Some news from ammolonad about some useless org that grifts and milks its members.

NRA Circling the Drain

Revenues are down dramatically. Membership is down dramatically. Influence on the Hill has all but disappeared. The headquarters building is mortgaged to the hilt and reported to be suffering from serious structural problems, particularly with the roof, which is reportedly leaking so badly that ceilings on the top floors have collapsed, forcing some offices to be relocated. Even Lloyds of London has refused to extend their liability insurance coverage for officers and directors. And the trial phase of the New York Attorney General’s suit against the NRA and its top executives is scheduled to begin in just a few more months.

On top of all of that, there are now serious concerns about the state of the National Firearms Museum’s collection, and much of the concern is coming from the long-time Head Curator of that museum, Doug Wickford. I raised these concerns with several NRA Directors a couple of months ago, but unfortunately, those Directors who haven’t completely blocked me are on the outs with the “leadership,” and thus were unable to get any additional information. That means that rumors and speculation about the Museum and its vast collection of rare and unusual – not to mention extremely valuable – firearms remain just rumors and speculation. The fact that the former Head Curator has been blocked from even setting foot in the museum he helped to design and build, even for a farewell photo, has him concerned about what they might be afraid he’ll see – or won’t see – among the exhibits. His concerns lend significant gravity to the rumors and speculation.

There have also been rumors and anonymous reports of NRA Directors and other “insiders,” cherry-picking through firearms that are donated to the NRA, prior to Museum staff having access to them, and before they go out to auction for benefit of the Association.

With their “secret” meeting in Charlotte, and their overwhelming reelection of Wayne LaPierre and election of Charles Cotton President and David Coy 2nd Vice President, the Board has made it abundantly clear that they are fully committed to the current course, regardless of the desires of the members, or the laws that they’re supposed to operate under. Both Cotton and Coy testified in the failed bankruptcy trial, to their own failures and abuse of the Audit Committee. They both admitted that they’ve not bothered to hold Wayne LaPierre accountable for his multiple, self-confessed breaches of the Bylaws and policies of the NRA, and instructed the outside auditors to ignore LaPierre’s activities as well. These were the two “leaders” primarily responsible for making sure the NRA and its employees stayed on the straight and narrow, and they have confessed under oath to abdicating that responsibility, with no justification for that failure other than to say that they “trust Wayne.” And the response of the Board of Directors to this dereliction of duty was to elect them to the highest offices of the Board.

It’s a tragic farce and it’s all going to come crashing down very soon.

Whatever the end result, you can be sure that the NRA as we’ve known it for the past 150 years, is gone, and it will be many more years – if ever – before it will again be a serious player in US politics.