Wayne LaPierre announces resignation as NRA chief

[T-Unit]

Heres a couple of screen grabs, they took in less than the prior year and spent more. That is mismanagement.

View attachment 836214

Balance sheet shrunk, a lot.. mismangement

View attachment 836215

I think all of these orgs exist to pay salaries and benefits (that are derived from donations) to the leaders. At least with NRA members had a vote. A weak vote and things were manipulated but a vote. Members are not really members of GOA, they have no vote, no say in how the org is run.

Watch your wallet.

GOA is neck deep in filing suits against gun regulations while the NRA is being put on trial for obvious, gross corruption.

So, which lawsuits would you like GOA to drop to save money? The ATF "zero tolerance" one, the brace ban, the 80% lower suit, or maybe all three?

 

[drgrant]

I’d rather not see the NRA nose dive and have to restructure. The left would take that as a major win and would tote it as how they took down a giant pro gun organization.

The NRA re-orging or getting a colonic would be a bigger win for everyone else. It's borderline useless right now outside of showing up with funding once in awhile.

 

[EJFudd]

GOA is neck deep in filing suits against gun regulations while the NRA is being put on trial for obvious, gross corruption.

So, which lawsuits would you like GOA to drop to save money? The ATF "zero tolerance" one, the brace ban, the 80% lower suit, or maybe all three?

Exactly. Lawsuits are expensive. But that is the business they took on: Trying their best to protect our rights. It is not always a cheap thing to do.

History shows that GOA sometimes spends more in a given year than they take in. I'm not shocked by this and I'm not about to stop supporting them for aggressively defending our rights. Just the opposite, actually. I support the active, aggressive, successful orgs. Not so much the overly frugal ones.

 

[alan226]

Heres a couple of screen grabs, they took in less than the prior year and spent more. That is mismanagement.

View attachment 836214

Balance sheet shrunk, a lot.. mismangement

View attachment 836215

I think all of these orgs exist to pay salaries and benefits (that are derived from donations) to the leaders. At least with NRA members had a vote. A weak vote and things were manipulated but a vote. Members are not really members of GOA, they have no vote, no say in how the org is run.

Watch your wallet.

Depends what they were spending it on and if the expenses were coming out of cash reserves from prior years.

Not trying to be a dick (even tho I am one), a lot of missing info...

 

[MGnoob]

Dude after a month i look like a teenager who grew a dirt beard

I dont get carded when i shave... but if i don't i get carded every time

I find nobody asked me any questions when I came out of my house during Covid

 

[jkelly1229]

View attachment 836282

I find nobody asked me any questions when I came out of my house during Covid

Because they expected you to churn their butter brother jebidaih?

Jesus you look Amish

 

[MGnoob]

Allah Akbar

 

[MGnoob]

View: https://youtu.be/lOfZLb33uCg?si=MOIwidzh5sdlLm0N

 

[EJFudd]

Agree. A lot of people don't know the difference between organizations that lobby and those that file suits. In this case you'd have GOAL and COMM2A as examples. Nationally the NRA and GOA do both, but then you have SAF and FPC on the suit side, as just a couple examples.

I would guess by now that most folks even half paying attention to 2A issues understand this. If they don't, they probably should take the time to do a little research and refine their giving, if necessary, to match the specific threats they wish to address.

 

[EJFudd]

Here's a couple of screen grabs, they took in less than the prior year and spent more. That is mismanagement.

Balance sheet shrunk, a lot.. mismanagement

I think all of these orgs exist to pay salaries and benefits (that are derived from donations) to the leaders. At least with NRA members had a vote. A weak vote and things were manipulated but a vote. Members are not really members of GOA, they have no vote, no say in how the org is run.

Watch your wallet.

2021 (vs. 2020) numbers? Are those the latest availability?

Regardless, I'm not that impressed. Spending on cases is what they are supposed to do... what I expect and want them to do.

Bottom line is that I am satisfied overall with the job GOA is doing and I will continue to donate.

 

[SS1]

I'll wait the year then see what is looks like
At least half the board are his flunkies, They need to go as well

 

[granitestater]

Exactly. Lawsuits are expensive. But that is the business they took on: Trying their best to protect our rights. It is not always a cheap thing to do.

History shows that GOA sometimes spends more in a given year than they take in. I'm not shocked by this and I'm not about to stop supporting them for aggressively defending our rights. Just the opposite, actually. I support the active, aggressive, successful orgs. Not so much the overly frugal ones.

So here is the list of independent contractors from the 2022 GOA IRS form 990:


from revenue of $6,978,563 they only spent $725,622 on lawyers. Where were the rest of the dollars spent? That $6,978,563 was down from $8 , 6 3 8 , 1 9 8 in 2021 yet expenses soared from $10,639,193 in 2021 to $19,527,606 in 2022. In business that is considered mis management. Poor planning and any other number of errors.

based your comment about supporting active aggressive groups rather than overly frugal ones, there is a balance and to not support groups that spend every $$$ is responsible on the part of the donor. In another post you mentioned NAGR. That group always overspends. That is irresponsible. Gun owners donate when they are afraid. When obama was elected donations soared. When trump was elected donations dropped. (Not saying I agree with this, it is just a pattern I have seen from reading form 990.) The responsbile thing to do is to salt $$ away for the lean years. Because anti gun threats will always pop up.

 

[Rockrivr1]

So here is the list of independent contractors from the 2022 GOA IRS form 990:
View attachment 836404

from revenue of $6,978,563 they only spent $725,622 on lawyers. Where were the rest of the dollars spent? That $6,978,563 was down from $8 , 6 3 8 , 1 9 8 in 2021 yet expenses soared from $10,639,193 in 2021 to $19,527,606 in 2022. In business that is considered mis management. Poor planning and any other number of errors.

based your comment about supporting active aggressive groups rather than overly frugal ones, there is a balance and to not support groups that spend every $$$ is responsible on the part of the donor. In another post you mentioned NAGR. That group always overspends. That is irresponsible. Gun owners donate when they are afraid. When obama was elected donations soared. When trump was elected donations dropped. (Not saying I agree with this, it is just a pattern I have seen from reading form 990.) The responsbile thing to do is to salt $$ away for the lean years. Because anti gun threats will always pop up.

It’s unfortunately that the bigger these groups get the more susceptible they become to waste and out of control spending. Unless they get it in check sooner or later the brand takes a hit.

The same as what happened to Wounded Warriors. Good idea that went very wrong.

 

[paracarry]

I'll keep my response simple. GOOD

 

[kingfisher]

Former NRA executive pleads guilty to fraud, agrees to testify​

Former National Rifle Association operations director Joshua Powell has settled civil claims of fraud and abuse brought by the New York Attorney General's office.

The admission comes hours after Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the NRA, announced his resignation ahead of a trial scheduled to begin Monday. LaPierre cited health reasons, according to the NRA. The resignation will be effective Jan. 31.

Powell was employed by the NRA from 2016 through January 2020 and in that time "Powell breached his fiduciary duties and failed to administer the charitable assets entrusted to his care by using his powers as an officer and senior executive of the NRA to convert charitable assets for his own benefit and for the benefit of his family members," the settlement agreement said.

"Joshua Powell's admission of wrongdoing and Wayne LaPierre's resignation confirm what we have alleged for years: the NRA and its senior leaders are financially corrupt," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Saturday...

MSN

 

[Lank]

Unless the NRA stops their spamming, their branded Chinese junk, their million member board of directors, paying their CEOs seven figures, etc., it's still wasted money. The best thing the NRA could do is continue to exist as some sort of completely stripped down Potemkin gun rights group to keep the antis up at night and hand all membership money and donations off directly to one of the litigation orgs.

I toss that shit from CCP

 

[EJFudd]

So here is the list of independent contractors from the 2022 GOA IRS form 990:

from revenue of $6,978,563 they only spent $725,622 on lawyers. Where were the rest of the dollars spent? That $6,978,563 was down from $8 , 6 3 8 , 1 9 8 in 2021 yet expenses soared from $10,639,193 in 2021 to $19,527,606 in 2022. In business that is considered mis management. Poor planning and any other number of errors.

based your comment about supporting active aggressive groups rather than overly frugal ones, there is a balance and to not support groups that spend every $$$ is responsible on the part of the donor. In another post you mentioned NAGR. That group always overspends. That is irresponsible. Gun owners donate when they are afraid. When Obama was elected donations soared. When trump was elected donations dropped. (Not saying I agree with this, it is just a pattern I have seen from reading form 990.) The responsible thing to do is to salt $$ away for the lean years. Because anti gun threats will always pop up.

You are obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about this (i.e., Pro-2A groups not wasting donor money). That is admirable. I don't have good answers to your various points. I can't say where all the money is going. So let me ask: What Pro-2A group (or groups) is spending the donation money they receive most effectively and getting the best results? If you can convince me, that's who I will donate to the most. Deal?

 

[granitestater]

You are obviously very knowledgeable and passionate about this (i.e., Pro-2A groups not wasting donor money). That is admirable. I don't have good answers to your various points. I can't say where all the money is going. So let me ask: What Pro-2A group (or groups) is spending the donation money they receive most effectively and getting the best results? If you can convince me, that's who I will donate to the most. Deal?

I will get back to you on that.... the thing is, nothing is a constant. It changes year to year. 10 years ago I was a GOA donor. Things have changed. I am currently carefuly studying the Second Amendment Foundation form 990. They are winning lawsuits and donations to SAF are tax deductible. Another benefit. I do not live in Massachusetts, but for purposes of this discussion, I am studying the Form 990 for COMM 2 A. Another organization that has a winning track record and donations to are tax deductible.

I will report back later this week, so yes, we have a deal.

Also, I want to correct my previus post. I added two items together that I should not have. GOAs total expenses were:

2021: $5,988,533
2022: $10,698,495

However, the conclusion is the same, they overspent their 2022 revenues by $3,702,987.

All other figures I presented were correctly copied from the IRS form 990. Expecially the 2021 - 2022 decline in revenue and increase in expenses.

Thank you!

 

[KBCraig]

I’d rather not see the NRA nose dive and have to restructure. The left would take that as a major win and would tote it as how they took down a giant pro gun organization.

The NRA took a nose dive a couple of years ago. They've been dragging their feet against the inevitable restructuring.

 

[Len-2A Training]

The NRA took a nose dive a couple of years ago. They've been dragging their feet against the inevitable restructuring.

Except I read that Wayne hand-picked his successor, one of his prior Lts. So meet the new boss, same as the old boss!

 

[PappyM3]

If the NRA goes kaput there will be no more resources for the NRA gun safety classes that are taught for people to get their LTCs. Probably the major classes taken in MA for gun licensing.

That’s only because the state police refuse to review new curriculums offered by other organizations or individuals.

 

[Mesatchornug]

To be more specific - is there a purpose in starting, for example, a new magazine restriction lawsuit in MA when NFGR has one going already?

The biggest reason is that NAGR tends to do stupid things like 1) not communicate with locals or learn about their regional realities, 2) attack multiple fronts in a single case, 3) write terrible arguments for their cases.

That is to say, fighting a case here is worthwhile if it's a viable case. Throwing money specifically at NAGR because they're "doing something" is foolish. This is reinforced by the results they're seeing here.

 

[EJFudd]

The biggest reason is that NAGR tends to do stupid things like 1) not communicate with locals or learn about their regional realities, 2) attack multiple fronts in a single case, 3) write terrible arguments for their cases.

That is to say, fighting a case here is worthwhile if it's a viable case. Throwing money specifically at NAGR because they're "doing something" is foolish. This is reinforced by the results they're seeing here.

It seems we are stuck in an endless no-win situation if the national organization(s) actually willing to spend national money on Massachusetts issues (both legislation and litigation) are doing it all wrong, choosing bad cases and/or making terrible legal arguments. Meanwhile, we have GOAL seemingly stuck in a time warp and operating in endless "frugality mode"... and COMM2A always waiting for the perfect client and the perfect case to come along.

Now, before everyone jumps on me and beats me to death over our sacred cows, I hold my nose and CONTINUE TO support GOAL regardless of my dissatisfaction with GOAL generally. I was very pleased with the recent "signs" campaign and that prompted a sizable donation on my part.

Meanwhile, COMM2A's last "current project" was morin v. lyver started in 2018. This is now 2024. Is something big brewing that we just haven't heard about yet? I don't know. That said, COMM2A is still on my giving list too... for their past accomplishments if nothing else.

So how do we fix this? Incompetence (apparently?) vs. frugality, old tactics and endless waiting. Bueller??? Bueller???

 

[Mesatchornug]

It seems we are stuck in an endless no-win situation if the national organization(s) actually willing to spend national money on Massachusetts issues (both legislation and litigation) are doing it all wrong, choosing bad cases and/or making terrible legal arguments. Meanwhile, we have GOAL seemingly stuck in a time warp and operating in endless "frugality mode"... and COMM2A always waiting for the perfect client and the perfect case to come along.

Now, before everyone jumps on me and beats me to death over our sacred cows, I hold my nose and CONTINUE TO support GOAL regardless of my dissatisfaction with GOAL generally. I was very pleased with the recent "signs" campaign and that prompted a sizable donation on my part.

Meanwhile, COMM2A's last "current project" was morin v. lyver started in 2018. This is now 2024. Is something big brewing that we just haven't heard about yet? I don't know. That said, COMM2A is still on my giving list too... for their past accomplishments if nothing else.

So how do we fix this? Incompetence (apparently?) vs. frugality, old tactics and endless waiting. Bueller??? Bueller???

You keep asking @GOAL to file suits.

You realize they cannot do that, right? Like it's not only against their charter, but incompatible with their position as a lobbying org.

It would be nice to see more from @Comm2A, but I also recognize they're a small group with limited funding (like, moreso than GOAL). Asking them to throw what little money they have at losers like the NAGR case feels like a worse mismanagement than waiting for something better.

Of course, there's a third option - someone could stand up as a plaintiff and agree to ride out the pain. Dick Heller did it. It seems the best suited, though, would be someone who's old enough and with little enough to lose that they'll accept the risk. Worst case, it's only a couple years in the poke before shuffling off. Sadly, I don't see a bunch of volunteers lining up to gamble their futures. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places?

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Former NRA executive pleads guilty to fraud, agrees to testify​

MSN

Misleading headline. One does not "plead guilty" when agreeing to a civil settlement.

 

[EJFudd]

You keep asking @GOAL to file suits.

You realize they cannot do that, right? Like it's not only against their charter, but incompatible with their position as a lobbying org.

I did not wish to give that impression. Sorry if I was not clear enough.

It would be nice to see more from @Comm2A, but I also recognize they're a small group with limited funding (like, moreso than GOAL). Asking them to throw what little money they have at losers like the NAGR case feels like a worse mismanagement than waiting for something better.

... and so the waiting for the perfect client and the perfect case goes on.

Of course, there's a third option - someone could stand up as a plaintiff and agree to ride out the pain. Dick Heller did it. It seems the best suited, though, would be someone who's old enough and with little enough to lose that they'll accept the risk. Worst case, it's only a couple years in the poke before shuffling off. Sadly, I don't see a bunch of volunteers lining up to gamble their futures. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places?

Well, I do qualify under the "little to lose" criteria. Unfortunately, prison is not a good option in my case. At my advanced age and state of health, it would be a death sentence.

 

[Mesatchornug]

I did not wish to give that impression. Sorry if I was not clear enough.

Sorry to misunderstand

... and so the waiting for the perfect client and the perfect case goes on.

Sure. And while they wait, they build a warchest for the cases they can help with.

I hear you about perfect being the enemy of good. right now, there are only bad cases. Even FPC (of "f***.You.No." fame) says they wouldn't have filed the case they did if they had more knowledge of the ground reality here before coming in hot.

Well, I do qualify under the "little to lose" criteria. Unfortunately, prison is not a good option in my case. At my advanced age and state of health, it would be a death sentence.

I hear you.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hThqaFN2nkU


Sam Whittemore knew it was a death sentence. He went out anyways, accepted the risk, and lived to see the fruits of his labor.

 

[HARRYM]

Damn...if I could get gun owners to rally around the 2A as intensely as they run on with NRA bashing threads.......

 

[cstockwell]

That’s only because the state police refuse to review new curriculums offered by other organizations or individuals.

Can confirm!!!

 

[KBCraig]

Except I read that Wayne hand-picked his successor, one of his prior Lts. So meet the new boss, same as the old boss!

The successor is a PR guy with no GM or executive experience.