Yeah, Insty and Uncle both linked to his post on the NRA's troubles, but it's a really good one. His invoking of Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy is spot on, and you should read the whole thing.
What I would add is that it's rare that you see the Iron Law expressed in, well, graft as blatantly as Wayne LaPierre and Company have done. Millions and millions of our dollars have gone to enrich the inner circle, not to advance the Second Amendment.
It was 2014 when I let my membership lapse, because the only thing I heard from the NRA was Wayne asking for money. Where were they on rolling back restrictive gun control laws? A lot of the time they were out front on new restrictions - remember Wayne LaPierre muttering about "Mental Health restrictions" a long time before the new hotness that is "Red Flag" laws started getting passed? I do, and believe that the post I just linked was the first time I invited him to die screaming in a crotch fire.
So the only thing that I'd add to Lawrence's excellent post is that we really won't miss the NRA when its gone. Yes, it's sad that Wayne drove it into the ground, yes, it's a crying shame what they did to a once great organization. But here we are. Sic transit Gloria Mundi.
11 comments:
There are many state organizations working on the state and local level that provide much better value for your donation dollars. In N.C., it's Grass Roots North Carolina. Find a newer, smaller, more targeted group and give them your support.
I gave my membership up when it became almost impossible for me to afford the $35 yearly fee, yet they were literally sending me letters telling me that it wasn't enough. Personally, I don't think Harlon Carter was any better than LaPierre, just different.
There are any number of organizations who do a much better job of defending the second amendment. I was a teenager when the NRA helped write GCA 68. They talk about defending the second amendment but NRA lawyers helped the the City of Columbus assault weapon ban. If these are our friends just who are our enemies? If anything the NRA has been a reliable partner to gun control since the NFA was passed. My money goes to the SAF and our state organization.
Actual charities that spend more than 10% of annual income on organizational overhead and fundraising are rightfully considered scams.
When I relented once and signed up for a bare year, the NRA broke my mailman's back with a literal laundry basket laden with 40# (actual weight) of begging mailers over that year, spending inevitably nearly more than my contribution on postage alone, let alone printing.
Yet in that time they accomplished nothing of note.
They live on the largesse of the rubes who send more than the bare cost of membership. Nothing else is possible.
Let the whole thing burn in hell, and see if toppling that diseased redwood will let smaller and more responsive organizations do the job the NRA hasn't done for decades both better, and honestly.
I can't let mine lapse. It's forever. They won't be getting more support for a bit. How long is up to them.
We probably will miss the NRA-ILA, which has been doing good work behind the scenes killing bad legislation before it even reaches the floor. But absent a change in leadership and forensic audits of just where the money has been going, there's precious little chance the NRA itself can be turned around.
As I see it though, we need the NRA - we need the leverage on a Congressional level. The local and state groups are important, but we need a significant presence on the national level to have any real effect. State and local groups really only have effect on the state and local level. That means our only option is not to abandon the NRA, but to reform it. What is needed is another member revolt at the next annual meeting. Even more, we need a couple of leaders to organize and drive it. Messy, ugly -Yes. But otherwise the NRA is destroyed, the Left crows with glee, and we lose the most effective national leverage we have. Congress listens to votes - and so far, the NRA has generally had the power to deliver votes.
Like so many other things, reform should have happened 15 years ago. But maybe that's a little of our fault, too. Maybe now, before abandoning the organization completely, we need to make a serious effort to fix it.
i'm with Neon Madman.
We have guns. Couldn't we storm HQ and have a coup?
I don't really have enough information to say who broke the NRA. People are just venting their long held opinions about various personalities. Was it WLP or AckMac or the lawyer whatever his name is or Ollie North or even Chris Cox.
I don't have any answers but I do know that when an organization descends into chaos like this the CEO has got to go even if the original fault was not his.
I too am with Neon Madman.
I'm not a member by I am on the GOA email list and make it a point to respond to their email alerts on pending state or federal legislation.
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