The NRA has been waning for a long time. Their member count is only so high be cause for a lot of the big gun shows, it’s free if you’re NRA. And an annual membership is sold onsite and costs less than one time entrance fee.
Their money is largely coming from large donations more to get republicans elected than anything about guns.
The inflated membership numbers is just smoke so they can maintain an air of legitimacy.
Lots of older people act like the “takeover” in the 70s never happened. Before that the NRA was mostly about hunting and argued against CCW. It’s actually pretty interesting how it all went down, and something relatively minor changed American politics for generations.
Seems like they really want to sell an identity much more than any particular membership or single-time donation amount…
It was that they wanted to get republicans elected.
The “old guard” was going to move the national headquarters from DC to Colorado so they could make a compound with shooting ranges to give classes and shit
The “new guard” that staged the revolution canceled that, and sunk that money into lobbying and that’s been their primary expenditure pretty much ever since.
It’s always stunk to me as a Republican backed strategy to set up an intermediary for donation washing back when we still had campaign finance laws.
Like, shit was the same time as Watergate, shady shit was happening all over and it’s not like everything came to light.
They also don’t actually do anything for gun rights, it’s why all my homies hate the NRA and support SAF and GOA and other smaller organizations that actively support the 2nd.
Fuck the NRA.
Also you have to be a member to use A LOT of outdoor ranges. I don’t know of a single one in my state where you don’t have to. Its why I’ve never been to one. Thank Truman for BLM land.
I’m no fan of the NRA but I’ll believe it when I see it. Politicians have a vested interest in keeping the status quo, and the same tricks always work with those folks. “No no no, THIS time they’re coming for your guns!!!” Boom, donations. They’re just too dumb to think for themselves.
Betting no lifetime member is ever removed from the list, either when they die…so half their members are probably literal corpses
A lot of local gun clubs also require NRA membership.
