Oh no! The NRA’s income is plummeting!
The nation’s leading gun-rights organization saw its income drop by $55 million last year, after a record-breaking 2016 in which the group and its political affiliates spent unprecedented sums to elect President Donald Trump.
The National Rifle Association of America reported $98 million in contributions in 2017, down from nearly $125 million in 2016, according to new tax records obtained by The Daily Beast. Nearly one-fifth of its contributions last year came from a single anonymous donor, who chipped in nearly $19 million to the group.
Although, to put that in perspective, their total income was $312 million, so they haven’t gone broke yet.
If you’re concerned about the future of the NRA, I like Betty Bowers’ solution:
Unfortunately the upcoming Democrat dominated House might give them a renewed menace to point to.
I hope she has a lock on ACH transfers, or altered her bank account number, which is printed on the bottom of the check. The NRA could actually put whatever amount they wanted there, and cash it using bulk ACH, which they certainly already have.
Interesting. From the linked article, “The NRA took in more than $128 million in dues last year—a significant sum, but down considerably from the $163 million it took in the year prior.” Just checked and an NRA membership costs $45. Which means there are around 2.8-3 million members. Yes, that’s a lot of people, but it’s less than 1% of the US population. And this is probably an overestimate since that $163M is from “contributions and grants”, not just memberships.
Also, it turns out that Oliver North, who brokered illegal drug money to arm terrorists, is an NRA director. Because of course he is.
Marcus @# 2
Being true christians, Betty only has a little pin money in her account. The big bucks are in her husband’s name.
/insert Grumpy cat pic /insert
Good!
The NRA exists to protect the profits of weapons manufacturers. Given that the Trump administration just passed a record military budget, even though we are fighting no new wars, and it passed with a majority of Democratic support in both houses of Congress. At this point, they probably figure that the NRA is no longer worth maintaining. Their investments are safe — no matter who wins any given election, they will keep turning a profit.
I refuse to be enthused about a one-year change, especially since “On the whole, the 2017 finances indicate a reversion to the mean for the storied gun-rights group. […] the NRA appeared to revert to financial activity more typical of a non-election year, with finances more closely resembling those of 2015 and prior political off-years.” So they had a one-year donation spike, and a spending spike associated with that. Whoop-te-doodle. OK, so talk about the bigger picture, like maybe Russia trying to buy influence with Republican and Republican-aligned organizations.
I think it would be a lot more informative to check longer-term trends, like what happened after Obama was elected, and the various mass shootings that occurred in that span.
As the kids say: sucks to suck
marcus ranum @2: “I hope she has a lock on ACH transfers, or altered her bank account number, which is printed on the bottom of the check.”
Hm. You really think the NRA would just fucking steal money like that? Am unsure, but suspect that blatant theft of funds from an unwilling white victim might be beyond the pale even for shitheads like them.
And if I’m wrong about that, just imagine the social media shitstorm Betty Bowers could bring down upon them. At the very least, it would be interesting to see if the average property-rights-loving NRA member could stomach that blatant a violation of Ms. Bowers’ property rights.
It is not a coincidence that once a Russian spy that supported the NRA has been detained that the financial status has deteriorated.
The NRA sells fear of the Government. It does well with a black Democrat as president. But for some reason, its members aren’t nearly as scared of Trump.
@The Vicar #6:
…yet.