A Titanic Battle Over Gun Safety Is Coming, and the NRA Has Never Been in Worse Shape

[babylonsister]

A Titanic Battle Over Gun Safety Is Coming, and the NRA Has Never Been in Worse Shape
Infighting, extravagant spending, and bitter lawsuits: Everything you need to know about the NRA’s meltdown.


Last week, three members of the National Rifle Association’s 76-member board of directors resigned from their positions. That might seem like small potatoes for the nation’s leading gun rights group, but considering the dire financial situation and multi-pronged legal turmoil the NRA is in these days, it’s a sign that the worst may be yet to come.

In a letter sent to NRA officials, and later obtained by the Washington Post, the three board members—Esther Schneider, Sean Maloney, and Timothy Knight—announced their decision by writing that “while our belief in the NRA’s mission remains as strong today as ever, our confidence in the NRA’s leadership has been shattered.”

Those are strong words to describe what’s been going on behind-the-scenes at the nation’s leading gun rights group: eyebrow-raising spending habits—especially by and for NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre—that show an exorbitant flow of money to the NRA’s leadership. And this comes at a time when the organization is hemorrhaging cash, struggling to keep members, and is embroiled in several scandals, including dual investigations by state attorneys general and possible ties to Kremlin-linked Russian operatives.

All this is happening at a time when the 2020 presidential race is just starting to kick into high gear. For decades, the NRA has been an influential force in American politics, spending millions of dollars to promote the GOP’s agenda. That role had never been more prominent as it was during the 2016 election, in which the group spent a record $54.4 million to help elect Donald Trump and Republican candidates running for US Senate seats. In the most recent Democratic presidential debates, nearly every candidate agreed that one of best ways to move the needle on gun control issues was to get the NRA’s money out of elections. And as the debate around passing gun control legislation flares up again in the wake of the most recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio, and Gilroy, California., many Democratic politicians are once again calling attention to, and questioning, the NRA’s role in the country’s gun violence crisis.

Here’s everything you need to know about the NRA’s numerous money problems, scandals, and investigations that has led to these board member resignations, and could affect its influence in 2020 elections.

more...

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/08/nra-wayne-lapierre-financial-trouble-explainer/

[NewJeffCT]

1. On the other side

I've heard that Moms Demand Action now has more members than the NRA

[asiliveandbreathe]

3. Yes..just reading about their victories////

https://momsdemandaction.org/about/victories/

and recent news...

https://momsdemandaction.org/news/

[Vinca]

2. Today our idiot Republican governor vetoed 3 bills that might have helped, including

expanded background checks. His excuse was how safe the state is blah, blah, blah. Apparently he doesn't watch the local news broadcast in the evening. Almost every night there's a report of some incident involving gun violence. Republicans seem to think they live in an armored bubble. Fucking fools.

[rockfordfile]

4. Walmart Reportedly Removing Violent Video Game Signage Following Shootings

This is one un-American company

[struggle4progress]

5. Sad when the great ship down!