As the N.R.A. continues to implode...

[Volkonski]

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[bill_g]

As opposed to the NRA historically attacking people for their politics.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

More specifics on the dismissal at https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/judge ... uxbndlbing.

Judge Dismisses NRA Lawsuit That Accused New York Attorney General Of 'Witch Hunt'

In a 14-page ruling, state Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen denied the NRA’s claim.

“The narrative that the Attorney General’s investigation into these undeniably serious matters was nothing more than a politically motivated ― and unconstitutional ― witch hunt,” Cohen wrote in his ruling, “is simply not supported by the record.”

James’ investigation into the not-for-profit gun group revealed that top players, including chief executive Wayne LaPierre, were involved in “years of illegal self-dealing,” including buying luxury homes and spending half a million dollars of NRA money on high-end menswear and foreign trips.

Although Cohen rejected James’ bid to dissolve the NRA in March, he noted in his Friday ruling that the NRA is still on the hook for its mismanagement of funds, and that the group has acknowledged in its own court filings that it was in need of “course correction.”

“The NRA insists that the Attorney General’s investigation was ‘wrongful’ and ‘pretextual’ because it ‘had undertaken a course correction to improve its compliance controls and internal governance,’” Cohen wrote. “In doing so, the NRA concedes that a ‘course correction’ was needed, undercutting its assertion that the Attorney General’s concerns were wholly fabricated. The NRA also ignores that the ‘course correction’ came, in part, as a response to the threat of the Attorney General’s investigation.”

► Show Spoiler

Following James’ investigation into the group in 2020, top board members quit the NRA, and the group’s former second-in-command, Joshua Powell, accused LaPierre of using tragedies like the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting as a way to siphon more money from its members.

“Wayne was out there selling the program to our members, raising money off it, claiming we were protecting kids’ schools,” Powell wrote in “Inside the NRA,” a book about the gun group. “It was another example of the wizard behind the curtain — lots of inflamed rhetoric and fireworks and noise, but very little effective action on countering gun violence.”

PDF download of court's opinion at this link:
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/D ... ystem=prod

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

The NRA has a program to protect children from gun violence, sort of.

https://popular.info/p/the-nra-talks-bi ... safety?s=w

The NRA talks big on school safety, spends very little


The 2022 NRA convention was held just three days after the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 students and two teachers dead. In his address to attendees, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre described the organization as a champion of school safety.

"We need to protect our schools," LaPierre said. "Because our children... are our most treasured and precious resource and they deserve safety and protection. That's why the NRA launched our School Shield program, to help promote and fund the necessary security that every schoolchild needs and deserves."

NRA financial documents leaked to The Reload, a conservative publication that focuses on firearms issues, tell a very different story. The documents reveal that in the first eight months of 2021, the NRA — which had total revenues of $282 million last year — spend just $13,900 on School Shield. The NRA estimated that less than $20,000 would be spent on the program for all of 2021. In other words, the NRA spent about 0.007% of its 2021 revenue on school safety issues.

A Texas lawsuit filed by Ackerman McQueen, the NRA's former ad agency, alleges that School Shield was a "shell program" that LaPierre deployed to boost fundraising. Ackerman McQueen argues that the purpose of School Shield was to increase revenue and the NRA "never had any intention or meaningful ability to execute (or execute competently)."

► Show Spoiler

In March, on the eve of trial, the NRA and Ackerman McQueen settled their claims and counterclaims for an undisclosed sum. The settlement avoided a trial where the facts about School Shield and other aspects the NRA's activities would be publicly disclosed.

[Kendra]

The NRA has lost more than a million members since its 2019 corruption scandal.

[Danraft]

So, what sources of NRA income are there?
-Subscription memberships
-member donations (let in own category ‘cause hand-waving reasons)
-non-member donations (does this include Russia? We know there is a relationship)
-Are they a non-profit? They don’t seem to non-political, but saying one’s organization is doing education about 2A rights may sidestep that)

In other words, I really wonder what their income statement looks like. Is that somewhat publicly available?

[Dave from down under]

Russia
and
gun makers

[neonzx]

-Are they a non-profit? They don’t seem to non-political, but saying one’s organization is doing education about 2A rights may sidestep that)

In other words, I really wonder what their income statement looks like. Is that somewhat publicly available?

As I recall -- it has been awhile -- the NRA has two orgs. The main one is advocacy for pubilc policy on gun rights/laws. That is NOT a non-profit. They also have a second org which is a non-profit 501(c)3 and is tax deductible to the donor, which is the educational stuff.

I really don't think much about the NRA nowadays. Let them just die on the withering branches that remain.

[much ado]

A quick Google search reveals that, yes, an IRS non-profit is required to make its Form 990 public.

I found this one for 2020.

https://nrawatch.org/filing/2020-nra-irs-990/

The one for 2021 should be available by now. Oh, here it is...

https://nrawatch.org/filing/nra-2021-irs-form-990/

[Danraft]

Thanks for that… and so FAST!
I didn’t think about investment income.
But the breakdown of income is curious (even in its very generalized big bucket labels). Program income. Grants….

Anyway, the NRA has recently been horrific with their scare-mongering tactics and dystopian nonsense. I’ve had them in the not-loved category for a long time.

I just wanted to grok a little better their model.

*** On a side note, I am creating a blog and working on the tagline. Is “grok” common parlance? One “brainstorming” random idea was “Grok This!”

[much ado]

Thanks for that… and so FAST!


*** On a side note, I am creating a blog and working on the tagline. Is “grok” common parlance? One “brainstorming” random idea was “Grok This!”

My dissertation advisor at U. Michigan, now more than 40 years ago, used it all the time. So I sure know it...

[neonzx]

*** On a side note, I am creating a blog and working on the tagline. Is “grok” common parlance? One “brainstorming” random idea was “Grok This!”

I had to google "grok' because I'd never heard it used. I'm in my 50s and had not heard it -- it's not common in the USA.

[keith]

Russia
and
gun makers

And insurance

[Danraft]

Well, “Grok” is a term from the golden era of Science Fiction (Robert Heinland) in particular. Stranger in a Strange Land was the book.

Loosely stated (don’t beat me up) is the culture described was eminently rational and when they came across a fact that went against their current world model, they would consider what that did to their world model. They would pause and reconsider the construction of a new model to incorporate that. If small, it was semi-instantaneous. If foundational, they would go into a kind of catatonic state for a few moments as all the downstream consequences of the info was considered.

Grokking means to really understand, in that context.

*** On a side note, I am creating a blog and working on the tagline. Is “grok” common parlance? One “brainstorming” random idea was “Grok This!”

I had to google "grok' because I'd never heard it used. I'm in my 50s and had not heard it -- it's not common in the USA.

[keith]

*** On a side note, I am creating a blog and working on the tagline. Is “grok” common parlance? One “brainstorming” random idea was “Grok This!”

I had to google "grok' because I'd never heard it used. I'm in my 50s and had not heard it -- it's not common in the USA.

Yes it is. It's from Robert Heinlein's "Stranger In A Strange Land". Required reading in MANY University literature courses, dorm rooms, and crash pads in the early 70's. Isn't it still?

[Danraft]

I wasn’t aware the NRA offered insurance. Hmm….

[keith]

I wasn’t aware the NRA offered insurance. Hmm….

Maybe no longer, I'm sure I've seen ads for it.

[neonzx]

Well, “Grok” is a term from the golden era of Science Fiction (Robert Heinland) in particular. Stranger in a Strange Land was the book.

Loosely stated (don’t beat me up) is the culture described was eminently rational and when they came across a fact that went against their current world model, they would consider what that did to their world model. They would pause and reconsider the construction of a new model to incorporate that. If small, it was semi-instantaneous. If foundational, they would go into a kind of catatonic state for a few moments as all the downstream consequences of the info was considered.

Grokking means to really understand, in that context.

That is what I took from my googling. It's a good word -- it should be spread. Maybe you are the one to do it.

[neonzx]

I wasn’t aware the NRA offered insurance. Hmm….

I think it is not direct, but through an affiliate 3-rd party provider that kicks-back $ to the NRA when someone signs up.

[northland10]

-Are they a non-profit? They don’t seem to non-political, but saying one’s organization is doing education about 2A rights may sidestep that)

In other words, I really wonder what their income statement looks like. Is that somewhat publicly available?

As I recall -- it has been awhile -- the NRA has two orgs. The main one is advocacy for pubilc policy on gun rights/laws. That is NOT a non-profit. They also have a second org which is a non-profit 501(c)3 and is tax deductible to the donor, which is the educational stuff.

I really don't think much about the NRA nowadays. Let them just die on the withering branches that remain.

Actually, both their main organizations are non-profit. The main one is a 501(c)4, a social welfare organization. This classification may lobby on behalf of their primary exempt purpose (which, in this case, is firearm advocacy). I think they also have a foundation which is a 501(c)3, public charity. Donations to this group would be tax-deductible, and I believe they do most of the education and training. They may not be involved in lobbying or any other political positions.

They may well have a bunch of others.

[neonzx]

Actually, both their main organizations are non-profit. The main one is a 501(c)4, a social welfare organization. This classification may lobby on behalf of their primary exempt purpose (which, in this case, is firearm advocacy). I think they also have a foundation which is a 501(c)3, public charity. Donations to this group would be tax-deductible, and I believe they do most of the education and training. They may not be involved in lobbying or any other political positions.

They may well have a bunch of others.

Thank you. My mind goes when I hear "non-profit" to "tax deductible donations". I do know the difference, but it gets muddy. Wish we had better language to clearly delineate non-profits on type.

I worked for a hospital system years ago as a contractor and they were a "non-profit", but their financial statements would not list "profit" but instead the line-item was "excess revenue". And yes, they made A LOT of excess revenue (Cleveland Clinic Foundation)

[Danraft]

As a counter-factual. One could consider the loss of members of the NRA to be a barometer of whether their embracing of the dystopian fear mongering as a business model is failure.

But, there have been pushes from the MAGA adjacent groups (big Venn diagram overlap) that the NRA is not radical enough.

They offered a more Right Wing 2A extreme option to the NRA. If one added those two groups together it may not be that the radical right 2A groups are losing advocacy. It may be that they are just changing horses.

[qbawl]

*** On a side note, I am creating a blog and working on the tagline. Is “grok” common parlance? One “brainstorming” random idea was “Grok This!”

I had to google "grok' because I'd never heard it used. I'm in my 50s and had not heard it -- it's not common in the USA.

Yes it is. It's from Robert Heinlein's "Stranger In A Strange Land". Required reading in MANY University literature courses, dorm rooms, and crash pads in the early 70's. Isn't it still?

Some 50+ years after college I just read it this week for the first time (the long version). Great book, but a little dated so I doubt it is often used in Lit. classes today. Still very enjoyable read.

[Danraft]

I LOVE that book.
My parents were big readers and had a library and I was an avid reader and because so much of the bookshelves was that sort of content I read an incredible amount. In the 4th grade reading aptitude test, I was reading at grade 13 ( freshman college). Which kinda makes sense as I was reading Irving’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy” at the time.

The concept of a totally rational society intrigues me…

I had to google "grok' because I'd never heard it used. I'm in my 50s and had not heard it -- it's not common in the USA.

Yes it is. It's from Robert Heinlein's "Stranger In A Strange Land". Required reading in MANY University literature courses, dorm rooms, and crash pads in the early 70's. Isn't it still?

Some 50+ years after college I just read it this week for the first time (the long version). Great book, but a little dated so I doubt it is often used in Lit. classes today. Still very enjoyable read.