We have upon us an election year. To ensure your continued ability to buy—and use—firearms, you owe it to yourself and your children to get out and vote. There are some tough contests coming up this year in some parts of the country, and they may come down to your ballot. I don’t know of any shooters who like politicians, but I know of no shooters who aren’t tied very closely to them, like it or not.
Another election, no less important, is also upon us. That is the NRA election. Whether you know it or not, there’s been some serious infighting (again) within the NRA. The current leadership has seen fit to give $200,000 worth of free advertising to their colleagues while using the same “pulpits” of their publications to denigrate the old guard…and charge them full price for their ads. I won’t call anyone names in these pages, but if you seek the truth, it’s out there. Specifically, if you have Internet access, go to the links given here to make sure you KNOW both sides of the story.
You should know that the conflict is over money. Those now in power within the NRA do not want their sources of income divulged. Those now out of power claim, with very good documentation, that some dirty dealing has gone on, and is still going on. They want this brought forth for the general membership to see, and want the sources of all incomes divulged.
One example: Remember all those mailings we got, asking for money to support the NRA-ILA and other ongoing programs? The company that was hired by the current NRA leadership to mail all those requests for donations was paid by the mailed piece, not by results. Yep, the more requests they mailed out, the more of your NRA membership money they got.
Neal Knox didn’t want to take over the NRA, as the current leadership claims. All Knox wants to do is to make NRA members aware that because of the outrageous spending by its current leadership, the NRA has major financial problems. Knox is not alone: former Finance Committee Chairman Rick Carone (a former Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank, and therefore presumably knowledgeable about finances) resigned recently because the NRA Board majority failed to take action on his warnings of NRA’s financial problems.
How bad are the problems? The NRA has a current net worth of some $50 million in the hole, and a D credit rating.
Three years ago, then-Finance Committee Chairman Max Goodwin, former Chief Financial Officer of Coors Brewery (another fellow who knows his way around a debit sheet), wrote then-President Corbin: “Commitments are being made for large amounts of money and for multiple years without the approval or even knowledge of the board or the Finance Committee…The disintegration of the assets of the NRA under current spending policies have eroded our future viability…Some action must be taken to correct this situation.” No corrective action was taken, and Mr. Goodwin resigned.
There is a proposed NRA by-law amendment coming up for voting, that will force full disclosure of financial dealings of all those holding positions of power within the NRA, going back three years, and with no dollar limit. This would seem to be one of the necessary means to open members’ eyes to where their money is going.
Why do I belabor all this in this space? Well, fellas and gals, without the NRA we ain’t got no guns. The stronger the NRA is, the better and longer we free people of this great country will be able to retain our rights of self-protection through owning and bearing arms. Don’t take this lightly. I’ve been watching the gun laws of this country slowly erode through quite a few decades now, and we need to take a firm stand. Get yourself out and vote in your local elections, and you voting NRA members be sure to educate yourselves, and participate.
You might find it eye-opening to visit these websites:
www.NealKnox.com
www.nra.org
www.2ndAmendment.net
-Ray Ordorica
