Thanks Tiffany, that was really well done. I’ve signed your letter, and I’m really heartened by your efforts.
Thanks Tiffany, that was really well done. I’ve signed your letter, and I’m really heartened by your efforts.
Whatever you think about NRA's spending, how can you look at GOA's 990 and think that they are better? Almost $800k of their just over $2M dollar budget directly to their small number of staff members and directors. That's nearly 40 cents of every dollar that goes directly to a small staff. Also, their only noted contractor (Vote Rite Systems, that they reported paying $146,421 in 2017) happens to have as its president one of their board members: Gerry Ognibene. http://www.buzzfile.com/business/Vot...c-916-361-1577Originally Posted by 0ddl0t
If you give to ILA or NRA-PVF, we'll spend it like this: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/201...-push-in-2016/
If you don't want the money to go to candidates (or be potentially spent by ILA on their behalf) you can give to the Freedom Action Foundation. Those (c)(3) dollars will be used on voter registration, gun rights litigation, or educational campaigns like this one.
I realize I'm a biased source, but the info is all there.
Ohh, and we work with Gottlieb frequently on litigation (at least when we can agree on strategy :P) and we've also worked together fighting Washington state ballot initiatives, so I have no issues with SAF.
Update: Letter Response: “Expectations and Trust” |
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
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Sorry for the delay in replying.
First, thanks for your continued support.
To answer you question, yes, there are things that we are doing to reach outside of the standard gun owner population (at least with political messaging). If you look at a lot of the public polling data, you'll see that there are certain themes that resonate with a very broad portion of the voting population. Specifically, the belief that people have an inherent right to protect themselves and their families. This actually does very well (even with non-gun owners). Take for example this ad. It did very well for us in 16.
Also, if you look at the longest running poll question about gun ownership, you'll see that gun ownership rates have been relatively flat for the last sixty years (there are inherent problems with asking this type of question. Since it's self-report, you can see the noise created by political pressure against gun owners). But, the long-term trend is basically flat. So, I think this means we should continue to be focused on growing the number of gun owners rather than being too focused on messaging to others. (Not that it's not also important).
Just to be clear, we have quite a few salaried state lobbyists on staff. Somewhere between not as many as we want and a few . . . :P But, really, we have a staff lobbyist registered in every state. I guess if you were really bored and looked at every state's lobbying reports you could figure out the number.
The NRA has an Outreach Committee. I'm proud to be on it (assuming I get invited back [emoji4]). Latest project was implementing the new Roy Innis Award, which I'm happy to say was just posthumously awarded to Otis McDonald. Yay! [emoji3]
Unfortunately, almost no one on earth has a clue about that, except maybe the folks who were in the room at the Annual Meeting when it was announced. Instead, what they know about is Spokesperson Dana Loesch putting Ku Klux Klan hoods on cartoon trains, and President Carolyn Meadows saying a woman whose son was murdered only managed to win a seat in Congress because she's a "minority female," or Board Member Ted Nugent calling a Hispanic man "beanochimp" on social media. And to folks on the outside, that is the NRA. It's sucks and it's not fair. But that's the perception. I regret to report that those little PR snafus tend to stifle outreach efforts (and that's before you add in all the recent financial drama).
Some folks might be sick of hearing me blab about this (sorry), but IMHO, you've hit on the single biggest existential threat to 2A rights, period. We MUST do better at reaching out, or our community will keep shrinking to the point of irrelevance. And from where I'm standing, alienating huge swathes of people (think any demographic that isn't part of "the base") just doesn't look like a viable long-term strategy.
But hey, maybe that's why no one's hiring me as a strategist! [emoji4]
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Well, for the people who were there, I don't think there were many dry eyes in the room when Otis's family received the award on his behalf. While I sometimes think we have too many awards, this one was a great idea.
I admire your fortitude in light of some of what you described above. I'd rather not think about how I might react to some of those displays of ignorance. The NRA is lucky to have you. If they have a lick of sense they'll keep it in mind. (Front and center.)
There's nothing civil about this war.
Oh, I thought it was GREAT! An excellent roll-out. A very deserving inaugural recipient. And the fact that so many family members came really meant a lot.
I hope we start covering more stuff like that on NRATV instead of people in silly t-shirts swinging baseball bats at television sets.
www.FrontSightPress.com
www.CitizensSafety.com
www.Rangemaster.com
www.CitizensSafety.com | www.CitizensSafetyOnline.com
| Learn more. Plan well. Fear less.|
The GOA spends an average of $50k per employee vs $80k for the NRA (including benefits). The top GOA staff make not much more than the average NRA employee and 10x less than NRA brass.
I don't care if 100% of the funds go to employee compensation as long as the employees are working to protect the 2nd and aren't being paid extravagantly. I very much care when funds are largely spent trying to raise more funds, politicking in foreign countries, on extravagant executive vacations, and advancing irrelevant partisan politics.
I'm not a Republican. If i wanted to support the Republican party or agenda, I would do so without a money sucking intermediary. I'd much rather my 2A funds be spent in the courts and in advertising campaigns against gun control measures - even if seemingly a lost cause. I was especially unhappy seeing funds spent supporting a presidential candidate who had previously pushed for increased gun control and still advocated stopping people "randomly" and taking their guns.If you give to ILA or NRA-PVF, we'll spend it like this: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/201...-push-in-2016/
I certainly didn't see the NRA fighting for the rights of CCWers Philando Castile and Corey Jones - or even mentioning them in those hyped up fear mongering newsletters.
I'll look into it, but the NRA is so toxic right now I have a hard time supporting any subsidiary.If you don't want the money to go to candidates (or be potentially spent by ILA on their behalf) you can give to the Freedom Action Foundation. Those (c)(3) dollars will be used on voter registration, gun rights litigation, or educational campaigns like this one.
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