In October, we reported on changes coming to the National Rifle Association. NRA President Bill Bachenberg recently revisited the topic as members have been seeking answers on magazine distribution changes.
Fiscal Responsibility
As previously reported, the October announcement had to do with balancing the NRA’s budget and being good stewards of members’ donations. Part of those changes included migrating NRA Publications into a new division, NRA Media. Waste was cut and funds go further under a leaner NRA. Unfortunately, some furloughs came with the changes at the Association.
Bachenberg is leveraging the positions that many Board of Director members have. The Association is well-positioned; many directors have experience in the business world.
“We’ve got really great business people,” Bachenberg said during October’s interview. “Our Finance Chairman, I think he’s turned around five different companies, right? So he’s acquired failing companies and turned them around.”
What About Inflation?
If the NRA had kept up with inflation, Bachenberg said, a $35.00 membership from the early 1990s would cost members $62.00 today. A life membership that has remained $1,500.00 for over three decades would cost $3,700.00.
In order to continue to provide value to members without increasing membership costs is what Bachenberg attributed to in part for the cuts.
Cutting Magazines
“There has been a lot of chatter on the Magazine changes,” Bachenberg said in an email to AmmoLand News. “Here is some background for your readers.”
Bachenberg said in a letter he shared that the cutting back from four to two magazines was a difficult decision. The two titles that NRA will maintain are “American Rifleman” and “American Hunter.” Magazines will be cut from a monthly to a quarterly distribution Bachenberg said.
A Focus on Digital
Older members are used to getting hard copies of the magazine, Bachenberg admits being one. However the focus is shifting with current trends and the new generation of gun owners are living in a digital world. The benefits of focusing on video and other embedded content options were highlighted by Bachenberg.
Bachenberg’s Letter
The letter that Bachenberg shared with AmmoLand News, he said, was sent to the members of the Board of Directors. “It went to the board without restriction for the members,” Bachenberg said and he encouraged directors to share his message.
The Letter in Full
Why there was a change to magazine distribution?
Dear NRA Member:
Many members are asking why the changes in magazine circulation, here is a little background of what got us here today.
In the early 1990s an annual NRA membership was $25, just to keep up with inflation an annual membership would be around $62, today an annual membership is available for as low as $35 a year. Similarly, a Life membership was $1,500 back then. Today, with inflation, a Life membership would be $3,700 dollars. Today a Life membership is still $1,500.
For around 10 cents a day, your annual member dues help defend your God-given Second Amendment rights and provide great programs in Education & Training, Women & Youth programs, Edie Eagle®, Refuse to be a Victim® and Women-On-Target® to name a few, plus a great magazine.
NRA has been producing a magazine starting in 1885 called The Rifle that continues today as the American Rifleman. American Hunter was first published in October of 1973. During the 1980s and ’90s the NRA published additional targeted magazines. Back then, paper and postage was relatively cheap, and gas was 36 cents a gallon. Today paper is about six to seven times more expensive, and a first-class stamp went from 6 cents to 78 cents, a 13 times increase. NRA has been subsidizing the cost of production for the magazines for many years, it has now gotten to a point that we cannot in good conscious continue funding the magazines instead of fully funding our programs that members are demanding.
This was not an easy choice on how to cover publishing costs without significantly increase membership dues or charging 20 plus dollars for a magazine subscription. Leadership has a responsibility to our members to be efficient and effective with your dues and donations. Our older members (like me) want paper and the younger generations want a digital experience. We endeavored to meet each demographic need, four physical magazines and 12 digital magazines for all members. What is exciting about digital magazines is that we can include video and sound in the articles. Your digital experience can now contain more current news, not news that is two months old due to publishing deadlines. Our advertisers can now advertise like on TV instead of one-dimensional paper ads.
As we have publicized, the publication group at NRA will be moving content from the discontinued magazines to the American Rifleman or the American Hunter and to the digital delivery format, so not all is lost. We knew for some this would not be popular, but we had to make the hard decisions so we could still publish a paper magazine, maybe not on the frequency you were used to, but you are getting a paper magazine four times a year when most organizations have discontinued their magazine.
Again, while this was a gut wrenching decision, we believe it was made in the best interest of the members. Please give the digital format a try on your computer or mobile device.
Thank you,
Bill Bachenberg
NRA President
The NRA President Wants to Hear From You!
In September we reported on the NRA President’s page that Bachenberg released. In attempts to increase transparency and connect with members in a more meaningful way, Bachenberg created — and paid for himself — a president’s webpage where the members can get information from him directly. Members who are interested can visit NRAPresident.com and check it out for themselves.
About John Petrolino
John Petrolino is a US Merchant Marine Officer, writer, author of Decoding Firearms: An Easy to Read Guide on General Gun Safety & Use and NRA certified pistol, rifle, and shotgun instructor living under and working to change New Jersey’s draconian and unconstitutional gun laws. You can find him on the web at www.johnpetrolino.com on twitter at @johnpetrolino, facebook at @thepenpatriot and on instagram @jpetrolinoiii .
I don’t think the magazine subscriptions are the problem. How about the lavish expenditures for travel and perks for the administration and board members? Might that be it?
My father has been a life member since the early 70s. He doesn’t use or even own a computer. He still has a landline telephone and his cell is basically a burner that he carries when he goes out but rarely ever uses.
He looks forward to reading the articles in the Rifleman but has hated the propaganda bs for years. Has said many times he’d like to choke La Pew!
Glad he will still get a print copy even if it’s only quarterly.
Although I have asked them several times, I received no answers as to why they did not secure the services of an independent CPA to conduct an annual audit of financial position, internal controls, and compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations. Perhaps they did, but all I read about is hiring an internal auditor and that person would still be under the authority of management and the Board. An independent CPA would not.
When I was a member, I really enjoyed Shooting Illustrated. It became the ONLY thing that I enjoyed from my membership. Then I just gave up on the NRA completely.
I now, sometimes, skim through the magazine but for the last 10 years I have been mostly relegating it to the burn barrel. It serves no purpose, other than as a reminder of the NRA that was a fleece job of the American gun owner.
Cost/benefit ratio. Lower ratio is better, but you have to have benefit to make it a meaningful number. The new NRA will either produce that or not. If they produce benefit and need to lower the cost to do so, then I could support that.
HLB
Ya know, there are some areas of the country without cell towers, or internet. What happens for those people?
Put the magazine online and apply the money saved to better uses. If your only reason for being an NRA member is receiving a magazine in the mail, you are part of the problem rather than the solution.
When they cut the physical magazine they cut my last connection to the organization.
Adios, NRA. “So long and thanks for all the fish.”
I wonder how long before a hacker has the full membership list?