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National Rifle Association

May 11, 2023

"NRA" redirects here. For other uses, see NRA (disambiguation) and National Rifle Association (disambiguation).

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States.[3][4][b] Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while continuing to teach firearm safety and competency. The organization also publishes several magazines and sponsors competitive marksmanship events.[5] According to the NRA, it had nearly 5 million members as of December 2018, though that figure has not been independently confirmed.[6][7][8]

National Rifle Association of America
FoundedNovember 17, 1871;
151 years ago (1871-11-17)
Founder
Type501(c)(4)[1]
53-0116130
Focus
Location
Area served
United States
Services
  • Lobbying
  • Membership organization
  • Magazine publisher
  • Education/certification
Method
Members
Approximately 5.5 million (self-reported)[a][2]
Key people
Subsidiaries
  • NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund
  • NRA Foundation
  • NRA Special Contribution Fund
  • NRA Freedom Action Foundation
  • NRA Institute for Legislative Action
  • NRA Political Victory Fund
Revenue (2018)
$412,233,508[2]
Expenses (2018)$423,034,158[2]
WebsiteNRA.org
Seal of the National Rifle Association

The NRA is among the most influential advocacy groups in U.S. politics.[9][10][11] The NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) is its lobbying division, which manages its political action committee (PAC), the Political Victory Fund (PVF). Over its history, the organization has influenced legislation, participated in or initiated lawsuits, and endorsed or opposed various candidates at local, state, and federal levels. Some notable lobbying efforts by the NRA-ILA are the Firearm Owners Protection Act, which lessened restrictions of the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Dickey Amendment, which blocks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from using federal funds to advocate for gun control.

Starting in the mid-to-late 1970s, the NRA has been increasingly criticized by gun control and gun rights advocacy groups, political commentators, and politicians. This criticism began following changes in the NRA's organizational policies, following what is now referred to as the Revolt at Cincinnati at the 1977 NRA annual convention. The changes, which deposed former NRA executive vice president Maxwell Rich and included new organizational bylaws, have been described as moving the organization away from its previous focusses of "hunting, conservation, and marksmanship" and toward a focus on the defense of the right to bear arms.[12][13][14] The organization has been the focus of intense criticism in the aftermath of high-profile shootings, such as the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, after which they suggested adding armed security guards to schools.[15]

History

Early history

 
William Conant Church, one of the NRA's founders

A few months after the Civil War began in 1861, a national rifle association was proposed by Americans in England. In a letter that was sent to President Abraham Lincoln and published in The New York Times, R.G. Moulton and R.B. Perry recommended forming an organization similar to the British National Rifle Association, which had formed a year and a half earlier. They suggested making a shooting range, perhaps on the base on Staten Island, and were offering Whitworth rifles for prizes for the first shooting competition with those rifles. They suggested a provisional committee to start the Association which would include: President Lincoln, Secretary of War, officers, and other prominent New Yorkers.[16][17][18]

The National Rifle Association was chartered in the State of New York on November 17, 1871[19][5] by Army and Navy Journal editor William Conant Church and Captain George Wood Wingate. On November 25, 1871, the group voted to elect its first corporate officers. Union Army Civil War General Ambrose Burnside, who had worked as a Rhode Island gunsmith, was elected president.[20] When Burnside resigned on August 1, 1872,[21] Church succeeded him as president.[22]

Union Army records for the Civil War indicate that its troops fired about 1,000 rifle shots for each Confederate hit, causing General Burnside to lament his recruits: "Out of ten soldiers who are perfect in drill and the manual of arms, only one knows the purpose of the sights on his gun or can hit the broad side of a barn."[23][24][25] The generals attributed this to the use of volley tactics, devised for earlier, less accurate smoothbore muskets.[26][27]

 
Ambrose Burnside, Union Army general, Governor of Rhode Island, and first president of the NRA

Recognizing a need for better training, Wingate sent emissaries to Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany to observe militia and armies' marksmanship training programs.[28] With plans provided by Wingate, the New York Legislature funded the construction of a modern range at Creedmoor, Long Island, for long-range shooting competitions. The range officially opened on June 21, 1873.[29] The Central Railroad of Long Island established a railway station nearby, with trains running from Hunter's Point, with connecting boat service to 34th Street and the East River, allowing access from New York City.[30]

After beating England and Scotland to win the Elcho Shield in 1873 at Wimbledon, then a village outside London, the Irish Rifle Team issued a challenge through the New York Herald to riflemen of the United States to raise a team for a long-range match to determine an Anglo-American championship. The NRA organized a team through a subsidiary amateur rifle club. Remington Arms and Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company produced breech-loading weapons for the team. Although muzzle-loading rifles had long been considered more accurate, eight American riflemen won the match firing breech-loading rifles. Publicity of the event generated by the New York Herald helped to establish breech-loading firearms as suitable for military marksmanship training, and promoted the NRA to national prominence.[25]

Rifle clubs

 
Ulysses S. Grant served as President of the NRA from 1883 (six years after he left office) to 1884.

The NRA organized rifle clubs in other states, and many state National Guard organizations sought NRA advice to improve members' marksmanship. Wingate's marksmanship manual evolved into the United States Army marksmanship instruction program.[25] Former President Ulysses S. Grant served as the NRA's eighth president and General Philip H. Sheridan as its ninth.[31] The US Congress created the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice in 1901 to include representatives from the NRA, National Guard, and United States military services. A program of annual rifle and pistol competitions was authorized, and included a national match open to military and civilian shooters. In 1907, NRA headquarters moved to Washington, D.C. to facilitate the organization's advocacy efforts.[25] Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal began the manufacture of M1903 Springfield rifles for civilian members of the NRA in 1910.[32] The Director of Civilian Marksmanship began manufacture of M1911 pistols for NRA members in August 1912.[33] Until 1927, the United States Department of War provided free ammunition and targets to civilian rifle clubs with a minimum membership of ten United States citizens at least 16 years of age.[34]

1934–1970s

After the passage of the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934, the first federal gun-control law in the US, the NRA formed its Legislative Affairs Division to update members with facts and analysis of upcoming bills.[35][36] Karl Frederick, NRA president in 1934, during congressional NFA hearings testified "I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I seldom carry one. [...] I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses."[37] Four years later, the NRA backed the Federal Firearms Act of 1938.[38]

The NRA supported the NFA along with the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), which together created a system to federally license gun dealers and established restrictions on particular categories and classes of firearms.[39] The organization opposed a national firearms registry, an initiative favored by then-President Lyndon Johnson.[38]

1970s–2000s

Until the 1970s, the NRA was nonpartisan.[40] Previously, the NRA mainly focused on sportsmen, hunters, and target shooters, and downplayed gun control issues. During the 1970s, it became increasingly aligned with the Republican Party.[40] After 1977, the organization expanded its membership by focusing heavily on political issues and forming coalitions with conservative politicians. Most of these are Republicans.[41]

However, passage of the GCA galvanized a growing number of NRA gun rights activists, including Harlon Carter. In 1975, it began to focus more on politics and established its lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), with Carter as director. The next year, its political action committee (PAC), the Political Victory Fund, was created in time for the 1976 elections.[42]: 158  The 1977 annual convention was a defining moment for the organization and came to be known as "The Cincinnati Revolution"[43] (or as the Cincinnati Coup,[44] the Cincinnati Revolt,[45] or the Revolt at Cincinnati).[46] Leadership planned to relocate NRA headquarters to Colorado and to build a $30 million recreational facility in New Mexico, but activists within the organization whose central concern was Second Amendment rights defeated the incumbents (i.e. Maxwell Rich) and elected Carter as executive director and Neal Knox as head of the NRA-ILA.[47][48] Insurgents including Carter and Knox had demanded new leadership in part because they blamed incumbent leaders for existing gun control legislation like the GCA and believed that no compromise should be made.[49]

With a goal to weaken the GCA, Knox's ILA successfully lobbied Congress to pass the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986 and worked to reduce the powers of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In 1982, Knox was ousted as director of the ILA, but began mobilizing outside the NRA framework and continued to promote opposition to gun control laws.[50]

At the 1991 national convention, Knox's supporters were elected to the board and named staff lobbyist Wayne LaPierre as the executive vice president. The NRA focused its attention on the gun control policies of the Clinton Administration.[48] Knox again lost power in 1997, as he lost reelection to a coalition of moderate leaders who supported movie star Charlton Heston, despite Heston's past support of gun control legislation.[51]

In 1994, the NRA unsuccessfully opposed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB), but successfully lobbied for the ban's 2004 expiration.[52] Heston was elected president in 1998 and became a highly visible spokesman for the organization. In an effort to improve the NRA's image, Heston presented himself as the voice of reason in contrast to Knox.[53]: 262–68 

2018–present

Legal cases, 2019–present

In April 2019 the group unexpectedly sued its longtime public relations firm Ackerman McQueen, which was responsible for two decades of aggressive gun-rights advertising on behalf of the NRA. The lawsuit alleges that the firm refused to turn over financial records to support its billings to the NRA, which amounted to $40 million in 2017. The lawsuit questioned recent programming on NRATV, an online channel operated by Ackerman, which has taken political positions unrelated to the NRA's traditional focus on gun-related issues. There were also concerns about possible conflicts of interest, such as the $1 million contract to host NRATV between Ackerman and NRA president Oliver North.[54][55] Leading up to the NRA's 2019 national convention in April, there were reports that North and LaPierre were at odds, with North demanding that LaPierre resign and LaPierre accusing North of extortion.[56] At the convention a letter was read from North, saying he had been told he would not be granted a second term as NRA president and adding that he intended to create a committee to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement.[57] A subsequent resolution to oust LaPierre over "highly suspect" financial practices was hotly debated for an hour before members voted not to discuss financial issues in public and to refer the resolution to the NRA board.[58] On June 25, 2019, the NRA severed all ties with Ackerman McQueen and shut down the NRATV operation.[59]

2020 lawsuits and 2021 bankruptcy filing

Following an 18-month investigation, on August 6, 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against the NRA, alleging fraud, financial misconduct, and misuse of charitable funds by some of its executives, including its long-time CEO and EVP Wayne LaPierre, treasurer Wilson Phillips, former chief of staff and current executive director of general operations Joshua Powell,[60] and general counsel and secretary John Frazer.[61] The suit calls for the dissolution of the NRA as being "fraught with fraud and abuse".[62][63][64] On the same date, Attorney General for the District of Columbia Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against the NRA for misusing charitable funds.[65]

On January 15, 2021, the NRA announced in a press release that it and one of its subsidiaries had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas.[66] It also announced that it would reincorporate in Texas, subject to court approval, although its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, would not move.[66] During the bankruptcy trial LaPierre stated that he had kept the bankruptcy filing secret from the NRA's board of directors and most of its senior officials.[67] LaPierre's excessive compensation and exorbitant spending of NRA funds on himself and his wife, such as extremely expensive suits, chartered jet flights, and a traveling "glam squad" for his wife, became a subject of testimony in the eleven-day Texas proceedings.[68]

On May 11, 2021, Judge Harlin Hale of the federal bankruptcy court of the Northern District of Texas, dismissed the bankruptcy petition without prejudice, describing that it "was not filed in good faith", warning that if the NRA chose to file a new bankruptcy case, Hale's court would immediately revisit concerns about "disclosure, transparency, secrecy, conflicts of interest of litigation counsel", which could lead to the appointment of a trustee to oversee the organization's affairs.[69] Hale doubted that the NRA was "faced with financial difficulties", instead ruling that the true purposes of the lawsuit were "to gain an unfair litigation advantage" against the New York Attorney General, and to "avoid" regulation from New York.[69][70][71]

On March 2, 2022 New York state court in Manhattan ruled against Letitia James's effort to break up the NRA while allowing the portion of the legal actions against the NRA's leadership to continue. The judge found that dissolving the NRA would have a negative impact on the free speech and assembly rights of the organization's members. It was also found that the NRA as an organization did not benefit from the alleged misconduct of its leadership and "less intrusive" remedies against NRA officials could be sought instead.[72][73]

Lobbying and political activity

See also: Lobbying in the United States
 
Chris W. Cox, the NRA's former chief lobbyist and political strategist, in March 2016

When the National Rifle Association was officially incorporated on November 16, 1871,[19] its primary goal was to "promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis". The NRA's website says the organization is "America's longest-standing civil rights organization".[74]

On February 7, 1872, the NRA created a committee to lobby for legislation in the interest of the organization.[75] Its first lobbying effort was to petition the New York State legislature for $25,000 to purchase land to set up a range.[76] Within three months, the legislation had passed and had been signed into law by Governor John T. Hoffman.[77]

In 1934, the National Rifle Association created a Legislative Affairs Division and testified in front of Congress in support of the first substantial federal gun control legislation in the US, the National Firearms Act.[78]

The Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), the lobbying branch of the NRA, was established in 1975. According to political scientists John M. Bruce and Clyde Wilcox, the NRA shifted its focus in the late 1970s to incorporate political advocacy, and started seeing its members as political resources rather than just as recipients of goods and services. Despite the impact on the volatility of membership, the politicization of the NRA has been consistent and its PAC, the Political Victory Fund established in 1976, ranked as "one of the biggest spenders in congressional elections" as of 1998.[79]

A 1999 Fortune magazine survey said that lawmakers and their staffers considered the NRA the most powerful lobbying organization three years in a row.[10] Chris W. Cox was the NRA's chief lobbyist and principal political strategist, a position he held from 2002 until 2019. In 2012, 88% of Republicans and 11% of Democrats in Congress had received an NRA PAC contribution at some point in their career. Of the members of the Congress that convened in 2013, 51% received funding from the NRA PAC within their political careers, and 47% received NRA money in their most recent race. According to Lee Drutman, political scientist and senior fellow at the Sunlight Foundation, "It is important to note that these contributions are probably a better measure of allegiance than of influence."[80]

Internationally, the NRA opposes the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).[81] It has opposed Canadian gun registry,[82] supported Brazilian gun rights,[83][84] and criticized Australian gun laws.[85]

In 2016 the NRA raised a record $366 million and spent $412 million for political activities. The NRA also maintains a PAC which is excluded from these figures.[86] The organization donated to congressional races for both Republicans (223) and Democrats (9) to candidates for Congress.[87]

The NRA has been described as influential in shaping American gun control policy.[88][89] The organization influences legislators' voting behavior through its financial resources and ability to mobilize its large membership.[89] The organization has not lost a major battle over gun control legislation since the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban.[88] At the federal level, the NRA successfully lobbied Congress in the mid-1990s to effectively halt governments-sponsored research into the public health effects of firearms, and to ensure the passage of legislation in 2005 largely immunizing gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits.[88] At the same time, the NRA stopped efforts at the federal level to increase regulation of firearms.[88] At the state and local level, the NRA successfully campaigned to deregulate guns, for example by pushing state governments to eliminate the ability of local governments to regulate guns and removing restrictions on guns in public places (such as bars and campuses).[88]

Elections

 
Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president, in 2017

The NRA Political Victory Fund (PVF) PAC was established in 1976 to challenge gun-control candidates and to support gun-rights candidates.[90] An NRA "A+" candidate is one who has "not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues, but who has also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment", whereas an NRA "F" candidate is a "true enemy of gun owners' rights".[91]

The NRA endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time in 1980, backing Ronald Reagan over Jimmy Carter.[92][93] The NRA has also made endorsements even when it viewed both candidates positively. For example, in the 2006 Pennsylvania Senate elections, the NRA endorsed Rick Santorum over Bob Casey Jr.,[94] even though they both had an "A" rating. Despite this endorsement, Santorum lost to Casey.

Republicans joined forces with the NRA and used the recently passed gun control measures to motivate voters in the 1994 midterm elections.[95] In 1993, with Democrats in the majority of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, named after the press secretary who was shot and paralyzed during the 1981 assassination attempt of President Reagan.[95] The Brady Bill created a mechanism for background checks in order to enforce the GCA of 1968 and prevent criminals and minors from purchasing guns.[95] In addition, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 included a 10-year ban on the sale of assault weapons. In 1994, the ban was favored by 78% of Americans according to a CBS poll.[96]

According to Yale professor Reva Siegel, during the 1994 midterm elections, the NRA "spent more than $3.2 million on GOP campaigns and helped win nineteen of twenty-four 'priority' races the organization targeted, leading to a House with a majority of members who were 'A-rated' by the NRA."[97] Groups like the NRA seeking to expand interpretation of the Second Amendment to include an individual right to a gun, coincided with the 'New Right', a political movement concerned with gun control, and social issues such as school prayer and abortion.[98] Leader of the new House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich stated that support for or against gun control defined ones partisan identity.[97] NRA leader Knox echoed this sentiment, assuring members that Republicans would be defenders of Second Amendment rights and repeal recently passed gun control legislation.[97]

The NRA spent $40 million on United States elections in 2008,[99] including $10 million in opposition to the election of Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign.[100]

In 2010, Citizens United v. FEC was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, paving the way for dark money to flow into U.S. elections. As of mid-September 2018, the NRA has become one of just 15 groups which account for three-quarters of the anonymous cash.[101]

The NRA spent over $360,000 in the Colorado recall election of 2013, which resulted in the ouster of state senators John Morse and Angela Giron.[102] The Huffington Post called the recall "a stunning victory for the National Rifle Association and gun rights activists."[102] Morse and Giron helped to pass expanded background checks and ammunition magazine capacity limits after the 2012 Aurora, Colorado, and Sandy Hook, Connecticut, shootings.[103]

On May 20, 2016, the NRA endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election.[104] The timing of the endorsement, before Trump became the official Republican nominee, was unusual, as the NRA typically endorses Republican nominees towards the end of the general election. The NRA said its early endorsement was due to the strong gun control stance of Hillary Clinton[105] In the 2016 United States presidential election the NRA reported spending more than $30 million in support of Donald Trump, more than any other independent group in that election, and three times what it spent in the 2012 presidential election.[106]

Russian influence

Further information: Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

Investigations by the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller resulted in indictments of Russian nationals on charges of developing and exploiting ties with the NRA to influence US politics by using the NRA to gain access to Republican politicians. Russian politician and gun-rights activist Aleksandr Torshin, a lifetime NRA member who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin,[107][108] was suspected by some of illegally funneling money through the NRA to benefit Trump's 2016 campaign. In May 2018, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee released a report stating it had obtained "a number of documents that suggest the Kremlin used the National Rifle Association as a means of accessing and assisting Mr. Trump and his campaign" through Torshin and his assistant Maria Butina, and that "The Kremlin may also have used the NRA to secretly fund Mr. Trump's campaign."[109][110]

Butina was arrested on July 15, 2018, and charged with conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian Federation and using Republican operative Paul Erickson for cover and connections as she developed an influence operation designed to "advance the interests of the Russian Federation." The FBI acquired an email Erickson had sent to an acquaintance in 2016 stating, "Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns, I've been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key [GOP] leaders through, of all conduits, the [NRA]."[111][112] According to the affidavit, from 2015 through at least February 2017, Butina worked at the direction of Russian who was a high level government official and official at the Russian Central Bank.[113][114][115] In December, Butina agreed in a plea deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors.[116][117] Butina later denied accusations that she was a Russian agent.[118]

In 2018, in a letter sent to Sen. Ron Wyden and addressed to Congress, the NRA acknowledged it had accepted approximately $2,000 in membership dues and magazine subscriptions and $525 in contributions from 23 Russian nationals or people associated with Russian addresses since 2015. In an earlier news interview the NRA's lawyers stated that the NRA had received less than $1000 from only one Russian donor. According to a Wyden aide, the NRA letter would be referred to the Federal Elections Commission.[119][120] NRA's General Counsel John C. Frazer wrote to Senator Wyden: "While we do receive some contributions from foreign individuals and entities, those contributions are made directly to the NRA for lawful purposes. Our review of our records has found no foreign donations in connection with a United States election, either directly or through a conduit."[121]

According to the minority Democratic staff of the Senate Finance Committee the NRA acted as "a foreign asset" of Russia during the 2016 election, putting its tax exempt status at risk. The allegations were made in a 77-page report on an 18-month investigation released on September 27, 2019. An 18-page rebuttal by majority committee Republicans said the Democratic report demonstrated "little or nothing."[122][123][124][125]

Neither the FBI nor Special Counsel investigations found any Russian money funneling. The FBI investigation resulted in the conviction of Butina, not on any money-related charges, and the Mueller Report does not mention the NRA.[126] The Federal Election Commission has dismissed allegations of Russian money funneling as unsupported by the evidence.[127][128]

The ATF and Senate confirmations

The NRA has for decades sought to limit the ability of the ATF to regulate firearms by blocking nominees and lobbying against reforms that would increase the ability of the ATF to track gun crimes.[129] For instance, the NRA opposed ATF reforms to trace guns to owners electronically; the ATF currently does so through paper records.[129] In 2006, the NRA lobbied US Representative F. James Sensenbrenner to add a provision to the Patriot Act reauthorization that requires Senate confirmation of ATF director nominees.[130] For seven years after that, the NRA lobbied against and "effectively blocked" every presidential nominee.[130][131][132] First was President George W. Bush's choice, Michael Sullivan, whose confirmation was held up in 2008 by three Republican Senators who said the ATF was hostile to gun dealers. One of the Senators was Larry Craig, who was an NRA board member during his years in the Senate.[133] Confirmation of President Obama's first nominee, Andrew Traver, stalled in 2011 after the NRA expressed strong opposition.[129][130][134] Some Senators resisted confirming another Obama nominee, B. Todd Jones, because of the NRA's opposition,[132] until 2013, when the NRA said it was neutral on Jones' nomination and that it would not include the confirmation vote in its grading system.[130] Dan Freedman, national editor for Hearst Newspapers' Washington, D.C. bureau, stated that it, "clears the way for senators from pro-gun states—Democrats as well as at least some Republicans—to vote for Jones without fear of political repercussions".[135]

In 2014, Obama weighed the idea of delaying a vote on his nominee for Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, when Republicans and some conservative Democrats criticized Murthy, after the NRA opposed him.[136] In February, the NRA wrote to Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell to say that it "strongly opposes" Murthy's confirmation, and told The Washington Times' Emily Miller that it would score the vote in its PAC grading system. "The NRA decision", wrote Miller, "will undoubtedly make vulnerable Democrats up for reelection in the midterms reconsider voting party line on this nominee."[137] The Wall Street Journal stated on March 15, "Crossing the NRA to support Dr. Murthy could be a liability for some of the Democrats running for re-election this year in conservative-leaning states".[138] Murthy's nomination received broad support from over 100 medical and public health organizations in the U.S., including the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association.[139] On December 15, 2014, Murthy's appointment as Surgeon General was approved by the Senate.[140]

The NRA also opposed the appointments of Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan as Supreme Court justices.[141]

Legislation

National Rifle Association Position on Federal US Legislation
Bill/Law Year Supported Opposed
National Firearms Act 1934  N
Federal Firearms Act 1938  N
Gun Control Act 1968  N  N
Federal Assault Weapons Ban 1994  N
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act 2005  N
Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act 2006  N
Assault Weapons Ban 2013  N

The NRA initially opposed the 1934 National Firearms Act, but gave their support after several changes including the removal of pistols and revolvers and redefinition of machine gun,[142][143] which regulated what were considered at the time "gangster weapons" such as machine guns, sawed-off shotguns, and sound suppressors.[144] However, the organization's position on suppressors has since changed.[145]

The NRA supported the 1938 Federal Firearms Act (FFA) which established the Federal Firearms License (FFL) program. The FFA required all manufacturers and dealers of firearms who ship or receive firearms or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce to have a license, and forbade them from transferring any firearm or most ammunition to any person interstate unless certain conditions were met.[146]

The NRA supported and opposed parts of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which broadly regulated the firearms industry and firearms owners, primarily focusing on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers, dealers and importers. The law was supported by America's oldest manufacturers (Colt, S&W, etc.) in an effort to forestall even greater restrictions which were feared in response to recent domestic violence. The NRA supported elements of the law, such as those forbidding the sale of firearms to convicted criminals and the mentally ill.[147][148]

The NRA influenced the writing of the Firearm Owners Protection Act and worked for its passage.[149]

In 2004, the NRA opposed renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994. The ban expired on September 13, 2004.[150]

In 2005 President George W. Bush signed into law the NRA-backed Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act which partially shields firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable for negligence when crimes have been committed with their products.[151][152]

Litigation

In November 2005, the NRA and other gun advocates filed a lawsuit challenging San Francisco Proposition H, which banned the ownership and sales of firearms. The NRA argued that the proposition overstepped local government authority and intruded into an area regulated by the state. The San Francisco County Superior Court agreed with the NRA position.[153] The city appealed the court's ruling, but lost a 2008 appeal.[154] In October 2008, San Francisco was forced to pay a $380,000 settlement to the National Rifle Association and other plaintiffs to cover the costs of litigating Proposition H.[155]

In April 2006, New Orleans, Louisiana, police began returning to citizens guns that had been confiscated after Hurricane Katrina. The NRA, Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and other groups agreed to drop a lawsuit against the city in exchange for the return.[156]

The NRA filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in the 2008 landmark gun rights case of District of Columbia v Heller.[157] In a 5 to 4 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that the District of Columbia's gun laws were unconstitutional, and for the first time held that an individual's right to a gun was unconnected to service in a militia.[97][158] Some legal scholars believe that the NRA was influential in altering the public's interpretation of the Second Amendment, providing the foundation for the majority's opinion in Heller.[158][159]

In 2009 the NRA again filed suit (Guy Montag Doe v. San Francisco Housing Authority) in the city of San Francisco challenging the city's ban of guns in public housing. On January 14, 2009, the San Francisco Housing Authority reached a settlement with the NRA, which allows residents to possess legal firearms within a SFHA apartment building.[160]

In 2010, the NRA sued the city of Chicago, Illinois (McDonald v. Chicago) and the Supreme Court ruled that like other substantive rights, the right to bear arms is incorporated via the Fourteenth Amendment to the Bill of Rights, and therefore applies to the states.[161][162]

In March 2013, the NRA joined a federal lawsuit with other gun rights groups challenging New York's gun control law (the NY SAFE Act), arguing that Governor Andrew Cuomo "usurped the legislative and democratic process" in passing the law, which included restrictions on magazine capacity and expanding the state's assault weapons ban.[163]

In November 2013, voters in Sunnyvale, California, passed an ordinance banning certain ammunition magazines along with three other firearm-related restrictions. The ordinance was passed by 66 percent in favor.[164] The ordinance requires city residents to "dispose, donate, or sell" any magazine capable of holding more than ten rounds within a proscribed period of time once the measure takes effect.[165] The following month, the NRA joined local residents in suing the city on second amendment grounds.[164] A federal judge dismissed the suit three months later, upholding the Sunnyvale's ordinance.[166][167]

The city of San Francisco then passed similar ordinances a short time later. The San Francisco Veteran Police Officers Association (SFVPOA), represented by NRA attorneys, filed a lawsuit challenging San Francisco's ban on the possession of high-capacity magazines, seeking an injunction.[168] A federal judge denied the injunction in February 2014.[166][169]

In 2014 the NRA lobbied for a bill in Pennsylvania which grants it and other advocacy groups legal standing to sue municipalities to overturn local firearm regulations passed in violation of a state law preempting such regulations, and which also allows the court to force cities to pay their legal fees. As soon as it became law, the NRA sued three cities: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Lancaster. In Philadelphia, seven regulations the NRA sued to overturn included a ban on gun possession by those found to be a risk for harming themselves or others, and a requirement to report stolen guns to the police within twenty-four hours after discovery of the loss or theft.[170] In Lancaster, a city of fewer than 60,000, mayor Rick Gray, who has chaired the pro-gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, was also named in the suit. In that city, the NRA challenged an ordinance requiring gun owners to tell police when a firearm is lost or stolen within 72 hours or face jail time.[171] The basis for the lawsuits is "a 1974 state law that bars municipalities against passing restrictions that are pre-empted by state gun laws". At least 20 Pennsylvania municipalities have rescinded regulations in response to threatened litigation.[172][173]

The NRA has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in opposing NSA collection of the call records of calls in the United States.[174][175]

On September 4, 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a non-binding resolution which declared the NRA a domestic terrorist organization and said the city should "take every reasonable step" to limit vendors which do business with the city from also doing business with the NRA. On September 9, the NRA filed a lawsuit in response, accusing city officials of violating the organization's free speech rights by discriminating against the organization "based on the viewpoint of their political speech."[176][177][178] On September 23, mayor London Breed and city attorney Dennis Herrera announced in a memo that "the city’s contracting process and policies have not changed and will not change as a result of the resolution." On November 7, 2019, the NRA dropped their lawsuit against San Francisco.[179][180][181][182] Los Angeles had passed a similar ordinance but the NRA won a preliminary injunction on December 11, 2019[183] and subsequently dropped the lawsuit after Los Angeles repealed the law.[184]

Programs

 
NRA headquarters in Fairfax County, Virginia that houses the museum

The National Rifle Association owns the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax County, Virginia, featuring exhibits on the evolution and history of firearms in America.[185] In August 2013, the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum opened at an expansive Bass Pro Shops retail store in Springfield, Missouri. It displays almost 1,000 firearms, including historically significant firearms from the NRA and other collections.[186] The NRA publishes a number of periodicals including American Rifleman and others.[187]

The NRA sponsors a range of programs about firearm safety for children and adults, including a program for school-age children, the NRA's "Eddie Eagle". The organization issues credentials and trains firearm instructors.[188][189]

In 1994, following disagreements between the NRA and athletes over control of the program of Olympic shooting sports, the US Olympic Committee recommended USA Shooting replace the NRA as the national governing body for Olympic shooting. The NRA dropped out just before the decision was announced, citing a lack of appreciation for their efforts.[190]

The NRA supports marksmanship training as well as hosting the National Rifle and Pistol Matches at Camp Perry, events which are described by the El Paso Times as the "world series of competitive shooting".[191][192][193] The National Rifle Association maintains ties with other organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America and 4-H and contributes to youth shooting programs.[194][195]

The NRA hosts annual meetings. The 2018 meeting was held on May 3 in Dallas, Texas. More than 800 exhibitors and 80,000 people attended the event, making it the largest in NRA history. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence addressed attendees.[196]

Organizational structure and finances

Leadership

Executive staff and spokespersons

Since 1991, Wayne LaPierre has been the organization's executive vice president, and functions as the chief executive officer.[197] LaPierre's compensation averages $1 million per year and including a nearly $4 million retirement payout in 2015.[198] Previous notable holders of that office include: Milton Reckord, Floyd Lavinius Parks, Franklin Orth, Maxwell Rich, Harlon Carter, J. Warren Cassidy, and Gary Anderson.

Chris W. Cox was the executive director of the NRA's lobbying branch, the Institute for Legislative Action. He received more than $1.3 million in compensation in 2015.[199] Kyle Weaver is executive director of general operations.[200] Kayne B. Robinson is executive director of the General Operations Division and chairman of the Whittington Center.[201]

 
Spokesperson Dana Loesch speaking at the Tea Party Patriots American Policy Summit in 2011

In 2017, political commentator Dana Loesch was appointed as the NRA's national spokesperson, with the formal title of "Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President for Public Communication."[202][203] Loesch hosts The DL on NRATV and has featured prominently in other NRA-produced videos.[citation needed]

Actor Chuck Norris serves as the honorary chairman for the association's voter registration campaign.[204] Colion Noir hosts a video program on the NRA's online video channel.[205]

In May 2018, the NRA announced that Oliver North would become president of the organization.[206][207] North served one tumultuous term, marked by multiple legal battles and a power struggle with LaPierre; he was replaced by Carolyn D. Meadows on April 29, 2019.[208]

Board of directors

The NRA is governed by a board of 76 elected directors, 75 of whom serve three-year terms and one who is elected to serve as a cross-over director. The directors choose a president and other officers from among the membership, as well as the executive director of the NRA General Operations and the executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA).[209] In 2015, 71 members were white and 65 were male. More came from Texas than any other state.[210] Only 7 percent of eligible members vote.[211] Most board nominations are vetted by an appointed nine-member Nominating Committee.[212][213] One member is George Kollitides of the Freedom Group.[212] The nomination committee has been called "kingmakers" by MSNBC and Jeff Knox says "the process is front-loaded to give incumbents and Nominating Committee candidates a significant advantage".[211]

Membership

According to the NRA, their membership reached 5.5 million total members in 2018, a record high, and membership dues went from $128,209,303 in 2017 to $170,391,374 in 2018; an increase of $42,182,071, or 33 percent.[2]

A 2017 Pew Research Center study found that 19% of US gun owners consider themselves NRA members.[214] Journalist Megan Wilson stated that the Pew study places membership at 14 million, far higher than the NRA's own report of 5 million. According to the NRA, some non-members typically claim to be members when surveyed, as a show of support.[215]

Notable members

Nine US presidents have been NRA members. In addition to Grant, they are: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush (who resigned in 1995), and Donald Trump.[216] Three US vice presidents, two chief justices of the US Supreme Court, and several US congressmen, as well as legislators and officials of state governments are or have been members.[217][218]

Current or past members also include journalist Hunter S. Thompson,[219] Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh,[220] documentarian Michael Moore (who joined with the intent of dismantling the organization),[221] actor Rick Schroder,[222] and singer James Hetfield.[223]

Interconnected organizations

The National Rifle Association is composed of several financially interconnected organizations under common leadership,[224] including the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) which manages the NRA's political action committee and the NRA Civil Defense Fund which does pro bono legal work for people with cases involving Second Amendment rights.[224] The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund was established in 1978.[225] Harlon Carter and Neal Knox were responsible for its founding.[226]

In 1994, the Fund spent over $500,000 on legal fees to support legal cases involving guns and gun control measures. It donated $20,000 in 1996 for the defense of New York City resident Bernhard Goetz when he was sued by a man he shot and left paralyzed.[227] It paid the legal bills in the case of Brian Aitken, a New Jersey resident sentenced to seven years in state prison for transporting guns without a carry permit.[228] On December 20, 2010, Governor Chris Christie granted Aitken clemency and ordered Aitken's immediate release from prison.[citation needed]

NRA Foundation

The NRA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that raises and donates money to outdoors groups and others such as ROTC programs, 4-H and Boy Scouts. In 2010, the NRA Foundation distributed $21.2 million in grants for gun-related training and education programs: $12.6 million to the NRA itself, and the rest to community programs for hunters, competitive shooters, gun collectors, and law enforcement, and to women and youth groups.[229] The foundation has no staff and pays no salaries.[229]

Friends of NRA is a program that raises money for the NRA Foundation. Since its inception in 1992, Friends of NRA has held over 17,600 events, reached over 3.2 million attendees and raised over $600 million for The NRA Foundation.[230]

Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF)

By 1976, as the NRA became more politically oriented, the Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF), a PAC, was established as a subsidiary to the NRA, to support NRA-friendly politicians.[90] Chris W. Cox, who is the NRA's chief lobbyist and principal political strategist, is also the NRA-PVF chairman. Through the NRA-PVF, the NRA began to rate political candidates on their positions on gun rights. An NRA "A+" candidate is one who has "not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues, but who has also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment", whereas an NRA "F" candidate is deemed a "true enemy of gun owners' rights".[91]

In the 2008 elections, the PVF spent millions on "direct campaign donations" and "grassroots operation".[231] In 2012, NRA-PVF income was $14.4 million and expenses were $16.1 million.[232] By 2014, the NRA-PVF income rose to 21.9 million with expenses of 20.7 million.[233]

Finances

Name Year Income in Millions Expenses in Millions
National Rifle Association (NRA) 2011[234] 218.9 231.0
NRA Institute for Legislative Action n/a n/a n/a
NRA Civil Defense Fund 2012[235] 1.6 1.0
NRA Civil Defense Fund 2013[236] 1.3 0.9
NRA Foundation 2012[237] 43.0 29.1
NRA Foundation 2013[238] 41.3 31.4
NRA Freedom Action Foundation 2012[239] 2.1 2.3
NRA Freedom Action Foundation 2013[240] 0.5 0.1
NRA Political Victory Fund 2012[232] 14.4 16.1
NRA Political Victory Fund 2014[233] 21.9 20.7
NRA Special Contribution Fund 2012[241] 3.3 3.1
NRA Special Contribution Fund 2013[242] 4.3 3.6

In 2010, the NRA reported revenue of $227.8 million and expenses of $243.5 million,[243] with revenue including roughly $115 million generated from fundraising, sales, advertising and royalties, and most of the rest from membership dues.[244] Less than half of the NRA's income comes from membership dues and program fees; the majority is from contributions, grants, royalties, and advertising.[229][244][245]

Corporate donors include a variety of companies such as outdoors-supply and sporting-goods companies, and firearm manufacturers.[229][244][245][246] From 2005 through 2011, the NRA received at least $14.8 million from more than 50 firearms-related firms.[244] An April 2011 Violence Policy Center presentation stated that the NRA had received between $14.7 million and $38.9 million from the firearms industry since 2005.[246] In 2008, Beretta exceeded $2 million in donations to the NRA, and in 2012 Smith & Wesson gave more than $1 million. Sturm, Ruger & Company raised $1.25 million through a program in which it donated $1 to the NRA-ILA for each gun it sold from May 2011 to May 2012. In a similar program, gun buyers and participating stores are invited to "round up" the purchase price to the nearest dollar as a voluntary contribution. According to the NRA's 2010 tax forms, the "round-up" funds have been allocated both to public-interest programs and to lobbying.[229]

2018 New York lawsuit

In 2018, the NRA alleged in an official Court document that it suffered tens of millions of dollars in damage from actions of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the State's financial regulator. The state's Department of Financial Services was directed by the Cuomo administration to encourage institutions it oversees, insurance companies, banks and other financial services companies licensed in New York state, to review their business interactions with the NRA and "other similar organizations" and assess if they would pose "reputational risk." The NRA's suit states that Cuomo's actions violate the organization's first-amendment rights and the NRA had suffered tens of millions of dollars in financial losses.[247][248] The ACLU has filed a brief with the Northern District of New York court supporting the NRA's case. The brief noted that if proven true, the allegations disclose an abuse of government regulatory authority to retaliate against a disfavored advocacy organization by imposing a burden on the NRA's ability to conduct lawful business.[249][250]

2020 New York Lawsuit

In August 2020, on behalf of the State of New York, Attorney General Letitia James sued the NRA and four individuals involved with the organization: CEO Wayne LaPierre; former chief of staff and the executive director of general operations Joshua Powell; former treasurer and CFO Wilson "Woody" Phillips; and corporate secretary and general counsel John Frazer. James charged the organization with illegal conduct, stating that the NRA mismanaged funds and assets and failed to follow state and federal laws. The suit claims that money was diverted away from its charitable mission, and instead used to fund personal expenses for senior leadership, resulting in a loss to the NPO of $64 million over three years.[251][252] While the NRA sought to dismiss the lawsuit, in June 2022, Manhattan Judge Joel M. Cohen ruled that the lawsuit could move forward.[253]

Public opinion and image

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in April 2012 found that 82% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats saw the NRA "in a positive light".[254] In seven of eight Gallup polls between 1993 and 2015, a majority of Americans reported holding a favorable opinion of the NRA. Its highest rating was at 60% favorability in 2005 (with 34% unfavorable), while its lowest rating was at 42% favorability in 1995 (with 51% unfavorable). In October 2015, 58% of Americans held a favorable opinion of the NRA, though there was a wide spread among political affiliations: 77% of conservatives, 56% of moderates and 30% of liberals held this view.[255]

 
The "National March on the NRA" in August 2018

A Washington Post/ABC News poll in January 2013 showed that only 36% of Americans had a favorable opinion of the NRA leadership.[256]

A 2017 poll conducted by the political action committee Americans for Responsible Solutions, which supports gun control, exclusively questioned 661 gun owners. 26% of the respondents stated they were a member of the NRA. The ARS reported that less than 50% of gun owners polled believed the NRA represented their interests, while 67% of them somewhat or strongly agreed with the statement that it had been "overtaken by lobbyists and the interests of gun manufacturers and lost its original purpose and mission." The NRA disputed the poll's veracity in an e-mail sent to Politico, which had published the story.[257]

Polling trends since 2018 show a significant decline in NRA favorability.[258][259][260][261] A 2018 NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll found that "for the first time since at least 2000, Americans hold a net unfavorable view of the NRA"—the poll showed respondents view of the NRA was 40% negative and 37% positive.[262][263] The poll showed that compared to the same question in 2017, the favorability rating of the NRA overall dropped 5%, noting that the shift was largely due to favorability declines among certain demographics: married white women, urban residents, white women (overall), and moderate Republicans.[262][263]

A February 2018 Quinnipiac poll found that 51% of Americans believe that the policies supported by the NRA are bad for the U.S., a 4% increase since October 2017.[258]

The NRA calls itself "the oldest continuously operating civil liberties organization" and is "one of the largest and best-funded lobbying organizations" in the United States.[264][265] Its claim that it is one of the oldest civil rights organizations is disputed. While the NRA was founded in 1871, it did not pursue a gun rights agenda until 1934. The National Association for the Deaf (NAD, founded in 1880) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP, founded in 1909) both originated as civil rights organizations according to other sources.[266]

Criticism

 
Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) speaking at an event for Mayors Against Illegal Guns

The National Rifle Association has been criticized by newspaper editorial boards, gun control and gun rights advocacy groups, political commentators, and politicians. Democrats and liberals frequently criticize the organization.[267][268] The NRA's oldest organized critics include the gun control advocacy groups the Brady Campaign, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV), and the Violence Policy Center (VPC). Twenty-first century groups include Everytown for Gun Safety (formerly Mayors Against Illegal Guns), Moms Demand Action, and Giffords.

Political involvement

 
President Trump speaks at the 2019 NRA Institute for Legislative Action annual convention.

In 1995, former US President George H. W. Bush resigned his life membership to the organization after receiving a National Rifle Association Institute of Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) fund-raising letter, signed by executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, that referred to ATF agents as "jack-booted government thugs".[269][270] The NRA later apologized for the letter's language.[271]

In December 2008, The New York Times editorial board criticized the NRA's attacks, which it called false and misleading, on Barack Obama's presidential campaign.[272]

After US President Donald Trump's election, the NRA closely aligned with him.[273] At an event in February 2018, Trump said that he was a "big fan of the NRA" but said that "doesn't mean we have to agree on everything."[274]

Although the NRA has previously donated to and endorsed Democratic candidates, it has become more closely affiliated with the Republican Party since the 1990s. In 2016, only two Democratic House candidates received donations from the NRA, compared to 115 in the 1992 elections, in a reflection of decreasing Democratic support for the NRA and its mission.[275] Self-identified Republicans are far more likely to hold a positive view of the NRA than are Democrats.[276][277]

Gun control

Main articles: Gun law in the United States, Gun laws in the United States by state, and Gun politics in the United States

In February 2013, USA Today editors criticized the NRA for flip-flopping on expansion of universal background checks to private and gun show sales, which the NRA now opposes.[278]

"As early as March 23 (2013), POLITICO had reported on rumors that the NRA and (WV Sen. Joe) Manchin were engaged in secret talks over background checks. Two days later, the National Association for Gun Rights sent out a bulletin to its members: "I've warned you from the beginning that our gravest danger was an inside-Washington driven deal," wrote NAGR executive Dudley Brown. He added that the deal was a "Manchin-NRA compromise bill." The Gun Owners of America followed suit a week later, urging its members to contact the NRA to voice their opinion. Neither of these groups had even a tenth of the NRA's membership, or its political power, but they threatened to chip away at the group's reputation. Whatever NRA HQ's position on the bill may have been, it was fast getting outflanked by ideologues on the right."[279]

In March 2014, The Washington Post criticized the NRA's interference in government research on gun violence,[280] and both Post and Los Angeles Times editors criticized its opposition of Vivek Murthy for US Surgeon General.[281] In November 2018, a social media dispute was seen, after a paper was published by the American College of Physicians that stated that medical professionals had a special responsibility to speak out on prevention of gun-related injuries and that they should support appropriate regulation of the purchase of legal weapons.[282] In response to the paper the NRA tweeted against the paper and "anti-gun doctors" and claimed that "half of the articles in Annals of Internal Medicine are pushing for gun control", and medical professional began posting their experiences of caring for gun violence victims.[283] Economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton have also noted that the NRA has been effective in pressuring Congress to not fund high-quality research on gun accessibility and suicide rates.[284]

A survey of NRA members found that the majority support certain gun control policies, such as a universal background check:

For instance, 84% of gun owners and 74% of NRA members (vs. 90% of non-gun owners) supported requiring a universal background-check system for all gun sales; 76% of gun owners and 62% of NRA members (vs. 83% of non-gun owners) supported prohibiting gun ownership for 10 years after a person has been convicted of violating a domestic-violence restraining order; and 71% of gun owners and 70% of NRA members (vs. 78% of non-gun owners) supported requiring a mandatory minimum sentence of 2 years in prison for a person convicted of selling a gun to someone who cannot legally have a gun.[285]

Gun manufacturing industry

Critics have charged that the NRA represents the interests of gun manufacturers rather than gun owners.[286][287][288]

Mass shootings

Main article: Mass shootings in the United States
 
March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting

Following the high-profile 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, the organization began to become the focus of intense criticism, due to its continued refusal to endorse any new restrictions on assault-style gun ownership, or to endorse any other types of new restrictions on gun ownership.[245][289] While supporters say the organization advances their rights to buy and own guns according to the constitution's Second Amendment, some critics have described it as a "terrorist organization" for advocating policies that enable and permit the widespread distribution and sale of assault-style weapons, and for its opposition to any other types of restrictions on gun sales or use.[290][291]

In December 2012, following the shooting, NRA broke its social media silence and media blackout to announce a press conference.[292] At the event, LaPierre announced an NRA-backed effort to assess the feasibility of placing armed security officers in the nation's 135,000 public and private schools under a "National School Shield Program". He called on Congress "to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary". The announcement came in the same week after President Obama had stated his support for a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.[293][294][295]

The NRA has been criticized for their media strategy following mass shootings in the United States. Following the Sandy Hook shooting, the NRA released an online video which attacked Obama and mentioned Obama's daughters; New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called it "reprehensible" and said that it demeaned the organization.[296] A senior lobbyist for the organization later characterized the video as "ill-advised".[297]

2017 Las Vegas shooting

Main article: 2017 Las Vegas shooting

After the October 2017 shooting at a concert in Las Vegas, which left 58 people dead and 851 injured, the NRA was initially criticized for their silence.[298] After four days they issued a statement opposing additional gun control laws, which they said would not stop further attacks, and called for a federal law allowing people who have a concealed carry permit in one state to carry concealed weapons in all other states. The organization also suggested additional regulations on so-called bump fire stocks, which allow a semi-automatic weapon to function like a machine gun; the Las Vegas shooter had used such a device.[299]

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting

Main article: Stoneman Douglas High School shooting

In February 2018 a school shooting at a high school in Florida left 17 dead and another 17 injured, and student survivors organized a movement called Never Again MSD to demand passage of certain gun control measures. Many of the students blamed the NRA, and the politicians who accept money from the organization, for preventing enactment of any gun control proposals after previous high-profile shootings.[300][301] An NRA spokesman responded by blaming the shooting on the FBI and the media.[302] The NRA also issued a statement that the incident was proof that more guns were immediately required in schools in the hands of a bolstered force of armed security personnel in order to "harden" them against any further similar assaults.[303] A Florida law passed in the wake of the shooting, which includes a provision to ban the sale of firearms to people under 21, was immediately challenged in federal court by the NRA on the grounds that it is "violating the constitutional rights of 18- to 21-year-olds."[304][305]

In May 2018, Cameron Kasky's father and other Parkland parents formed a super PAC, Families vs Assault Rifles PAC (FAMSVARPAC), with a stated goal of going "up against NRA candidates in every meaningful race in the country". The organization seeks federal legislation to ban "the most dangerous firearms", while not affecting the Second Amendment.[306][307][308]

Boycott

Main article: 2018 NRA boycott

The NRA offers corporate discounts to its members at various businesses through its corporate affiliate programs. For several years, and increasingly in the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, "affiliate companies" have been targeted in social media as part of a boycott effort[309] to terminate their business relationships with the NRA.[310] As a result of this boycott movement, several major corporations such as Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Hertz, Symantec, and MetLife have disaffiliated from the NRA, while others, such as FedEx have refused to disaffiliate.[311][312][313]

Media campaigns

In 2017, Zack Beauchamp of Vox and Mark Sumner of Daily Kos criticized a video advertisement from the NRA. In the video, Dana Loesch runs through a list of wrongs committed by an unspecified "they":

They use their media to assassinate real news. They use their schools to teach children that the president is another Hitler. They use their movie stars, and singers, and comedy shows, and award shows to repeat their narrative over and over again. And then they use their ex-president to endorse the resistance. All to make them march. Make them protest. Make them scream racism and sexism and xenophobia and homophobia. To smash windows, burn cars, shut down interstates and airports, bully and terrorize the law abiding. Until the only option left is for the police to do their jobs and stop the madness. And when that happens, they'll use it as an excuse for their outrage. The only way we stop this. The only way we save our country and our freedom, is to fight this violence of lies with the clenched fist of truth.

Sumner alleged the NRA was trying to boost gun sales by "convincing half of America to declare war on the other half." Beauchamp wrote, "It's a paranoid vision of American life that encourages the NRA's fans to see liberals not as political opponents, but as monsters."[314]

In May 2018, the NRA ran an advertisement which criticized the media for giving too much coverage to school shooters by showing their faces and revealing their names, in effect causing a "glorification of carnage in pursuit of ratings", and satirically suggested that Congress pass legislation to limit such coverage in order to make provocative point about gun control. In response, critics suggested that this would violate the First Amendment right of free speech.[315][316]

Pro-gun rights criticism

Pro-gun rights critics include Gun Owners of America (GOA), founded in the 1970s because some gun rights advocates believed the NRA was too flexible on gun issues.[317]: 110–11  Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) has also disagreed with NRA for what it perceives as a willingness to compromise on gun control.[318] The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) has been an outspoken critic of the NRA for a number of years. According to the Huffington Post, "NAGR is the much leaner, more pugnacious version of the NRA. Where the NRA has looked to find some common ground with gun reform advocates and at least appear to be reasonable, NAGR has been the unapologetic champion of opening up gun laws even more."[319] In June 2014, an open carry group in Texas threatened to withdraw its support of the NRA if it did not retract its statements critical of the practice. The NRA–ILA's Chris Cox said the statements were a staffer's personal opinion and a mistake.[320]

Lack of advocacy for black gun owners

The NRA has been accused of insufficiently defending African-American gun rights and of providing muted and delayed responses in gun rights cases involving black gun owners.[321][322][323][324][325][326][327] Others argue that the NRA's inaction in prominent gun rights cases involving black gun owners is a consequence of their reluctance to criticize law enforcement, noting NRA support for Otis McDonald and Shaneen Allen.[325][328]

In a well-publicized 2016 case, Philando Castile, an African-American and legal gun owner, was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop while reaching for his wallet.[323][329] Castile had a valid firearm permit and informed the police officer of his gun prior to the shooting.[323][330] According to The Washington Post, the NRA had typically "been quick to defend other gun owners who made national news", but stayed silent on the Castile shooting.[323] Other gun rights advocates as well as some NRA members voiced similar criticisms.[323] In a delayed response to the shooting the NRA stated, the death was "a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided."[331]

Adam Winkler, professor of constitutional law at the UCLA School of Law, has argued that there are historical precedents to the NRA's lack of advocacy for black gun owners, stating that the NRA promoted gun control legislation in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1960s with the intent to reduce gun ownership by immigrants and racial minorities.[clarification needed][332][333][334]

Lists of past and present leaders

Presidents

Main article: List of presidents of the National Rifle Association

Presidents of the NRA are elected by the board of directors.

Directors

Notable directors, past and present, include:[210]

See also

References

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May 11, 2023
national, rifle, association, redirects, here, other, uses, disambiguation, disambiguation, america, rights, advocacy, group, based, united, states, founded, 1871, advance, rifle, marksmanship, modern, become, prominent, rights, lobbying, organization, while, . NRA redirects here For other uses see NRA disambiguation and National Rifle Association disambiguation The National Rifle Association of America NRA is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States 3 4 b Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while continuing to teach firearm safety and competency The organization also publishes several magazines and sponsors competitive marksmanship events 5 According to the NRA it had nearly 5 million members as of December 2018 though that figure has not been independently confirmed 6 7 8 National Rifle Association of AmericaFoundedNovember 17 1871 151 years ago 1871 11 17 FounderWilliam Conant ChurchGeorge Wood WingateType501 c 4 1 Tax ID no 53 0116130FocusGun politicsGun rightsLocationFairfax County Virginia U S 38 51 47 N 77 20 8 W 38 86306 N 77 33556 W 38 86306 77 33556 Coordinates 38 51 47 N 77 20 8 W 38 86306 N 77 33556 W 38 86306 77 33556Area servedUnited StatesServicesLobbyingMembership organizationMagazine publisherEducation certificationMethodLobbyingPublicationsOutreach programsMembersApproximately 5 5 million self reported a 2 Key peopleCharles L Cotton President Wayne LaPierre CEO and Executive Vice President SubsidiariesNRA Civil Rights Defense FundNRA FoundationNRA Special Contribution FundNRA Freedom Action FoundationNRA Institute for Legislative ActionNRA Political Victory FundRevenue 2018 412 233 508 2 Expenses 2018 423 034 158 2 WebsiteNRA orgSeal of the National Rifle Association The NRA is among the most influential advocacy groups in U S politics 9 10 11 The NRA Institute for Legislative Action NRA ILA is its lobbying division which manages its political action committee PAC the Political Victory Fund PVF Over its history the organization has influenced legislation participated in or initiated lawsuits and endorsed or opposed various candidates at local state and federal levels Some notable lobbying efforts by the NRA ILA are the Firearm Owners Protection Act which lessened restrictions of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Dickey Amendment which blocks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC from using federal funds to advocate for gun control Starting in the mid to late 1970s the NRA has been increasingly criticized by gun control and gun rights advocacy groups political commentators and politicians This criticism began following changes in the NRA s organizational policies following what is now referred to as the Revolt at Cincinnati at the 1977 NRA annual convention The changes which deposed former NRA executive vice president Maxwell Rich and included new organizational bylaws have been described as moving the organization away from its previous focusses of hunting conservation and marksmanship and toward a focus on the defense of the right to bear arms 12 13 14 The organization has been the focus of intense criticism in the aftermath of high profile shootings such as the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting after which they suggested adding armed security guards to schools 15 Contents 1 History 1 1 Early history 1 1 1 Rifle clubs 1 2 1934 1970s 1 3 1970s 2000s 1 4 2018 present 1 4 1 Legal cases 2019 present 1 4 2 2020 lawsuits and 2021 bankruptcy filing 2 Lobbying and political activity 2 1 Elections 2 2 Russian influence 2 3 The ATF and Senate confirmations 2 4 Legislation 2 5 Litigation 3 Programs 4 Organizational structure and finances 4 1 Leadership 4 1 1 Executive staff and spokespersons 4 1 2 Board of directors 4 2 Membership 4 2 1 Notable members 4 3 Interconnected organizations 4 3 1 NRA Foundation 4 3 2 Political Victory Fund NRA PVF 4 4 Finances 4 4 1 2018 New York lawsuit 4 4 2 2020 New York Lawsuit 5 Public opinion and image 6 Criticism 6 1 Political involvement 6 2 Gun control 6 3 Gun manufacturing industry 6 4 Mass shootings 6 4 1 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting 6 4 2 2017 Las Vegas shooting 6 4 3 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting 6 4 4 Boycott 6 5 Media campaigns 6 6 Pro gun rights criticism 6 7 Lack of advocacy for black gun owners 7 Lists of past and present leaders 7 1 Presidents 7 2 Directors 8 See also 9 References 10 Notes 11 Further reading 11 1 Books 11 2 Journal articles 11 3 News 12 External linksHistory EditEarly history Edit William Conant Church one of the NRA s founders A few months after the Civil War began in 1861 a national rifle association was proposed by Americans in England In a letter that was sent to President Abraham Lincoln and published in The New York Times R G Moulton and R B Perry recommended forming an organization similar to the British National Rifle Association which had formed a year and a half earlier They suggested making a shooting range perhaps on the base on Staten Island and were offering Whitworth rifles for prizes for the first shooting competition with those rifles They suggested a provisional committee to start the Association which would include President Lincoln Secretary of War officers and other prominent New Yorkers 16 17 18 The National Rifle Association was chartered in the State of New York on November 17 1871 19 5 by Army and Navy Journal editor William Conant Church and Captain George Wood Wingate On November 25 1871 the group voted to elect its first corporate officers Union Army Civil War General Ambrose Burnside who had worked as a Rhode Island gunsmith was elected president 20 When Burnside resigned on August 1 1872 21 Church succeeded him as president 22 Union Army records for the Civil War indicate that its troops fired about 1 000 rifle shots for each Confederate hit causing General Burnside to lament his recruits Out of ten soldiers who are perfect in drill and the manual of arms only one knows the purpose of the sights on his gun or can hit the broad side of a barn 23 24 25 The generals attributed this to the use of volley tactics devised for earlier less accurate smoothbore muskets 26 27 Ambrose Burnside Union Army general Governor of Rhode Island and first president of the NRA Recognizing a need for better training Wingate sent emissaries to Canada the United Kingdom and Germany to observe militia and armies marksmanship training programs 28 With plans provided by Wingate the New York Legislature funded the construction of a modern range at Creedmoor Long Island for long range shooting competitions The range officially opened on June 21 1873 29 The Central Railroad of Long Island established a railway station nearby with trains running from Hunter s Point with connecting boat service to 34th Street and the East River allowing access from New York City 30 After beating England and Scotland to win the Elcho Shield in 1873 at Wimbledon then a village outside London the Irish Rifle Team issued a challenge through the New York Herald to riflemen of the United States to raise a team for a long range match to determine an Anglo American championship The NRA organized a team through a subsidiary amateur rifle club Remington Arms and Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company produced breech loading weapons for the team Although muzzle loading rifles had long been considered more accurate eight American riflemen won the match firing breech loading rifles Publicity of the event generated by the New York Herald helped to establish breech loading firearms as suitable for military marksmanship training and promoted the NRA to national prominence 25 Rifle clubs Edit Ulysses S Grant served as President of the NRA from 1883 six years after he left office to 1884 The NRA organized rifle clubs in other states and many state National Guard organizations sought NRA advice to improve members marksmanship Wingate s marksmanship manual evolved into the United States Army marksmanship instruction program 25 Former President Ulysses S Grant served as the NRA s eighth president and General Philip H Sheridan as its ninth 31 The US Congress created the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice in 1901 to include representatives from the NRA National Guard and United States military services A program of annual rifle and pistol competitions was authorized and included a national match open to military and civilian shooters In 1907 NRA headquarters moved to Washington D C to facilitate the organization s advocacy efforts 25 Springfield Armory and Rock Island Arsenal began the manufacture of M1903 Springfield rifles for civilian members of the NRA in 1910 32 The Director of Civilian Marksmanship began manufacture of M1911 pistols for NRA members in August 1912 33 Until 1927 the United States Department of War provided free ammunition and targets to civilian rifle clubs with a minimum membership of ten United States citizens at least 16 years of age 34 1934 1970s Edit After the passage of the National Firearms Act NFA of 1934 the first federal gun control law in the US the NRA formed its Legislative Affairs Division to update members with facts and analysis of upcoming bills 35 36 Karl Frederick NRA president in 1934 during congressional NFA hearings testified I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons I seldom carry one I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses 37 Four years later the NRA backed the Federal Firearms Act of 1938 38 The NRA supported the NFA along with the Gun Control Act of 1968 GCA which together created a system to federally license gun dealers and established restrictions on particular categories and classes of firearms 39 The organization opposed a national firearms registry an initiative favored by then President Lyndon Johnson 38 1970s 2000s Edit Until the 1970s the NRA was nonpartisan 40 Previously the NRA mainly focused on sportsmen hunters and target shooters and downplayed gun control issues During the 1970s it became increasingly aligned with the Republican Party 40 After 1977 the organization expanded its membership by focusing heavily on political issues and forming coalitions with conservative politicians Most of these are Republicans 41 However passage of the GCA galvanized a growing number of NRA gun rights activists including Harlon Carter In 1975 it began to focus more on politics and established its lobbying arm the Institute for Legislative Action NRA ILA with Carter as director The next year its political action committee PAC the Political Victory Fund was created in time for the 1976 elections 42 158 The 1977 annual convention was a defining moment for the organization and came to be known as The Cincinnati Revolution 43 or as the Cincinnati Coup 44 the Cincinnati Revolt 45 or the Revolt at Cincinnati 46 Leadership planned to relocate NRA headquarters to Colorado and to build a 30 million recreational facility in New Mexico but activists within the organization whose central concern was Second Amendment rights defeated the incumbents i e Maxwell Rich and elected Carter as executive director and Neal Knox as head of the NRA ILA 47 48 Insurgents including Carter and Knox had demanded new leadership in part because they blamed incumbent leaders for existing gun control legislation like the GCA and believed that no compromise should be made 49 With a goal to weaken the GCA Knox s ILA successfully lobbied Congress to pass the Firearm Owners Protection Act FOPA of 1986 and worked to reduce the powers of the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives ATF In 1982 Knox was ousted as director of the ILA but began mobilizing outside the NRA framework and continued to promote opposition to gun control laws 50 At the 1991 national convention Knox s supporters were elected to the board and named staff lobbyist Wayne LaPierre as the executive vice president The NRA focused its attention on the gun control policies of the Clinton Administration 48 Knox again lost power in 1997 as he lost reelection to a coalition of moderate leaders who supported movie star Charlton Heston despite Heston s past support of gun control legislation 51 In 1994 the NRA unsuccessfully opposed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban AWB but successfully lobbied for the ban s 2004 expiration 52 Heston was elected president in 1998 and became a highly visible spokesman for the organization In an effort to improve the NRA s image Heston presented himself as the voice of reason in contrast to Knox 53 262 68 2018 present Edit Legal cases 2019 present Edit In April 2019 the group unexpectedly sued its longtime public relations firm Ackerman McQueen which was responsible for two decades of aggressive gun rights advertising on behalf of the NRA The lawsuit alleges that the firm refused to turn over financial records to support its billings to the NRA which amounted to 40 million in 2017 The lawsuit questioned recent programming on NRATV an online channel operated by Ackerman which has taken political positions unrelated to the NRA s traditional focus on gun related issues There were also concerns about possible conflicts of interest such as the 1 million contract to host NRATV between Ackerman and NRA president Oliver North 54 55 Leading up to the NRA s 2019 national convention in April there were reports that North and LaPierre were at odds with North demanding that LaPierre resign and LaPierre accusing North of extortion 56 At the convention a letter was read from North saying he had been told he would not be granted a second term as NRA president and adding that he intended to create a committee to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement 57 A subsequent resolution to oust LaPierre over highly suspect financial practices was hotly debated for an hour before members voted not to discuss financial issues in public and to refer the resolution to the NRA board 58 On June 25 2019 the NRA severed all ties with Ackerman McQueen and shut down the NRATV operation 59 2020 lawsuits and 2021 bankruptcy filing Edit Following an 18 month investigation on August 6 2020 New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against the NRA alleging fraud financial misconduct and misuse of charitable funds by some of its executives including its long time CEO and EVP Wayne LaPierre treasurer Wilson Phillips former chief of staff and current executive director of general operations Joshua Powell 60 and general counsel and secretary John Frazer 61 The suit calls for the dissolution of the NRA as being fraught with fraud and abuse 62 63 64 On the same date Attorney General for the District of Columbia Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against the NRA for misusing charitable funds 65 On January 15 2021 the NRA announced in a press release that it and one of its subsidiaries had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U S Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas 66 It also announced that it would reincorporate in Texas subject to court approval although its headquarters in Fairfax Virginia would not move 66 During the bankruptcy trial LaPierre stated that he had kept the bankruptcy filing secret from the NRA s board of directors and most of its senior officials 67 LaPierre s excessive compensation and exorbitant spending of NRA funds on himself and his wife such as extremely expensive suits chartered jet flights and a traveling glam squad for his wife became a subject of testimony in the eleven day Texas proceedings 68 On May 11 2021 Judge Harlin Hale of the federal bankruptcy court of the Northern District of Texas dismissed the bankruptcy petition without prejudice describing that it was not filed in good faith warning that if the NRA chose to file a new bankruptcy case Hale s court would immediately revisit concerns about disclosure transparency secrecy conflicts of interest of litigation counsel which could lead to the appointment of a trustee to oversee the organization s affairs 69 Hale doubted that the NRA was faced with financial difficulties instead ruling that the true purposes of the lawsuit were to gain an unfair litigation advantage against the New York Attorney General and to avoid regulation from New York 69 70 71 On March 2 2022 New York state court in Manhattan ruled against Letitia James s effort to break up the NRA while allowing the portion of the legal actions against the NRA s leadership to continue The judge found that dissolving the NRA would have a negative impact on the free speech and assembly rights of the organization s members It was also found that the NRA as an organization did not benefit from the alleged misconduct of its leadership and less intrusive remedies against NRA officials could be sought instead 72 73 Lobbying and political activity EditSee also Lobbying in the United States Chris W Cox the NRA s former chief lobbyist and political strategist in March 2016 When the National Rifle Association was officially incorporated on November 16 1871 19 its primary goal was to promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis The NRA s website says the organization is America s longest standing civil rights organization 74 On February 7 1872 the NRA created a committee to lobby for legislation in the interest of the organization 75 Its first lobbying effort was to petition the New York State legislature for 25 000 to purchase land to set up a range 76 Within three months the legislation had passed and had been signed into law by Governor John T Hoffman 77 In 1934 the National Rifle Association created a Legislative Affairs Division and testified in front of Congress in support of the first substantial federal gun control legislation in the US the National Firearms Act 78 The Institute for Legislative Action NRA ILA the lobbying branch of the NRA was established in 1975 According to political scientists John M Bruce and Clyde Wilcox the NRA shifted its focus in the late 1970s to incorporate political advocacy and started seeing its members as political resources rather than just as recipients of goods and services Despite the impact on the volatility of membership the politicization of the NRA has been consistent and its PAC the Political Victory Fund established in 1976 ranked as one of the biggest spenders in congressional elections as of 1998 79 A 1999 Fortune magazine survey said that lawmakers and their staffers considered the NRA the most powerful lobbying organization three years in a row 10 Chris W Cox was the NRA s chief lobbyist and principal political strategist a position he held from 2002 until 2019 In 2012 88 of Republicans and 11 of Democrats in Congress had received an NRA PAC contribution at some point in their career Of the members of the Congress that convened in 2013 51 received funding from the NRA PAC within their political careers and 47 received NRA money in their most recent race According to Lee Drutman political scientist and senior fellow at the Sunlight Foundation It is important to note that these contributions are probably a better measure of allegiance than of influence 80 Internationally the NRA opposes the Arms Trade Treaty ATT 81 It has opposed Canadian gun registry 82 supported Brazilian gun rights 83 84 and criticized Australian gun laws 85 In 2016 the NRA raised a record 366 million and spent 412 million for political activities The NRA also maintains a PAC which is excluded from these figures 86 The organization donated to congressional races for both Republicans 223 and Democrats 9 to candidates for Congress 87 The NRA has been described as influential in shaping American gun control policy 88 89 The organization influences legislators voting behavior through its financial resources and ability to mobilize its large membership 89 The organization has not lost a major battle over gun control legislation since the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban 88 At the federal level the NRA successfully lobbied Congress in the mid 1990s to effectively halt governments sponsored research into the public health effects of firearms and to ensure the passage of legislation in 2005 largely immunizing gun manufacturers and dealers from lawsuits 88 At the same time the NRA stopped efforts at the federal level to increase regulation of firearms 88 At the state and local level the NRA successfully campaigned to deregulate guns for example by pushing state governments to eliminate the ability of local governments to regulate guns and removing restrictions on guns in public places such as bars and campuses 88 Elections Edit Wayne LaPierre NRA executive vice president in 2017 The NRA Political Victory Fund PVF PAC was established in 1976 to challenge gun control candidates and to support gun rights candidates 90 An NRA A candidate is one who has not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues but who has also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment whereas an NRA F candidate is a true enemy of gun owners rights 91 The NRA endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time in 1980 backing Ronald Reagan over Jimmy Carter 92 93 The NRA has also made endorsements even when it viewed both candidates positively For example in the 2006 Pennsylvania Senate elections the NRA endorsed Rick Santorum over Bob Casey Jr 94 even though they both had an A rating Despite this endorsement Santorum lost to Casey Republicans joined forces with the NRA and used the recently passed gun control measures to motivate voters in the 1994 midterm elections 95 In 1993 with Democrats in the majority of both the U S Senate and House of Representatives President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill named after the press secretary who was shot and paralyzed during the 1981 assassination attempt of President Reagan 95 The Brady Bill created a mechanism for background checks in order to enforce the GCA of 1968 and prevent criminals and minors from purchasing guns 95 In addition the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 included a 10 year ban on the sale of assault weapons In 1994 the ban was favored by 78 of Americans according to a CBS poll 96 According to Yale professor Reva Siegel during the 1994 midterm elections the NRA spent more than 3 2 million on GOP campaigns and helped win nineteen of twenty four priority races the organization targeted leading to a House with a majority of members who were A rated by the NRA 97 Groups like the NRA seeking to expand interpretation of the Second Amendment to include an individual right to a gun coincided with the New Right a political movement concerned with gun control and social issues such as school prayer and abortion 98 Leader of the new House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich stated that support for or against gun control defined ones partisan identity 97 NRA leader Knox echoed this sentiment assuring members that Republicans would be defenders of Second Amendment rights and repeal recently passed gun control legislation 97 The NRA spent 40 million on United States elections in 2008 99 including 10 million in opposition to the election of Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign 100 In 2010 Citizens United v FEC was decided by the U S Supreme Court paving the way for dark money to flow into U S elections As of mid September 2018 the NRA has become one of just 15 groups which account for three quarters of the anonymous cash 101 The NRA spent over 360 000 in the Colorado recall election of 2013 which resulted in the ouster of state senators John Morse and Angela Giron 102 The Huffington Post called the recall a stunning victory for the National Rifle Association and gun rights activists 102 Morse and Giron helped to pass expanded background checks and ammunition magazine capacity limits after the 2012 Aurora Colorado and Sandy Hook Connecticut shootings 103 On May 20 2016 the NRA endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election 104 The timing of the endorsement before Trump became the official Republican nominee was unusual as the NRA typically endorses Republican nominees towards the end of the general election The NRA said its early endorsement was due to the strong gun control stance of Hillary Clinton 105 In the 2016 United States presidential election the NRA reported spending more than 30 million in support of Donald Trump more than any other independent group in that election and three times what it spent in the 2012 presidential election 106 Russian influence Edit Further information Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections Investigations by the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller resulted in indictments of Russian nationals on charges of developing and exploiting ties with the NRA to influence US politics by using the NRA to gain access to Republican politicians Russian politician and gun rights activist Aleksandr Torshin a lifetime NRA member who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin 107 108 was suspected by some of illegally funneling money through the NRA to benefit Trump s 2016 campaign In May 2018 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee released a report stating it had obtained a number of documents that suggest the Kremlin used the National Rifle Association as a means of accessing and assisting Mr Trump and his campaign through Torshin and his assistant Maria Butina and that The Kremlin may also have used the NRA to secretly fund Mr Trump s campaign 109 110 Butina was arrested on July 15 2018 and charged with conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian Federation and using Republican operative Paul Erickson for cover and connections as she developed an influence operation designed to advance the interests of the Russian Federation The FBI acquired an email Erickson had sent to an acquaintance in 2016 stating Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns I ve been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key GOP leaders through of all conduits the NRA 111 112 According to the affidavit from 2015 through at least February 2017 Butina worked at the direction of Russian who was a high level government official and official at the Russian Central Bank 113 114 115 In December Butina agreed in a plea deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors 116 117 Butina later denied accusations that she was a Russian agent 118 In 2018 in a letter sent to Sen Ron Wyden and addressed to Congress the NRA acknowledged it had accepted approximately 2 000 in membership dues and magazine subscriptions and 525 in contributions from 23 Russian nationals or people associated with Russian addresses since 2015 In an earlier news interview the NRA s lawyers stated that the NRA had received less than 1000 from only one Russian donor According to a Wyden aide the NRA letter would be referred to the Federal Elections Commission 119 120 NRA s General Counsel John C Frazer wrote to Senator Wyden While we do receive some contributions from foreign individuals and entities those contributions are made directly to the NRA for lawful purposes Our review of our records has found no foreign donations in connection with a United States election either directly or through a conduit 121 According to the minority Democratic staff of the Senate Finance Committee the NRA acted as a foreign asset of Russia during the 2016 election putting its tax exempt status at risk The allegations were made in a 77 page report on an 18 month investigation released on September 27 2019 An 18 page rebuttal by majority committee Republicans said the Democratic report demonstrated little or nothing 122 123 124 125 Neither the FBI nor Special Counsel investigations found any Russian money funneling The FBI investigation resulted in the conviction of Butina not on any money related charges and the Mueller Report does not mention the NRA 126 The Federal Election Commission has dismissed allegations of Russian money funneling as unsupported by the evidence 127 128 The ATF and Senate confirmations Edit The NRA has for decades sought to limit the ability of the ATF to regulate firearms by blocking nominees and lobbying against reforms that would increase the ability of the ATF to track gun crimes 129 For instance the NRA opposed ATF reforms to trace guns to owners electronically the ATF currently does so through paper records 129 In 2006 the NRA lobbied US Representative F James Sensenbrenner to add a provision to the Patriot Act reauthorization that requires Senate confirmation of ATF director nominees 130 For seven years after that the NRA lobbied against and effectively blocked every presidential nominee 130 131 132 First was President George W Bush s choice Michael Sullivan whose confirmation was held up in 2008 by three Republican Senators who said the ATF was hostile to gun dealers One of the Senators was Larry Craig who was an NRA board member during his years in the Senate 133 Confirmation of President Obama s first nominee Andrew Traver stalled in 2011 after the NRA expressed strong opposition 129 130 134 Some Senators resisted confirming another Obama nominee B Todd Jones because of the NRA s opposition 132 until 2013 when the NRA said it was neutral on Jones nomination and that it would not include the confirmation vote in its grading system 130 Dan Freedman national editor for Hearst Newspapers Washington D C bureau stated that it clears the way for senators from pro gun states Democrats as well as at least some Republicans to vote for Jones without fear of political repercussions 135 In 2014 Obama weighed the idea of delaying a vote on his nominee for Surgeon General Vivek Murthy when Republicans and some conservative Democrats criticized Murthy after the NRA opposed him 136 In February the NRA wrote to Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell to say that it strongly opposes Murthy s confirmation and told The Washington Times Emily Miller that it would score the vote in its PAC grading system The NRA decision wrote Miller will undoubtedly make vulnerable Democrats up for reelection in the midterms reconsider voting party line on this nominee 137 The Wall Street Journal stated on March 15 Crossing the NRA to support Dr Murthy could be a liability for some of the Democrats running for re election this year in conservative leaning states 138 Murthy s nomination received broad support from over 100 medical and public health organizations in the U S including the American College of Physicians the American Public Health Association the American Cancer Society the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association 139 On December 15 2014 Murthy s appointment as Surgeon General was approved by the Senate 140 The NRA also opposed the appointments of Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan as Supreme Court justices 141 Legislation Edit National Rifle Association Position on Federal US Legislation Bill Law Year Supported OpposedNational Firearms Act 1934 NFederal Firearms Act 1938 NGun Control Act 1968 N NFederal Assault Weapons Ban 1994 NProtection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act 2005 NDisaster Recovery Personal Protection Act 2006 NAssault Weapons Ban 2013 N The NRA initially opposed the 1934 National Firearms Act but gave their support after several changes including the removal of pistols and revolvers and redefinition of machine gun 142 143 which regulated what were considered at the time gangster weapons such as machine guns sawed off shotguns and sound suppressors 144 However the organization s position on suppressors has since changed 145 The NRA supported the 1938 Federal Firearms Act FFA which established the Federal Firearms License FFL program The FFA required all manufacturers and dealers of firearms who ship or receive firearms or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce to have a license and forbade them from transferring any firearm or most ammunition to any person interstate unless certain conditions were met 146 The NRA supported and opposed parts of the Gun Control Act of 1968 which broadly regulated the firearms industry and firearms owners primarily focusing on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except among licensed manufacturers dealers and importers The law was supported by America s oldest manufacturers Colt S amp W etc in an effort to forestall even greater restrictions which were feared in response to recent domestic violence The NRA supported elements of the law such as those forbidding the sale of firearms to convicted criminals and the mentally ill 147 148 The NRA influenced the writing of the Firearm Owners Protection Act and worked for its passage 149 In 2004 the NRA opposed renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 The ban expired on September 13 2004 150 In 2005 President George W Bush signed into law the NRA backed Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act which partially shields firearms manufacturers and dealers from being held liable for negligence when crimes have been committed with their products 151 152 Litigation Edit In November 2005 the NRA and other gun advocates filed a lawsuit challenging San Francisco Proposition H which banned the ownership and sales of firearms The NRA argued that the proposition overstepped local government authority and intruded into an area regulated by the state The San Francisco County Superior Court agreed with the NRA position 153 The city appealed the court s ruling but lost a 2008 appeal 154 In October 2008 San Francisco was forced to pay a 380 000 settlement to the National Rifle Association and other plaintiffs to cover the costs of litigating Proposition H 155 In April 2006 New Orleans Louisiana police began returning to citizens guns that had been confiscated after Hurricane Katrina The NRA Second Amendment Foundation SAF and other groups agreed to drop a lawsuit against the city in exchange for the return 156 The NRA filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in the 2008 landmark gun rights case of District of Columbia v Heller 157 In a 5 to 4 vote the Supreme Court ruled that the District of Columbia s gun laws were unconstitutional and for the first time held that an individual s right to a gun was unconnected to service in a militia 97 158 Some legal scholars believe that the NRA was influential in altering the public s interpretation of the Second Amendment providing the foundation for the majority s opinion in Heller 158 159 In 2009 the NRA again filed suit Guy Montag Doe v San Francisco Housing Authority in the city of San Francisco challenging the city s ban of guns in public housing On January 14 2009 the San Francisco Housing Authority reached a settlement with the NRA which allows residents to possess legal firearms within a SFHA apartment building 160 In 2010 the NRA sued the city of Chicago Illinois McDonald v Chicago and the Supreme Court ruled that like other substantive rights the right to bear arms is incorporated via the Fourteenth Amendment to the Bill of Rights and therefore applies to the states 161 162 In March 2013 the NRA joined a federal lawsuit with other gun rights groups challenging New York s gun control law the NY SAFE Act arguing that Governor Andrew Cuomo usurped the legislative and democratic process in passing the law which included restrictions on magazine capacity and expanding the state s assault weapons ban 163 In November 2013 voters in Sunnyvale California passed an ordinance banning certain ammunition magazines along with three other firearm related restrictions The ordinance was passed by 66 percent in favor 164 The ordinance requires city residents to dispose donate or sell any magazine capable of holding more than ten rounds within a proscribed period of time once the measure takes effect 165 The following month the NRA joined local residents in suing the city on second amendment grounds 164 A federal judge dismissed the suit three months later upholding the Sunnyvale s ordinance 166 167 The city of San Francisco then passed similar ordinances a short time later The San Francisco Veteran Police Officers Association SFVPOA represented by NRA attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging San Francisco s ban on the possession of high capacity magazines seeking an injunction 168 A federal judge denied the injunction in February 2014 166 169 In 2014 the NRA lobbied for a bill in Pennsylvania which grants it and other advocacy groups legal standing to sue municipalities to overturn local firearm regulations passed in violation of a state law preempting such regulations and which also allows the court to force cities to pay their legal fees As soon as it became law the NRA sued three cities Philadelphia Pittsburgh and Lancaster In Philadelphia seven regulations the NRA sued to overturn included a ban on gun possession by those found to be a risk for harming themselves or others and a requirement to report stolen guns to the police within twenty four hours after discovery of the loss or theft 170 In Lancaster a city of fewer than 60 000 mayor Rick Gray who has chaired the pro gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns was also named in the suit In that city the NRA challenged an ordinance requiring gun owners to tell police when a firearm is lost or stolen within 72 hours or face jail time 171 The basis for the lawsuits is a 1974 state law that bars municipalities against passing restrictions that are pre empted by state gun laws At least 20 Pennsylvania municipalities have rescinded regulations in response to threatened litigation 172 173 The NRA has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU in opposing NSA collection of the call records of calls in the United States 174 175 On September 4 2019 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a non binding resolution which declared the NRA a domestic terrorist organization and said the city should take every reasonable step to limit vendors which do business with the city from also doing business with the NRA On September 9 the NRA filed a lawsuit in response accusing city officials of violating the organization s free speech rights by discriminating against the organization based on the viewpoint of their political speech 176 177 178 On September 23 mayor London Breed and city attorney Dennis Herrera announced in a memo that the city s contracting process and policies have not changed and will not change as a result of the resolution On November 7 2019 the NRA dropped their lawsuit against San Francisco 179 180 181 182 Los Angeles had passed a similar ordinance but the NRA won a preliminary injunction on December 11 2019 183 and subsequently dropped the lawsuit after Los Angeles repealed the law 184 Programs Edit NRA headquarters in Fairfax County Virginia that houses the museum The National Rifle Association owns the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax County Virginia featuring exhibits on the evolution and history of firearms in America 185 In August 2013 the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum opened at an expansive Bass Pro Shops retail store in Springfield Missouri It displays almost 1 000 firearms including historically significant firearms from the NRA and other collections 186 The NRA publishes a number of periodicals including American Rifleman and others 187 The NRA sponsors a range of programs about firearm safety for children and adults including a program for school age children the NRA s Eddie Eagle The organization issues credentials and trains firearm instructors 188 189 In 1994 following disagreements between the NRA and athletes over control of the program of Olympic shooting sports the US Olympic Committee recommended USA Shooting replace the NRA as the national governing body for Olympic shooting The NRA dropped out just before the decision was announced citing a lack of appreciation for their efforts 190 The NRA supports marksmanship training as well as hosting the National Rifle and Pistol Matches at Camp Perry events which are described by the El Paso Times as the world series of competitive shooting 191 192 193 The National Rifle Association maintains ties with other organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America and 4 H and contributes to youth shooting programs 194 195 The NRA hosts annual meetings The 2018 meeting was held on May 3 in Dallas Texas More than 800 exhibitors and 80 000 people attended the event making it the largest in NRA history President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence addressed attendees 196 Organizational structure and finances EditLeadership Edit Executive staff and spokespersons Edit Since 1991 Wayne LaPierre has been the organization s executive vice president and functions as the chief executive officer 197 LaPierre s compensation averages 1 million per year and including a nearly 4 million retirement payout in 2015 198 Previous notable holders of that office include Milton Reckord Floyd Lavinius Parks Franklin Orth Maxwell Rich Harlon Carter J Warren Cassidy and Gary Anderson Chris W Cox was the executive director of the NRA s lobbying branch the Institute for Legislative Action He received more than 1 3 million in compensation in 2015 199 Kyle Weaver is executive director of general operations 200 Kayne B Robinson is executive director of the General Operations Division and chairman of the Whittington Center 201 Spokesperson Dana Loesch speaking at the Tea Party Patriots American Policy Summit in 2011 In 2017 political commentator Dana Loesch was appointed as the NRA s national spokesperson with the formal title of Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President for Public Communication 202 203 Loesch hosts The DL on NRATV and has featured prominently in other NRA produced videos citation needed Actor Chuck Norris serves as the honorary chairman for the association s voter registration campaign 204 Colion Noir hosts a video program on the NRA s online video channel 205 In May 2018 the NRA announced that Oliver North would become president of the organization 206 207 North served one tumultuous term marked by multiple legal battles and a power struggle with LaPierre he was replaced by Carolyn D Meadows on April 29 2019 208 Board of directors Edit The NRA is governed by a board of 76 elected directors 75 of whom serve three year terms and one who is elected to serve as a cross over director The directors choose a president and other officers from among the membership as well as the executive director of the NRA General Operations and the executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action NRA ILA 209 In 2015 71 members were white and 65 were male More came from Texas than any other state 210 Only 7 percent of eligible members vote 211 Most board nominations are vetted by an appointed nine member Nominating Committee 212 213 One member is George Kollitides of the Freedom Group 212 The nomination committee has been called kingmakers by MSNBC and Jeff Knox says the process is front loaded to give incumbents and Nominating Committee candidates a significant advantage 211 Membership Edit According to the NRA their membership reached 5 5 million total members in 2018 a record high and membership dues went from 128 209 303 in 2017 to 170 391 374 in 2018 an increase of 42 182 071 or 33 percent 2 A 2017 Pew Research Center study found that 19 of US gun owners consider themselves NRA members 214 Journalist Megan Wilson stated that the Pew study places membership at 14 million far higher than the NRA s own report of 5 million According to the NRA some non members typically claim to be members when surveyed as a show of support 215 Notable members Edit Nine US presidents have been NRA members In addition to Grant they are Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft Dwight D Eisenhower John F Kennedy Richard Nixon Ronald Reagan George H W Bush who resigned in 1995 and Donald Trump 216 Three US vice presidents two chief justices of the US Supreme Court and several US congressmen as well as legislators and officials of state governments are or have been members 217 218 Current or past members also include journalist Hunter S Thompson 219 Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh 220 documentarian Michael Moore who joined with the intent of dismantling the organization 221 actor Rick Schroder 222 and singer James Hetfield 223 Interconnected organizations Edit The National Rifle Association is composed of several financially interconnected organizations under common leadership 224 including the NRA Institute for Legislative Action NRA ILA which manages the NRA s political action committee and the NRA Civil Defense Fund which does pro bono legal work for people with cases involving Second Amendment rights 224 The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund was established in 1978 225 Harlon Carter and Neal Knox were responsible for its founding 226 In 1994 the Fund spent over 500 000 on legal fees to support legal cases involving guns and gun control measures It donated 20 000 in 1996 for the defense of New York City resident Bernhard Goetz when he was sued by a man he shot and left paralyzed 227 It paid the legal bills in the case of Brian Aitken a New Jersey resident sentenced to seven years in state prison for transporting guns without a carry permit 228 On December 20 2010 Governor Chris Christie granted Aitken clemency and ordered Aitken s immediate release from prison citation needed NRA Foundation Edit The NRA Foundation is a 501 c 3 non profit organization that raises and donates money to outdoors groups and others such as ROTC programs 4 H and Boy Scouts In 2010 the NRA Foundation distributed 21 2 million in grants for gun related training and education programs 12 6 million to the NRA itself and the rest to community programs for hunters competitive shooters gun collectors and law enforcement and to women and youth groups 229 The foundation has no staff and pays no salaries 229 Friends of NRA is a program that raises money for the NRA Foundation Since its inception in 1992 Friends of NRA has held over 17 600 events reached over 3 2 million attendees and raised over 600 million for The NRA Foundation 230 Political Victory Fund NRA PVF Edit By 1976 as the NRA became more politically oriented the Political Victory Fund NRA PVF a PAC was established as a subsidiary to the NRA to support NRA friendly politicians 90 Chris W Cox who is the NRA s chief lobbyist and principal political strategist is also the NRA PVF chairman Through the NRA PVF the NRA began to rate political candidates on their positions on gun rights An NRA A candidate is one who has not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues but who has also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment whereas an NRA F candidate is deemed a true enemy of gun owners rights 91 In the 2008 elections the PVF spent millions on direct campaign donations and grassroots operation 231 In 2012 NRA PVF income was 14 4 million and expenses were 16 1 million 232 By 2014 the NRA PVF income rose to 21 9 million with expenses of 20 7 million 233 Finances Edit Name Year Income in Millions Expenses in MillionsNational Rifle Association NRA 2011 234 218 9 231 0NRA Institute for Legislative Action n a n a n aNRA Civil Defense Fund 2012 235 1 6 1 0NRA Civil Defense Fund 2013 236 1 3 0 9NRA Foundation 2012 237 43 0 29 1NRA Foundation 2013 238 41 3 31 4NRA Freedom Action Foundation 2012 239 2 1 2 3NRA Freedom Action Foundation 2013 240 0 5 0 1NRA Political Victory Fund 2012 232 14 4 16 1NRA Political Victory Fund 2014 233 21 9 20 7NRA Special Contribution Fund 2012 241 3 3 3 1NRA Special Contribution Fund 2013 242 4 3 3 6 In 2010 the NRA reported revenue of 227 8 million and expenses of 243 5 million 243 with revenue including roughly 115 million generated from fundraising sales advertising and royalties and most of the rest from membership dues 244 Less than half of the NRA s income comes from membership dues and program fees the majority is from contributions grants royalties and advertising 229 244 245 Corporate donors include a variety of companies such as outdoors supply and sporting goods companies and firearm manufacturers 229 244 245 246 From 2005 through 2011 the NRA received at least 14 8 million from more than 50 firearms related firms 244 An April 2011 Violence Policy Center presentation stated that the NRA had received between 14 7 million and 38 9 million from the firearms industry since 2005 246 In 2008 Beretta exceeded 2 million in donations to the NRA and in 2012 Smith amp Wesson gave more than 1 million Sturm Ruger amp Company raised 1 25 million through a program in which it donated 1 to the NRA ILA for each gun it sold from May 2011 to May 2012 In a similar program gun buyers and participating stores are invited to round up the purchase price to the nearest dollar as a voluntary contribution According to the NRA s 2010 tax forms the round up funds have been allocated both to public interest programs and to lobbying 229 2018 New York lawsuit Edit In 2018 the NRA alleged in an official Court document that it suffered tens of millions of dollars in damage from actions of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the State s financial regulator The state s Department of Financial Services was directed by the Cuomo administration to encourage institutions it oversees insurance companies banks and other financial services companies licensed in New York state to review their business interactions with the NRA and other similar organizations and assess if they would pose reputational risk The NRA s suit states that Cuomo s actions violate the organization s first amendment rights and the NRA had suffered tens of millions of dollars in financial losses 247 248 The ACLU has filed a brief with the Northern District of New York court supporting the NRA s case The brief noted that if proven true the allegations disclose an abuse of government regulatory authority to retaliate against a disfavored advocacy organization by imposing a burden on the NRA s ability to conduct lawful business 249 250 2020 New York Lawsuit Edit In August 2020 on behalf of the State of New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the NRA and four individuals involved with the organization CEO Wayne LaPierre former chief of staff and the executive director of general operations Joshua Powell former treasurer and CFO Wilson Woody Phillips and corporate secretary and general counsel John Frazer James charged the organization with illegal conduct stating that the NRA mismanaged funds and assets and failed to follow state and federal laws The suit claims that money was diverted away from its charitable mission and instead used to fund personal expenses for senior leadership resulting in a loss to the NPO of 64 million over three years 251 252 While the NRA sought to dismiss the lawsuit in June 2022 Manhattan Judge Joel M Cohen ruled that the lawsuit could move forward 253 Public opinion and image EditThis section needs to be updated Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information February 2018 A Reuters Ipsos poll in April 2012 found that 82 of Republicans and 55 of Democrats saw the NRA in a positive light 254 In seven of eight Gallup polls between 1993 and 2015 a majority of Americans reported holding a favorable opinion of the NRA Its highest rating was at 60 favorability in 2005 with 34 unfavorable while its lowest rating was at 42 favorability in 1995 with 51 unfavorable In October 2015 58 of Americans held a favorable opinion of the NRA though there was a wide spread among political affiliations 77 of conservatives 56 of moderates and 30 of liberals held this view 255 The National March on the NRA in August 2018 A Washington Post ABC News poll in January 2013 showed that only 36 of Americans had a favorable opinion of the NRA leadership 256 A 2017 poll conducted by the political action committee Americans for Responsible Solutions which supports gun control exclusively questioned 661 gun owners 26 of the respondents stated they were a member of the NRA The ARS reported that less than 50 of gun owners polled believed the NRA represented their interests while 67 of them somewhat or strongly agreed with the statement that it had been overtaken by lobbyists and the interests of gun manufacturers and lost its original purpose and mission The NRA disputed the poll s veracity in an e mail sent to Politico which had published the story 257 Polling trends since 2018 show a significant decline in NRA favorability 258 259 260 261 A 2018 NBC News Wall Street Journal poll found that for the first time since at least 2000 Americans hold a net unfavorable view of the NRA the poll showed respondents view of the NRA was 40 negative and 37 positive 262 263 The poll showed that compared to the same question in 2017 the favorability rating of the NRA overall dropped 5 noting that the shift was largely due to favorability declines among certain demographics married white women urban residents white women overall and moderate Republicans 262 263 A February 2018 Quinnipiac poll found that 51 of Americans believe that the policies supported by the NRA are bad for the U S a 4 increase since October 2017 258 The NRA calls itself the oldest continuously operating civil liberties organization and is one of the largest and best funded lobbying organizations in the United States 264 265 Its claim that it is one of the oldest civil rights organizations is disputed While the NRA was founded in 1871 it did not pursue a gun rights agenda until 1934 The National Association for the Deaf NAD founded in 1880 and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAACP founded in 1909 both originated as civil rights organizations according to other sources 266 Criticism EditThis article s Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article s neutrality by separating out potentially negative information Please integrate the section s contents into the article as a whole or rewrite the material June 2018 Congressman Jim Moran D VA speaking at an event for Mayors Against Illegal Guns The National Rifle Association has been criticized by newspaper editorial boards gun control and gun rights advocacy groups political commentators and politicians Democrats and liberals frequently criticize the organization 267 268 The NRA s oldest organized critics include the gun control advocacy groups the Brady Campaign the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence CSGV and the Violence Policy Center VPC Twenty first century groups include Everytown for Gun Safety formerly Mayors Against Illegal Guns Moms Demand Action and Giffords Political involvement Edit President Trump speaks at the 2019 NRA Institute for Legislative Action annual convention In 1995 former US President George H W Bush resigned his life membership to the organization after receiving a National Rifle Association Institute of Legislative Action NRA ILA fund raising letter signed by executive vice president Wayne LaPierre that referred to ATF agents as jack booted government thugs 269 270 The NRA later apologized for the letter s language 271 In December 2008 The New York Times editorial board criticized the NRA s attacks which it called false and misleading on Barack Obama s presidential campaign 272 After US President Donald Trump s election the NRA closely aligned with him 273 At an event in February 2018 Trump said that he was a big fan of the NRA but said that doesn t mean we have to agree on everything 274 Although the NRA has previously donated to and endorsed Democratic candidates it has become more closely affiliated with the Republican Party since the 1990s In 2016 only two Democratic House candidates received donations from the NRA compared to 115 in the 1992 elections in a reflection of decreasing Democratic support for the NRA and its mission 275 Self identified Republicans are far more likely to hold a positive view of the NRA than are Democrats 276 277 Gun control Edit Main articles Gun law in the United States Gun laws in the United States by state and Gun politics in the United States In February 2013 USA Today editors criticized the NRA for flip flopping on expansion of universal background checks to private and gun show sales which the NRA now opposes 278 As early as March 23 2013 POLITICO had reported on rumors that the NRA and WV Sen Joe Manchin were engaged in secret talks over background checks Two days later the National Association for Gun Rights sent out a bulletin to its members I ve warned you from the beginning that our gravest danger was an inside Washington driven deal wrote NAGR executive Dudley Brown He added that the deal was a Manchin NRA compromise bill The Gun Owners of America followed suit a week later urging its members to contact the NRA to voice their opinion Neither of these groups had even a tenth of the NRA s membership or its political power but they threatened to chip away at the group s reputation Whatever NRA HQ s position on the bill may have been it was fast getting outflanked by ideologues on the right 279 In March 2014 The Washington Post criticized the NRA s interference in government research on gun violence 280 and both Post and Los Angeles Times editors criticized its opposition of Vivek Murthy for US Surgeon General 281 In November 2018 a social media dispute was seen after a paper was published by the American College of Physicians that stated that medical professionals had a special responsibility to speak out on prevention of gun related injuries and that they should support appropriate regulation of the purchase of legal weapons 282 In response to the paper the NRA tweeted against the paper and anti gun doctors and claimed that half of the articles in Annals of Internal Medicine are pushing for gun control and medical professional began posting their experiences of caring for gun violence victims 283 Economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton have also noted that the NRA has been effective in pressuring Congress to not fund high quality research on gun accessibility and suicide rates 284 A survey of NRA members found that the majority support certain gun control policies such as a universal background check For instance 84 of gun owners and 74 of NRA members vs 90 of non gun owners supported requiring a universal background check system for all gun sales 76 of gun owners and 62 of NRA members vs 83 of non gun owners supported prohibiting gun ownership for 10 years after a person has been convicted of violating a domestic violence restraining order and 71 of gun owners and 70 of NRA members vs 78 of non gun owners supported requiring a mandatory minimum sentence of 2 years in prison for a person convicted of selling a gun to someone who cannot legally have a gun 285 Gun manufacturing industry Edit Critics have charged that the NRA represents the interests of gun manufacturers rather than gun owners 286 287 288 Mass shootings Edit Main article Mass shootings in the United States March for Our Lives in Washington D C on March 24 2018 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting Edit Following the high profile 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School the organization began to become the focus of intense criticism due to its continued refusal to endorse any new restrictions on assault style gun ownership or to endorse any other types of new restrictions on gun ownership 245 289 While supporters say the organization advances their rights to buy and own guns according to the constitution s Second Amendment some critics have described it as a terrorist organization for advocating policies that enable and permit the widespread distribution and sale of assault style weapons and for its opposition to any other types of restrictions on gun sales or use 290 291 In December 2012 following the shooting NRA broke its social media silence and media blackout to announce a press conference 292 At the event LaPierre announced an NRA backed effort to assess the feasibility of placing armed security officers in the nation s 135 000 public and private schools under a National School Shield Program He called on Congress to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary The announcement came in the same week after President Obama had stated his support for a ban on military style assault weapons and high capacity magazines 293 294 295 The NRA has been criticized for their media strategy following mass shootings in the United States Following the Sandy Hook shooting the NRA released an online video which attacked Obama and mentioned Obama s daughters New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called it reprehensible and said that it demeaned the organization 296 A senior lobbyist for the organization later characterized the video as ill advised 297 2017 Las Vegas shooting Edit Main article 2017 Las Vegas shooting After the October 2017 shooting at a concert in Las Vegas which left 58 people dead and 851 injured the NRA was initially criticized for their silence 298 After four days they issued a statement opposing additional gun control laws which they said would not stop further attacks and called for a federal law allowing people who have a concealed carry permit in one state to carry concealed weapons in all other states The organization also suggested additional regulations on so called bump fire stocks which allow a semi automatic weapon to function like a machine gun the Las Vegas shooter had used such a device 299 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting Edit Main article Stoneman Douglas High School shooting In February 2018 a school shooting at a high school in Florida left 17 dead and another 17 injured and student survivors organized a movement called Never Again MSD to demand passage of certain gun control measures Many of the students blamed the NRA and the politicians who accept money from the organization for preventing enactment of any gun control proposals after previous high profile shootings 300 301 An NRA spokesman responded by blaming the shooting on the FBI and the media 302 The NRA also issued a statement that the incident was proof that more guns were immediately required in schools in the hands of a bolstered force of armed security personnel in order to harden them against any further similar assaults 303 A Florida law passed in the wake of the shooting which includes a provision to ban the sale of firearms to people under 21 was immediately challenged in federal court by the NRA on the grounds that it is violating the constitutional rights of 18 to 21 year olds 304 305 In May 2018 Cameron Kasky s father and other Parkland parents formed a super PAC Families vs Assault Rifles PAC FAMSVARPAC with a stated goal of going up against NRA candidates in every meaningful race in the country The organization seeks federal legislation to ban the most dangerous firearms while not affecting the Second Amendment 306 307 308 Boycott Edit Main article 2018 NRA boycott The NRA offers corporate discounts to its members at various businesses through its corporate affiliate programs For several years and increasingly in the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting affiliate companies have been targeted in social media as part of a boycott effort 309 to terminate their business relationships with the NRA 310 As a result of this boycott movement several major corporations such as Delta Air Lines United Airlines Hertz Symantec and MetLife have disaffiliated from the NRA while others such as FedEx have refused to disaffiliate 311 312 313 Media campaigns Edit In 2017 Zack Beauchamp of Vox and Mark Sumner of Daily Kos criticized a video advertisement from the NRA In the video Dana Loesch runs through a list of wrongs committed by an unspecified they They use their media to assassinate real news They use their schools to teach children that the president is another Hitler They use their movie stars and singers and comedy shows and award shows to repeat their narrative over and over again And then they use their ex president to endorse the resistance All to make them march Make them protest Make them scream racism and sexism and xenophobia and homophobia To smash windows burn cars shut down interstates and airports bully and terrorize the law abiding Until the only option left is for the police to do their jobs and stop the madness And when that happens they ll use it as an excuse for their outrage The only way we stop this The only way we save our country and our freedom is to fight this violence of lies with the clenched fist of truth Sumner alleged the NRA was trying to boost gun sales by convincing half of America to declare war on the other half Beauchamp wrote It s a paranoid vision of American life that encourages the NRA s fans to see liberals not as political opponents but as monsters 314 In May 2018 the NRA ran an advertisement which criticized the media for giving too much coverage to school shooters by showing their faces and revealing their names in effect causing a glorification of carnage in pursuit of ratings and satirically suggested that Congress pass legislation to limit such coverage in order to make provocative point about gun control In response critics suggested that this would violate the First Amendment right of free speech 315 316 Pro gun rights criticism Edit Pro gun rights critics include Gun Owners of America GOA founded in the 1970s because some gun rights advocates believed the NRA was too flexible on gun issues 317 110 11 Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership JPFO has also disagreed with NRA for what it perceives as a willingness to compromise on gun control 318 The National Association for Gun Rights NAGR has been an outspoken critic of the NRA for a number of years According to the Huffington Post NAGR is the much leaner more pugnacious version of the NRA Where the NRA has looked to find some common ground with gun reform advocates and at least appear to be reasonable NAGR has been the unapologetic champion of opening up gun laws even more 319 In June 2014 an open carry group in Texas threatened to withdraw its support of the NRA if it did not retract its statements critical of the practice The NRA ILA s Chris Cox said the statements were a staffer s personal opinion and a mistake 320 Lack of advocacy for black gun owners Edit The NRA has been accused of insufficiently defending African American gun rights and of providing muted and delayed responses in gun rights cases involving black gun owners 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 Others argue that the NRA s inaction in prominent gun rights cases involving black gun owners is a consequence of their reluctance to criticize law enforcement noting NRA support for Otis McDonald and Shaneen Allen 325 328 In a well publicized 2016 case Philando Castile an African American and legal gun owner was fatally shot by a police officer during a traffic stop while reaching for his wallet 323 329 Castile had a valid firearm permit and informed the police officer of his gun prior to the shooting 323 330 According to The Washington Post the NRA had typically been quick to defend other gun owners who made national news but stayed silent on the Castile shooting 323 Other gun rights advocates as well as some NRA members voiced similar criticisms 323 In a delayed response to the shooting the NRA stated the death was a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided 331 Adam Winkler professor of constitutional law at the UCLA School of Law has argued that there are historical precedents to the NRA s lack of advocacy for black gun owners stating that the NRA promoted gun control legislation in the 1920s 1930s and 1960s with the intent to reduce gun ownership by immigrants and racial minorities clarification needed 332 333 334 Lists of past and present leaders EditPresidents Edit Main article List of presidents of the National Rifle Association Presidents of the NRA are elected by the board of directors Ambrose Burnside 1871 72 William Conant Church 1872 75 Alexander Shaler 1876 335 Winfield S Hancock 1881 336 Ulysses S Grant 1883 84 Philip H Sheridan 1885 337 George W Wingate 1886 1900 336 John C Bates 1910 12 336 William Libbey 1915 20 336 Smith W Brookhart 1921 25 Francis E Warren 1925 26 336 Benedict Crowell 1930 31 336 Karl T Frederick 1934 35 336 Littleton W T Waller Jr 1939 40 336 Emmet O Swanson 1948 336 Merritt A Edson 1949 50 336 Morton C Mumma 1955 56 336 Harlon B Carter 1965 67 Lloyd M Mustin 1977 78 336 Howard W Pollock 1983 84 336 Alonzo H Garcelon 1985 Joe Foss 1988 90 Robert K Corbin 1992 93 336 Marion P Hammer 1995 98 338 339 Charlton Heston 1998 2003 Kayne Robinson 2003 05 Sandra Froman 2005 07 John C Sigler 2007 09 Ron Schmeits 2009 11 David Keene 2011 13 James W Jim Porter 2013 15 340 Allan D Cors 2015 17 Pete Brownell 2017 18 Oliver North 2018 19 Carolyn D Meadows 2019 21 Charles L Cotton since 2021 Directors Edit Notable directors past and present include 210 Joe M Allbaugh John M Ashbrook 226 Bob Barr Ronnie Barrett Clel Baudler Ken Blackwell Matt Blunt John Bolton 341 Dan Boren Robert K Brown Dave Butz Richard Childress Larry Craig Barbara Cubin 342 John Dingell 343 Merritt A Edson R Lee Ermey 344 Sandra Froman Jim Gilmore Marion P Hammer Susan Howard Roy Innis David Keene Karl Malone John Milius 345 Zell Miller 346 Cleta Mitchell 347 Grover Norquist Oliver L North Johnny Nugent Ted Nugent 348 Lee Purcell 349 350 Todd J Rathner Wayne Anthony Ross Ron Schmeits Tom Selleck John C Sigler Bruce Stern 351 Harold Volkmer 352 Don YoungSee also EditNon profit organizations in Northern Virginia Overview of gun laws by nationReferences Edit National Rifle Association ProPublica May 9 2013 a b c d Gutowski Stephen May 30 2019 NRA Membership Dues Contributions Rebounded In 2018 The Washington Free Beacon Korte Gregory May 4 2013 Post Newtown NRA membership surges to 5 million USA Today Carter Gregg Lee ed 2012 National Rifle Association NRA Guns in American Society An Encyclopedia of History Politics Culture and the Law Santa Barbara CA ABC CLIO pp 616 20 ISBN 978 0313386701 Retrieved June 6 2014 The National Rifle Association NRA is the nation s largest oldest and most politically powerful interest group that opposes gun laws and favors gun rights a b A Brief History of NRA National Rifle Association of America Archived from the original on July 3 2013 Retrieved July 19 2013 Analysis Nobody knows how many members the NRA has but its tax returns offer some clues Washington Post AM Ryan Sit on 3 30 18 at 10 54 March 30 2018 How big is the NRA Gun group s membership might not be as powerful as it says Newsweek Retrieved December 13 2018 About the NRA home nra org Retrieved December 13 2018 Lacombe Matthew J 2021 Firepower How the NRA Turned Gun Owners into a Political Force Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0 691 20746 9 a b FORTUNE Releases Annual Survey of Most Powerful Lobbying Organizations Press release Time Warner November 15 1999 Retrieved November 21 2010 Wilson James Q et al 2011 American Government Institutions amp Policies Cengage Learning p 264 ISBN 978 0495802815 LaPierre Wayne Media Rage Against Trump And His Promise Of A Better Nation America s 1st Freedom NRA Davidson Osha Gray 1998 Under Fire the NRA and the Battle for Gun Control University Of Iowa Press pp 28 36 ISBN 0877456461 Gun violence research History of the federal funding freeze apa org Retrieved November 13 2019 Transcript of remarks from the NRA press conference on Sandy Hook school shooting The Washington Post December 21 2012 A National Rifle Association Patriotic Action of Americans Residing Abroad The New York Times August 9 1861 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved April 13 2018 Abraham Lincoln papers Series 1 General Correspondence 1833 1916 R B Perry and R G Moulton to Abraham Lincoln Wednesday June 12 1861 Loyal Americans in Europe volunteer services The Library of Congress Retrieved April 13 2018 Prize Rifles A Note from Patriotic Americans in England The New York Times September 9 1861 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved April 13 2018 a b The National Rifle Association The New York Times September 17 1871 A meeting of the National Rifle Association was held in the Seventh Regiment armory yesterday Gen J P Woodward of the second Division presided and Col H G Shaw officiated as Secretary Articles of association were presented and adopted The incorporators are composed of forty prominent officers and ex officers of the National Guard Membership in the Association is to be open to all persons interested in the promotion of the rifle practice Regiments and companies in the National Guard are entitled by the by laws to constitute all their regular members in good standing members of the Association on the payment of one half of the entrance fees and annual dues Meeting of the National Rifle Association Election of Officers The New York Times November 25 1871 p 3 Notes of the Day The New York Times August 1 1872 p 3 National Rifle Association The New York Times August 7 1872 p 2 Bellini Jason December 20 2012 A Brief History of the NRA The Wall Street Journal Achenbach Joel Higham Scott Horwitz Sari January 12 2013 How NRA s true believers converted a marksmanship group into a mighty gun lobby The Washington Post a b c d Craige John Houston The Practical Book of American Guns 1950 Bramhall House pp 84 93 Timeline of the NRA The Washington Post January 12 2013 Kerr Richard E 1990 Wall of Fire The Rifle and Civil War Infantry Tactics PDF Thesis US Army Command and General Staff College Archived PDF from the original on December 1 2012 Retrieved April 29 2012 Somerset A J December 20 2015 Excerpt How Canadians helped create the NRA Toronto Star America s Wimbledon The Inauguration The New York Times June 22 1873 p 5 The National Rifle Association The New York Times June 12 1873 p 5 The Academy Must Now Share Michael Moore s Cinematic Shame National Rifle Association of America Institute for Legislative Action March 27 2003 Archived from the original on December 3 2010 Retrieved November 21 2010 Canfield Bruce N September 2008 To promote marksmanship N R A marked M1903 rifles American Rifleman 156 9 72 75 Ness Mark June 1983 American Rifleman American Rifleman 58 Camp Raymond R 1948 The Hunter s Encyclopedia Harrisburg PA Stackpole and Heck p 599 Kessel W 2021 Why we are losing the war on gun violence in the United States Cham Switzerland Springer Cham ISBN 9783030555122 Ruhl Jesse M Rizer Arthur L Wiel Mikel J 2003 Gun Control Targetting Rationality in a Loaded Debate Kansas Journal of Law amp Public Policy 13 417 Jilani Zaid For Most of Its History The NRA Actually Backed Sensible Gun Regulation Retrieved September 20 2015 a b Gerhart Ann Alcantara Chris May 29 2018 How the NRA transformed from marksmen to lobbyists The Washington Post Retrieved May 31 2018 Jill Lepore April 23 2012 Battleground America One nation under the gun The New Yorker a b Lacombe Matthew April 26 2019 Trump is at the NRA today It didn t used to be a Republican ally Washington Post Retrieved December 25 2019 This is Trump s fifth consecutive appearance at the event which regularly hosts a parade of prominent Republicans especially as the organization has increasingly pushed conservative viewpoints that go far beyond gun rights Utter 2000 pp 99 100 162 Shaiko Ronald G Wallace Marc A 1998 Going Hunting Where the Ducks Are The National Rifle Association and the Grass Roots In Bruce John M Wilcox Clyde eds The Changing Politics of Gun Control Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 978 0847686155 OCLC 833118449 Retrieved April 8 2014 Knox Neal 2009 Knox Christopher ed Neal Knox The Gun Rights War MacFarlane Press pp 299 300 ISBN 978 0976863304 Kohn Howard May 14 1981 Inside the Gun Lobby Rolling Stone Retrieved January 1 2019 Lopez German October 12 2017 How the NRA resurrected the Second Amendment VOX Achenbach Joel Higham Scott Horwitz Sari January 12 2013 How NRA s true believers converted a marksmanship group into a mighty gun lobby The Washington Post Achenbach Joel Higham Scott Horwitz Sari January 12 2013 How NRA s true believers converted a marksmanship group into a mighty gun lobby The Washington Post a b Utter Glen H 2000 Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights Greenwood pp 137 38 161 63 166 67 186 219 20 ISBN 978 1573561723 Walden Michael 2015 Jennifer Weiss Wolf Jeanine Plant Chirlin eds The Road to Heller Legal Change Lessons from America s Social Movements Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law 55 Knox Neal 2009 Knox Christopher ed Neal Knox The Gun Rights War MacFarlane Press pp 314 20 ISBN 978 0976863304 Spitzer Robert J 1998 The Politics of Gun Control 2nd ed p 88 ISBN 978 1594519871 Richard Feldman 2011 Ricochet Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist John Wiley p 174 ISBN 978 1118131008 Raymond Emilie 2006 From My Cold Dead Hands Charlton Heston and American Politics University Press of Kentucky ISBN 978 0813124087 OCLC 77125677 Pane Lisa Marie April 24 2019 NRA beset by infighting over whether it has strayed too far AP News Retrieved April 28 2019 Hakim Danny April 15 2019 N R A Sues Contractor Behind NRATV The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved August 12 2020 Sullivan Kate April 27 2019 Wall Street Journal NRA chief executive says he was pressured to resign by group s president CNN Retrieved April 28 2019 Bohn Kevin Watkins Eli April 27 2019 Oliver North Informed I will not be renominated NRA president CNN Retrieved April 28 2019 Freskos Brian April 27 2019 The NRA Ousts Oliver North and Stifles Debate on Financial Wrongdoing The New Yorker Retrieved April 28 2019 Hakim Danny June 25 2019 N R A Shuts Down Production of NRATV The New York Times About the NRA Retrieved August 6 2020 State of New York v National Rifle Association Summons and Complaint PDF August 6 2020 Tim Mak August 6 2020 New York Attorney General Moves To Dissolve The NRA After Fraud Investigation NPR Retrieved August 6 2020 Leonnig Carol August 6 2020 New York attorney general seeks to dissolve NRA in suit accusing gun rights group of wide ranging fraud and self dealing The Washington Post Retrieved August 6 2020 Campbell Jon August 6 2020 New York attorney general files lawsuit to shut down the NRA USA Today Retrieved August 6 2020 AG Racine Sues NRA Foundation for Diverting Charitable Funds to Support Wasteful Spending by NRA and Its Executives Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia August 6 2020 a b LaPierre Wayne January 15 2021 Dear NRA Members amp Supporters Archived January 15 2021 at the Wayback Machine National Rifle Association Hakim Danny Walsh Mary Williams April 7 2021 Embattled N R A Chief Kept Bankruptcy Filing Secret From Deputies The New York Times Retrieved April 20 2021 Judge Rejects NRA s Bankruptcy Bid Sets Stage For Dissolution New York Daily News Stephen Rex Brown May 11 2021 Retrieved May 12 2021 a b Moghe Sonia May 12 2021 Judge dismisses NRA s bankruptcy petition allowing New York AG lawsuit to move forward CNN Retrieved May 18 2021 Hamburger Tom May 11 2021 Federal judge denies NRA attempt to declare bankruptcy in win for New York state attorney general The Washington Post Archived from the original on May 12 2021 Bleiberg Jake Sisak Michael May 12 2021 Judge dismisses NRA bankruptcy case in blow to gun group Associated Press Retrieved May 18 2021 Schnell Mychael March 3 2022 Judge blocks New York attorney general s attempt to break up NRA The Hill Retrieved March 7 2022 Stempel Jonathan March 2 2022 Judge blocks New York s bid to close NRA Reuters Retrieved March 7 2022 NRA Digital Network National Rifle Association of America Archived from the original on May 29 2014 Retrieved May 30 2014 The National Rifle Association is America s longest standing civil rights organization The National Rifle Association The New York Times February 7 1872 p 8 New York and Suburban News The New York Times March 6 1872 p 8 Important Meeting of the National Rifle Association The New York Times May 22 1872 p 8 Walker Tim December 22 2012 The NRA marksman s friend that took aim at Washington 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massacre Gun lobby targets Australia The Sydney Morning Herald Sydney Australia Fairfax Media Archived from the original on December 13 2013 Retrieved February 7 2014 Kroll Andy The NRA raised a record amount of money in 2016 Business Insider February 28 2018 These are the members of Congress with the most NRA donations Retrieved April 2 2018 The NRA remains one of the premier gun rights lobbying groups in the US regularly contributing to congressional candidates a b c d e Cook Philip J Goss Kristin A 2014 The Gun Debate What Everyone Needs to Know What Everyone Needs To Know Oxford New York Oxford University Press pp 198 200 ISBN 978 0199338993 a b Reich Gary Barth Jay 2017 Planting in Fertile Soil The National Rifle Association and State Firearms Legislation Social Science Quarterly 98 2 485 99 doi 10 1111 ssqu 12423 ISSN 0038 4941 a b Bruce John M Wilcox Clyde eds 1998 The Changing Politics of Gun Control Lanham MD Rowman and Littlefield p 186 ISBN 978 0847686148 OCLC 833118449 a b Lowes Robert March 11 2014 NRA Opposes Surgeon General Nominee Vivek Murthy Medscape WebMD subscription required Retrieved June 9 2014 Schmidt Gina M 100 Years Remembering President Ronald Reagan National Rifle Association of America Institute for Legislative Action Archived from the original on February 18 2013 Retrieved February 2 2013 Facts on File 1980 Yearbook p 844 O Toole James October 25 2006 Santorum touts gun stand Senate candidate showcases NRA endorsement Pittsburgh Post Gazette PG Publishing Retrieved April 19 2012 a b c Siegel Reva B Dead or Alive Originalism as Popular Constitutionalism in Heller The Second Amendment on Trial Critical Essays on District of Columbia v Heller edited by Saul Cornell and Nathan Kozuskanich University of Massachusetts Press 2013 pp 104 Young John T et al Trends Guns The Public Opinion Quarterly vol 60 no 4 1996 pp 647 a b c d Siegel Reva B Dead or Alive Originalism as Popular Constitutionalism in Heller The Second Amendment on Trial Critical 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investigation turned up a number of documents suggesting Russia used connections to the NRA as a means of accessing and assisting Mr Trump and his campaign Anapol Avery May 16 2018 Judiciary Dems Kremlin may have used the NRA to help Trump campaign The Hill Retrieved May 29 2018 Johnson Carrie Feds Charge Russian Student Linked To NRA With Conspiracy NPR org Retrieved December 11 2018 Viswanatha Aruna Wilber Del Quentin July 16 2018 Gun Rights Activist Charged With Acting as Russian Agent Wall Street Journal via www wsj com Hennigan W J July 16 2018 The Strange Case of the NRA Linked Russian Charged With Being a Kremlin Agent Time Retrieved December 13 2018 Bykowicz Julie Wilber Del Quentin July 17 2018 Alleged Russian Foreign Agent Cultivated Ties With U S Conservatives NRA The Wall Street Journal Retrieved July 17 2018 Sheth Sonam July 17 2018 Grand jury indicts Maria Butina a Russian national with deep ties to the NRA for conspiracy and acting as a Russian agent Business Insider Retrieved July 17 2018 Madden Pete Faulders Katherine Mosk Matthew December 10 2018 Maria Butina accused Russian agent reaches plea deal with prosecutors that includes cooperation ABC News Retrieved December 10 2018 Helderman Rosalind S Hamburger Tom Lee Michelle Ye Hee December 13 2018 Russian Agent s Guilty Plea Intensifies Spotlight on Relationship with NRA The Washington Post Retrieved December 14 2018 Butina s case exposed how Russia saw the NRA as a key pathway to influencing American politics to the Kremlin s benefit And it has intensified questions about what the gun rights group knew of the Russian effort to shape U S policy and whether it faces ongoing legal scrutiny Accused Russian Spy Maria Butina Speaks Out for the First Time New York February 11 2019 Mak Tim April 11 2018 NNRA In New Document Acknowledges More Than 20 Russian Linked Contributors NPR org Retrieved January 15 2019 PM Gillian Edevane On 4 11 18 at 4 20 April 11 2018 NRA admits accepting money from 23 Russia 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runs into Senate resistance The Boston Globe Boston Globe Media Partners Retrieved June 10 2014 Miller Emily February 28 2014 NRA to score Senate vote on Obama s nominee for surgeon general Vivec Murthy The Washington Times Peterson Kristina Nelson Colleen McCain Dooren Jennifer Corbett March 15 2014 Some Democrats Balk at Confirming Obama s Surgeon General Pick The Wall Street Journal Dow Jones amp Company Retrieved June 10 2014 More Than 100 National Organizations Demonstrate Strong Support for Dr Vivek Murthy as the next Surgeon General http health yamericans org newsroom releases releaseid 317 Trust for America s Health Press release November 12 2014 Nolen John December 15 2014 Senate finally confirms Surgeon General nominee http www cbsnews com news surgeon gener al nominee finally has confirmation vote CBS News Retrieved December 15 2014 Elliot Philip January 9 2013 Influence Game NRA lobbying targets courthouses Yahoo ABC News Network Associated Press Retrieved June 10 2014 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of chat with NRA s chief lobbyist President Bush signs Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act National Rifle Association of America Archived from the original on April 20 2013 Retrieved April 9 2013 Hamburger Tom Wallsten Peter Horwitz Sari January 31 2013 NRA backed federal limits on gun lawsuits frustrate victims their attorneys The Washington Post Egelko Bob Goodyear Charlie June 13 2006 Judge invalidates Prop H handgun ban San Francisco Chronicle Hearst Communications Retrieved November 21 2010 Egelko Bob April 10 2008 State high court shoots down S F handgun ban San Francisco Chronicle Hearst Communications Retrieved May 30 2014 Matier Phillip Andrew Ross October 27 2008 Newsom s city car makes trip to his wedding San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved on November 2 2008 N O Police Returning Guns Confiscated Post Katrina FOX News Network Associated Press April 19 2006 Archived from the original on June 7 2014 Retrieved June 7 2014 McArdle Elaine July 1 2007 Lawyers Guns and Money 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sues Sunnyvale Calif over its new ammunition ban The Washington Post Retrieved February 26 2018 Jones Carolyn November 6 2013 NRA vows to fight Sunnyvale s tough new gun law San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved December 16 2013 a b Wadsworth Jennifer March 6 2014 Judge Dismisses NRA Upholds Sunnyvale Gun Control Measure San Jose Inside Retrieved February 26 2018 Richman Josh March 7 2014 Sunnyvale s ammo magazine ban is in effect but to what effect The Mercury News Retrieved February 26 2018 Richardson Valerie Veteran cops challenge San Francisco s gun limit laws The Washington Times Retrieved December 18 2013 Egelko Bob February 20 2014 S F wins ruling on high capacity gun magazines San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved February 26 2018 Howard Brian January 14 2015 Here s the Lawsuit the NRA Just Filed Against Philadelphia Organization says city has openly defied state law for decades Philadelphia Retrieved February 22 2015 Ward Miriam January 17 2015 NRA quick to draw new weapon in Pennsylvania MSNBC Retrieved February 22 2015 Rubinkan Michael January 14 2015 NRA uses new state law to sue Pennsylvania cities over gun measures mayor vows fight U S News amp World Report No online Associated Press Retrieved February 12 2015 The NRA s Diabolical New Plan for Killing Gun Laws Alec MacGillis Slate February 4 2015 Writers Lawmakers and the NRA Support ACLU Challenge to NSA Spying American Civil Liberties Union Retrieved October 27 2016 MacAskill Ewen September 4 2013 NSA surveillance National Rifle Association backs ACLU challenge The Guardian Retrieved May 25 2022 Padilla Mariel September 4 2019 San Francisco Declares the N R A a Domestic Terrorist Organization The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved September 5 2019 Beckett Lois September 10 2019 NRA sues San Francisco for declaring group a domestic terrorist organization The Guardian Retrieved September 10 2019 Chappell Bill September 10 2019 NRA Sues San Francisco After Lawmakers Declare It A Terrorist Organization NPR News Retrieved September 10 2019 Egelko Bob November 7 2019 NRA drops lawsuit against San Francisco which labeled it a terrorist organization San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved November 8 2019 NRA drops lawsuit against San Francisco over terrorist organization resolution but claims victory CBS News November 8 2019 Retrieved November 8 2019 Hakim Danny October 1 2019 In a Face off With the N R A San Francisco Blinks The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved October 28 2019 NRA ILA NRA ILA San Francisco Backs Down Facing a Lawsuit by the NRA Mayor Breed Declares We Won t Blacklist NRA Contractors NRA ILA Retrieved October 28 2019 National Rifle Association of America et al v City of Los Angeles et al PDF NRA to drop lawsuit over Los Angeles disclosure law AP NEWS February 1 2020 Retrieved March 30 2020 NRA Museums NRA National Firearms Museum www nramuseum com Archived from the original on March 7 2018 Retrieved March 7 2018 Murphy Kevin August 3 2013 NRA opens Midwest 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sergeant member of winning national rifle team El Paso Times Archived from the original on January 22 2013 Retrieved October 9 2010 The national matches are considered America s World Series of competitive shooting and have been a tradition at Camp Perry since 1907 National 11 facts about the NRA The Washington Post Retrieved February 2 2013 Keilman John May 14 2021 Rising popularity of trap shooting heralds the return of high school firearm sports Chicago Tribune Retrieved October 4 2021 Live stream President Trump and Vice President Pence speak at annual NRA Convention USA Today Garrett Ben Biography Wayne LaPierre A Look at the Life and Career of the NRA s Executive Director About com Archived from the original on March 18 2013 Retrieved July 1 2014 Tuttle Brad February 28 2018 Wayne LaPierre Has Made a Fortune as CEO of the NRA Here s What We Know About His Money Money com Archived from the original on September 7 2021 Retrieved May 30 2018 Wilson Megan October 8 2017 The NRA s 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Retrieved May 31 2018 Hakim Danny April 29 2019 Wayne LaPierre Prevails in Fierce Battle for the N R A The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved April 30 2019 The National Rifle Association of America Bylaws PDF www fec gov The National Rifle Association Retrieved December 11 2018 a b These Are the People Who Really Run the NRA Mother Jones a b Smyth Frank September 13 2013 Introducing the NRA kingmakers MSNBC a b Weissmann Jordan January 16 2013 New Evidence that the NRA Might Be Just Another Corporate Front The Atlantic Smyth Frank January 16 2013 Unmasking the NRA s Inner Circle Mother Jones Retrieved January 18 2017 America s Complex Relationship With Guns Pew Research Center June 22 2017 Wilson Megan R October 8 2017 The NRA s power By the numbers The Hill Retrieved December 5 2018 Gould Sky and Allan Smith October 5 2017 The 9 US presidents who have been NRA members Business Insider Retrieved April 27 2018 The National Rifle Association of America Bylaws Inside front cover organization summary National Rifle Association of America of America 2012 NRA Member Mike Pence is Trumps Vice President ammoland July 15 2016 Susman Tina February 22 2005 Writer s suicide shocks friends Newsday Archived from the original on November 27 2007 Retrieved August 3 2012 Documents McVeigh Chronology PBS Frontline Moore Michael November 11 2002 Guardian NFT interview Michael Moore The Guardian Interviewed by Andrew Collins London Retrieved August 22 2011 David Mark July 30 2007 Rick Schroder s Itty Bitty Beach Shack Variety Ernst Douglas June 5 2014 NRA member James Hetfield under fire activists want Metallica s hunter out of Glastonbury Festival The Washington Times Retrieved January 18 2017 a b Hickey Walter December 18 2012 How The NRA Became The Most Powerful Special Interest in Washington Business Insider Civil Rights Defense Fund About Us nradefensefund org National Rifle Association of America of America 2015 Archived from the original on February 22 2015 Retrieved March 10 2015 a b Kohn Howard May 14 1981 Inside the Gun Lobby Rolling Stone Archived from the original on August 22 2016 Retrieved January 18 2017 Hoffman Jan April 16 1996 Fund Linked to N R A Gave 20 000 for Goetz s Defense The New York Times Retrieved January 18 2017 Freed New Jersey Man Wants Gun Conviction Overturned Fox News December 23 2010 a b c d e Do Assault Weapons Sales Pay NRA Salaries Fact Check January 15 2013 Melzer Scott 2012 Gun Crusaders The NRA s Culture War New York NYU Press pp 66 74 ISBN 978 0814764503 About PVF National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund 2015 Retrieved April 14 2015 a b National Rifle Assn Spending by Cycle 2012 PAC Summary Data Open Secrets Center for Responsible Politics 2015 Retrieved March 10 2015 a b National Rifle Assn Spending by Cycle 2014 PAC Summary Data Open Secrets Center for Responsible Politics 2015 Retrieved March 10 2015 Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax 2011 PDF Foundation Center 2012 Archived PDF from the original on May 29 2014 Retrieved June 2 2014 NRA Civil Defense Fund PDF Guide Star McGladrey LLP September 16 2013 Retrieved March 10 2015 NRA Civil Defense Fund PDF Guide Star McGladrey LLP November 5 2014 Retrieved March 10 2015 NRA Foundation PDF Guide Star McGladrey LLP October 4 2013 Retrieved March 10 2015 NRA Foundation PDF Guide Star McGladrey LLP November 5 2014 Retrieved March 10 2015 NRA Freedom Action Foundation PDF Guide Star McGladrey LLP September 27 2013 Retrieved March 10 2015 NRA Freedom Action Foundation PDF Guide Star McGladrey LLP November 5 2014 Retrieved March 10 2015 NRA Special Contribution Fund PDF Guide Star McGladrey LLP September 16 2013 Retrieved March 10 2015 NRA Special Contribution Fund PDF Guide Star McGladrey LLP November 5 2014 Retrieved March 10 2015 Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax 2010 PDF Foundation Center 2011 Archived PDF from the original on May 31 2013 Retrieved June 2 2014 a b c d Robison Peter Crewdson John December 28 2011 NRA Raises 200 Million as Gun Lobby Toasters Burn Logo on Bread Bloomberg Retrieved January 30 2013 a b c Hickey Walter January 16 2013 How The Gun Industry Funnels Tens of Millions of Dollars to the NRA Business Insider Retrieved June 5 2014 a b National Rifle Association Receives Millions of Dollars From Gun Industry Corporate Partners New VPC Report Reveals Press release Violence Policy Center April 13 2011 Archived from the original on January 10 2015 Fortin Jacey August 4 2018 N R A Suit Claims Cuomo s Blacklisting Has Cost It Millions of Dollars New York Times Retrieved December 15 2018 Lucas Fred September 24 2018 Andrew Cuomo using banks to target NRA faces major legal test Fox News Retrieved December 15 2018 Clark Dan M August 24 2018 ACLU Supports NRA s Free Speech Argument in Suit Against Cuomo Administration New York Law Journal Keller Megan August 27 2018 ACLU backs NRA in lawsuit against Gov Cuomo The Hill N Y attorney general files lawsuit that seeks to dissolve the NRA NBC News Retrieved June 17 2022 New York attorney general seeks to dissolve NRA AP NEWS April 20 2021 Retrieved June 17 2022 A judge has ruled New York s lawsuit against the NRA can move forward NPR Associated Press June 11 2022 Retrieved June 17 2022 Poll Most Americans support NRA right to protect self but also a few gun limits NBCNews com April 13 2012 Archived from the original on June 14 2013 Retrieved April 13 2012 Swift Art October 22 2015 Despite Criticism NRA Still Enjoys Majority Support in U S Gallup Retrieved February 26 2018 Clement Scott January 22 2013 Everything you need to know about Americans views on guns in 7 easy steps The Washington Post Retrieved February 2 2013 Poll 67 percent of gun owners say NRA overtaken by lobbyists Politico a b Quinnipiac Quinnipiac University Poll February 20 2018 U S Release Detail CNN and SRSS February 2018 PDF CNN Kathy Frankovic February 28 2018 Public sentiment turns against the NRA YouGov Economist Poll pppadmin March 27 2018 Voters Like High School Gun Protesters Don t Like NRA Public Policy Polling a b Bryan Something historic is happening with how Americans see the NRA Business Insider a b Todd NBC News First Read NBC News Shally Jensen M 2010 Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues 4 volumes Gale virtual reference library ABC CLIO p 506 ISBN 978 0313392054 OCLC 815979019 Sharma A 2016 Indian Lobbying and Its Influence in US Decision Making Post Cold War Sage Publications pp 24 25 ISBN 978 9386062147 OCLC 965709054 Burbick Joan 2006 Gun Show Nation Gun Culture and American Democracy The New Press p 27 ISBN 978 1595580870 Bloomberg Throws Punch at NRA Obama Bloomberg says NRA encourages behavior that causes things like Connecticut shooting ABC News December 21 2012 Retrieved January 25 2013 Robillard Kevin December 26 2012 Frank Luntz NRA not listening to public Politico Retrieved January 3 2013 Butterfield Fox May 8 1995 Terror in Oklahoma Echoes of the N R A Rifle Association Has Long Practice In Railing Against Federal Agents The New York Times Retrieved April 7 2014 Bush George H W May 11 1995 Letter of Resignation Sent By Bush to Rifle Association The New York Times Retrieved April 7 2014 Keil Richard May 18 1995 NRA Apologizes for Jack Boot Letter The Seattle Times Associated Press Editorial board December 1 2008 The Gun Lobby s Loss The New York Times Retrieved December 3 2008 Where the N R A Speaks First and Loudest The New York Times February 21 2018 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved February 22 2018 Pappas Alex February 28 2018 Trump publicly spars with Republicans over concealed carry NRA influence at school safety session Fox News Retrieved February 28 2018 The NRA used to be much more bipartisan Now it s mostly just a wing of the GOP CNN com February 24 2018 Retrieved February 25 2018 Reinhart RJ June 28 2018 Record U S Partisan Divide on Views of the NRA Gallup Retrieved December 13 2018 Enten Harry February 24 2018 The NRA used to be much more bipartisan Now it s mostly just a wing of the GOP CNN Retrieved December 25 2019 During his speech Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre launched an attack on the Democratic Party and its socialist agenda The speech marked just how partisan gun policy and thus the NRA has become Clearly the NRA has no place in the Democratic Party anymore The party is far more liberal overall and more liberal on guns in particular Editorial board February 10 2013 Enact universal background checks Our view USA Today Retrieved April 7 2014 Mak Tim The Moment the NRA Decided to Embrace the Culture Wars POLITICO Retrieved March 29 2022 Editorial board March 22 2014 Guns are a health care issue The Washington Post Retrieved April 7 2014 Editorial board March 23 2014 Why NRA opposition shouldn t doom Obama s surgeon general nominee The group is wrong to attack Dr Vivek Hallegere Murthy over his support for gun control Los Angeles Times Retrieved April 7 2014 Butkus Renee Doherty Robert Bornstein Sue S October 30 2018 Reducing Firearm Injuries and Deaths in the United States A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians Annals of Internal Medicine 169 10 704 07 doi 10 7326 M18 1530 ISSN 0003 4819 PMID 30383132 Rannard Georgina November 12 2018 Pro gun tweet provokes doctors fury BBC News Retrieved November 13 2018 Case Anne Deaton Angus 2021 2020 Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism 2nd ed Princeton NJ Princeton University Press pp 99 100 ISBN 978 0691217079 Barry Colleen L McGinty Emma E Vernick Jon S Webster Daniel W March 21 2013 After Newtown Public Opinion on Gun Policy and Mental Illness N Engl J Med 368 368 1077 81 doi 10 1056 NEJMp1300512 PMID 23356490 S2CID 26792611 Lee Fang Does the NRA Represent Gun Manufacturers or Gun Owners Archived March 18 2018 at the Wayback Machine The Nation December 15 2012 The NRA speaks for the gun industry not owners Expert CNBC February 22 2018 Jordan Weissman Whom Does the NRA Really Speak For The Atlantic December 18 2012 Eller Donnelle February 3 2013 Iowa gun accessories supplier a key part of community Des Moines Register USA Today The N R A s Complicity in Terrorism New York Times Editorial Board June 16 2016 February 18 2018 Pittsburgh Post Gazette Kathleen Parker Kathleen Parker Change agent with a camera Retrieved February 19 2018 successfully lobbies Congress to designate the National Rifle Association as a terrorist organization NRA releases statement on Conn shooting USA Today December 18 2012 Retrieved January 6 2013 Sullivan Sean December 21 2012 Put armed guards in every school NRA leader Wayne LaPierre says The Washington Post Retrieved December 21 2012 Cushman Jr John H December 22 2012 N R A Calls for Armed Guards in Schools to Deter Violence The New York Times NRA calls for armed police officer in every school Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on January 17 2013 Retrieved December 21 2012 Knox Olivier January 17 2013 Christie NRA ad with Obama daughters reprehensible Yahoo News Retrieved January 19 2013 Cornwell Susan January 25 2013 Exclusive NRA senior lobbyist says attack ad was ill advised Reuters Retrieved January 25 2013 Cerullo Megan NRA silent following Las Vegas shooting New York Daily News Retrieved October 5 2017 NRA breaks silence after Vegas shooting to call for additional regulations on bump stocks The Guardian October 5 2017 Retrieved March 8 2018 Parkland student Politicians accepting NRA money are against shooting victims Axios February 19 2018 Retrieved February 22 2018 Students Who Survived Florida Shooting Want Politicians To Know They re Angry All Things Considered NPR February 16 2018 Retrieved February 18 2018 Zurawik David March 1 2018 The NRA is getting trounced by Stoneman Douglas students in the PR battle over gun control The Baltimore Sun Retrieved March 8 2018 NRA goes on the offensive after Parkland shooting assailing media and calling for more armed school security Washington Post Mark Berman and David Weigel February 22 2018 Sanchez Ray Yan Holly March 9 2018 Florida Gov Rick Scott signs gun bill CNN com Retrieved March 10 2018 Schweers Jeffrey March 9 2018 NRA sues Florida over gun bill same day Gov Scott signed it into law Tallahassee Democrat Retrieved March 10 2018 Smiley David May 30 2018 Parkland parents launch a Super PAC to go after politicians and the NRA Miami Herald Retrieved May 30 2018 Huriash Lisa May 30 2018 Parkland parents set up PAC to take on NRA Sun Sentinel Retrieved May 30 2018 Schallhorn Kaitlyn May 31 2018 Parkland parents create super PAC to oppose NRA backed politicians Fox News Retrieved May 31 2018 Creswell Julie Hsu Tiffany February 23 2018 Companies Cut Ties to the N R A but Find There Is No Neutral Ground The New York Times Retrieved February 26 2018 Fortin Jacey February 24 2018 A List of the Companies Cutting Ties With the N R A The New York Times Retrieved February 26 2018 The full list of companies who have boycotted the NRA over the Florida shooting Newsweek February 24 2018 Retrieved February 24 2018 Creswell Julie Hsu Tiffany February 23 2018 Companies Cut Ties to the N R A but Find There Is No Neutral Ground The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved February 24 2018 Tuttle Brad February 26 2018 Only One Major Company Is Still Giving Discounts to NRA Members Money com Archived from the original on September 7 2021 Retrieved February 26 2018 Cummings William NRA video declares war on liberals critics say USA Today Retrieved October 5 2017 Eli Rosenberg May 24 2018 Washington Post NRA host calls for legislation to limit reporting on mass shooters Then he says he doesn t mean it Retrieved May 26 2018 put an end to this glorification of carnage in pursuit of ratings time for Congress to step up and pass legislation putting common sense limitations on our mainstream media s ability to report on these school shootings McCardle Mairead May 24 2018 Media Misrespresents NRA s Comments on News Censorship National Review Retrieved May 26 2018 Spitzer Robert J 2012 The Politics of Gun Control Boulder CO Paradigm ISBN 978 1594519871 Zelman Aaron May 23 1994 Aaron Zelman Talks to the NRA Board Speech Minneapolis MN Retrieved June 5 2014 Fuller Matt August 1 2016 How Republican Gun Legislation Died In Congress HuffPost Retrieved November 18 2020 NRA rolls back open carry criticism Fort Worth Star Telegram Associated Press June 4 2014 Archived from the original on June 5 2014 Retrieved June 5 2014 Newton Creede Gun control s racist past and present www aljazeera com Retrieved December 3 2017 After the Castile Verdict Some Ask Where is The NRA retrieved December 6 2017 a b c d e Some gun owners are disturbed by the Philando Castile verdict The NRA is silent The Washington Post Retrieved June 21 2017 Dallas Shootings Underscore NRA Hypocrisy Critics Say usnews com Archived from the original on July 10 2016 a b Beckett Lois July 10 2016 Philando Castile s killing puts NRA s gun rights mission at a crossroads The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved December 6 2017, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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