Imagine if you were given a brand to build a business around (with "business" being how successful non-profits operate) and you drove it into the ground during a period when 7 million new customers were handed to you, in addition to the existing 70 million customers that exist of which you have penetrated less than 5% of that existing market.
That is what the NRA has done. In the last two years we have 7 million new gun owners, guns and ammo sales are at all-time highs, a scarcity exists in all parts and components, yet the NRA has to file bankruptcy. They and their marketing message have only been able to appeal to 5% of existing gun owners.
The NRA has been given the baton of a Constitutional right under 2A, and they still can't make a go of it in an environment with virtually no competition. They have failed. No other way to say it. The NRA had nothing but tailwinds and a downhill grade from a business standpoint, and they ran it off the rails and we now see a pile of smoldering wreckage that is our interest in 2A.
If that was a corporation the entire Board of Directors, all senior management, and all trusted consultants/advisors would be gone. This is completely unacceptable. House cleaning is far more necessary than the irresponsible bankruptcy route that only passes the financial burden onto groups who helped keep the NRA afloat to this point. Vendors, contractors, others who the NRA owes money to will get screwed.
Next time the NRA tells me they support conservative principles, I'm gonna ask them when stiffing folks who do good work is a conservative principle. Most all reading this pay their bills, live within their budgets/means, and take responsibility. Yet the NRA is wanting a bail out, to not be held accountable for their financial malfeasance, displaying the antithesis of responsibility and the conservative principles they claim to support.
I've given them my opinions when the opportunity was presented. I know many much higher up in the shooting and hunting industry have given them an earful. I know some larger donors have voiced concerns. Yet, those who hold the reins of power, mostly the Executive Committee of the Board, the Board Nominating Committee, and the Senior Executive staff are all deaf to the calls for change. Given how much ignorance and arrogance is on display at the NRA, the only remaining path is to watch it implode and take a few more generations to rebuild an organization worthy of the trust gun owners have placed in the NRA.
Yes, at the time when representation on gun issues is at a premium, those who we have entrusted with that cause have failed us gun owners and members. A lot of ground might be lost due to the ineptitude of those leading the NRA. It is a reality. It is a lesson to be learned. This failure is not the fault of those promoting gun restrictions. The NRA had every possible benefit, every advantage in numbers and financing, every possible legal benefit of a constitutionally protected cause.
And here we are, watching the place burn down while those in charge take their grifting ways to a new location, asking the court to screw over the many people who they owe money, and let them hit the reset button for a new start without even the slightest demand for change or reform.
As an Endowment Life Member, the NRA and the current cadre of crooks will never get another dime from me. I will continue to advocate for gun ownership and do what I can to speak up for my rights under 2A. Giving money and the responsibility for this cause to the NRA is a proven path to failure.
Odds are we will not have another organization to replace the NRA. The NRA has damaged the trust gun owners have placed in them, making it unlikely a replacement group can overcome the scars the NRA has struck. It will be incumbent on each of us to speak up, to write, call, email our elected officials and make our voices heard. That is a far more effective manner than sending money, and the implied trust and responsibility that goes with money, to the NRA. The current ship of fools has proven time and again that they are not worthy of our trust.
A sad day, for sure. The sooner we face the reality and quit pretending the situation will change, the sooner gun owners will be started down a better path.
I better go shovel some snow. This entire fiasco, watching it unfold over the last five years, pisses me off to no end. If I typed what I really want to say, I would have to ban myself from Hunt Talk.
That is what the NRA has done. In the last two years we have 7 million new gun owners, guns and ammo sales are at all-time highs, a scarcity exists in all parts and components, yet the NRA has to file bankruptcy. They and their marketing message have only been able to appeal to 5% of existing gun owners.
The NRA has been given the baton of a Constitutional right under 2A, and they still can't make a go of it in an environment with virtually no competition. They have failed. No other way to say it. The NRA had nothing but tailwinds and a downhill grade from a business standpoint, and they ran it off the rails and we now see a pile of smoldering wreckage that is our interest in 2A.
If that was a corporation the entire Board of Directors, all senior management, and all trusted consultants/advisors would be gone. This is completely unacceptable. House cleaning is far more necessary than the irresponsible bankruptcy route that only passes the financial burden onto groups who helped keep the NRA afloat to this point. Vendors, contractors, others who the NRA owes money to will get screwed.
Next time the NRA tells me they support conservative principles, I'm gonna ask them when stiffing folks who do good work is a conservative principle. Most all reading this pay their bills, live within their budgets/means, and take responsibility. Yet the NRA is wanting a bail out, to not be held accountable for their financial malfeasance, displaying the antithesis of responsibility and the conservative principles they claim to support.
I've given them my opinions when the opportunity was presented. I know many much higher up in the shooting and hunting industry have given them an earful. I know some larger donors have voiced concerns. Yet, those who hold the reins of power, mostly the Executive Committee of the Board, the Board Nominating Committee, and the Senior Executive staff are all deaf to the calls for change. Given how much ignorance and arrogance is on display at the NRA, the only remaining path is to watch it implode and take a few more generations to rebuild an organization worthy of the trust gun owners have placed in the NRA.
Yes, at the time when representation on gun issues is at a premium, those who we have entrusted with that cause have failed us gun owners and members. A lot of ground might be lost due to the ineptitude of those leading the NRA. It is a reality. It is a lesson to be learned. This failure is not the fault of those promoting gun restrictions. The NRA had every possible benefit, every advantage in numbers and financing, every possible legal benefit of a constitutionally protected cause.
And here we are, watching the place burn down while those in charge take their grifting ways to a new location, asking the court to screw over the many people who they owe money, and let them hit the reset button for a new start without even the slightest demand for change or reform.
As an Endowment Life Member, the NRA and the current cadre of crooks will never get another dime from me. I will continue to advocate for gun ownership and do what I can to speak up for my rights under 2A. Giving money and the responsibility for this cause to the NRA is a proven path to failure.
Odds are we will not have another organization to replace the NRA. The NRA has damaged the trust gun owners have placed in them, making it unlikely a replacement group can overcome the scars the NRA has struck. It will be incumbent on each of us to speak up, to write, call, email our elected officials and make our voices heard. That is a far more effective manner than sending money, and the implied trust and responsibility that goes with money, to the NRA. The current ship of fools has proven time and again that they are not worthy of our trust.
A sad day, for sure. The sooner we face the reality and quit pretending the situation will change, the sooner gun owners will be started down a better path.
I better go shovel some snow. This entire fiasco, watching it unfold over the last five years, pisses me off to no end. If I typed what I really want to say, I would have to ban myself from Hunt Talk.
