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The NRA is actually a corporate lobby representing gun manufacturers heavily disguised as a "rights group for concerned citizens". Point being that there is a

The NRA is actually a corporate lobby representing gun manufacturers heavily disguised as a "rights group for concerned citizens". Point being that there is a strong profit motive for the lobbying and lots of ready cash behind it willing to fund campaigns for re-election. For privacy groups there isn't the same kind of profit motive in favor of personal privacy.

pixl97 10y ago
That certainly is a cynical way of looking at it. I want to own guns. The gun industry wants to make guns. Our wants align and therefore we are more powerful working together than working separately.
hga 10y ago
This is not in the least true, especially since the gun industry, which is much bigger than the gun manufacturers, have their own very visible lobby, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (http://www.nssf.org/ http://www.nssf.org/). The NRA is politically powerful for one single reason: it has ~ 5 million paid members, and lots of other gun owners take cues from it and will vote on this single issue. It, for example, went all in to re-elect Roy Blunt in Missouri, going so far as to drag the Executive Vice President and the head of it's lobbying arm to Joplin, MO, to talk to 50 people who showed up at the airport event (!!! and I've never heard of such a thing before). Plus of course the usual mailings and other means. And it paid off, he won by about a 3% margin, much narrower than the 14% in 2010 against a Carnahan, a much more storied Missouri political family, and the Republicans very narrowly kept the Senate. As for why we vote so much on the issue of guns, why the NRA has five million members, see my other posting in this subthread on motivating atrocities.
- crdoconnor 10y ago
  A majority of its near quarter billion income comes from corporate donations - in the form of advertising sales, donations and grants. In addition to this, many NRA members join just so that they can join gun clubs - not necessarily because they agree with the NRA.
  - hga 10y ago
    ~75% of it's income comes from membership dues and individual contributions, see e.g. https://www.quora.com/Where-does-funding-for-the-National-Rifle-Association-NRA-come-from https://www.quora.com/Where-does-funding-for-the-National-Ri... which has links to the 990 forms with the hard numbers. Here's the link to the latest available 2014 one, which evidently was filed/made public after that analysis: http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/530/530116130/530116130_201412_990O.pdf http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/530/5301161... In addition to this, many NRA members join just so that they can join gun clubs - not necessarily because they agree with the NRA. What do you base this claim on? Some do, but membership numbers too closely match the current intensity of the war on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms (RKBA) for it to be very many.
    - germinalphrase 10y ago
      The NRA is the traditional certifier of shooting events. That's maybe less true as new shooting sports have grown in popularity, such as IPSC - but if you want to engage in most local or national shooting competitions you must be a member of the NRA. In recent history, many shooting ranges/clubs have started requiring a membership in the NRA as a condition of eligibility to join.
    - crdoconnor 10y ago
      >~75% of it's income comes from membership dues and individual contributions ...and the largest individual contributions come from individuals like Larry Potterfield, founder and CEO of retailer of guess what? >What do you base this claim on? The number of gun clubs run by the NRA that demand membership as a prerequisite for joining and the fact that 75% of gun owners support mandatory gun checks but the group ostensibly representing them does not.
  - jlgaddis 10y ago
    I know a lot of NRA members (and many, many more gun owners) but I don't know any who joined "just so that they can join gun clubs". Maybe the "access to gun clubs" thing just isn't a factor here, though, since we don't have to go to a "gun club" or shooting range if we want to shoot. I can just step out my back door, for example, and shoot in my back yard if I want to. I have neighbors on either side of me whom I can hear shooting at least once a week or so. The nearest "open to the general public" shooting range that I know of is about an hour's drive away. Being a member of any organization is not a requirement for entrance. There are a couple of other ranges that are closer but one must be a law enforcement officer -- or be accompanied by a law enforcement officer -- to gain access. (Disclosure: Lifetime member of the NRA)
koenigdavidmj 10y ago
Recent gun control efforts mainly center around private sales bans (you have to go to a gun shop and let them run a background check on the recipient). That means that the gun shop collects a fee for the background check, and also gets your eyes into the store where they might buy some accessories. Most businesses would cream themselves for that kind of captive audience, and yet the NRA is one of its largest opponents. Explain that one to me.

pixl97 10y ago

That certainly is a cynical way of looking at it. I want to own guns. The gun industry wants to make guns. Our wants align and therefore we are more powerful working together than working separately.

hga 10y ago

This is not in the least true, especially since the gun industry, which is much bigger than the gun manufacturers, have their own very visible lobby, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (http://www.nssf.org/ http://www.nssf.org/). The NRA is politically powerful for one single reason: it has ~ 5 million paid members, and lots of other gun owners take cues from it and will vote on this single issue. It, for example, went all in to re-elect Roy Blunt in Missouri, going so far as to drag the Executive Vice President and the head of it's lobbying arm to Joplin, MO, to talk to 50 people who showed up at the airport event (!!! and I've never heard of such a thing before). Plus of course the usual mailings and other means. And it paid off, he won by about a 3% margin, much narrower than the 14% in 2010 against a Carnahan, a much more storied Missouri political family, and the Republicans very narrowly kept the Senate. As for why we vote so much on the issue of guns, why the NRA has five million members, see my other posting in this subthread on motivating atrocities.

crdoconnor 10y ago
A majority of its near quarter billion income comes from corporate donations - in the form of advertising sales, donations and grants. In addition to this, many NRA members join just so that they can join gun clubs - not necessarily because they agree with the NRA.
- hga 10y ago
  ~75% of it's income comes from membership dues and individual contributions, see e.g. https://www.quora.com/Where-does-funding-for-the-National-Rifle-Association-NRA-come-from https://www.quora.com/Where-does-funding-for-the-National-Ri... which has links to the 990 forms with the hard numbers. Here's the link to the latest available 2014 one, which evidently was filed/made public after that analysis: http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/530/530116130/530116130_201412_990O.pdf http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/530/5301161... In addition to this, many NRA members join just so that they can join gun clubs - not necessarily because they agree with the NRA. What do you base this claim on? Some do, but membership numbers too closely match the current intensity of the war on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms (RKBA) for it to be very many.
  - germinalphrase 10y ago
    The NRA is the traditional certifier of shooting events. That's maybe less true as new shooting sports have grown in popularity, such as IPSC - but if you want to engage in most local or national shooting competitions you must be a member of the NRA. In recent history, many shooting ranges/clubs have started requiring a membership in the NRA as a condition of eligibility to join.
  - crdoconnor 10y ago
    >~75% of it's income comes from membership dues and individual contributions ...and the largest individual contributions come from individuals like Larry Potterfield, founder and CEO of retailer of guess what? >What do you base this claim on? The number of gun clubs run by the NRA that demand membership as a prerequisite for joining and the fact that 75% of gun owners support mandatory gun checks but the group ostensibly representing them does not.
- jlgaddis 10y ago
  I know a lot of NRA members (and many, many more gun owners) but I don't know any who joined "just so that they can join gun clubs". Maybe the "access to gun clubs" thing just isn't a factor here, though, since we don't have to go to a "gun club" or shooting range if we want to shoot. I can just step out my back door, for example, and shoot in my back yard if I want to. I have neighbors on either side of me whom I can hear shooting at least once a week or so. The nearest "open to the general public" shooting range that I know of is about an hour's drive away. Being a member of any organization is not a requirement for entrance. There are a couple of other ranges that are closer but one must be a law enforcement officer -- or be accompanied by a law enforcement officer -- to gain access. (Disclosure: Lifetime member of the NRA)

koenigdavidmj 10y ago

Recent gun control efforts mainly center around private sales bans (you have to go to a gun shop and let them run a background check on the recipient). That means that the gun shop collects a fee for the background check, and also gets your eyes into the store where they might buy some accessories. Most businesses would cream themselves for that kind of captive audience, and yet the NRA is one of its largest opponents. Explain that one to me.