amendment — not as a guiding principle, but just as a fund raising and membership recruiting tool.

    At best, the NRA wants to fight for “gun rights” but it has absolutely no desire to win that fight. Fighting for gun rights brings in millions of dollars each year. Money that supports many NRA activities. Money that also supports a lavish lifestyle for the NRA leadership, their buddies, and loyal board members.

    The NRA does many things well — especially things that align with its original purposes. The NRA is great at running competitions for both rifle and pistol shooters, especially rifle shooters. The NRA is great at marksmanship training. The NRA is great at firearms safety training (despite the frothing at the mouth by anti-gun organizations who do absolutely nothing to support firearms safety).

    What the NRA does NOT do is protect your right to keep and bear arms. The NRA fights against the most egregious infringements and sometimes allows its state and local affiliate organizations to fight for our rights, but it will happily undercut our rights and undercut its own state and local organizations to advance the power and prestige of the national leadership. For example, it was Wayne LaPierre, not Donald Trump, who gave us the Bump Stock Ban and the concept of the ATF changing longstanding legal definitions to ban guns or devices that are unpopular or could be made to seem dangerous to suburban soccer moms.

    The critics who say the abbreviation NRA stands for Negotiating Rights Away aren’t 100% right, but they certainly aren’t wrong either.

    When you think of the millions that the NRA spends supposedly defending your rights, think back to 2017-2018 following the GOP Hat Trick when Republicans has a solid majority in both the House and Senate as well as a Republican President who would have signed any pro-gun legislation that reached his desk. How much pro-gun lobbying did the NRA do? None at all!

    In fact the only serious lobbying effort they did was that the NRA and Wayne LaPierre personally lobbied FOR the Bump Stock Ban after the Las Vegas shooting in October 2017. The NRA claimed that they needed to support the bump stock ban as a “compromise” to avoid stronger anti-gun legislation, but the Republican congress refused to adopt ANY anti-gun legislation including refusing to adopt the bump stock ban. When congress didn’t adopt the bump stock ban that the NRA was publicly supporting, Wayne LaPierre personally visited the Trump White House to lobby for the ban. The following week Trump directed the ATF to find a way to ban bump stocks by declaring them machine guns. Now I ask you, between “outsider” Trump and longtime lobbyist LaPierre, which one do you suppose came up with the idea of having the ARF change the definition of “machine gun” to include bump stocks?

    Personally, I’m not a fan of bump stocks and I never owned one, so the ban itself didn’t impact me, but now we have the current rabidly anti-gun Biden administration using the same method to attack other firearms and accessories like pistol braces. And, you will note that the NRA has not made any attempt to fight any of the recent infringements. The ONLY legal action by the NRA has been an attempt to piggyback on an existing successful case to try to get NRA members included in protection against the pistol brace rule – an attempt that was rejected by the court because the NRA had done nothing to have a place in the case.

    American gun owners would lose nothing at all if the NRA suddenly disappeared provided most of its 4.5 million members (and their over 100 million in annual donations) shifted to any of the real pro-RKBA national organizations like GOA, FPC, SAF, or even to some of the smaller specialized pro-RKBA organizations like JPFO, TWAW, or Pink Pistols.

    • ….”compromise” is their middle name…and you’re right them wanting to keep this issue festering so their income stream can be maintained…state and locals do what they can…but, much like a corrupt union…the executive leadership think only of themselves….

    • Loc, it seems that your “history” of the NRA is punctuated with a LOT of opinion.

      frank, it seems that sometimes compromise is needed to get half a loaf when you have little or no chance of getting even a sice of bread. While I don’t agree with the “compsromise”, I was not around back in 1938 to see what the situation was. A LOT of people are what I refer to as ‘all or nothing’ negotiators. That kind of thinking winds up getting you what you don’t want even worse than the compromise. Remember this, neither or us were around in 1938 to see what the political climate was?

      • Walter,

        As a smart pundit once said, “My inherent rights are not subject to negotiation, now or ever.” WHY should I “negotiate” about my actual, inherent RIGHT to keep and bear arms?? What is your legal/ethical argument in favor of such negotiation?

        As Heller, Bruen and a few other cases are showing, these rights ARE inherent human rights, and laws to restrict them are . . . unconstitutional. What about that do you believe should be “negotiated”??

        The Left is allowed to be, even praised for in most MSM, being “absolutist” about the (non-existent) “right to abortion”, but WE have to compromise on our RKBA???? ‘Splain that one to me, Lucy.

        • Lamp, in politics, when you are facing certain defeat, it is better to negotiate, wouldn’t you agree? Even if the law is unconstitutional, it might be better to fight it in the courts rather than try to bull your way though?

          I agree that Heller, McDonald and Bruen show that the 2nd Amendment is an inherent HUMAN RIGHT along with self defense.

  18. I was a member for years until I found out their ILA part didnt really care.
    Fool me once shame on you
    Fool me twice shame on me

  19. the nra is still the umbrella the other pro firearms organizations hide under.
    while they get most of the attention the other organizations can keep working in the shadows.
    as for the membership numbers, if you had been paying attention for the last few decades you would see that 4 plus million is the average with minor fluctuations.

    now go study what the anti-gun people wanted to do in 34 and 68.
    compromise or lose everything.

    and 86 got a lot of things fixed.
    the machine gun ban was not there fault and none, NONE of the other organizations has filed to get it removed.

  20. as a add on to what I posted, in no way do I support what la pew turned into or what the organization has become in the last 20 years.
    but if you don’t know the real history and context of what happened then you should not talk.

    I also call into question anyone who would want to diminish any pro firearms organization in any way.
    the divide does not benefit us at all.

    pissed at the nra ?
    fine, don’t give them anything till they reform.
    wish there destruction ?
    who’s team are you on ??

    • Yup. Thankfully it takes a LOT of effort to get people to change ideas that are crystalized in thought. Whether the NRA floats or sinks will have less to do with contributing members as it will with financial management and good lawyers but so long as it is in any way active it makes for a great target/distraction. If it can serve other purposes awesome if not it is time to start planning how it’s previous functions will be performed by new entities. Our opponents have all the resources in the world to throw at us we have to be a bit more efficient.

  24. At a certain practical level there is still utility in keeping the NRA a going concern, even if it is not a big one. A number of states have laws that formally recognize training given by the NRA. We should not throw that away needlessly. And while there are other (and many better) sources of training, being able to get state recognition has value.

  26. A thought: Someone with the resources to engage the right legal folks ought to establish a “Reform the NRA Fund” where people could send money they would give the NRA if things got straightened out, the money to be released to the NRA once Wayne is gone and the Board reformed (including shrinking it and making it much more reflective of the membership). Maybe if they saw several million dollars waiting for them to straighten things out they might have more motivation.

  27. The NRA is the only organization at a national level that supports training with supplies and certified instructors.
    I took a basic firearms class. Is was the NRA introduction to firearms class. I was very surprised at the booklets and handouts the NRA provides.

    That is the good the NRA does. But Wayne needs to go. And so does the rest of the board.

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