After spending over $30m to help elect Donald Trump in 2016, the National Rifle Association faces a deepening financial crisis with over 200 staff layoffs and furloughs in 2020, according to three NRA sources, gun analysts and documents.

The situation is likely to hinder efforts by the gun rights group to help Trump and other Republicans win in November’s election.

The 200-plus layoffs and furloughs, which have not previously been reported and were mainly at NRA headquarters in Virginia, were spurred by declines in revenues and fundraising, heavy legal spending, political infighting, and charges of insider self-dealing under scrutiny by attorneys general in New York and Washington DC, the sources say.

“The widespread Covid layoffs and furloughs have further harmed both the NRA’s legal capacity and political influence beyond what was already a troubling deterioration,” said one NRA official who requested anonymity to discuss internal matters. The official added the outlook this year for NRA political spending was “deeply concerning.”


Revealed: top official did special favors on guns for NRA at interior department
Read more
NRA staff learned about the furloughs, plus 20% staff pay cuts, four-day work weeks and other belt tightening, in an April email from Wayne LaPierre, the longtime top executive of the NRA, which claims it has 5 million members.

LaPierre’s email to the “NRA family” said “we have lost significant revenue” and linked the austerity moves to the pandemic’s stay-at-home orders. The email said the NRA hoped to bring back those furloughed when its finances improved.

The NRA declined to comment on the extent of the layoffs and furloughs, which sources said were continuing.

The NRA’s financial problems were palpable long before the pandemic but have increased due to a few factors, including the cancellation of a number of NRA fundraising dinners following the onset of Covid-19.


The NRA typically pulls in tens of millions of dollars yearly from Friends of NRA dinners in many states, but most were canceled after January and February, said the sources.

The NRA’s woes, say gun analysts, are expected to sharply reduce spending this year compared with the $30m the group spent on ads to help Trump win in 2016. They are also likely to mean cuts to its once formidable get out the vote operations in key states that historically provide big boosts to GOP candidates. Overall in 2016, the NRA spent close to $70m on ads and voter mobilization drives, say NRA sources.

In 2018, the NRA’s financial problems caused it to spend a relatively lackluster $9.4m on the midterm elections, and gun control groups outspent the NRA for the first time, which analysts say helped the Democrats win the House majority.

“The NRA is entering the summer and fall campaign with a series of crippling financial, legal, and political problems,” said Robert Spitzer, a political science professor at Cortland State University in New York.

Spitzer added: “As its anemic political spending in the 2018 midterm election showed, they will not be able to match anything like the roughly $70m they spent in 2016, as they continue to be plagued by a major revenue shortfall, a fact exacerbated by the impact of the coronavirus shutdown.”


The drop in revenues accelerated in 2019 when several large NRA donors began a drive to oust LaPierre over allegations of mismanagement and self-dealing, and to promote reforms. The website helpsavethenra.com, which is headlined “Retire LaPierre”, boasted in December that $165m in donations and planned gifts had been withheld.


G
The donor revolt has been spurred in part by several reports of lavish personal spending by LaPierre. The Wall Street Journal revealed last year that according to the NRA’s former ad firm Ackerman McQueen, which has been in legal battles with the NRA and LaPierre, he took about $240,000 worth of trips to Italy, Hungary, the Bahamas and other locales that were charged to the ad firm. The Journal reported that the ad firm had paid for about $200,000 in expensive suits for LaPierre, including some from a Beverly Hills boutique.

LaPierre’s yearly salary in 2018 was close to $2m.

Two Democratic attorneys general in New York and DC have reportedly been investigating whether the NRA abused its non-profit tax-exempt status in different ways such as improperly transferring funds from an NRA Foundation to the NRA.

Further, the AGs are said to be examining the allegations of self-dealing by NRA leaders, including financial transactions involving LaPierre, the NRA and the former ad firm.

If the AGs bring charges, the NRA could lose its coveted non-profit status in New York, where it has long been chartered.

The NRA’s top outside lawyer has said it is complying with the investigations but has attacked the NY AG’s “zeal” and “the investigation’s partisan purposes”.

During the pandemic, the NRA and pro-gun allies have waged successful legal battles in a number of states to make gun shops and shooting ranges “essential” businesses and circumvent stay-at-home measures.


‘The NRA is in grave danger’: group's troubles are blow to Trump's 2020 bid
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But in mid-June, second-amendment advocates and the NRA suffered a stinging legal setback when the supreme court declined 10 petitions to review lower court rulings involving gun laws in several states, including Illinois and Massachusetts, which have banned assault weapons.

The NRA attacked the high court’s “inaction” in a statement, blasting it for allowing “so-called gun safety politicians to trample on the freedom and security of law-abiding citizens”.

Due to the pandemic, the NRA earlier this year canceled its annual meeting in Nashville, which Trump has faithfully attended since taking office to solidify his NRA ties. It is now slated to be held on 5 September in Springfield, Missouri.

At last year’s meeting was concluding, Trump in a tweet urged his NRA allies to “stop the internal infighting” amid the charges of self-dealing by its leaders and to “get back to GREATNESS. FAST.” For now, Trump’s aspirations for a speedy NRA recovery seem largely unfulfilled.

Are they on life support??

If they get rid of Wayne and get back on track they will become the powerful organization they once were.

It's up to them if they want to survive.

Nailed it. ^^^^^

Thanks for that Breaking News there Jimmy Olsen, this has only been covered by at least half a dozen threads over the last 6-8 months.
The NRA is dying a slow death thanks to Wayne LaPew.

I'll send them $$ when they get their act together.

Edited: Never mind.

Certainly the case when they give 30 million to trump.

Looks like Wayne is gonna ride it all the way in.........................................

Seems like if ol’ Wayne would give up just half his salary for a year they’d be about back on track.

Eat the rich?

And NOT before.

That’s exactly true. I’m a Patron member And have given beyond my membership. But not another dime until Wayne is gone.

Could sell off Waynes' wardrobe and mansion, chop his unearned salary to a quarter- better yet, nothing.

The NRA governance system is deeply flawed if not outright corrupt. Jettisoning Wayne is essential but at best a temporary feel-good step.

Join Gun Owners of America and give them your money. They are a better organization anyway.

They'll make sure we hold the senate

Re: NRA in grave danger---What else is new? Been the case since I was first a member in the 70s.

Yeah, no big deal. When the democrats are firmly in control; the NRA will be forced to compromise and we can all get on with business

"NRA will be forced to compromise" What else is new?

Give it a little time; you'll be seeing "new" soon enough


You don't mind if I laugh when it happens do you?

I am guessing you are also upset because the NRA has crashed and burned. We as members are to be blamed for our inattention to our organization.
Things only became widely known when Ollie and Wayne got in a fight over the loot. It's basically time to call in hospice for NRA.

Yes, but how did legal fee's morph into clothing expenses?

You and gahuntertom must have your nose buried way up between Waynes cheeks to sniff out your information?

Post pictures of your nose buried deeply please

So we can't wait for Remington to go bankrupt and the NRA to shut down, explain to me like I'm a little child, how this will make anything in gunworld better.

No explanation needed; it can't wait.

Wayne will probably go down with the ship, Capt Ahab style...

Ole Ahab got so target fixated and tangled up with that whale, Mobe-Dick, he lost it all. Ahab got sucked under by the whale he managed to harpoon and kill.

The whale in this scenario, is the dwindling NRA coffers, evidently in a death spiral, bled for so many years by WLP and his cronies. All this while we were continually coerced into giving just a little bit more.

Well, as an Endowment member, I'm done until they clean house. I don't even round up at MidwayUSA any longer, just check the "no thank you" box and move on.

DF

Pepe LePew and the gang of thieves who keep him in power need to get their walking papers, or maybe a long term lease on a small piece of real estate.

The NRA is going the way of the Boy Scouts. Lack of leadership to do whats right

Donald's got gun owners' backs. Or not. Depends on who spoke with him last.

I joined the vcdl in va. At least they are suing to keep our rights. NRA just likes money

Life Member here but no money is going to NRA until Wayne is gone.

His boy likes to pull the trigger; doubt he's ever gutted his own animal though.

"Grave danger?"

"Is there any other kind?"

Not happy with the NRA mess, but I do wonder...

1. NRA, while not perfect, has been awfully effective with LaPierre. Other gun rights organizations may be more pure in some way or another, but none can claim NRA-under-Pierre's track record of efficacy.

2. With leads me to wonder: What if part of the price of an effective NRA and RKBA is an executive in charge who is a prima donna who spends money like a drunken sailor? Is it worth it? In the big scheme of things, $250k on trips by a washington lobbyist is nothing.

IMO, probably worth it. The left has had similar issues pop and they don;t make too big a deal of it. The offender might be shown the door, but he gets a gift basket on the way out if he was effective. I am thinking of the SPLC, among others. Politics is not bean bag.

THAT THAT THAT!!!!!!!

The NRA has supported every single piece of federal gun legislation that has ever been passed. I can't believe I have to keep mentioning this.

The man has the attention span of a mosquito.

But, but....

Those Swamp perc are real expensive...

Swamp overhead is all overhead, long on buns, short on beef...

DF

Keep voting in democrats

I get aggravated with The Donald from time to time. He's not the smoothest, not perfect.

BUT, he sure beats the H___ out of RINO's and Dems...

He's a NYC street fighter and IMO, that's what we need right now to save this country and our culture.

At least he takes it to'em, locks horns, doesn't back down, doesn't "take a knee".....

Ya gotta love that about him.

So, go on nit picking and see where that gets ya...

DF

Keep voting in corrupt [bleep], and expecting different results, you senile old fool. Keep expecting government to somehow protect you from government, you idiot. One thing that the left understands is the people like you are utterly detached from reality. What they lack in understanding is that they are as well, by design.

Maybe I missed something, but don't we want a pro gun government? Isn't that why the NRA lobby is so important?


You girls sure are confused.

Not even. Nothing has an attention span as short as the his.

The NRA is toast until Wayne is gone - and a lot of his facilitators as well. I do not think this happens in time to maintain the NRA as a major force and it will continue to slide back into the dusty corners of irrelevancy even after Wayne has been fired, retired, or expired (whichever comes first).

You couldn't carry water for him, you 5th column jackass.

He also makes old women very happy. First orgasm shes had in years.

Its frustrating when you feel the organization has the same trappings as other lobbyists - big money in play, constant drive for money from the donors and then the leaders spend it on themselves.

That said....


Lets say LaPierre's salary was $3m a year and he bought his own expensive suits and paid for his own travel junkets.(meaning he came out ahead to the tune of $500K)

Would that make a difference to the masses? We'd never hear about any of this, and if people aren't really balking at him pulling in $2m, who would at 3?

You both are right. And wrong.

We're not really given much of a choice. George Wallace said it best, "There's not a dime's worth of difference between the Democrat and Republican parties."

They both signal this way or that way on issues of little consequence(1). But in the end, the politicians we see are the circus clowns of the ruling class show. The real power stays out of the spotlight.
.
.
(1) And RKBA is considered of little consequence. The ruling class thinks they can intimidate, bully, or slaughter gun owners when it comes down to brass tacks. Heck, some think using nukes on recalcitrant gun owners is legit.

ra ra ra girlfriend. jump high and wave your widdle pom poms

WLP has been there as long as I've been a member (now Patriot, I think) and that's 1995 or so, maybe 93 for me. But he's invisible now. He's never on the tube, never on the road, never in the news, so why does he need fancy suits? How is he worth two million a year? And I'm sick and tired of the lack of transparency in how NRA does anything? When was the last time you met a board member? One of 76? Again, I've been a member for around 25 years and never, not once met or even seen one, except Charlton Heston in Montana one time. And I saw Bob Barr in Denver at the aborted convention in 1999. Saw, not talked.

Whereis the board of the NRA?
I have to believe that there is more than enough unhappiness in the rank and file to make a change with Wayne. But nothing happens.
Wayne is no longer the problem, those that don’t replace him are the problem.

Ditto on MidwayUSA roundup, I don’t give a penny there, either.

The new edition of American Rifleman has Wayne on the cover
He says -- it is time ti fight.
Yes it is-- and has been for a while.
Where has he been? I mean besides buying suits and shopping for a mansion-- with our money!

Yes it is time to fight Wayne,, get out in front and lead the fight!!

That's a lie and you should be ashamed to post it.

Did the NRA buy Wayne that $ six million Texas mansion?

Exactly. And most unfortunately.

Or maybe Slim Pickens style, as in Dr Strangelove, although Slim had the attitude of a true patriot. The success of the Mission was his priority.
I don't see WLP in that picture.

My memory is getting older than I thought. Chill Wills was the Rider of The Bomb.

How old is Wayne as of today !

The writing is on the wall Enjoy it


https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-worried-about-nra-collapse-in-advance-of-2020-report-2019-7

Some of you people seem to be gleeful at the prospect of the NRA going down. That's pretty dumb.

I hate to have to tell ya, but if NRA goes down, YOU go down. GOA is nice but they just don't have the chops. And how do you know what THEY spend on the boss's bennies?

In 2016 Ohio was a swing state, having gone for Obama in 2012. The NRA ran more ads for Trump in Ohio than the Trump campaign did. In my opinion, they were also better ads. Trump carried Ohio by 8 points. Our state is at least as conservative as Texas (surprise) and we don't have a Democrat governor like Montana. A proposed red flag law never got a hearing.

And that's why you'd better not root against the NRA. Did all the Leftists desert Obama because he spent $4 million on vacations?

The geriatrics here have done their shooting, the youngins have never heard of the NRA, and the president elect doesn't need em. Its pretty much useless.

IndyCA35, I think we are not gleeful with the NRA going down. We are pissed at the
way our money has been wasted. We don’t want the NRA gone, we want it “fixed”. There a lot of money sitting on the sidelines until it is fixed.
For the life of me, I can not understand why those with the authority do not have the balls to fix it.

No.

Maybe its not as broken as some have been led to believe, or maybe its been fixed. Maybe too much mail and phone calls

Everyone knows they sell hysteria.

Maybe you are right, but if so, they have really, truly sucked at working on their membership relationship. They seem to have not a care in the world about their members' perception (rightly or wrongly) of WLP and the BoD. They won't even discuss it. So, down they go. Dumber than a box of rocks if the stories about Wayne's priorities are not true.

We are not gleefull-- we are concerned that the NRA-- that we support, and have for years, just seems to give in to the anti's all the time--- Why the hell do we not attack them constantly? Lets take the fight to them, make them defend thier position.
Every time we give in, they see that as a weakness.
I have been a paying member for years, I will continue to be.
I will no longer send money to the ILA, or the NRA. They must fix this!!!

That's a lie. Statements have been issued; but how would a gun hating commie know that right?

bump stocks?

To me the NRA is like a church.

People give money to further the mission.
It's ideology, not the man. They want to move forward.
When the leader thinks the money is his, and it's he who they worship, things go wrong.
If he suddenly thinks those giving money want him to earn 50 or 100 times their earnings,
The ship is on its way to the bottom.

People may respect what has been done under Wayne,
but you average guy earning $45k isn't going to throw an extra Benjamin in
the pot for Wayne to earn $3mil plus a ton of expen$e$.

Point taken. I would prefer them to address these issues more forthrightly. For instance, "We have received complaints about about internal politics, WLP's compensation, the fight with our ad agency, blah blah blah...Here's what we truly think about that..." Instead there is silence.

Maybe the views expressed here (which I share in part) are not shared by enough NRA members to rise to the level we would like.

Yep, in the meantime, fugg 'em. Won't spare a dime.

Wayne Laaaa Perrier is doing what he is GOOD AT.
Laàaa Perrier' is a FUND razor.
He is the highest paid con man that I am aware of.

Laaaa Perrier every other month tells those on his spam list,

"Oooowww! Scary bad ol Hillary is going to get your guns and eat your children! Send me mone.... I mean, send the NRA more money so we can protect you from her and Chucky cheese shuuumer!!
Be afraid...be veeerrry afraid!!!
and of Course I will kick G. Northams butt like Chuck Norris IF YOU JUST SEND MORE $$$**!!!!
We just couldn't get involved with our headquarters home town because of unemployed, non essential nra workers...But we need YOUR $$$$. WE NEEEEED YOUR HELP!



HOW ABOUT THE NRA DO SOMETHING HONORABLE AND FIRE THAT CON MAN SWINDLER.
HOW ABOUT LAAA PERRIER' PITCH IN AND GIVE A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF HIS INCOME TO RESTORE THOSE VITAL POSITIONS INSTEAD OF BEGGING MIDDLE CLASS WHO WANT TO GET BACK TO WORK TO PAY OFF THEIR OWN DEBTS AND BILL.
PERHAPS HE AND MR T CAN AGREE TO NOT VIOLATE
1. GOD GIVEN RIGHTS TO WEAPONS OWNERSHIP AND
2. COMPLETE DUE PROCESS FIRST AND FOREMOST!

Wayne Laaaa Perrier is doing what he is GOOD AT.
Laàaa Perrier' is a FUND razor.
He is the highest paid con man that I am aware of.

History of the NRA:
https://www.theweek.com/articles/761135/surprising-history-nra

Me too. I just got the NRA Mag . It had Wayne with a meme, " It's time to fight " , with a serious look on his face while wearing a suit and tie that is likely a cost of several thousand dollars. There is something wrong with that.

At this point the NRA is simply the KWRA (Keep Wayne Rich Association). This isn't going to turn around before November.

You do know that you can send your contributions directly to the conservative politician of your choice don't you?

There is really no need for Wayne to be a middleman.

They won't see another penny of my money until Wayne is gone.

It is my understanding that the Board is window dressing, there for PR, to energize the membership into giving more and more money.

It should be run like a corp, the elected Board with the power to hire the CEO, set the direction for the company. Seems WLP and his cronies ARE the power, the Board just there to assist the hierarchy. WLP is a long time leader. Is that not too unlike Putin and Xi...? Just asking...

If I'm wrong, correct me.

DF

Nope.

austerity is the new buzzword for "we're f ucked". its going around at work.

Springfield Missouri, September 5 is the place and date for the annual NRA meeting. Maybe we should all go and let Wayne know it's time to go. He may be surrounded by folks that tell him everyone loves him and is happy with the job he does. Wayne has done a good job in the past but so did Benedict Arnold before he turned against us. Judas Iscariot was a trusted disciple and was Jesus' money holder for years and then went bad. Power and GREED corrupt. I will give Wayne credit, he is smart. He has fixed the organization to his benefit and seems to be unassailable. Maybe he could go take over Venezuela or Haiti, they like thieving dictators.

The membership did.

Smh

And the gun hating pedophile chimes in as expected

You're right and even watch4bear knows it. We all know it. We just don't know what do about. How do you kill the disease without killing the patient?

Not one thin dime until Wayne resigns.






Sometimes the old, rotten structure needs to be burned down so you can build a new and better one.

The deal fell through

Antifa and BLM are saying the same thing about the country.

You may be right about the NRA. I hope I'm wrong about WLP and my Capt Ahab analogy. I hope things change before the ship goes down. Either WLP is a selfish slob, or he'd back down to save the ship. We'll see. Don't bet on him doing the right thing, right for the NRA, that is.

DF

Unless I'm really wrong, it's my impression that the board has little to no power to hire or fire executives.

So, it doesn't matter where the board is. You see NRA President Pete Brownell hearing the sudden "call" to get back to Iowa ASAP. He jumped ship before he got sucked into the morass... We don't know the behind the scenes goings on with that. Pete evidently didn't want his finger prints on what was going on.

Ollie North jumped ship after he and WLP reportedly got into it over something, probably money. Not sure Ollie was pure as the driven snow on that one. But, he did know when to retreat from a no win scenario....

DF

Victor Davis Hanson wrote yesterday something to the effect, that riots, demonstrations and looting in the last few weeks, have done more for the 2nd Amendment than the NRA.

This is exactly what the dems want. According to them they lost the last election due to FOX and the NRA. Yes both have helped the dems make it easy but they are two of the last faces of the right we have left. Once those are gone and both are on life support, we are screwed.

I don't think FOX will lean right much after the next election. We need to start new networks and social media sites or everything will be totally run by the left.

Wise man.

I love his writings. To the point without fluff, calls it like he sees it.

I think this situation will sell more guns than Obummer ever did...

DF

They have a superb office building outside of DC they can sell to raise money. [bleep] canning Lapierre and his salary will do an amazing thing for their coffers

More meat, less bun....

DF

That's almost word for word what I told them last time they called.

+1, Benefactor Member here.

And exactly what I tell them.

Don't think we're the only ones...

Wonder how long before they get the message...

DF