Decline of the NRA

Ten years ago, the National Rifle Association seemed an unstoppable force in American politics. In 2012, a mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut killed 20 children. Democrats and Republicans in Congress appeared poised to pass new gun regulations. The NRA called on its members to contact their representatives and voice their opposition, but the bill died.

Currently, the NRA has hundreds of thousands of members and large sums of money flowing out. He is on trial in New York on charges of fraud and self-dealing. “The NRA is just an empty shell after spending hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees,” Joshua Powell, a former NRA official who settled with the state before trial, told the Times. For Second Amendment supporters, the collapse of the organization is not a death sentence, but it is a blow.

In today’s newsletter, we’ll explain what went wrong in the group.

loss of trust

The NRA’s troubles began with a feud with advertising agency Ackerman McQueen.

The agency has been the de facto public face of the NRA for decades, spearheading the group’s online channel NRATV and campaigns such as “I’m the NRA,” but the agency’s relationship with its customers has soured. did. They disagreed on the political message. At one point, NRA leadership accused Ackerman McQueen of trying to oust the group’s leader, Wayne LaPierre.

The NRA and Ackerman McQueen fought out their differences in court and settled in 2022.

However, this infighting drew the attention of government officials. New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit in 2020 following an investigation. He cited exorbitant spending by NRA leadership, particularly LaPierre’s use of nonprofit funds to pay for millions of dollars in expensive clothing, travel and other luxuries.

Many NRA members lost faith in the organization and left, which meant they stopped paying their dues. To deal with declining revenue and rising legal costs, the NRA cut programs popular with its members, such as firearms training and education.

As a result, the NRA has lost more than 1 million members, out of a peak of 6 million in 2018. Its revenue has fallen by more than 40 percent since 2016.

lasting effect

For many liberals, the NRA problem is cathartic good news. But the NRA’s decline may not lead to immediate changes in gun policy, in part because the NRA has been so successful in the past.

First, the organization has already transformed American politics and culture around guns. According to Gallup, in 1959, 60 percent of Americans supported banning civilian handgun ownership. Last year, only 27% did so. Republicans in particular support the NRA’s policies.

Second, the Supreme Court legislated gun rights. Over the past two decades, the law has ruled that Americans have an individual right to bear arms and that any restrictions on firearms must overcome new legal hurdles. Even if lawmakers overcome political opposition and pass new gun regulations, they may not survive in court.

Mike Spieth, who investigated the group for ProPublica and The Trace, said the NRA “doesn’t have much else left to do.” “The gun issue has already become a tribal issue, and gun ownership has become a set of values ​​and a lifestyle issue, rather than just owning a gun.”

Finally, other groups, some more vocal, stepped up to replace the NRA. American Gun Owners, which describes the NRA as “too liberal,” has spent millions of dollars lobbying against gun control in recent years. The Second Amendment Foundation has focused on legal battles, challenging the constitutionality of local and state laws.

Still, the NRA’s decline doesn’t help the gun rights movement. Already, the NRA’s opposition has not been enough to prevent Congress from passing bipartisan gun safety legislation in 2022.

Some state and federal lawmakers want to pass additional measures, such as expanding background checks, banning assault weapons and removing guns from dangerous people. The NRA has previously been able to call on member states to reject such bills. Nowadays, we can do that less often.

Related: Listen to an interview with the man who counts every mass shooting in America on The Daily.

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