NRA Membership Required for Gun Club Membership

[Legionnaire]

I just renewed my annual membership. The renewal form changed this year. It no longer asks if one is a member of the NRA as it did last year; it asks if one is a member of a 2nd Amendment organization. Before this year, NRA membership was required. Guess I'll have to go to a club meeting to find out what changed.

 

[Jammersix]

I joined because the range said I had to be a member to take the instructor's classes. That was quite a while ago.

Then all sorts of stuff happened, like Ted Nugent got elected, and the NRA went to hell in a bucket. Now I won't renew until a list of things happen. He's up there, right after getting rid of LaPierre.

What amuses me is that the NRA is spending your money to renew my instructor's creds every year as long as I continue to teach X number of NRA classes.

So I have NRA creds, but won't give them another dime until they change some things.

You should look into why they continue to send me instructor creds. (It's one of the things they'd have to change before I'd re-join.) After all, you're paying for it.

I've also noticed that they say you have to be in the NRA, but there's no enforcement. The range is perfectly happy to take my money, year in and year out, without an NRA membership. I think it's about the money to them, too.

 

[Poper]

Am I supposed to turn a blind eye to the cronyism and wanton squandering of those funds, donated by member, by Wayne Lapierre and several other near the top of the organization? I can't seem to do that and I realize the influence the NRA has in the political areans and that makes the actions of Lapierre and company that much more aggravating and offensive. At this point in time they only way I can influence the NRA is by withholding my financial support. I will do that until the leadership changes.

Nobody says to turn a blind eye.
However, taking your ball and going home isn't going to help either. Getting involved in the organization and effecting change from the inside is most effective. Money talks, but it doesn't vote.

JMHO.

 

[mcb]

Nobody says to turn s blind eye.
However, taking your ball and going home isn't going to help either. Getting involved in the organization and effecting change from the inside is most effective. Money talks, but it doesn't vote.

JMHO.

Read my second post in this thread. I am a life member, I still vote. BUT the vote is relatively pointless due to the leadership structure of the NRA.

Lapierre holds a board appointed position and thus directly untouchable by the membership. The board nomination process is controlled in larger part by a nominating committee that is in Lapierre's pocket and thus this ensures his position is secure despite the membership's potential wishes. Under the current structure I cannot cast a meaningful vote against Lapierre and his cronies that are squander membership donations. If I could cast a meaningful vote but was in small minority that was overruled I could accept that it was the membership's wishes, but the current NRA leadership structure leaves me with nearly zero say in the true leadership of the organization so the only other way I can influence the organization is by withholding my financial support.

The number of NRA leadership and board members driven out or quitting the organization over this perceived corruption is another indication of the totalitarian rule of Lapierre and his cronies. Until that changes I will cast my symbolic votes and withhold my money.

 

[Jammersix]

Nobody says to turn s blind eye.
However, taking your ball and going home isn't going to help either.

Maybe. Maybe not. Money is probably the only thing that gets the NRA's collective attention.

Particularly money that goes away.

Under the current arrangement, if you're a life member, they have no reason whatsoever to listen to you.

 

[rust collector]

If you want to destroy something, the first thing you do is start picking at it, and getting others to pick at it. Every organization has flaws and controversies, and the more you publicize it, the more the lynch mob gathers to revile it and soon the torches and pitchforks come out.

NRA, USA, Microsoft, Apple, Tesla, you name it. There is something there that pisses you off, and these days folks go on line for a show of outrage and righteous indignation. Meanwhile Bloomberg and cronies keep the pot stirred and eventually the suits are sent packing, cash is robbed and bankruptcy follows. See where I am going here?

These ranges and clubs don't belong to you, they belong to their membership. If you don't like the rules, start your own, join up with a club whose rules you agree with, or go without.

 

[mcb]

If you want to destroy something, the first thing you do is start picking at it, and getting others to pick at it. Every organization has flaws and controversies, and the more you publicize it, the more the lynch mob gathers to revile it and soon the torches and pitchforks come out.

NRA, USA, Microsoft, Apple, Tesla, you name it. There is something there that pisses you off, and these days folks go on line for a show of outrage and righteous indignation. Meanwhile Bloomberg and cronies keep the pot stirred and eventually the suits are sent packing, cash is robbed and bankruptcy follows. See where I am going here?

These ranges and clubs don't belong to you, they belong to their membership. If you don't like the rules, start your own, join up with a club whose rules you agree with, or go without.

We are not talking about a minor scandal or minor flaw this isn't WLP grabbing a free steak-dinner or occasion bump to a first class flight at the members expense. We are talking about many hundreds of thousands of dollars, possible even millions of dollars of members's donations being squandered. There is evident WLP spent over 1/4 million of NRA funds over a 13 year period on wardrobe alone. (this is above and beyond his ample salary) There were others indulgence by WLP and other senior members on travel and vacations and acts of nepotism of similar and greater finical scale.

Oliver North, President, 04/27/19
Pete Brownells, Iowa, Board of Directors 05/30/19
Chris Cox, Chief Lobbyist 06/20/19
Esther Schneider, Texas, Board of Directors 08/01/19
Sean Maloney, Ohio, Board of Directors 08/01/19
Timothy Knight, Tennessee, Board of Directors 08/01/19
Julie Golob, Missouri, Board of Directors 08/12/19
Craig Morgan, Board of Directors 08/20/19
Richard Childress, Board of Directors 08/20/19
David Lehman, Deputy Executive director and General Counsel 08/20/19

These are all (I might have missed one or two) the senior members and board members of the NRA that were driven out or quite over the WLP and cronies corruption scandal. This is not a minor flaw, this is a serious abuse of power and trust IMHO.

ETA: I want to thank the moderates for letting this thread go as long as they have. I really appreciate that, as I think this is an important topic for a pro-2A group such as THR to discuss. I have also had my say and will refrain from rambling any more in this thread about why I don't support the NRA currently. I know many here do not agree with me on this subject, as is their right, but I think the group as a whole needs to be aware of this aspect of the NRA's current leadership situation no matter which side of the issue they might come down on. -Thanks

 

[D.B. Cooper]

I'm late to the discussion, so I apologize if my thoughts have already been covered.

What are your thoughts on having to support a gun right association as a requirement for club membership?

I see this in the vein of a free speech vs compelled speech issue. Yes, I understand that a private club is not a government entity, or even an employer, but the principle is the same. To force someone to financially support an organization or cause with which they disagree is compelled speech; compelled speech is not free speech. In my view, it is not unlike forcing a job candidate or employee to join a union as a condition of employment when that union financially supports political causes or candidates to which the job seeker or employee objects. (The Supreme Court eliminated this for public sector employees a couple years ago (The Janus decision), but it still exists in the private sector.) I feel like, if the club wants to financially support NRA (or any other organization), they should do so through their own funds after board approval like any other expenditure. In this way, members are not forced to support the organization directly, and they have some input, through election of board members, to influence the decision.

 

[Mark1964]

We are not talking about a minor scandal or minor flaw this isn't WLP grabbing a free steak-dinner or occasion bump to a first class flight at the members expense. We are talking about many hundreds of thousands of dollars, possible even millions of dollars of members's donations being squandered. There is evident WLP spent over 1/4 million of NRA funds over a 13 year period on wardrobe alone. (this is above and beyond his ample salary) There were others indulgence by WLP and other senior members on travel and vacations and acts of nepotism of similar and greater finical scale.

Oliver North, President, 04/27/19
Pete Brownells, Iowa, Board of Directors 05/30/19
Chris Cox, Chief Lobbyist 06/20/19
Esther Schneider, Texas, Board of Directors 08/01/19
Sean Maloney, Ohio, Board of Directors 08/01/19
Timothy Knight, Tennessee, Board of Directors 08/01/19
Julie Golob, Missouri, Board of Directors 08/12/19
Craig Morgan, Board of Directors 08/20/19
Richard Childress, Board of Directors 08/20/19
David Lehman, Deputy Executive director and General Counsel 08/20/19

These are all (I might have missed one or two) the senior members and board members of the NRA that were driven out or quite over the WLP and cronies corruption scandal. This is not a minor flaw, this is a serious abuse of power and trust IMHO.

ETA: I want to thank the moderates for letting this thread go as long as they have. I really appreciate that, as I think this is an important topic for a pro-2A group such as THR to discuss. I have also had my say and will refrain from rambling any more in this thread about why I don't support the NRA currently. I know many here do not agree with me on this subject, as is their right, but I think the group as a whole need to be aware of this aspect of the NRA's current leadership situation no matter which side of the issue you might come down on. -Thanks

And let's not forget that board members who dared question the status quo have been pushed out. Others have lost key committee assignments and essentially relegated to the sidelines.
Also, there are staff members -- talented, dedicated, hardworking -- who have walked away or shown the door.
I'm disgusted with the leadership and the direction.

 

[Poper]

Read my second post in this thread. I am a life member, I still vote. BUT the vote is relatively pointless due to the leadership structure of the NRA.

Lapierre holds a board appointed position and thus directly untouchable by the membership. The board nomination process is controlled in larger part by a nominating committee that is in Lapierre's pocket and thus this ensures his position is secure despite the membership's potential wishes. Under the current structure I cannot cast a meaningful vote against Lapierre and his cronies that are squander membership donations. If I could cast a meaningful vote but was in small minority that was overruled I could accept that it was the membership's wishes, but the current NRA leadership structure leaves me with nearly zero say in the true leadership of the organization so the only other way I can influence the organization is by withholding my financial support.

The number of NRA leadership and board members driven out or quitting the organization over this perceived corruption is another indication of the totalitarian rule of Lapierre and his cronies. Until that changes I will cast my symbolic votes and withhold my money.

That's fine. It's ok to take your ball and go home. Really, it is.

See also my post #53.
I will continue to support NRA and particularly at the local level, you know, Friends of NRA events and such. I will still vote or the board and will make my voice heard however weak it may be. If the corruption is truly there and there is evidence to confirm it, criminal charges are not out of the realm of possibility. Especially if it is as egregious as some people believe. If enough members cry foul and complain to authorities, I am sure the liberal leadership of Virginia will hyperventilate at the chance to file criminal charges that they can prove.

 

[Jammersix]

If you don't like the rules, start your own, join up with a club whose rules you agree with, or go without.

An unenforcible (or just unenforced) rule is meaningless.

 

[Robert]

We've had more than enough pro/hate NRA threads to last a life time. If a private range requires it for membership then the choice is simple. Either you get it to gain membership at the range or you don't and shoot at public ranges. Pretty simple.