NRA 'a shell of what it once was' and even Trump has 'lost faith' in the group: report

19 December 2024

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is reportedly bleeding cash and seeing its membership gradually erode, according to a recent independent audit.

Rolling Stone first reported on the audit, which was initially obtained by anti-corruption watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The audit shows the 153 year-old pro-gun lobbying group has been busy liquidating its assets in order to make up for significant financial losses the organization experienced in recent years. Atlanta-based firm Aprio, which conducted the audit, found that as of February 2024 the NRA had liquidated roughly $17 million in stocks and fixed-income assets and transferred that money to its operating account. The NRA also liquidated another $28 million in assets to pay off a loan from the Atlantic Union Bank of Virginia.

The $45 million liquidation spree reportedly accounts for nearly 60% of the NRA's total $72 million investment portfolio, though Rolling Stone noted it had no record of the organization's finances after February 2024. However, Rolling Stone noted that the organization's membership dues had experienced a precipitous decline in just the past several years. While the NRA reported $83 million in income from dues in 2022, that figure dropped to just $62 million last year.

"The NRA is only as strong as its members," NRA chief compliance officer Robert Mensinger wrote in a November blog post. "Without loyal members, there is no NRA."

The group's financial trouble come after a wave of bad news plaguing the organization. Its CEO, Doug Hamlin, once pleaded no contest to torturing his fraternity's house cat to death while at the University of Michigan. The group's former chief, Wayne LaPierre, was forced out of his role after a scandal in which he was found to have used millions of dollars in member dues to take lavish vacations overseas. to The New York Times recently reported that despite him speaking at the group's events during the 2024 campaign cycle, President-elect Donald Trump "and his most inner circle have lost faith in the NRA."

"Between the NRA’s high-profile corruption scandals to plummeting membership and dire financial picture, the organization is a shell of what it once was," said Emma Brown, who is the executive director of anti-gun violence advocacy group GIFFORDS.

Click here to read Rolling Stone's report in its entirety (subscription required).

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