What's sickening is millions the NRA pays Wayne LePierre and spends on BoD conventions.
That is long since over. He is under a microscope now and has been for 5 full years. He does not spend a dime without the New York AG looking for a way to prosecute him or others in the NRA. So, forget about it. Kind of like Trump, he did a lot of stuff that was questionable but on balance he saved us from dramatic new bans and the NRA was the catalyst and lobbyist for every single state that has a CCW or permit less carry.
The GOA and SAF joined the legal side about a dozen years ago and now are often the lead agency. But they do not have a ground game, they do not even have offices, or lobbyists of people in the states to campaign for changes in the law, the NRA does.
Dontate to any you want, just do not do anything. But take a long look at where we were, where we are, and who can do the best for us down the road. The GOA and SAF both get donations from me every year, the NRA usually does not, yet I send donations to the NRA Whittington Center, which is not controlled by the NRA in anyway, they are a totally separate and funded totally different.
My local gun club just announced that the NRA is giving $5,000 or so in a grant to buy ammo for youth events both NRA and others.
Funding & Grants | Range Services (nra.org)
And the NRA has given more that $457.000,000 in range improvement grants since 1990.
Grants | NRA Foundation
And, the Friends of the NRA have given more than $600,000,000 since 1992 in range and shooting funds. Here is a link for a $6,000 grant to a range I used for a decade or more. It was just one table, a trash can and a hill for a backstop for 50 years. Now it is a great range. Free to the public for a $3 pass or free to anyone with a fishing or hunting license.
NRA Donates to Shooting Range Project | Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (wildlifedepartment.com)
Here is one where the NRA gave $30,000 for 12 ranges in South Dakota, these are free to the public, on public land.
NRA Awards 12 Public Shooting Range Grants | NRA Family
In Oklahoma they built state of the art ranges on 12 public hunting areas. I have used 5 of them going back 40 years, they were nothing, just a table and a backstop, now they are as good as any private range. Did I mention they are free to anyone with a hunting or fishing license or anyone over 65 and kids? All of that happened on Wayne's watch. If he stole money or wasted money illegally, send him to jail.
WMA Shooting Ranges | Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (wildlifedepartment.com)
This next picture shows the covered pistol range and the rifle range on the right, the 6,000 grant above was matching funding for this one. I went there 40-50 times when it was just the one table and a hillside, no target frames nothing.
Lexington WMA | Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (wildlifedepartment.com)
Here is a pic of the pistol range.
And a pic of that rifle range on the right.
Here is a pic of the NRA funded or matching funded ranges on public land. Again free if you have a hunting or fishing license, or over 65, or disabled, $3 otherwise. A bunch of them. All over the state.
A few more of the NRA ranges.
Cherokee, adjacent to 55,000 acres of public hunting land. When I used it, one table and a pile of dirt for a backstop. With the NRA money, look at it now.
NRA money, Federal Ammo Tax money, and license revenue money at work. Oklahoma gets ZERO tax dollars for the Wildlife Department, ranges or anything under their umbrella. It is 100% funded by hunting and fishing licenses and grants. Here they are at work on one range.
I can post a few more dozen photos of where NRA money was spent the last 10 years or so, but you get the idea. I paid $25 a month for a long time to become a Life NRA member about 25 years ago, and during some election years send them $50, just like I do SAF and GOA. Otherwise I have never been affiliated with them. I know about the money actually spent because I an avid hunter for most of my 74 years and even duting military service came back to hunt most years. I have used most of these ranges and camped/hunted on most of the public hunting areas where they are located.
I think people get hung up on that Wayne deal and do dumb stuff, by forgetting that he is just one guy that got caught stealing. That said, like Trump, he did a lot of dumb stuff, the important stuff he did very, very well. And if it was actually stealing he would be in jail, lots of people tried to put him there and to destroy the NRA. Not because of their role in lawsuits, but their ground games which has led the fight in every state that has gotten CCW permits or constitutional carry the last 15=20 years. It was not just a bunch of us, it was the NRA lobby and getting people out in the states to push for those laws. You cannot take that away from them, they led those things to happen, in every state.
So, SAF and GOA can file the lawsuits and do things that they only need one office to do, but they cannot or do not have actual people on the ground in every state. That is why we need them. If they fail, the Congress will eventually be taken over by the Dems and they will legislate away much of the second amendment. The only real protection in the short term is the makeup of the Supreme Court, put there by Trump, who go elected thanks to the NRA.
My 2 cents. I paid $750 for my life membership 20-25 years ago, I now have a dozen free ranges in my state. One an hour away. One 10 miles from where I hunt deer, and two of them on the way to my hunting spot. Just saying, money well spent. Time to get over the Wayne hate and think about what is best for the second amendment.
My 2 cents.
