Has The NRA Outlived Its Usefulness?

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  • Cold Steel

    Active Member
    Sep 26, 2006
    801
    Bethesda, MD
    For the past several decades I've been watching the NRA and haven't been a member for years. But nothing has disturbed me more than the gross misappropriation of funds from the fight against gun control to the lining of pockets of NRA executives. In an article by Jeff Knox, son of Neal Knox, a man I greatly respected for his tireless fight against gun control, he writes:

    As soon as Dad was out of the leadership, [Wayne] LaPierre’s salary started going up, basically doubling from around $200,000 in 1996, to over $400,000 in 1999, then $600,000, then $800,000 and rising. Not long after Dad’s death, when I took over The Firearms Coalition, I wrote several articles about LaPierre’s exorbitant pay, and his compensation was briefly rolled back a few thousand dollars, but then resumed its upward trend, breaking $900,000 and passing through $1 million per year.

    In 2015 LaPierre received over $5 million due to a retirement fund payout that I still don’t understand. The retirement fund was frozen due to lack of funds a couple of years later, after LaPierre, Chris Cox, and Woody Phillips, the Treasurer had all received major cash-outs.

    In 2017 LaPierre received $1.4 million in official compensation and that was upped to $2.2 million in 2018. They have yet to report his compensation for 2019 or 2020.
    This is outrageous. I met Neal Knox a number of times when I worked for the NRA in the late 70s. He was a gentleman and a dedicated supporter of the Constitution. Many of my colleagues treated him with respect to his face, but stabbed him relentlessly behind his back.

    On the day he left, they acted as though they were grieved to see him go, and you would have thought it was a funeral as they somberly offered him their heartfelt condolences. But as soon as he was out of earshot, they mocked him derisively. Loyalty was everything at the NRA, and no one would have dared show genuine compassion because it was run like a Marxist state. Once out of favor, your name was Mudd.

    A few years after I left, the NRA fired its entire public affairs staff. When I heard the news, I was incensed. That day someone, I don't know who, dropped a dime and called the Washington Post, and the following day it made the front page. It quickly came to the attention of the NRA board, which, just before its annual meeting, fired the executive vice president and one or two others. But things never got better. Wayne kept amassing power and, as noted above, raided the piggy bank every chance he got.

    Now the NRA is a cash cow for the executives, and even when I was there, when a VIP came for a visit, they'd give me or someone else a credit card and we'd take them to very nice restaurants with plenty of booze flowing.

    We also would go out for office outings and we'd put it on the tab -- for morale, of course. The NRA also hired beautiful women and there was, in my day, widespread incidences of affairs.

    I've had it with them. I'll support the Second Amendment Foundation, but I've had it with three NRA.

    What do you think?

    --
     

    tkd4life

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 10, 2010
    1,737
    Southern Maryland
    Apparently the NRA is challenging Marylands HQL according to their instagram page. Well almost 10 years later do they want a medal? Well no, they want more money. I agree with you, the NRA has become more about generating revenue than about the protecting the 2A.

    Until they completely reform their executive make up and reduce their salaries by about 90%, they aren't getting anything from me. Good riddance. I'd love to see their 6 million members actually contribute to productive gun rights organizations. The idea that every member would just tuck their tail and go away if the NRA were to dissolve is a little silly.
     

    Occam

    Not Even ONE Indictment
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 24, 2018
    20,239
    Montgomery County
    Apparently the NRA is challenging Marylands HQL according to their instagram page. Well almost 10 years later do they want a medal?

    The difference is that ten years ago the SCOTUS didn't look anything like it does now. It's now time to fail that challenge (and many others) right up the food chain tp the top. Choosing hills (and thus timing), as they say.

    No, the NRA still needs to exist.

    For clarity, by the way: The entity we care about here (as it relates to law) is the NRA-ILA. Wayne doesn't run that entity (or the NRA-PVF).
     

    Mr.Blue

    Living In A Bizarro World
    Nov 21, 2011
    1,523
    Miserable in MD
    No, they haven't outlived their usefulness. Far from it.

    They have however IMO, outlived their current leadership.

    This^^^

    It’s no time to fight among ourselves. The government still fears them more than any 2A organization. LaPierre needs to go, but we need them to pressure politicians. I support GOA, MSCI, and I’m a lifetime NRA member. We need them all right now!
     

    Vic

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 2, 2010
    1,454
    Whiteford, MD
    Absolutely. Now the question is how do you get Wayne out? I don't know the bilaws, but I'd assume that the membership has some say in who runs the organization. If not, membership needs to change horses to another organization, maybe the 2nd amendment fund?
    V
     

    Cold Steel

    Active Member
    Sep 26, 2006
    801
    Bethesda, MD
    I understand how you feel, but how do you feel when you donate money knowing it's going to Wayne's lavish lifestyle? In all the time he's been there, what has he shown in the way of leadership that makes him worth a fraction of what he's paid? He's a lobbyist, but the Congress doesn't fear him, it fears the NRA, and rightly so. And don't let anyone tell you that he doesn't run ILA. He oversees everything ILA does right down to the position ILA takes on the major issues, which really aren't that many. The only thing Wayne has ever struggled with is donations, and the problem the NRA faces every year is this: If the NRA frightens its members too often, members question the organization's effectiveness. If it highlights its victories too often, members feel the NRA doesn't need their donations and they hold back.

    In fact, the NRA tends to back down on issues it doesn't feel it can win, and this has caused some problems with members who think the NRA could have taken a more resolute stand on some issues. Neal Knox was a man of character and dedication, and he was dedicated to the cause above all else. The is the only thing that keeps Wayne up at night is donations and the balance between boasting and scaring the members. And he also is a man of dedication, but he's dedicated to $$$$, and I think he'd sell out the organization in a heartbeat if it came down to his income. He loves money and has a highly exaggerated view of his own worth.

    If members wrote to the board demanding it cut back on the position's salary (and others), and followed it up with a threat of leaving, they could fill the position at a fraction of the salary Wayne's getting. But it would have to be a movement. It happened before, in the famed 1977 Cincinnati Revolt, in which 1,000 members, angry that the NRA was taking a too soft approach to gun control, descended on the organization's annual meeting wearing orange hats and demanded it take a more aggressive positron on gun control. Neal's philosophy was simple. The NRA was frequently chided for not compromising (it still is), but Neal's point of view was that in the area of gun control, compromise means the gun owners always give up rights while the controllers always settle for less than what they wanted. In each case compromise means gun owners lose and in each case the controllers win. This is not how today's NRA views it, and we've lost a lot because the NRA had compromised. And I don't really know how dedicated the NRA is to reversing Maryland's HQL requirements. True compromise means gains on both sides, and there's no reason a person with four or five handguns needs to have to endure a waiting period or an HQL. The wait was initially for a "cooling off" period in the event a gun owner wanted to kill a boss or a family member, and look what it's morphed into! Where the hell was the NRA when all these laws were enacted? Is a guy with four handguns really going to cool off because he really wants to murder someone with a GP100 instead of a Ruger Mark II? It makes no sense. So someone with four handguns should be able to walk into a gun store, get an immediate check like they did in Virginia, pay his money and walk out with his new gun. Why should he wait, especially with an HQL?

    The NRA should have taken the HQL thing to court long ago, and it should have fought it with all the influence it could muster.

    Just sayin'.

    --
     

    Occam

    Not Even ONE Indictment
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 24, 2018
    20,239
    Montgomery County
    The NRA should have taken the HQL thing to court long ago

    Having that matter wander up to the SCOTUS the way that court was structured until literally just a few months ago could have been a disaster that cemented the HQL concept as constitutionally tolerable across the entire country.
     

    PowPow

    Where's the beef?
    Nov 22, 2012
    4,712
    Howard County
    Those NRA execs got (are getting) rich off of folks who they convince to buy the life and above memberships and all of their endless giveaways. If they truly gave a rat's @$$ about America and the 2A, the NRA would look a lot different than it does today. I'm one of the suckers who bought into their schemes. I'm not cashing out on them, but I'm certainly not buying more until I see a change. The biggest change that I'm looking for is the end of Wayne. Whether it comes naturally, by force, or by law, he needs to go already. After that, I will reassess and act accordingly.
     

    nedsurf

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 8, 2013
    2,204
    No, they haven't outlived their usefulness. Far from it.

    They have however IMO, outlived their current leadership.

    I also agree with this distinction. There needs to be a sea change in how they operate. Along with the fiscal problems, they need to change tactics.

    There is a clear plan of incrementalism that the anti 2A people are using. The NRA needs to stop the negotiations and concessions and push towards advancing 2A rights and defending held ground vigorously including stupid things like bump stocks. I see GOA, SAF and FPC as far more effective in this respect and they get all my donations.
    As evidenced by my old posts I used to think the NRA was "playing 3D chess" and insider politics but don't believe that anymore.
    The only thing they are currently good at is being a lightening rod and deflecting attention away from the other, above mentioned groups that a truly doing the heavy lifting.
     

    Boondock Saint

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 11, 2008
    24,372
    White Marsh
    The NRA will not see another red cent from me until leadership undergoes a wholesale change. They have in recent years been virtually indistinguishable from the swamp creatures from which they supposedly protect us.

    Hard pass. Do not pass go. Do not collect $30/year.
     

    OMCHamlin

    Ultimate Member
    BANNED!!!
    May 17, 2017
    1,115
    The Cumberland Plateau
    The NRA will not see another red cent from me until leadership undergoes a wholesale change. They have in recent years been virtually indistinguishable from the swamp creatures from which they supposedly protect us.

    Hard pass. Do not pass go. Do not collect $30/year.

    Ahh, lazy, and really, I couldn't say it any better.

    When Wayne and his cronies are purged, I'll have another look and see if I'll resume supporting then. They really crapped the bed on this one, and it was a long time in the making.
    Frankly, if they go under, someone else will rise up out of the ashes on a national level. The NRA was pretty damn absent for our little ruckus in Virginia LAST year, I'll say that much, VCDL owned that effort, but lets not forget NRAs supposed "headquarters" in Fairfax? Jeez, not enough skin in the game?
     

    slsc98

    Ultimate Member
    May 24, 2012
    6,750
    Escaped MD-stan to WNC Smokies
    ...What do you think?--

    I think I’d like to see some pictures of some of those beautiful women ... :innocent0


    ... The biggest change that I'm looking for is the end of Wayne. Whether it comes naturally, by force, or by law, he needs to go already. After that, I will reassess and act accordingly.

    Wonder who we could approach that could pull off brokering a swap; we hand Wayne over and they return the election they stole ....
     

    twybyll

    Active Member
    Jan 20, 2021
    422
    MD
    I feel the NRA has been stringing 2A folks along with the lure of doing something to our interests, but never actually acting. There were several incidents last year where they didn't act and showed their true colors, just a pretend flirt of an organization. Hell, the last time I went to their range in VA, they wanted to prevent you from collecting your brass!

    They know 2A people are passionate about the issue and they take advantage of it, thinking they can sucker us all. A lot of politicians are the same way, too. They've been able to blind people with the shiny claim of 2A support, because it lets them get away with a lot of bad things.
     

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