A lot has happened at the NRA in the past month. NRA-Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director Chris Cox was suspended then resigned. NRA-TV was shut down as part of the NRA formally divorcing itself from its long-time marketing and public relations firm, Ackerman McQueen.
Furthermore, the NRA continues to spend almost $2 million per month it doesn’t have on the Brewer law firm. Add to that the Washington D.C. Attorney General poking around in the NRA Foundation’s financial records. It surely looks like there will be plenty to find as the NRA Foundation made a number of unreported big dollar donations to a non-profit tied to Wayne LaPierre’s wife.
Oh yes, and a small group of large donors are urging other contributors to suspend their giving until Wayne LaPierre and his cronies resign. Supposedly they represent commitments of $134 million in planned donations but are holding onto their cash until WLP & Co are gone.
Meanwhile, the NRA’s “Baghdad Bobette”, president Carolyn Meadows, released a statement saying, “We are disappointed whenever donors choose to suspend their support of the N.R.A., but we hope to win them back.” Uh huh.
But what can we, as regular NRA members, do to pressure the organization to help push Mr. LaPierre and his cadre out of the door a little more quickly? That’s actually a pretty good question.
Plenty of folks have done nothing. They’re taking a wait-and-see approach and are watching from the sidelines. Heck, some people still believe Wayne LaPierre walks on water and want to see him stay right where he is.
Some across America, and right here in Illinois, have suggested significantly reducing the amount of gifts to the NRA along with a note explaining why.
At the same time, writing emails [edit: since been told privately that board members will never see those emails] and old-fashioned dead tree letters to board members urging them to fire LaPierre and his cronies might help. Make sure you include your membership number and status when writing, if you do.
TTAG recently published an editorial urging folks to de-fund the NRA entirely, including the NRA Foundation’s Friends of NRA dinners.
Others have suggested burning down the NRA completely and starting over. Frankly, while advocating that might feel good, it’s foolish and short-sighted. The NRA with its 5+ million members (who vote) has a lot of clout and name recognition. That political influence has been hard-earned over the past thirty to forty years. What’s more, the NRA’s favorability rating still stands nearly three times higher than that of Congress.
We need to work within the NRA to fix it, not blow it up.
Pick the course of action you feel is best and implement it. Just be sure to do something to make your opinion known.
Because the sooner Wayne LaPierre and his cronies exit stage left, the sooner we can start the process of putting the NRA back together again.
