Opinion
Tombstone, Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- Jason Ouimet, head of NRA’s lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, has announced that he is resigning to “pursue other opportunities.” Ouimet has held the post for almost four years since long-time head of the ILA, Chris Cox, was forced out. Cox was accused of participating in an “attempted coup” against NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre, shortly after the current round of scandals and lawsuits began to swirl around the embattled NRA boss in early 2019.
Ouimet’s resignation is not good news for the NRA and the Second Amendment movement, as it reinforces concerns about the organization’s future. That lack of future for the NRA, which some of us have been warning about for years, should have Republican politicians and strategists deeply concerned as well.
As the US electorate becomes ever more divided, with various factions becoming more entrenched in their own ideological silos and echo chambers, Republicans face a major fight to retain sufficient power to slow the Democrats’ agenda, much less make any gains. They have, to a troubling degree, abandoned their core principles of free markets, limited government, and responsible spending, instead focusing almost all of their attention on social issues, greatly assisted by the Democrats’ utter lunacy on many of those issues.
Since giving its first-ever endorsement to candidate Ronald Reagan in 1980, the National Rifle Association has been a key ally to the GOP. The NRA got so involved in party politics that it often favored provably anti-gun Republicans over increasingly rare pro-gun Democrats. Putting the party ahead of Second Amendment principles drew strong criticism from all quarters of the gun community, including from this space. But that once-cozy alliance is falling apart.
The reasons for the growing distance between the NRA and the GOP are many and varied, but the most recent issues stem from NRA “leaders” giving then-President Trump some seriously bad advice on topics like bump-stocks and red flag laws. Even though Trump was following NRA guidance, his actions and comments on those subjects alienated millions of GunVoters across the country, who then refused to support him or other Republicans in the 2020 elections. It’s not just GunVoters’ disenchantment with Trump, though. Since early 2019 when a series of scandals involving top NRA officials broke into national headlines, the massive organization has been hemorrhaging money, members, and volunteer support, along with political influence. The troubles led to huge reductions in the Association’s political spending along with growing mistrust for their message.
Younger gun owners now perceive the NRA as a “Fudd” organization, more focused on “sporting purposes” than on preservation of the Second Amendment as a natural right.
Despite steady and significant declines in annual membership numbers and revenue, the NRA Board of Directors signed off on a 2023 budget that appears to be designed to drive the Association straight into bankruptcy. The Association has lost over a million members in the past couple of years, and revenue has declined by over 50%. Yet, the NRA’s 2023 budget predicts significant increases in both membership and revenue without offering any rational reason for the expected reversal in the current trend. With the unrealistic expectations of increased revenue, the Board authorized significant increases in the Association’s spending, which has been running at a deficit of millions of dollars for the past several years. The Association’s line of credit is maxed out, with service on that debt taking a huge chunk of revenue.
It’s expected that the NRA will cross the tipping point, where they will no longer be able to meet basic obligations, by May or June of this year, forcing them into bankruptcy.
On the “bright side,” declaring bankruptcy will at least pause the proceedings in the New York AG’s lawsuit against the Association!?
But that’s NOT a particularly bright “bright side,” as the NY AG will simply line up with other creditors, trying to pick the last bit of meat off of the Association’s dying carcass, all the while lobbying the court for permission to take over the Association to “reorganize” it on behalf of the members. (The NRA is incorporated in New York, and the AG has regulatory authority over it.)
If the NRA doesn’t declare bankruptcy this spring or early summer, they are expected to be in court for the trial in the NY AG suit by July. And make no mistake: The NRA is going to lose that suit. In an astounding piece of legal maneuvering, NRA attorneys filed a motion last year demanding a jury trial (in Manhattan!) before a jury of New York City gun control advocates. Legal experts are still scratching their heads on that one, but it’s just the latest in a long line of unusual legal maneuvering from the firm representing NRA – and drawing something between $40 million and $60 million per year, in the process.
The effect on Republican politics is likely to be substantial.
The NRA claimed some 5.5 million members in 2016 and spent over $30 million on the presidential election alone. Along with direct contributions and independent expenditures on campaigns, the NRA includes candidate information in their four magazines, and sends out pre-election postcards to millions of past, present, and prospective members, listing favored candidates from City Council to President, and urging people to get out and vote. Many political strategists estimate that these efforts have historically impacted elections by as much as five or six percentage points. That’s enough to be the deciding factor in most elections, and it impacts candidates up and down the ticket, almost all of them Republicans.
The NRA has been building lists of gun owners and Second Amendment supporters for 170 years. They’ve been doing so aggressively with sophisticated computer systems for over 40 years. Those lists are the single most valuable asset the NRA owns, and they are almost certainly going to be either locked up by the bankruptcy court or in possession of the New York Attorney General by November 2024. Even if, by some miracle the NRA is still in control of the lists by then, they won’t have the money to do anything useful with them.
Other groups, like GOA, SAF, etc., can’t begin to fill the void that is being created as the NRA collapses. While most of those groups have seen increases in revenue and membership over the past 4 years, the losses at NRA far exceed those gains, and no group has the potential to come anywhere close to being able to fill the gap that the NRA leaves. None of these groups has ever raised more than a few million dollars in a year, and their combined annual revenue is less than $50 million. Compare that to the NRA, which had revenue of almost $400 million just a few years ago. You can see that losing the NRA is going to be a devastating blow to the future of the rights cause and could easily cost Republicans legislative majorities in over a dozen states, not to mention the White House and Congress.
Those who say the NRA has never done much for gun owner rights simply don’t know their history and are willfully blind to the future reality. Roe v. Wade was overturned after almost 50 years. Don’t imagine for a moment that the same thing can’t, and won’t, happen to Bruen, Heller, and McDonald if Democrats are able to gain solid majorities in both houses of Congress and the Presidency for the majority of the next decade.
The only people who have been actively fighting to reverse the downward spiral and save the NRA have been pushed out by the establishment and had their efforts go unfunded by the community. There are currently only two members of the 76-member Board of Directors who have dared to question LaPierre and his “leadership” team: Judge Phil Journey and Frank Tait.
Their terms end this April, and the Nominating Committee passed over both. Neither will be on the Board after the Members’ Meeting in Indianapolis.
I’ve been reporting on problems at the NRA for two decades and redoubled those efforts after LaPierre’s financial shenanigans came to light in 2019. I’ve written articles, pled with Directors, gone to Members’ Meetings to be abused and vilified, and generally tried to raise the alarm, but a small cadre of “leaders” on the Board have convinced their comrades that Wayne is the “only one” who can save the Association, despite the overwhelming evidence that he is the cause of the problems.
At this point, I no longer have any answers or suggestions. I’m tired and frustrated, and frankly, feeling a bit hopeless. I’ve seen the writing on the wall, and I’ve done my best to alert my fellow NRA members, but they’ve chosen to throw up their hands and walk away rather than engage in the fight and work for reform. So now, I think all I can do is report on the collapse, sadly shaking my head, and saying…, “I told you so.”
About Jeff Knox:
Jeff Knox is a second-generation political activist and director of The Firearms Coalition. His father Neal Knox led many of the early gun rights battles for your right to keep and bear arms. Read Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War.
The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition has offices in Buckeye, Arizona, and Manassas, VA. Visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org.
This board and Wayne are not listening and refuse to alter the destructive behavior. Many of us stopped giving. Many of us gave up instructor certs. We did this because we have lost faith in the NRA as it stands. They cannot hear us. They are selling us out and destroying the Association. GOA is there and doing the work at the limits of it’s funding. The NRA wastes more than it applies to the grass roots of protecting the 2A. The NRA is no longer in touch with it’s members. Nor are they in touch with my wallet anymore.
“They cannot hear us”. They hear just fine. The problem is the leadership doesn’t care. It has become a self replicating, self serving organism. Not unlike the “Borg”. As long as it meets it’s own political and financial wants. It could care less about the minions who are expected to assimilate. The leadership has become the ultimate form of Get Along to Go Along that is so prevalent in politics in D.C. As a life member who purchased my membership decades ago. I stopped supporting the NRA over 10 years ago when I finally realized my Rights meant nothing more… Read more »
I joined the NRA in 72, became a life member in ’76 and have advanced degrees now in horsedung, by adding levels of life membership until 2000. That’s when I saw the light. I am, right now, receiving weekly notices in the mail to get a ‘deal’ on annual membership dues. I have over fifty years of monthly American Hunter magazines that I don’t even read anymore as there is just too much political BS in them. The NRA is dead to me, and the way things are looking right now, I might just outlive it.
May we all outlive that treasonous den of greedy scum.
They called me begging funds, offering a drastically reduced price for 5-year membership. I asked to be put on their “do not call” list. I’m offended by Jeff Knox’s comment that “younger gun owners now perceive the NRA as a ‘Fudd’ organization.” If I’m considered a “young gun owner” we are in even worse trouble than I realized. I’m not young – but my money and my prayers go to organizations in which I have confidence. I appreciate all the work Jeff has done to save the NRA – but I think his assessment is spot on. It’s time to… Read more »
I was a member for MANY YEARS, finally got fed up with the nonstop calls and junk mail asking for money,
I quit ! The astronomical pay scale of the Wayne and crew along with the extravagant living/parties and whatever else they feel like BLOWING the funds on has decapitated the organization, it is done… Stick a fork in it !
The NRA went from being THE most powerful 2nd Amendment force to being nothing but a PARTY WAGON for self centered IDIOTS.
Truly sad…. Wayne was the fox in the henhouse……
Realize that: “EVERY LAW ON THE BOOKS HAS A PENALTY FOR VIOLATING THAT LAW.” – Craig Tweedy, Esg, deceased.
Question about the “brace rule”? What Public Law Number has been assigned to it and what are the penalties for violating that “law”?
I’ve been slow to damn the NRA, having been a member since the early 1950s, but the time has come for a purge or coup of the top “leadership” starting with WLP. GOA gives us a strong voice reflecting our views and does a lot for less.
“None of these groups has ever raised more than a few million dollars in a year, and their combined annual revenue is less than $50 million.” True, but they have done a hell of a lot more with what they get than the NRA has done with hundreds of millions, at least lately. I am a life-member of NRA, but have drastically reduced my donations to them. I am also a GOA life-member and contribute to them and FPC, and will soon start SAF. They seem to be making some headway in the courts in restoring recognition of our 2A… Read more »
Sad that ‘Life Member; has gone from being your life.. to it’s life… maybe brown side of the grass long before you..sad…
If one were to sabotoge a company and profit from it, the NRA legal team has done a good job at it.
I can remember 2 callers (for donations) that I questioned ‘What can you say to persuade me to throw more money down the drain due to the likes of Wayne LaPierre… the line soon became quiet.. the most recent actually said ‘you actually make a good point’. Time to elect Wayne to the un-
employment line.
Wayne’s and his minion’s golden parachute are so big, his / their feet will never touch the ground.
I know this has probably been said but my take is, as long as Wayne and ALL his supporters are part of the ruling class of the NRA, the NRA will cease to exist soon. How Wayne has so much power as the Executive Vice President is a mystery to me. Why the MEMBERS don’t have the chance to have that position on the ballot is another mystery. Wayne AND all his supporters need to go NOW, or the NRA is doomed! Just sayin’.
I just said damn near the exact same thing so you are not the only one thinking that way.
As long as King Wayne is at the NRA, they are doomed. I won’t give a dime.
If La Pew Pew really cared anything about the 2nd, he would have stepped down years ago as he has lost all trust and support from the members who donated how many millions to the cause. It is all about him and his cronies, and for that he should be jailed for fraud..
Yes , the NRA has been “Fudds”since they supported the 1934 NFA. They have been a gun safety org, not a true #2A defender. They wrote the NICS and openingly supported Gun Free Zones and Red Flag Laws. They can’t be trusted. Other REAL #2A defenders has been doing a great Job. The NRA just needs to go away until they learn how to really defend the #2A. If they don’t, go back to gun safety and stay out of our way.
and your knowledge of their history is pathetically lacking.
You keep saying this but the evidence is not on your side.
Is that right? Here is what LaPierre said, on behalf of the NRA, when testifying on May 27, 1999, before the Subcommittee on Crime of the House Judiciary Committee: We think it’s reasonable to support the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act. What’s unreasonable is letting 6,000 students caught with illegal guns at school go, prosecuting only 13 of them the past two years. In addition, at the same time, the NRA also supported a vast expansion of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Wayne LaPierre admitted the NRA wrote the foundation bill of the NICS System during the 2018… Read more »
You need to re-read my comment and see who I was replying to.
Sorry, not use to this format.
No worries.
Uncle Ted? Is that you?
Uncle Ted was part of the problem, He sat on the NRA Board for decades and ignored the crap the NRA was dong for decades. He took their money to do ads though. Still like Ted, but he is big disappointed in that.
I will attend the member’s meeting on Saturday, 15 April, at NRAAM in Indianapolis. My only indecision is whether to boo when Wayne comes out to speak or just silently stand and turn my back. Maybe we can start a chant: “Resign Now!”
Hopefully you won’t be the only person protesting. Please repost your event report.
You could always sit outside and pass out brightly colored GOA , SAF or FPC hats to all those that enter?
Perhaps from the ashes of a financially and morally BANKRUPT NRA will rise an organization that once again actually cares about and fights for gun owners and gun rights. Until that happens, they are little more than a cancer on the 2A community.
There are many that are already well established and deeply entrenched in the fight for the 2nd Amendment. Something that WE, The People should have ALL been deeply defending since we first realized we were adults with “responsibility and duty to our nation.” GOA, Gun Owners Of America, SAF Second Amendment Foundation, FPC, Firearms Policy Coalition, Cal Guns Foundation (Deep in the trenches of California), GLGR, Great Lakes Gun Rights who’s deep in the trenched of now wholly Democrat Michigan, CCRKBA, Citizens Committee to Right to Keep and Bear Arms, NYSRPA, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, whose battles… Read more »
I’m at a loss for words to convey how much I do not care about the NRA.
How about, “BEHOLD MY FIELD OF ***S FOR IT IS BARREN AND EMPTY, AND I HAVE NONE TO GIVE”
Does that work for ya?
C’mon man, get it right! “Behold the field in which I grow my fu*ks. Lay thine eyes upon it and see that it is barren.” ― Hank Green,
Tje NRA has squandered its money, principles and political capital so badly, for so long, I dont think they can be saved. Neither do I believe they are worth saving. They have had 37 years to get Hughes repealed, which shit-weasel Wayne helped bring to life, yet they have done nothing. They ARE a fudd organization; a broke, ethically bankrupt fudd organization; relying on silly, irellevent things like “Eddie Eagle” for their cause, while failing to fulfill their mandate. Sorry Mr. Knox, your father was a great man, and you have done a fine job of filling his shoes, but… Read more »
That’s “Shit-Sucking Weasel Wayne”. As for repealing ANYTHING such as the Hughes Amendment, ANY group or coalition that starts up the hill needs our 100% backing and unwavering support. My hopes would be that an umbrella of ALL the Pro 2nd Amendment groups from across the nation can come together and mount that battle to begin with and then go after the NFA and the GCA respectively. It’s OUR country, it’s OUR freedom and it’s OUR responsibility to take a part in defending and protecting it, so, get your wallets out, save your ammo and focus on success.
NRA = Negotiating Rights Away as in supporting red flag laws says it all . Waine has destroyed the credibility of the NRA by living like a king off precedes that should be used to fight these red flag laws they endorsed. Desolve the NRA and take away Waines gravy train .
I am one of the millions of members that left the NRA. We left because we wanted leadership change (LaPierre out) and the “we know better” Board decided not to listen. Much like the morons at the top of the Republican party are finding out, if you don’t listen to the membership, the members leave and find another organization to finance. If the NRA had listened to the membership and gotten rid of the bloated, corrupt leadership the numbers would have at least remained on par. Don’t blame “us”. We still fight through organizations that we trust. I think a… Read more »
I am a Benefactor level member, and I refuse to give the NRA another cent until the members and not LaPierrre are in charge. He should have been drummed out long ago. I’d hate to see the NRAgo away, but if it does, LaPierrre and the directors are the reason.
“Younger gun owners now perceive the NRA as a “Fudd” organization” I’m 52, and I have perceived them as a FUDD organization since they sold us out on Sniffin’ Joe’s AWB in 1992. Of course then I learned they had been selling us out practically from the beginning, supporting the NFA in 1934, that other law in 1938, and the GCA in 1968, and not telling Reagan not to sign the FOPA with the Hughes Amendment in 1986. But I was still early in high school in 1986. When the FOPA happened, despite having the latest copies of Guns &… Read more »
In fact I should point out that the term “FUDD” was coined to describe the NRA and it’s members who sold everyone else out because they thought deer rifles and duck guns would then be safe.
I gave up on the NRA in the later part of the last Century! They need more men like Harlan Carter in there leadership!
The NRA needs to show it’s work, that is if it is actually doing any work. The GOA, SAF, and FPC are taking gun controllers all over the US to court to fight the unconstitutional pistol brace ban, mag bans, semiauto bans, red flag laws, universal background checks and scores of other state infringements. What is the NRA doing? They carry a big stick and talk loudly, but they don’t seem to ever actually get in the fray. Sometimes they may grab on to the coat tails of other pro gun organizations, but that’s about it. I was an NRA… Read more »
“The GOA, SAF, and FPC are taking gun controllers all over the US to court to fight the unconstitutional pistol brace ban, mag bans, semiauto bans, red flag laws, universal background checks and scores of other state infringements.” Which means THIS is WHERE we need to throw our undying $upport.
Wow! I had no idea of these issues. Thank you! What would the board & leadership be so stupid? It sounds like they are trying to be taken out, one way or another!
Little late to the party, chief. NRA has ALWAYS been a fudd run betrayer of the 2nd, writing parts of the NFA and most other gun control laws! The GOP is dead, having abandoned the citizens and all principles. And they didn’t fight the stolen elections in any meaningful way. We are heading to civil war 2.0 and everyone knows it.
GOA will grow while the FUDD NRA dies. The younger generation understands unalienable rights better than my generation which is typically made up of brain dead lemmings. And personally? I don’t care if 350 million people “vote” to take away my rifle, that will just make it easier to pick my targets. SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED is UNALIENABLE not some right that can be negotiated. The PEOPLE administering government may need to be made aware. Either PEACEFULLY or FORCEFULLY.
It all falls at the feet of Wayne, who uses the NRA as his personal fiefdom.
And anyone else that supports his corruption.
I don’t think having another association ready to take over once NRA falls is realistic. Once it does, the people that truly help will need to get behind another organization and that organization’s ability to raise money, increase membership, protect members’ rights, and influence politics will grow.
After seeing how ineffective NRA has been over the last couple decades, I’m ready for that.
They already do exist. SAF, GOA,FPC, and they’re way more active than I can remember the NRA ever being. An NRA life member, It’s been 20 years since I’ve sent them any money.
Well, for sure, and they’re doing great things. The author’s arguing they’re not even close to big enough to fill the NRA’s britches, though. I’m saying that they’ll grow once NRA quits hogging resources, and that might just be the best thing that could happen for us.
Our state organization in Iowa. Iowa Firearms Coalition has done more to return the unrestricted Right to Keep and Bear Arms for the law abiding citizens of the state. Than the NRA ever accomplished. The real battles must be won at the state’s level, simply because the fight in D.C. Will always be apart of the Go Along to Get Along gamesmanship of D.C. politics. Invest your time and resources at the state level where you can actually look your state senators and representatives in the eye and hold them accountable for their actions, Unlike the politicians who hide in… Read more »
Yeah, too bad the Chris Cox coup didn’t work. Since then there are only two worthwhile things left in the NRA. The museum and the ILA. Now the museum is being sold off to cover King Wayne’s spending and his law suits, and the ILA (like the training arm before it) is being gutted. Whether or not I pay my dues this year will be directly related to whether or not I decide to keep my LEO instructor credentials current. If King Wayne and his crew of boot lickers were deposed, I wouldn’t have a problem.
GOA and FPC are light years better to support than the NRA. NRA has done nothing for us EVER, they helped install the NFA and GCA, they are traitors to the cause
The ongoing corruption at the NRA has rendered it useless in regard to defending the 2nd amendment. It is broken beyond repair, and any attempt to save it is about as useful as putting new tires on a totaled car. As for the NRA having any relevance to the health of the GOP, good or bad, is nonsense. The NRA is over, time to move on Jeff.
Many thanks for trying Jeff. I’ve been calling for ‘Lil Wayne’ LaPew’s head since the 90’s. I believe you and your family have gone way beyond the call of duty. I have been asking people since this debacle started (way before it became public) to quit blaming the ‘NRA’ and start blaming the people that hijacked it. This is such a shambles I have a hard time understanding how the current leadership (or lack thereof) thought they could weather this storm. I guess they hold stock in the Brewer Firm.
T.L. Davis
Benefactor Life Member
Is there anyone that could hack into the NRA computer membership lists and delete them? I really worry about the NY AG getting their grubby mitts on those lists, for obvious reasons.
Jeff, youre still right. Not right again but STILL right. LaPierre at one time built up a strong membership then abused his position for personal enrichment and gain. He gathered a host of cronies to his side and he has a protective inner circle. How many of them are also getting fat from the contributions of members and sweetheart deals? The answer is far too many of them. Yes, the NRA did some great things in their history but they have shown that they are far more interested in lining their pockets and than maintaining a strong pro 2A organization.… Read more »
The NRA was founded to promote marksmanship. At some point they also began getting involved with firearm safety. In the mid 20th Century, when the hard core anti gun Left started ramping up their assault on RKBA, the NRA was more focused on developing what became known as The Whittington Center. Some of the membership objected to the amount of funding going to that development and wanted at least some of that funding diverted to defense of RKBA. That turned into a bar fight that generated NRA/ILA, what became known as “The Cincinnati Reforms” and saw the NRA drug, kicking… Read more »
Recently I have seen a few opinion pieces authored by him on The Daily Caller. I did not detect any insults or laying of blame on that audience like he often did here.
As a Long time Patron Life Member, I can no longer in good conscience support or defend the NRA’s Leadership, nor continue to donate to an organization, whose leadership seems hellbent on self destruction. Senior Leadership continually circles the wagons around WLP, and not only what, but why? This doesn’t end well, and the AGs case against Lapierre, doesn’t look good at all. WLP played fast and loose with the memberships donations for personal gain. As long as the Leadership supports WLP, the worse it looks. The blatant Cronyism will bankrupt the association. I once proudly wore my NRA hats,… Read more »
I am no spring chicken, but I have been calling the NRA ‘fudds’ for close to 2 decades because (in large part thanks to Angel Shamaya of KABA) I came to see how the NRA has ALWAYS been a compromising sellout organization despite the protestations of its leaders and members.
Every other 2A group out there has completely absorbed the NRA’s core functions from training to 2A advocacy, rendering the NRA irrelevant. At this point, the NRA is a zombie; dead yet still lumbering along. Putting it down at last will be a mercy!
“The NRA got so involved in party politics that it often favored provably anti-gun Republicans over increasingly rare pro-gun Democrats.” Absolutely true. Let’s not forget about them giving A ratings to Dems like Harry Reid and not even acknowledging 100% pro-2A Libertarian candidates. The NRA is absolutely a Fudd, and Butter, organization. They’ve proven that time and again by their willingness to work with anti-2A politicians and enact arms laws while screaming every election season about how your rights are in the worst case of jeopardy ever and you have to give them more money while they turn around and… Read more »
Adios, No Rights Absolute, you sold out gun owners one time too many. We gun owners told you that we HATED people treating our right to keep and bear arms as a privilege and when you only doubled down on your self serving policies and refused to get rid of a power hungry leech like Wayne LaPierre then many of us who were long time supporters told you to hit the door and don’t let it hit you in the butt on your way out. I was a life member and resigned my membership because i was disgusted with being… Read more »
It seems the NRA serves only one purpose at this point – distraction.
While the enemies of freedom are busy attacking the NRA, real pro-rights groups are doing the heavy lifting in the courts and they are doing the work the NRA should have been doing all along.
Hmm, NRA backed Ronnie Reagan and then he turned around and made owners of pre 86 full autos rich.
I dont always agree with Jeff Knox but he is correct, no other 2A organization has the clout of the NRA. NONE. Should we lose them, you can kiss your rights to own what firearms you have now goodbye.
Our rights existed long before the NRA and they will exist long after.
When you think of the rubber stamp board members who helped wayne destroy the nra remember pete brownell and other industry heavyweights who sold the membership down the drain.
don’t do business with brownells. Make them pay for destroying the nra.
Pete Brownell took that post with, at least ostensibly, the intention of reform, and left when he felt his efforts were futile.
I’m not sure he deserves that blame.
He doesn’t.
Pete tried to turn things around. It was only after seeing how things were structured from the inside that he realized it was futile. He didn’t destroy anything.
So it seems we have taken the same approach that we accuse the Democrats of. Destroy something in order to build it back up. This has led to the election of Joe Biden and an administration and congress that in less than 3 years introduced dozens of anti-gun laws and executive orders than any other administration in the past. We get to elect a Board and president every year. So how many actually vote to change the leadership and replace it with one that works as it was designed? We must avoid making the mistake of throwing out the baby… Read more »
If only what you said was true. The Board nominates and elects the figurehead president, not the members. The board is made up entirely of those selected by the nominating committee which is a subset of board members. And there is no “abstain” or “against” option on the ballot of board members of which 1/3 are up for a vote in any given year. The board is half the problem and are in jeopardy by ignoring its fiduciary responsibilties to the organization. The other half is of course the entrenched leadership in NRAHQ.
If the members had been able to force Daddy Warbucks Wayne out in a 2/3’s majority vote then the NRA might be alive and well but since we weren’t allowed to purge that power hungry turd, we found other organizations that rightly represented us. Die quickly NRA, you are wasting decent gun owners money and have become a useless dinosaur. You should have died off long ago!
Exactly. Use youe time and resources at the state and local levels. That is where the battle for your Rights must be won. Washington D.C. is as much the enemy of Freedom and Liberty as the British Crown was 247 years ago.
Many years back as a devoted member of the NRA and a state Steering Committee member I tried to get signatures on a measure to be presented to the board. I thought canvassing the local gun dealers in my area would be the best place to start. To my surprise none of them were even NRA members. Now I can only think they knew more about the NRA than I did at the time.