Seen here. They are quite correct that PLCAA should put the brakes on any potential lawsuit. I don’t think Calderon, in this case, is any different than any of our big city mayors. He knows well this lawsuit is pointless, but it’ll allow him to keep pointing the finger north when his own people demand the failures of his government in the war with the cartels be explained.
Category: Gun Rights Organizations
Friends Dinner
Sorry for the light posting this evening. Tonight was the Philadelphia Friends of the NRA dinner. I am disappointed not to have won anything, but there will be other dinners. Plenty of non-hunting guns. On raffle this year were a Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22, and a Century AK, both of which ended up auctioned off because people chose the other prizes. The price was good on both. I would have bid if I wasn’t hoarding cash because of the job situation. Plus, the FFL handling transfers is in the city, which means 2% more sales tax. I’ll wait for the Bucks and Montgomery County dinners. You can actually find pretty good bargains at auction if you’re lucky. Who wouldn’t want an NRA Toaster anyway?
A Little About NRA’s New President
Not what many people think. Personally, I was impressed by David Keene’s inclusion of GOProud at CPAC, much to the chagrin of many other social conservative groups, and even some other members of NRA’s board acting in other capacities. I’m happy to have Keene as NRA President for two years.
NRA Hates Law Enforcement Meme
Non Profit Salaries
It’s a slow day, so I don’t have much else to write, other than pick on Joan Peterson. Amid a steady stream of hysteria about how we don’t care about gun violence (kind of an odd assertion, when I carry a Glock specifically to prevent violence, gun or otherwise, against me and those around me. What does she think I carry it for? To tickle the unicorns?)Â we have her cite something from Michael Moore:
It’s about scoring political points and protecting LaPierre’s status as the 4th highest paid leader of any “charity organization†in the country, to the tune of a cool $1.281 million per year. And fear of Obama, the first black President, has been very, very good for fundraising and scaring middle-aged white men into stocking their basements with caches of weapons. Which means it’s also been very, very good for LaPierre’s bottom line, and that of the arms dealers who sit on the NRA’s Board.
Moore is a well documented liar, first of all. Second of all, NRA is not a charity. NRA has a charity, called the NRA Foundation. The Foundation does not directly compensate Wayne. He is paid by NRA, which is a 501(c)(4) non-profit, and therefore not a charity. NRA Foundation is a four star charity. By comparison, The Brady Center is a two star charity. Helmke’s $243,888 salary is compensated directly from the Center, and represents 6.33% of its total expenses. Paul draws no salary from the 501(c)(4), the Brady Campaign, which by now is very nearly defunct. The Brady Campaign and Brady Center only employ approximately 52 people. There seems to be a concerted effort by Brady to shift more of their expenses to the more financially stable 501(c)(3), which is not going to help them boost their charity rating, and may even lower it.
How high is Wayne’s salary in comparison to other non-profit salaries? Even if I compare this report only on non-profit salaries in Minnesota, it’s pretty clear it’s not out of the park for large organizations. Also note this list of non-profit millionaires that you won’t see Wayne’s name on. Keep in mind that NRA employs 766 people on revenues of 250 million. Even if you compare NRA to an actual charity in similar revenue ranges, like Metropolitan Opera Association, or National Public Radio, Wayne salary is not stratospheric.
Our opponents have to believe they are fighting against some shady, questionably legitimate organization. They don’t want to accept that they are fighting against millions of ordinary Americans who happen to value this country’s Second Amendment heritage. It makes it easier for them, I think. It’s much easier to believe you’re trying to prevent fat cats from profiting off your tragedy. Much harder to believe you’re fighting to destroy the freedoms of other Americans because of it.
Calming Fears of Campus Carry
W. Scott Lewis, Legislative Director for SCCC, gets a great opinion piece in San Antonio. I’ve been continually impressed with SCCC as an organization. They’ve made great arguments and have represented themselves very well when I’ve seen them in the media. No doubt our opponents think these guys are paid shills of the gun manufacturers, or they are being played by puppet master LaPierre, but I’ve been really impressed with them so far.
No Such Thing as an NRA Membership Giveaway
Our opponents always seem to have a hard time believing NRA actually has 4 million members. Well, Brady Board member Joan Peterson is no exception to that rule, and I was amused a few days ago when she suggested that it was all a lie, because a friend of hers got a free membership in the mail. I was even more amused when she updated with what she thinks is proof positive.
What she is seeing is not a membership card. A membership card has a member number on it. It has an expiration date on it (unless you’re a life member, in which case your card says so). What she is seeing is a membership offer, which will come upon sending in the payment. This would be like if Joan had taken a picture of one of those flimsy credit cards the credit card companies send you in the mail with the application, and was trying to prove they are just giving away unsolicited charge cards. But go try using that flimsy thing at a store and see what they do.
NRA uses a lot of techniques to entice people to join, and there certainly exist clubs who require NRA membership (mine is one of them, but the vast majority of gun clubs are not 100% clubs) to join. But they cannot, according to their bylaws, give away free memberships. From the bylaws:
The dues or minimum contributions of each class of membership shall be fixed by the Board of Directors. Except for those persons who are lifetime members elected prior to July 1, 1979, all members of all classes with addresses not within the domestic United States may be required to pay the additional postage costs necessary for Association mailings to their stated addresses. The imposition of such requirement and the amount of such costs shall be determined administratively from time to time.
There is no free class of membership that NRA offers, with the exception of honorary life member, of which they are only permitted to give away three of in any given calendar year. NRA has, in the past, had a program by which active duty members of the military could receive complimentary memberships, but because of the bylaw requirement, those memberships had to be sponsored by existing members. I sponsored two memberships of this kind myself, and had to pay the full price set by the board on behalf of these military men and women.
NRA has among the strictest membership criteria for any organization in DC. Much more strict, I would point out, than the Brady Campaign. How many of the members the Brady Campaign touts are dues paying members? Does Brady issue membership cards with member numbers? Sorry Joan, the numbers are real, and I would wager a rather large amount of money more real than the Brady membership numbers.
NRA Response to Obama
You can read it here.
NRA Calling for Hearings into “Fast and Furious”
In a letter dated today to Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, and Ranking Member Charles Grassley, and House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith and Ranking Member John Conyers, NRA is calling for a Congressional investigation and hearings on Operation Fast and Furious.
The Fine Line Between Fundraising Writing & BS
There’s an art to writing copy for an effective fundraising letter. It differs based on the medium, and it needs to stay within certain guidelines that I like to refer to as “reality.” There’s the kind of reality we talk about here to those of you who read and are relatively well informed about the issues. There’s also a kind of reality used in fundraising letters that’s often a bit on the scare tactic side, but it’s also meant to showcase very real threats that are technically on the horizon for those who don’t really pay attention to what’s happening in the various political debates. It’s not BS if the group is actually working on those issues. It is BS if a group is fundraising off of those issues and not actually in a position to do a damned thing about it.
So imagine my surprise when the National Association of Gun Rights started running Facebook ads with a petition to stop the UN from passing a small arms treaty. The ad linked to a fundraising appeal by a Congressman that says you must give to the “National Association for Gun Rights so [they] can fight for your gun rights and defeat the U.N. Small Arm’s Treaty.” Oh really? A Congressman who has no authority over treaties plans to work with a group that has no presence at the UN to stop unaccountable diplomats with an online petition? That is going to be some show.
Before you start in with rants about NRA fundraising using the UN as a basis for their appeals, I’ll point out one big freakin’ difference in the situations. The NRA is actually an official NGO at the UN so that they can work on this issue. They’ve been working that front for 15 years. In other words, when you respond to that appeal from NRA, your money is going to an organization that is actually able to fight it – with more than just an online petition & Congressman who has no authority over the issue.