There were a couple articles yesterday or the day prior mentioning that the Trump campaign is worried because the NRA (and a couple other organizations) are so internally fucked that they can't actually help at all in 2020. That's so delicious to me, that the damage of the NRA falling apart is already having an impact on the country.
Hasn't the campaign already raised over $100M? I think they're going to be fine unfortunately
Trump has. The rest of the GoP candidates running however...
Maybe THAT might finally get these craven fuckers moving in the right direction.
Usually takes first hand knowledge of Trump dicking over his "friends" for them to finally realize "Hey, I'm not special, I too am just another means to an end for this asshole".
Not counting on it though. Trump owns their souls.
I actually expect the NRA to do what it's parent company the KKK did. Dissolve at a national level then break up into local chapters that aren't 'official'.
I'm sure there will be a lot of overlap in membership which well let them vertically integrate their management structure and save more money for important racist things.
Nah. If the NRA is the KKK's offspring, it's the gun industry's pet. If it folds, the gun industry will abandon it and create a brand new grassroots organization that will appear to materialize overnight from thin air already a viable national lobbying organization.
NRA has the weight of inertia backing it, any new organization is going to have an uphill battle to get as entrenched as NRA is.
Not saying it can't happen, but making a replacement for NRA is going to cost a ton of money, and take time and manhours to do.
I think the NRA is also a big part of keeping libertarians and social conservatives together over a mutual love of guns. Without the NRA holding god and guns together, I suspect there's less keeping the Kochs and the CoC from deciding the mega-pastors are bad for business.
And/or threatening to back a freshly (I)ndependent Justin Amash as a spoiler, or cultivate more like him.
I actually expect the NRA to do what it's parent company the KKK did. Dissolve at a national level then break up into local chapters that aren't 'official'.
I'm sure there will be a lot of overlap in membership which well let them vertically integrate their management structure and save more money for important racist things.
Nah. If the NRA is the KKK's offspring, it's the gun industry's pet. If it folds, the gun industry will abandon it and create a brand new grassroots organization that will appear to materialize overnight from thin air already a viable national lobbying organization.
NRA has the weight of inertia backing it, any new organization is going to have an uphill battle to get as entrenched as NRA is.
Not saying it can't happen, but making a replacement for NRA is going to cost a ton of money, and take time and manhours to do.
There have been other pro-gun organizations over the years that have tried to replace the NRA ever since the current grifters took over in the 70’s. The NRA was quick to strangle them in their beds because they didn’t want the competition.
Today there are a couple smaller organizations that are pro-gun rights. The 2nd Amendment Foundation and the Gun Owners of America. Funnily enough, their members tend to hate the NRA as well.
I think the best part of this is that the organization could probably recover from this fairly easily by simply cleaning house, but as I said last page: Wayne has zero reason to give up his position since doing so would both cut him off from the funds he swims in scrooge mcduck style and if he does leave he's effectively dead in political circles since no other lobbying group will want him due to both the scandal and the threat of embezzlement he poses.
Which is just fine as far as I'm concerned because the NRA needs to die a death that makes Joe pesci's from casino seem tender, gentle and dignified by comparison.
I actually expect the NRA to do what it's parent company the KKK did. Dissolve at a national level then break up into local chapters that aren't 'official'.
I'm sure there will be a lot of overlap in membership which well let them vertically integrate their management structure and save more money for important racist things.
Nah. If the NRA is the KKK's offspring, it's the gun industry's pet. If it folds, the gun industry will abandon it and create a brand new grassroots organization that will appear to materialize overnight from thin air already a viable national lobbying organization.
NRA has the weight of inertia backing it, any new organization is going to have an uphill battle to get as entrenched as NRA is.
Not saying it can't happen, but making a replacement for NRA is going to cost a ton of money, and take time and manhours to do.
There have been other pro-gun organizations over the years that have tried to replace the NRA ever since the current grifters took over in the 70’s. The NRA was quick to strangle them in their beds because they didn’t want the competition.
Today there are a couple smaller organizations that are pro-gun rights. The 2nd Amendment Foundation and the Gun Owners of America. Funnily enough, their members tend to hate the NRA as well.
That was pretty much what i was thinking about.
you can't just start a new org and replace NRA because of the inertia behind it.
Any organization that wants to be the new NRA, must start by destroying NRA, and, again, NRA has lot of inertia behind it, even if their funding dries up, until it is fully gone, sheer weight of pre existing contracts and agreements, and memberships, are going to keep NRA as a meaningful force, if not nationally, atleast among the conservative gun enthusiasts who are the people the new org would need to attract.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I agree RE: inertia. More than one replacement group will crop up and not all of them will be as into the idea of being lobbyists per se, let alone have the ability to do so at the level of the NRA. It took a century for the NRA to build up to what it was, as far as membership and funds go. Also some replacement organizations might be more left-minded, advocating for gun control laws while also doing their part to educate on gun use - y'know, the initial ethos of the NRA. Probably with less racism to boot.
I'd have to look at gun ownership numbers again, but off the top of my head, neither the NRA or a successor organization isn't going to have an easy time getting back the clout the NRA once had in politics. It's not just NRA membership that has been dwindling, total number of people that want firearms has also been on the decline. It gets a bit harder to be appealing as a donor, when your organization is getting hit by the double whammy of having little money to bribe people with, while being really unpopular. Them being so clown shoes just compounds their situation even further.
The organization being filled to the brim with grifters has probably just accelerated it's decline. Coal is seeing similar problems. It's hard to maintain political relevance when a vast majority of the populace is hostile to your goals and the sympathetic elements aren't just small in numbers, but can't off much in the way of financial support. I imagine Trump and co are pissed about the organization shitting so bad because it was a cheap way for them to reach out to the rubes that would vote for them, line their pockets and take foreign bribes. It's essentially losing all three of those elements, while being something reviled by many, so it's a huge liability for the GOP, but both organizations have spent so much time cozying up with one another, that it's impossible for the GOP to shake the NRA associated taint. The NRA getting fully exposed is just going to make people look even harder at the GOP's shit and be less likely to give it a pass.
I agree RE: inertia. More than one replacement group will crop up and not all of them will be as into the idea of being lobbyists per se, let alone have the ability to do so at the level of the NRA. It took a century for the NRA to build up to what it was, as far as membership and funds go. Also some replacement organizations might be more left-minded, advocating for gun control laws while also doing their part to educate on gun use - y'know, the initial ethos of the NRA. Probably with less racism to boot.
This is optimistic. Any member of left leaning (I should caveat this as explicitly left leaning, the memberships of GOA and SAF aren't explicitly right leaning) firearms groups, for example the SRA, I've talked to are no more pro-control than members of GOA or SAF. The NRA is generally seen by anyone who isn't a fudd as compromising too often and too much.
In lawsuit news, the NRA is suing former NRA president Oliver North, attempting to block him from using NRA money to respond to subpoena requests from New York, on the grounds that he tried to "extort" the NRA.
The lawyer for that case is more interesting than the case itself, though. A one "William A. Brewer III" is a player in this game, but has managed to sneak under the radar. The lawsuit against Oliver North was filed in New York, not in Virginia where North lives. One potential reason for this is that the lawyer for that case, William A. Brewer III, would have trouble practicing law in Virginia. He previously tried to represent the NRA in that state, filed a "pro hac vice" application (basically, he's a lawyer, but not in that state, so a judge has to sign off), but "forgot" to mention the time he got caught witness tampering two years ago. I doubt a second try would be more successful.
But that's not why I'm calling him a player in this game. That's because he's charging the NRA $1.8 million a month, was hired with little oversight, is related to top Ackerman McQueen executives, and his jawdropping legal bills (against Lockton Affinity over CarryGuard) are what started the problems between Oliver North and LaPierre in the first place.
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
edited July 2019
Edit: Whoops
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ceresWhen the last moon is cast over the last star of morningAnd the future has past without even a last desperate warningRegistered User, Moderatormod
NOT gun control
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn
In "wait, they hadn't done that already?" news, the NRA has stopped selling Carry Guard insurance plans. Between having three states declare it illegal, and having the insurance companies managing it back out, you could be forgiven for thinking they had stopped months ago, but no. But don't worry, they plan to launch a new insurance product in the future, and it appears that people who have already signed up will continue to have the policy active. https://www.thetrace.org/rounds/the-nra-ends-its-carry-guard-insurance-program/
In "the email complaining about all the leaks got leaked" news, it turns out that when NRA board members who speak up against the NRA's financial mismanagement lose assignments, that is explicit retaliation. (Alternately, NRA board members who do not act in the "best interests of our Association" and "help us save the Second Amendment" may find themselves without assignments.) https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/nra-leaked-email-wayne-lapierre-marion-hammer-revolt.html
A while back, I noted that "William A. Brewer III", an attorney for the NRA, is a player in whatever is going down at the NRA. Well, guess who just showed up in the New Yorker?
Emily Cummins, a former NRA top-level treasury employee who resigned late last year, has put out a statement that accuses Brewer of
* Running up exorbitant legal fees
* Sending duplicate and dubious bills
* Obstructing NRA accountants
* Intimidating and threatening NRA staff who spoke up
* Prioritizing his payments over other vendors who had not been paid in months, as well as NRA payroll
* Accumulating personal information on NRA staff for blackmail purposes
Former colleagues and written evidence support her claims. (I haven't been able to find an actual copy of her statement, unfortunately.)
At this point I'm kind of amazed at how this organization lasted as long as it has considering how rife with corruption it apparently is.
My guess is they had record high membership during the Obama years and as that dipped there was no longer enough to go around and it forced them to start ripping each other off instead of the members.
The newer version of the NRA had no idea how to continue the scam once they won an election.
They made a fortune during the Obama years and lead up to the 2016 election
The gun control debate is essentially over, and that means the NRA cannot use the fear of a "ban" to keep the money coming in
Eh until the next democratic president gets elected. Then the fear will be back immediately, the question will be will the NRA be there to make money off of it.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
It seems more like the NRA fucked up a few too many times at once and it's parasites became too hungry for it to be able to survive that big a disruption.
It seems more like the NRA fucked up a few too many times at once and it's parasites became too hungry for it to be able to survive that big a disruption.
I think it was really a dog caught a car situation. They didn't realize helping Trump win would kill so much of their grift streams, and without the money spigots flowing in, it was more obvious how much money was being taken out of the org and not benefiting membership.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
It was several things at once. Statistics have been showing that the NRA and the gun industry have been slowly bleeding to death. Ironically, by helping get republicans elected, the NRA was putting nails in their coffin since a number of republican policies were killing the appeal of gun ownership. Also by aligning with the GOP, the NRA ensured that they would get crushed along with the GOP, if the tide ever turned against republicans. They might have been able to survive that, but the grift probably cut into things. It also seems to have let to the infighting becoming public and people becoming aware that a ton of scams were ongoing.
The newer version of the NRA had no idea how to continue the scam once they won an election.
They made a fortune during the Obama years and lead up to the 2016 election
The gun control debate is essentially over, and that means the NRA cannot use the fear of a "ban" to keep the money coming in
Eh until the next democratic president gets elected. Then the fear will be back immediately, the question will be will the NRA be there to make money off of it.
Logical conclusion: The NRA should secretly fund the Democratic party.
The newer version of the NRA had no idea how to continue the scam once they won an election.
They made a fortune during the Obama years and lead up to the 2016 election
The gun control debate is essentially over, and that means the NRA cannot use the fear of a "ban" to keep the money coming in
Eh until the next democratic president gets elected. Then the fear will be back immediately, the question will be will the NRA be there to make money off of it.
Logical conclusion: The NRA should secretly fund the Democratic party.
Honestly I'd hope the Dems would tell them to fuck off. But sadly I know that party if the NRA donated they'd line up at the trough and tell us all its for "real america".
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
I've always found it quite ironic that they don't, honestly. For all the talk that Democrats make on gun control and Republicans make against it, the history of actual action has seen both sides responsible for meaningful controls and significant walk backs. Democrats have been more net pro and Republicans more net anti over time, but neither one has been a solid line.
Israel, oil, and Wall Street have all shown that the cost effective way to get what you want isn't to pick a side and dump all your money into it. It's to indiscriminately give to everyone (just enough that the threat of losing it has teeth) and just let elections fall as they will.
Of course, that only works when "what you want" is the exact same thing as "what you SAY you want." The NRA's always had a loud but inaudible whistle blowing through that gap if you get what I'm saying.
I've always found it quite ironic that they don't, honestly. For all the talk that Democrats make on gun control and Republicans make against it, the history of actual action has seen both sides responsible for meaningful controls and significant walk backs. Democrats have been more net pro and Republicans more net anti over time, but neither one has been a solid line.
Israel, oil, and Wall Street have all shown that the cost effective way to get what you want isn't to pick a side and dump all your money into it. It's to indiscriminately give to everyone (just enough that the threat of losing it has teeth) and just let elections fall as they will.
Of course, that only works when "what you want" is the exact same thing as "what you SAY you want." The NRA's always had a loud but inaudible whistle blowing through that gap if you get what I'm saying.
I don't know, I think what the NRA's done has mostly worked for them. They've created a rabid, cult-like, radicalized culture around guns in the last what, 50 years? Obviously, it's a cancer on our society, but I think it ends up being useful for them and amplifies their lobbying efforts because it's not just funding they'll lose out on, but these gun cultist voters as well.
I've always found it quite ironic that they don't, honestly. For all the talk that Democrats make on gun control and Republicans make against it, the history of actual action has seen both sides responsible for meaningful controls and significant walk backs. Democrats have been more net pro and Republicans more net anti over time, but neither one has been a solid line.
Israel, oil, and Wall Street have all shown that the cost effective way to get what you want isn't to pick a side and dump all your money into it. It's to indiscriminately give to everyone (just enough that the threat of losing it has teeth) and just let elections fall as they will.
Of course, that only works when "what you want" is the exact same thing as "what you SAY you want." The NRA's always had a loud but inaudible whistle blowing through that gap if you get what I'm saying.
Last paragraph is the kicker that makes playing both sides to the middle not work as well as they needed it to. NRA's leadership obviously just wanted money pouring into it so they could grift it, and that meant constructing a scenario "Dems are going to take your guns away!" That would motivate people to donate large sums to prevent it.
The newer version of the NRA had no idea how to continue the scam once they won an election.
They made a fortune during the Obama years and lead up to the 2016 election
The gun control debate is essentially over, and that means the NRA cannot use the fear of a "ban" to keep the money coming in
Eh until the next democratic president gets elected. Then the fear will be back immediately, the question will be will the NRA be there to make money off of it.
Logical conclusion: The NRA should secretly fund the Democratic party.
Honestly I'd hope the Dems would tell them to fuck off. But sadly I know that party if the NRA donated they'd line up at the trough and tell us all its for "real america".
They could just hide that it was coming from them via one of those SuperPac things.
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MayabirdPecking at the keyboardRegistered Userregular
The NRA had gone the way of the rest of the conservative movement: doubling down on an increasingly rabid and radicalised minority to weild power.
Indeed, these are not the kind of cold-blooded people who could cynically work both sides to their advantage; they chugged their own Kool-Ade until they became True Believers of all their propaganda.
Anyway, in news, three of the NRA's seventy six board members just resigned. These three had been demanding independent investigation into some of the scams, but they were stonewalled and blocked at every turn. Remains to see if anybody else tries to jump ship, or if they were the only non-grifters among the board.
The NRA had gone the way of the rest of the conservative movement: doubling down on an increasingly rabid and radicalised minority to weild power.
Indeed, these are not the kind of cold-blooded people who could cynically work both sides to their advantage; they chugged their own Kool-Ade until they became True Believers of all their propaganda.
Anyway, in news, three of the NRA's seventy six board members just resigned. These three had been demanding independent investigation into some of the scams, but they were stonewalled and blocked at every turn. Remains to see if anybody else tries to jump ship, or if they were the only non-grifters among the board.
Or the only grifters to admit to themselves the grift is over. Though god damn they have 76? Board members that seems excessive.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
The NRA had gone the way of the rest of the conservative movement: doubling down on an increasingly rabid and radicalised minority to weild power.
Indeed, these are not the kind of cold-blooded people who could cynically work both sides to their advantage; they chugged their own Kool-Ade until they became True Believers of all their propaganda.
Anyway, in news, three of the NRA's seventy six board members just resigned. These three had been demanding independent investigation into some of the scams, but they were stonewalled and blocked at every turn. Remains to see if anybody else tries to jump ship, or if they were the only non-grifters among the board.
Or the only grifters to admit to themselves the grift is over. Though god damn they have 76? Board members that seems excessive.
It is excessive. Most of the board members are basically celebrity guest stars. There have been people talking about how the board size helps protect the usual suspects from the wrath of the board, because there's enough loyalists to block any attempt to remove the leader.
It's hard to imagine LaPierre can keep people loyal when the org continues to hemorrhage money, especially when he was in charge while Brewer was apparently skimming ludicrous amounts through billing fraud.
I really wonder how much longer conservative, rural folks are going to continue to fund organizations set up specifically to fleece them.
It's hard to imagine LaPierre can keep people loyal when the org continues to hemorrhage money, especially when he was in charge while Brewer was apparently skimming ludicrous amounts through billing fraud.
I really wonder how much longer conservative, rural folks are going to continue to fund organizations set up specifically to fleece them.
I would be super surprised if the rank and file "MAH GUNS!!!" types of the NRA even know about what's going on, since most of the stories have been broken by the "fake news".
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
It's hard to imagine LaPierre can keep people loyal when the org continues to hemorrhage money, especially when he was in charge while Brewer was apparently skimming ludicrous amounts through billing fraud.
I really wonder how much longer conservative, rural folks are going to continue to fund organizations set up specifically to fleece them.
I would be super surprised if the rank and file "MAH GUNS!!!" types of the NRA even know about what's going on, since most of the stories have been broken by the "fake news".
People are aware of the problems with the NRA. There are varied opinions on the continued usefulness of the NRA and other organizations like the GOA and SAF among many state level organizations and ostensibly non-political organizations like the JPFO and Pink Pistols have grown significantly in the last two decades. There is an entire world of information and discussion outside of this forum which includes "MAH GUNS NRA types", which for the record are not all rural men over the age of 50.
It's hard to imagine LaPierre can keep people loyal when the org continues to hemorrhage money, especially when he was in charge while Brewer was apparently skimming ludicrous amounts through billing fraud.
I really wonder how much longer conservative, rural folks are going to continue to fund organizations set up specifically to fleece them.
I would be super surprised if the rank and file "MAH GUNS!!!" types of the NRA even know about what's going on, since most of the stories have been broken by the "fake news".
People are aware of the problems with the NRA. There are varied opinions on the continued usefulness of the NRA and other organizations like the GOA and SAF among many state level organizations and ostensibly non-political organizations like the JPFO and Pink Pistols have grown significantly in the last two decades. There is an entire world of information and discussion outside of this forum which includes "MAH GUNS NRA types", which for the record are not all rural men over the age of 50.
I imagine not all of them are aware. I have come to believe, with absolute certainty, that the one thing you can say about humanity is that it fits on the Standard Deviation chart.
It's hard to imagine LaPierre can keep people loyal when the org continues to hemorrhage money, especially when he was in charge while Brewer was apparently skimming ludicrous amounts through billing fraud.
I really wonder how much longer conservative, rural folks are going to continue to fund organizations set up specifically to fleece them.
I would be super surprised if the rank and file "MAH GUNS!!!" types of the NRA even know about what's going on, since most of the stories have been broken by the "fake news".
People are aware of the problems with the NRA. There are varied opinions on the continued usefulness of the NRA and other organizations like the GOA and SAF among many state level organizations and ostensibly non-political organizations like the JPFO and Pink Pistols have grown significantly in the last two decades. There is an entire world of information and discussion outside of this forum which includes "MAH GUNS NRA types", which for the record are not all rural men over the age of 50.
I imagine not all of them are aware. I have come to believe, with absolute certainty, that the one thing you can say about humanity is that it fits on the Standard Deviation chart.
The goings on of the NRA have been a hot topic of discussion pretty much everywhere online people discuss firearms for probably the last year. The only GunTubers, for example, who haven't at least touched on it either strive to remain "non-political" because their channels on which they destroy random items with firearms is their primary source of revenue (e.g. DemoRanch) or the NRA was explicitly a sponsor of their channel and content until very recently (Hickock45, Colion Noir).
Like any other topic not 100% of people are aware of the exact details of what is going on but there is regular discussion of the general state of the NRA and LaPierre.
Posts
Maybe THAT might finally get these craven fuckers moving in the right direction.
Usually takes first hand knowledge of Trump dicking over his "friends" for them to finally realize "Hey, I'm not special, I too am just another means to an end for this asshole".
Not counting on it though. Trump owns their souls.
I think the NRA is also a big part of keeping libertarians and social conservatives together over a mutual love of guns. Without the NRA holding god and guns together, I suspect there's less keeping the Kochs and the CoC from deciding the mega-pastors are bad for business.
And/or threatening to back a freshly (I)ndependent Justin Amash as a spoiler, or cultivate more like him.
There have been other pro-gun organizations over the years that have tried to replace the NRA ever since the current grifters took over in the 70’s. The NRA was quick to strangle them in their beds because they didn’t want the competition.
Today there are a couple smaller organizations that are pro-gun rights. The 2nd Amendment Foundation and the Gun Owners of America. Funnily enough, their members tend to hate the NRA as well.
Which is just fine as far as I'm concerned because the NRA needs to die a death that makes Joe pesci's from casino seem tender, gentle and dignified by comparison.
you can't just start a new org and replace NRA because of the inertia behind it.
Any organization that wants to be the new NRA, must start by destroying NRA, and, again, NRA has lot of inertia behind it, even if their funding dries up, until it is fully gone, sheer weight of pre existing contracts and agreements, and memberships, are going to keep NRA as a meaningful force, if not nationally, atleast among the conservative gun enthusiasts who are the people the new org would need to attract.
The organization being filled to the brim with grifters has probably just accelerated it's decline. Coal is seeing similar problems. It's hard to maintain political relevance when a vast majority of the populace is hostile to your goals and the sympathetic elements aren't just small in numbers, but can't off much in the way of financial support. I imagine Trump and co are pissed about the organization shitting so bad because it was a cheap way for them to reach out to the rubes that would vote for them, line their pockets and take foreign bribes. It's essentially losing all three of those elements, while being something reviled by many, so it's a huge liability for the GOP, but both organizations have spent so much time cozying up with one another, that it's impossible for the GOP to shake the NRA associated taint. The NRA getting fully exposed is just going to make people look even harder at the GOP's shit and be less likely to give it a pass.
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
This is optimistic. Any member of left leaning (I should caveat this as explicitly left leaning, the memberships of GOA and SAF aren't explicitly right leaning) firearms groups, for example the SRA, I've talked to are no more pro-control than members of GOA or SAF. The NRA is generally seen by anyone who isn't a fudd as compromising too often and too much.
They tend to be strongly pro-gun ownership for minorities and the poor, for obvious reasons.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns-nra/washington-prosecutor-subpoenas-nra-in-probe-into-nonprofit-status-idUSKCN1U729Y
In lawsuit news, the NRA is suing former NRA president Oliver North, attempting to block him from using NRA money to respond to subpoena requests from New York, on the grounds that he tried to "extort" the NRA.
The lawyer for that case is more interesting than the case itself, though. A one "William A. Brewer III" is a player in this game, but has managed to sneak under the radar. The lawsuit against Oliver North was filed in New York, not in Virginia where North lives. One potential reason for this is that the lawyer for that case, William A. Brewer III, would have trouble practicing law in Virginia. He previously tried to represent the NRA in that state, filed a "pro hac vice" application (basically, he's a lawyer, but not in that state, so a judge has to sign off), but "forgot" to mention the time he got caught witness tampering two years ago. I doubt a second try would be more successful.
But that's not why I'm calling him a player in this game. That's because he's charging the NRA $1.8 million a month, was hired with little oversight, is related to top Ackerman McQueen executives, and his jawdropping legal bills (against Lockton Affinity over CarryGuard) are what started the problems between Oliver North and LaPierre in the first place.
Also, let's talk about the time he got caught witness tampering, because I know you're curious.
In a wrongful death lawsuit, he paid to have a push poll done across the city to bias people in his client's favor, which would presumably hit witnesses and potential jury members. Quotes from the judge include "disrespectful to the judicial system and threatening to the integrity of the judicial system" and "in the category of misconduct which is highly prejudicial and inimical to a fair trial by an impartial jury."
https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/nra-north.pdf
https://www.ammoland.com/2019/07/shit-storm-todays-nra-heads-need-to-roll/#axzz5tWRgWjx8 (pro-gun website)
https://www.thetrace.org/2018/08/nra-lawyer-william-brewer-ethics-violation-new-york/
In "wait, they hadn't done that already?" news, the NRA has stopped selling Carry Guard insurance plans. Between having three states declare it illegal, and having the insurance companies managing it back out, you could be forgiven for thinking they had stopped months ago, but no. But don't worry, they plan to launch a new insurance product in the future, and it appears that people who have already signed up will continue to have the policy active.
https://www.thetrace.org/rounds/the-nra-ends-its-carry-guard-insurance-program/
In "the email complaining about all the leaks got leaked" news, it turns out that when NRA board members who speak up against the NRA's financial mismanagement lose assignments, that is explicit retaliation. (Alternately, NRA board members who do not act in the "best interests of our Association" and "help us save the Second Amendment" may find themselves without assignments.)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/nra-leaked-email-wayne-lapierre-marion-hammer-revolt.html
Emily Cummins, a former NRA top-level treasury employee who resigned late last year, has put out a statement that accuses Brewer of
* Running up exorbitant legal fees
* Sending duplicate and dubious bills
* Obstructing NRA accountants
* Intimidating and threatening NRA staff who spoke up
* Prioritizing his payments over other vendors who had not been paid in months, as well as NRA payroll
* Accumulating personal information on NRA staff for blackmail purposes
Former colleagues and written evidence support her claims. (I haven't been able to find an actual copy of her statement, unfortunately.)
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/new-documents-raise-ethical-and-billing-concerns-about-the-nras-outside-counsel
"New Documents Raise Ethical and Billing Concerns About the N.R.A.’s Outside Counsel"
ProPublica also has a version if you get paywalled:
https://www.propublica.org/article/william-brewer-new-documents-raise-ethical-billing-concerns-about-nra-outside-counsel
pleasepaypreacher.net
Seriously! Like how much money were they insulated by!
pleasepaypreacher.net
My guess is they had record high membership during the Obama years and as that dipped there was no longer enough to go around and it forced them to start ripping each other off instead of the members.
Huge amounts. The amount of NRA branded junk my family members have as gifts for their donations is ridiculous.
They made a fortune during the Obama years and lead up to the 2016 election
The gun control debate is essentially over, and that means the NRA cannot use the fear of a "ban" to keep the money coming in
Eh until the next democratic president gets elected. Then the fear will be back immediately, the question will be will the NRA be there to make money off of it.
pleasepaypreacher.net
I think it was really a dog caught a car situation. They didn't realize helping Trump win would kill so much of their grift streams, and without the money spigots flowing in, it was more obvious how much money was being taken out of the org and not benefiting membership.
pleasepaypreacher.net
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
Logical conclusion: The NRA should secretly fund the Democratic party.
Honestly I'd hope the Dems would tell them to fuck off. But sadly I know that party if the NRA donated they'd line up at the trough and tell us all its for "real america".
pleasepaypreacher.net
Israel, oil, and Wall Street have all shown that the cost effective way to get what you want isn't to pick a side and dump all your money into it. It's to indiscriminately give to everyone (just enough that the threat of losing it has teeth) and just let elections fall as they will.
Of course, that only works when "what you want" is the exact same thing as "what you SAY you want." The NRA's always had a loud but inaudible whistle blowing through that gap if you get what I'm saying.
I don't know, I think what the NRA's done has mostly worked for them. They've created a rabid, cult-like, radicalized culture around guns in the last what, 50 years? Obviously, it's a cancer on our society, but I think it ends up being useful for them and amplifies their lobbying efforts because it's not just funding they'll lose out on, but these gun cultist voters as well.
Last paragraph is the kicker that makes playing both sides to the middle not work as well as they needed it to. NRA's leadership obviously just wanted money pouring into it so they could grift it, and that meant constructing a scenario "Dems are going to take your guns away!" That would motivate people to donate large sums to prevent it.
Problem was that they won too hard.
They could just hide that it was coming from them via one of those SuperPac things.
Indeed, these are not the kind of cold-blooded people who could cynically work both sides to their advantage; they chugged their own Kool-Ade until they became True Believers of all their propaganda.
Anyway, in news, three of the NRA's seventy six board members just resigned. These three had been demanding independent investigation into some of the scams, but they were stonewalled and blocked at every turn. Remains to see if anybody else tries to jump ship, or if they were the only non-grifters among the board.
Or the only grifters to admit to themselves the grift is over. Though god damn they have 76? Board members that seems excessive.
pleasepaypreacher.net
It is excessive. Most of the board members are basically celebrity guest stars. There have been people talking about how the board size helps protect the usual suspects from the wrath of the board, because there's enough loyalists to block any attempt to remove the leader.
Also, one of the common demands from the people asking the NRA to stop being so terrible is to shrink the size of the board.
https://www.thetrace.org/2019/07/nra-reformers-confront-board-that-protects-wayne-lapierre/
I really wonder how much longer conservative, rural folks are going to continue to fund organizations set up specifically to fleece them.
I would be super surprised if the rank and file "MAH GUNS!!!" types of the NRA even know about what's going on, since most of the stories have been broken by the "fake news".
pleasepaypreacher.net
People are aware of the problems with the NRA. There are varied opinions on the continued usefulness of the NRA and other organizations like the GOA and SAF among many state level organizations and ostensibly non-political organizations like the JPFO and Pink Pistols have grown significantly in the last two decades. There is an entire world of information and discussion outside of this forum which includes "MAH GUNS NRA types", which for the record are not all rural men over the age of 50.
I imagine not all of them are aware. I have come to believe, with absolute certainty, that the one thing you can say about humanity is that it fits on the Standard Deviation chart.
The goings on of the NRA have been a hot topic of discussion pretty much everywhere online people discuss firearms for probably the last year. The only GunTubers, for example, who haven't at least touched on it either strive to remain "non-political" because their channels on which they destroy random items with firearms is their primary source of revenue (e.g. DemoRanch) or the NRA was explicitly a sponsor of their channel and content until very recently (Hickock45, Colion Noir).
Like any other topic not 100% of people are aware of the exact details of what is going on but there is regular discussion of the general state of the NRA and LaPierre.