Opinion
USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- I manage one of the California FRNA chapters, and it is bad enough that I have to deal with radical protestors, site venues that want to cancel on us because we have NRA in our name. Now after all this have to deal with an NRA HQ whose reputation is now one of cronyism and glad-handing.
In addition to participation at these events dropping in many areas, several major advertisers are bolting the NRA. Wayne La Pierre’s lack of professionalism costs the NRA millions of dollars. It costs the organization its reputation, and with that loss, it is destroying the NRA’s ability to protect our rights.
So let me set this straight, The NRA has the sole purpose of protecting our 2nd Amendment rights. This monkey business is destroying the ability of the NRA to do just that.
The next loss will, of course, be dues-paying members. The best guess so far is that while Col. North brought the NRA back to +6 million those gains are now gone. Look for the NRA to return to a pre-Clintonian number if this isn’t fixed.
I have firsthand proof of one advertiser canceling over $100,000 of contributions and advertising. As NRA membership drops, others will follow suit.
While the NRA will always exist (it is too big to fail) its ability to influence policy and be a protector of our constitutional rights may soon cease to exist.
None of us want to see this happen, but pride and hubris have their way of blinding people and groups to the truth. Where there is no one there to say no sometimes your moral compass fails. When money just flows in, you sometimes forget who brought it in and what you’re supposed to do with it.
The NRA “elites” running the NRA may be all good fine people. But when the rank and file begin to question their commitment, the rank and file also withhold their efforts and close their pocketbook; then the “elite” soon run out of cash.
Adding to the cash drain is the New York State lawsuit and the NRA’s hired lawyer bleeding us of cash. You can see that Governor Cuomo is happy to run out the litigation clock along with Wayne’s wanting to fight to the end, letting the NRA bankrupt itself.
Nothing changes this fact; the NRA looks like it is run by cronyism and glad-handing. For the good of the organization, Wayne needs to make a mea culpa and resign.
While I believe the NRA as an organization is right more than it is wrong and that the good they do outweighs the mistakes they make the current action of management are just simply unacceptable.
I will not donate to the NRA again until this is corrected, and I feel I can trust the organization. My advice cut off the cash-flow to The Beast that is the NRA “elite” until they clean up their act.
No, I’m not jumping ship, there is no other NRA. But I’ll hold my coin close to my vest until the NRA fixes this problem. You should join me.
About Don McDougall
Don McDougall is an NRA instructor and member of the Los Padres “Friends of the NRA” committee. If he’s not at the range, you will find him setting the record straight with on gun issues and gun safety on AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.
Though a gun enthusiast, hunter and strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment, I am not now and never have been an NRA member. My reasoning is two-fold. First, the obscene salaries paid to LaPierre, Cox, and the other guy (?). When the three top executives of a “non profit” organization make over $3 million a year in salaries, not to mention other perks, that is obviously not an organization that needs my support. Second, the NRA compromises too much. Their close relationship with politicians has given them a politician’s mindset. By that I mean the belief that “We must compromise… Read more »
Isnt anyone reading that works for the IRS that would consider receiving free suits without having them on your tax return as receiving something of value a fraudulent tax return. Do you think Wayne even claimed them on his tax return ? Didnt the government use this as a way to take down Al Capone
I’m an Endowment Life Member. Last week I sent a letter to Mrs. Meadows telling her my opinion and intentions. Let’s flood her office with mail and do the same for the politicians. As Jeff Knox or someone wrote, the NRA isn’t the gun lobby- we are.
Remember that Nature Abhors a Vacuum. Removing Wayne and other leaders will create a vacuum. If you don’t have better people ready to step in and fill that vacuum, nature will fill it for you with something worse. This is not to say that Wayne must not go, he must and as fast as possible, but have your ducks in a row with competent dedicated people ready to step up or you will end up with chaos that will destroy the organization. I am a 5+ year annual member, I used to contribute to the ILA but I got tired… Read more »
“While the NRA will always exist (it is too big to fail)…” Too big to fail. Now where have we heard that before, a mere 10 years ago, and how did THAT work out??? The NRA can and will collapse unless the BOD assumes its responsibilities, and fires Wayne LaPierre, Josh Powell, and all the other swamp rats at the top of the NRA. If they do that, reorganize the BOD as a 31-member body, with term limits, participation requirement for meetings, and a re-dedication to the NRA core mission; well then the organization just MIGHT be saved. But don’t… Read more »
There needs to be an annual independent certified audit by a major CPA firm with the resulting report published in the American Rifleman magazine. Shed a little sunshine on what is really going on. We don’t need rumors and conspiract theories. The BOD needs to set a mandatory retirement age for employees as required by many large corporations and non-profits, Congress needs term limits and perhaps the NRA BOD does too.
“The NRA has the sole purpose of protecting our 2nd Amendment rights.”
That is false – that is not the, and there is no, SOLE purpose for the NRA.
Been a life member for 50+ years. When talking to other members the biggest complaint I hear is the only correspondence from NRA HQ. (other than magazines) is requests for more donation money. Yes our organization can always use money but why are we paying Wayne’s clothing bill for more than $250,000 a shot. I paid for my clothes from my salary not from the company I worked for. We need to clean house and tighten up our disbursement policies among other things.
Benefactor member and I have sent thousands though not tens of thousands of dollars to the NRA. I expect to send not one more penny while Wayne LaPierre, his wife and cronies draw more than a dollar a year from contributions. I have participated in Friends of the NRA events and my local club (where I am active as a volunteer as well as a shooter) has benefitted from NRA grants. While Wayne LaPierre and his cronies are taking money from the NRA foundation I will not support Friends of the NRA. I will support my local, state and alternative… Read more »
“Wayne La Pierre’s lack of professionalism costs the NRA millions of dollars.” But Wayne La Pierre’s lack of professionalism hasn’t cost Wayne La Pierre a single penny. He’s still collecting (certainly not earning, nor did he ever) well over a million dollars per year in salary.
What’s wrong with this picture?
As indicated by the tone and volume of comments on the subject, folks are not happy with the NRA and its current leadership. Some serious damage control needs to be implemented, and I, as the others in this thread am not inclined to send in cash to help remedy the situation as my incoming mail has encouraged me to do. I’m not spending more money on a faulty product. Fix the issues then come see me for more donations. Until then GOA and SAF will continue to get my donations.
The “FRNA”? There’s a problem right there…
WTF, we all knew this was brewing. No one to challenge him, pay that out of control, salary.
Needless to say, I am holding mine until this is fixed.
Same here with me. Life member that sent in money when I could. Not any more. Until Wayne, Chris, Marion, and the lot of the current board if they voted near impossible rules in place to fix board problems are gone, not one thin dime. I will send my money to JPFO, SAF, GOA, CCRKBA, my local Citizens Defense League, TSRA, and other groups like them. I WILL NOT BE SENDING ANY MONEY TO DUDLEY AND THE NAGR however. If you don’t know why start educating yourself.
A friend was recently encouraging me to join the NAGR. I am a member of the GOA. Would you mind sharing why you don’t like the NAGR? Thanks.
LaPierre is not a good saleman, but the NRA is effective and help put Trump in office. All this “class” warfare is too Democrat for me. We have two new pro-gun SCOTUS. This is priceless. We may soon have another if conservatives gunowners vote. I read most of this whining drivel and concluded the source is from Leftist, moles/trolls. If it weren’t for the NRA we woul all be shooting corks from our pop guns. What ever you do, don’t be a Democrat.
First sensible comment on this thread.
My fear is the NRA elite are simply trying to cash in as quickly as possible before the Democrats take office and outlaw everything. The NRA no longer represents ME, they represent their own self-interests, i.e. fundraising and lining their own pockets. If you’re old enough to remember, “Sears & Roebuck” was also “too big to fail” and we see what happened there. Unfortunately, gun ownership and the 2nd amendment are much more important issues than Kenmore and Craftsman. I guess the GOA probably is a better place for my membership monies.
I am a life member of the NRA. The NRA is a flawed organization. Membership Dues keep the Association in the business of protecting our gun rights. The purpose of the NRA is to protect the second amendment for all Americans whether a member or not. If members withhold their “coin” as this op has suggested then this organization will fail. “You can’t throw the baby out with the bath-water.” You can’t give up on the NRA, depose La Pierre if we must but Nancy Pelosi, M Bloomberg and others will celebrate when the NRA and our guns are destroyed.
AMEN! Time to put on the big boy pants and look at the bigger picture! Fix the NRA, don’t destroy it, or we are part of a circular firing squad!
Please elaborate on how you plan to change the NRA from within when the NRA leadership itself does not want that. Wayne LaPierre CAN NOT BE DEPOSED. The NRA’s bylaws require 51 of the 76 Board members to vote him out. This is simply not happening, as many NRA Board members are just LaPierre cronies and corrupt as well! The NRA members do not have any power, other than the power of the purse. Withholding funds from the NRA organization is the only option NRA members have left to affect change. Until the NRA leadership decides to change things, send… Read more »
{SNIP} So let me set this straight, The NRA has the sole purpose of protecting our 2nd Amendment rights. This monkey business is destroying the ability of the NRA to do just that. {SNIP OFF} Protecting our 2nd Amendment rights is what the NRA says when it wants (always more) money, and no longer is persuasive. The real purpose of the NRA (“Watch what people do, not what they say”) is to provide an opulent lifestyle for it’s officers. {SNIP}While the NRA will always exist (it is too big to fail) its ability to influence policy and be a protector… Read more »
I will not join again, until this mess in cleared up!!!
Unfortunate that NRA is dying right before a HUGE general election. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that this was some sort of “red” plan to eliminate the NRA “problem”, which has been one of their prized dreams for a long, long time. Funny how it’s actually happening now… and that there is no real solution in sight… Yeah, I smell Democrats/Socialists/Communists/Globalists.
The NRA has been dying for a while. The decades-long corruption just finally caught up with the NRA leadership. No democrats, socialists, communists, or globalists were required to do this, just a corrupt leadership and a blind membership. The irony is that the 2016 election year was financially one of the NRA’s best years. Unfortunately, there were too many hands in the cookie jar, so they spent $63M more than they had in the following two years and set up the financial disaster, called NRA Carry Guard. They alienated a significant amount of their membership by supporting the bump stock… Read more »
Yup. 3 things should’ve happened by the summer of 2017 to advance The 2nd Amendment Gun Rights Agenda. 1) Hearing Protection Act 2) Further strengthening the PLCAA 3) Repealing Any Other Weapons (AOW’s), Short Barreled Rifles (SBR’s), and Short Barreled Shotguns (SBS’s) from the 1934 NFA 4) Removing Marijuana Use from the 1968 GCA as a permanent lifetime disqualifier from Gun Ownership (same as Domestic Violence, given that both are at minimum, Class A Misdemeanors) 5) Repealing the ban on interstate sales of Handguns from both the 1938 Federal Firearms Act (FFA) and 1968 Gun Control Act. 6) Make 2nd… Read more »
Nixon’s unethical, immoral and illegal behavior did not make me hate the U.S.A., and Wayne LaPierre’s unethical, immoral and illegal behavior does not make me hate the NRA. When there’s a bad apple in the barrel it needs to be removed, and LaPierre has been rotting in the NRA for decades and spreading his rot throughout the barrel until the only thing left before too long will be an empty barrel, unless he and he fellow “rotten” administrators are thrown out with the trash.
@JPM, Agreed, but Nixon had the ethics to resign. The NRA is LaPierre’s one chance to make millions. I don’t see him letting that go, even if it means the total destruction of the NRA. LaPierre will ride it right to the ground.
The only control that the members have is refusing to participate.
There are much more dedicated 2nd Amendment organizations than the NRA. I have abandoned this corrupt organization completely and irrevocably. I am now a life member in GOA, 2nd Amendment, JPFO, RKBA and numerous state organizations. The GOA is much more effective than the NRA. I am happy to send money to these organizations because I know my money will not be helping Wayne with his wardrobe.
Been a life member since the early 70s and I have the belt buckles, pins, cheap knives, drink cups and other trinkets to prove it. I’ve donated at every turn and entered every gun bash they have. I’m done. I had to pay for my own work cloths and I didn’t make a 6 figure let alone 7 figure salary. These leaders are nothing more than mafia style union bosses raking in the dough. Difference is union dues are mandatory, mine contributions are not. On another note……. Exactly WHO has been winning all these gun bash contests does anyone really… Read more »
As a Lifer since 1978 I have not given the NRA a dime for over a decade. I have helped JPFO from time to time. Wayne is not a effective spokesman, in fact I find him annoying at best. The leadership is too busy wanting to be liked by the media ( high dollar clothes and perks ) to fight back. They have compromised instead of fight, they have not come up with effective arguments using the 2nd alone as the basis of a right is incorrect and will result in continued losses – rights preceded government and they certainly… Read more »
I prefer the word ” Bolsheviks ” as their conduct and goals are the same as our left wing anti Americans.
Wake up and smell the gun powder. Time to go Wayne! And take Ollie with you. I can think of a ton of better ways for us to spend $1M a year then pay him just to write some ‘rah-rah-yea-for-us-oh-and-give-more-money’ column in The Rifleman each month!
I thought that opinion piece was great and right on the money.
I am a Senior NRA member on a fixed income and I get almost on a daily basis communications to send more money to the NRA, my thoughts are where is all this money going.
Ollie North left at the time of the annual meeting. Wayne doesn’t write a darn thing, as was pointed out by the late Neal Knox long ago, the ad agency produces Wayne’s columns.
I am an NRA Patriot Life Member and they won’t get another donation from me until they get their ducks in a row.
I have been an NRA Life member for a number of years. I paid $750.00 to become one, with no credit applied for past years’ dues. Prior to becoming a Life member, while raising a family and, at times, working three jobs to do so, I was an annual, two, three, or five year member. That was many years ago. Since I became a Life member, the NRA has done very little for me personally even when I requested assistance, and continually asked me for monetary contributions. After a few years of the kind of crappy leadership and organizational top-heaviness… Read more »
Just getting rid of lapierre won’t fix anything. You have plenty of organizations like this ackerman mcqueen, and I am certain there are many more, that discovered that we are a money tree. Trust me, they will shake that tree long after ol’ wayne is out. This get along gang that is allegedly a BOD is all bullshit too. With corrupt garbage like cuomo weaponizing the state against the people rights the answer isn’t an organization anyway. Just google Samuel Whitmore, you’ll get the idea.
I am an NRA Life Member, and I will continue to support them as an organization but they won’t get an extra dime of my money until they do something about the leadership. It is time for change, if they can’t wake up and see that then it will be the fault of those at the top when the organization disappears or most likely is no longer relevant.
Maybe behind the scenes with those in the know they know what’s coming and are getting what they can while they can.
Personally, I think the Prez is gonna sink us. Look at all the new votes hes picked up. Why not sacrafice us like everybody else does. We want to believe so bad that we do, we fall for it every time. Granted, this one had the best lie yet.
I am a long time Benefactor Member and I am NOT giving up on the NRA, but I haven’t given a dime in some time now, and will not do so again until LaPierre is gone. I work far too hard at a crappy job to have my money squandered by leadership that seems no more concerned about accountability than the government is. Pride and greed have run amok, and it’s gotten to the point of ridiculous. I feel insulted by the cheesy gifts offered by the endless solicitations, and I can’t help but think about how much it costs… Read more »
I’ll remain a NRA member for now because they still get under the skin of anti-gunners. I support GOA too for the same reason.
THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be… Read more »
This Life Member won’t be finacially supporting NRA until the current leadership abdicates or is removed.
Same here. Both the NRA an the NRA-ILA, I have decided to cut them off financially as a LIFER. Behold! No more donations until a SERIOUS House Cleaning session is ordered. – Wait, have no fear….Donate, donate and then donate. When you are finished donating, take a break because more mailers asking, begging for more donations are in the pipeline. – Same old template, same old, same old song and dance. Donate until death do you part.- $$$$$$$ – Meanwhile, back on the Ranch, while checking the mailbox, the 2nd is held hostage by out of town carpet baggers waving… Read more »
I think many would be well served if opinion editorials such as this carried specific facts and actual data as opposed to vignettes and insinuations. We’ve heard many stories of outraged NRA members, but specifics seem unavailable. To win the debate and effect the change you desire present facts and what your plan for the organization is. Without those specifics every posting that denigrates without them that information gives sustenance to the enemies of our civil rights.
Facts and specifics have been presented over and over again and the immediate action plan is clear as well. The NRA leadership is corrupt, engaged in destructive infighting about money and power, and won’t listen to its own members. The NRA leadership has decided that they are more important than the NRA members and the NRA mission. NRA members have no choice, other than to defund the NRA organization until that changes. What more do you need? (I am asking for specifics from you!) Maybe you just don’t understand the difficulty of the situation? There is no easy 10-point plan… Read more »
You mean Waynes lack of leadership! Talk about someone milking the membership cow! He should change his name to honk honkler lepierre!
I am a life member. I have not donated a cent to the NRA in the past 3 years.
I have however given to the NRA legal side. Most of my $$ have gone to the GOA. Not a cent will go to the NRA. Untill Pierre resigns.
“The NRA has the sole purpose of protecting our 2nd Amendment rights”
“While I believe the NRA as an organization is right more than it is wrong and that the good they do outweighs the mistakes they make the current action of management are just simply unacceptable.”
Even if we count training, ranges ect. in the first, we’re still not at 20% of the NRA’s budget.
Congrats, you just arrived at the state many NRA members were already months ago and some even years ago. Be prepared to be called the enemy within and a Bloomberg stooge. Oh, and I forgot, be prepared to be called an NRA hater. LOL.
Amen Don. When my membership expires I am not renewing until things change. There are alternatives, SAF,GOA etc. No one has the clout the NRA had but with enough support, that can change and if the NRA cleans up their act – great. Now though, it is the season of change. We need to change presidents, we need to change NRA leadership and we need to raise the profile and lobby potential for the organizations that are truly interested in protecting our interests and we do that with financial support. Thanks for your honesty.
Agreed. I’m not for abandoning the NRA, but if enough of us allow our memberships to lapse for perhaps only a year, that will hit them in the pocketbook and make them notice. We need the NRA, but I’m really tired of getting “sweepstakes” style mail offering me a chance to win a big truck (that I don’t need) with twenty guns (that I mostly can’t have in CA anyway). Being part of the NRA shouldn’t be tied to winning “goodies”. It should be to preserve our natural rights.