Anyone have an opinion on what is happening in the NRA?

[steveTA84]

^^^^

 

And yet they still don’t have the balls to call out the orgs that attack them and take them head on

[chicagoresident]

Here's a good summary of all the lawsuits currently on the table.

https://www.tacretailer.com/news/a-cheat-sheet-to-the-nras-recent-lawsuit-reported-turmoil

 

The first was the NYC AG and Governor Cuomo (with Bloomberg chearleading) systematically targeting the NRA and its partners for a year now. First they tried to void the NRA branded insurance "Carry Guard" by suing the insurance underwriter. Then they sent sternly worded letters putting all NRA partners on notice. In the latest attack they want to audit the NRA's finances to revoke nonprofit status completely.

 

The ACLU who as of late hasn't been a friend of the 2nd even weighed in on the egregiousness of punishing a political organization for free speech. https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/new-york-state-cant-be-allowed-stifle-nras-political-speech

 

 

Then there's the lawsuit against Ackerman McQueen filed by the NRA's own attorney who happens to be related to the AckMac people. The suit alleges overbilling. The NRA attorney is related to the founders of AckMac but really hates them, so I doubt the suit is without merit.

 

 

The one lawsuit the tacretailer article didn't mention is the Giffords going after the FEC because a political organization gave money to a political cause :rolleyes But the Gifford org has been doing PR lawsuits that don't actually go anywhere since they started so this one has no teeth.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/440754-gun-control-group-sues-fec-over-alleged-failure-to-act-against-nra As an example a former lawsuit tried to FOIA correspondence around gun laws between 2 executive branch organizations, the Trump administration and the ATF. As much as I'd love to be able to take a peak into the inner workings of our corrupt government we know that stuff is off limits. To the point most centrist Dem's are still chasing their tales on accusations related to Wikileaks.

[Nanook]

I've been a yearly member for decades. I should have bought the life deal years ago, but something always comes up.

 

I am not a fan of LaPierre / Hammer and Cox. I sent my ballot in with one name checked; Adam Kraut. He didn't win, again.

 

I donate to ISRA, am a member here, but won't send money to fund LaPierre and the other two. Change the leadership to people who actually fight for our right, and I'd be all over it.

 

Joseph Stalin said it matters not who casts the votes, it matter who counts the votes. I've always known that to apply to IL, I hope it doesn't also apply to the NRA.

 

I'd love to see them make changes at the top, and really become a second amendment advocate. They seem to be weak in that regard lately. But hey, if you want Chinesium trinkets, they're the top banana.

[lowhouse5]

The fact that Adam Kraut is not on the board (again) tells you all you need to know.

[vito]

Who is Adam Kraut?

[chicagoresident]

Who is Adam Kraut?

Adam Kraut is a lawyer that's actually a gun enthusiast. Wayne Lapierre is not a gun person, he's a lawyer that loves to lawyer. I don't even know that I've seen Wayne pictured shooting a gun, and from other NRA inner circle people when he does it's scary to be around since he does it so infrequently.

 

Adam Kraut is also the guy Jeff Knox has been pushing hard for.

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/01/adam-kraut-2019-nra-bod-elections/#axzz5mlyy2l4q

[lowhouse5]

Who is Adam Kraut?

He is the new blood the NRA needs...

2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC-_YZqA_xg

 

2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyT1-EOjV5Q

 

The NRA board doesn't want him

 

http://www.adamkraut.com/#home-1-section

[chicagoresident]

Here's Adam Kraut firing a gun.

 

Now find me a picture of Wayne Lapierre firing a gun.

[lowhouse5]

Probably easier to find a picture of Wayne getting a facelift.

[Illinois Sucks]

Yes their fundraising pleas are sounding more and more desperate. I got this one today. The sad part is, Wayne might be right about the NRA shutting down this time but the boy has cried wolf too many times. It reminds me of Illinois politiciansâ urgent annual pleas for some revenue scheme or another for roads and schools.

 

If the following is true from the ammoland article, it sure seems like the NRA is in dire need of cash. To me, it looks to me like people are bleeding this "not for profit" dry for their own gains.

 

In the latest available IRS report from 2017, LaPierre’s total compensation was reported at $1.4 million, or about $117,000 per month, and a couple of years before that, he also got a distribution from his retirement fund of about $4 million, for a total compensation of more than $5 million that year. It’s worth noting that he’s receiving this at a time when the NRA is over $30 million in the red, and the retirement fund is in negative numbers to the tune of almost $60 million. Ack-Mack’s take from the NRA in 2017 was over $40 million.

 

How can Wayne take 5 mil advance when the retirement fund is in the negative... that blows my mind. How do you support an organization that is mismanaging their funds this poorly?

[Euler]

How can Wayne take 5 mil advance when the retirement fund is in the negative... that blows my mind. How do you support an organization that is mismanaging their funds this poorly?

Credit.

[357]

 

Yes their fundraising pleas are sounding more and more desperate. I got this one today. The sad part is, Wayne might be right about the NRA shutting down this time but the boy has cried wolf too many times. It reminds me of Illinois politiciansâ urgent annual pleas for some revenue scheme or another for roads and schools.

 

If the following is true from the ammoland article, it sure seems like the NRA is in dire need of cash. To me, it looks to me like people are bleeding this "not for profit" dry for their own gains.

 

In the latest available IRS report from 2017, LaPierre’s total compensation was reported at $1.4 million, or about $117,000 per month, and a couple of years before that, he also got a distribution from his retirement fund of about $4 million, for a total compensation of more than $5 million that year. It’s worth noting that he’s receiving this at a time when the NRA is over $30 million in the red, and the retirement fund is in negative numbers to the tune of almost $60 million. Ack-Mack’s take from the NRA in 2017 was over $40 million.

 

How can Wayne take 5 mil advance when the retirement fund is in the negative... that blows my mind. How do you support an organization that is mismanaging their funds this poorly?

Bleeding it dry is right and he has a multi million golden parachute too when he retires and is running it to the ground but they don't have money to defend our rights. It's self inflicted wounds and improprieties have been exposed and Wayne refuses to step down. Does he think he owns the NRA? I've been a member for ten years but now that I know my dues are being used for lavish lifestyles and million dollar salaries, they will not get another cent from me until there's a change in leadership and how it operates. For the love of money, I wouldn't doubt if he took money from Bloomberg since they're on the same page when it comes to red flag laws and bumpstocks. Wayne is the best thing for Bloomberg to happen to the NRA by squandering hundreds of millions of dollars with family and friends and bankrupting it. A good article by Adam Kraut who is the lawyer who brought up the case against the government's bumpstock ban which is a slippery slope if it stands and sets a precedent for accessories and firearms to be outlawed in the future by the stroke of a pen changing the definition.

 

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/04/when-the-levee-breaks-nras-untenable-position-video/#axzz5mop23j90

[Illinois Sucks]

 

Bleeding it dry is right and he has a multi million golden parachute too when he retires and is running it to the ground but they don't have money to defend our rights. It's self inflicted wounds and improprieties have been exposed and Wayne refuses to step down. Does he think he owns the NRA? I've been a member for ten years but now that I know my dues are being used for lavish lifestyles and million dollar salaries, they will not get another cent from me until there's a change in leadership and how it operates. For the love of money, I wouldn't doubt if he took money from Bloomberg since they're on the same page when it comes to red flag laws and bumpstocks. Wayne is the best thing for Bloomberg to happen to the NRA by squandering hundreds of millions of dollars with family and friends and bankrupting it. A good article by Adam Kraut who is the lawyer who brought up the case against the government's bumpstock ban which is a slippery slope if it stands and sets a precedent for accessories and firearms to be outlawed in the future by the stroke of a pen changing the definition.

 

https://www.ammoland.com/2019/04/when-the-levee-breaks-nras-untenable-position-video/#axzz5mop23j90

 

 

What would happen if everyone told them that when they call and ask for a renewal or donation? Do the people that call actually work at the NRA or are they contractors? Would that message get to the people who can make this change? Does it even matter seeing as Wayne still gets paid no matter what?

[Colt guy]

This is really scary. Without the NRA there would be a huge void of influence for our side. I dont think it would be smart to just let them fail. They need to fix this but we need to support them until they do. If they go away. So does our influence. NY attorney general is going after them and anyone else she can try and smear which seems to be her personal agenda. Im and going to renew because the loss pf them would be much worse than it is now.

[vito]

This is really scary. Without the NRA there would be a huge void of influence for our side. I dont think it would be smart to just let them fail. They need to fix this but we need to support them until they do. If they go away. So does our influence. NY attorney general is going after them and anyone else she can try and smear which seems to be her personal agenda. Im and going to renew because the loss pf them would be much worse than it is now.

 

I fully agree. The NRA gets respect because politicians know what a formidable enemy the NRA can be. One Congressman that I spoke to several years ago said that the other gun right's groups are seen as a joke, not to be totally ignored but not to take too seriously when they expressed unhappiness with some law or another. But no one sees the NRA as a joke. Some see it as an evil partner to the gun manufacturers, and some see it as a right wing group of gun nuts, but even the NRA enemies understand that it has the power to mobilize its members. All this discussion about Wayne's salary and his lack of being a gun guy I take with a grain of salt. And saying that because of bump stocks and their limited acceptance of the idea of red flag laws that they are no better than Bloomberg and his gun haters is totally ridiculous. I have no doubt at all that we will be much worse off if the NRA disappears.

[SycamoreRuger]

 

What would happen if everyone told them that when they call and ask for a renewal or donation? Do the people that call actually work at the NRA or are they contractors? Would that message get to the people who can make this change? Does it even matter seeing as Wayne still gets paid no matter what?

 

It couldn’t hurt. As long as we remain civil and respectful, I imagine it would be inevitable that word would trickle up to the leadership ranks when donations start to dry up.

 

Personally I think that frank yet respectful discussions like this, on dozens or hundreds of message boards and Facebook groups, are the best way to get the board’s attention. We may even have a board member or two on here, although there is only one board member from Illinois that I know of.

[SycamoreRuger]

 

I fully agree. The NRA gets respect because politicians know what a formidable enemy the NRA can be. One Congressman that I spoke to several years ago said that the other gun right's groups are seen as a joke, not to be totally ignored but not to take too seriously when they expressed unhappiness with some law or another.

 

Exactly. This is exactly why I remain a member (in addition to working toward eligibility to vote) and post here and elsewhere about NRA membership discounts when I see them. Anti-gunners in Congress and elsewhere will occasionally scold GOA or other smaller anti-gun groups, but it is the NRA that is consistently the target of the anti-gunner ire. That confirms to me that, despite the internal strife and leadership issues, the NRA is still doing many things right and remains our best ally in the halls of power.

[Lou]

If you listen to the anti-gun zealots the NRA is responsible for every shooting death and the “NRA has blood on its hands.”

If they hate the NRA that much it must be doing something right.

[modeler1945]

This is really scary. Without the NRA there would be a huge void of influence for our side. I dont think it would be smart to just let them fail.

There are other groups out there that can and would fill the void, especially if they received the equivalent in donations that the NRA does. And in the event that that NRA failed, I think a lot of gun owners would shift their donations to these groups.

 

Sure, none of these groups are currently the "800lb Gorilla in the room" that the NRA is, but a few of them are 500lb gorillas that can grown to be 800lb.

[chicagoresident]

If you listen to the anti-gun zealots the NRA is responsible for every shooting death and the NRA has blood on its hands.

If they hate the NRA that much it must be doing something right.

IMO pro gunners have hid behind a membership, letting Hammer, Cox, Lapierre, and a rotating cast of AckMac overpaid celebs be their voice.

 

Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions

The mistake the antigun astroturf makes is they only personalize NRA staff, not the members or gun owners at large. They know better to wake a sleeping giant. Instead the antigun orgs say "gun owners want common sense regulations, only the NRA doesn't".

 

Gun owners are too apologetic, too polite. If there's no NRA that ends. Let's be honest, the name would go on, it would only end in its current form. Either way, gun owners would take back their voice and the population at large would see we're even more against gun control than the NRA's talking heads.

 

Imagine massive open carry marches. Or in Illinois a "Conceal Carry March" but adhering to the minimum legal definition of concealed, carrying the biggest gun possible. You think that would finally get the media's attention and let us take over the dialog?

 

Compromise comes from two extremes meeting in the middle. Compromise coming from a position of compromise is not a compromise, it's a loss. We will always have the 2nd ammendment as long as we're a sovereign USA. Push the antis to demand its repeal, push the pro gunners to embrace non NFA machine guns, and meet in a middle which is better then the middle we have now.

[lowhouse5]

Gun controllers that use the NRA as the face of the devil do so because it's easy.

Most Americans recognize those letters but really know nothing about the organization so it's easy for the media and politicians to vilify them.

 

GOA has struck substantially and politicians are very aware of them.

 

I have no desire to see the NRA go away.

But I do want to see a new NRA.

[DD123]

The senior leaders at NRA have been treating our donations as a personal piggy bank and enriching themselves.

 

The only way the NRA survives is to fire Wayne and everyone else that has been there enriching themselves off of our dues, and get people in there who actually care more about 2A than making themselves millionaires off of our membership dues.

 

Senior leadership have been doing this for years. They’re filthy scumbags and need to go.

[THE KING]

The senior leaders at NRA have been treating our donations as a personal piggy bank and enriching themselves.

 

The only way the NRA survives is to fire Wayne and everyone else that has been there enriching themselves off of our dues, and get people in there who actually care more about 2A than making themselves millionaires off of our membership dues.

 

Senior leadership have been doing this for years. They’re filthy scumbags and need to go.

Very well said and to the point.

[Skolnick]

If they hate the NRA that much it must be doing something right.

 

And if Emmanuel Goldstein didn't exist, the Ministry of Truth would have fabricated him.

 

Hands up/Don't shoot!