According to prominent lawmakers and observers, National Rifle Association (NRA), established in 1871 in New York, is one of the primary influential gun-rights advocacy groups in the United States consisting of about 5 million members as reported in 2018. This makes it the largest lobbying organization in the country (Lee, 2012). The association is comprised of many organizations, for example, the lobbying division of the NRA i.e. “The NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA)” that governs the “Political Victory Fund (PVF)” and “Political Action Committee (PAC)” to influence legislation, and support or oppose the several candidates both at state and federal level. All such organizations are interconnected financially under common leadership.
The prominent lobbying accomplishments of the NRA-ILA include the “Firearm Owners Protection Act” and the Dickey Amendment which reduced the limitations of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and blocked the “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)” from utilizing the funds of the federal government for the purpose of gun control advocacy respectively. Moreover, the NRA publishes many magazines to promote its agenda and provides financial support to many marksmanship events to encourage competency and firearm safety.
The total estimated revenue of the association in 2010 was $227.8 million while total expenses were recorded as $243.5 million (Cillizza, 2012). The main source of the income of the NRA are from funds, advertisement, sales, royalties, and membership dues, however, the major portion of the revenue is collected through grants and contributions(สล็อตออนไลน์). The members are registered online through the website at an annual subscription fee of 45$ (National Rifle Association, 2020). According to McDougall (2018), 40% of NRA members are females, 40% are minorities mostly Asian and Hispanic men and women, and 60% are white Americans with an average age of 40-45. The association had a positive review from 82% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats as per the Reuters poll in 2012. However, its favorability is declining rapidly according to recent polls 2018 (Frankovic, 2018; Reuters, 2013).
References
Cillizza, C. (2012). The NRA’s big spending edge — in 1 chart. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2012/12/18/the-nras-big-spending-edge-in-1-chart/
Frankovic, K. (2018). Public sentiment turns against the NRA | YouGov. Today.Yougov.com. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2018/02/28/public-turns-negative-towards-nra
Lee, G. (2012). Guns in American society : an encyclopedia of history, politics, culture, and the law. Abc-Clio.
McDougall, D. (2018, January 14). The Demographics of the NRA. AmmoLand.com. https://www.ammoland.com/2016/01/the-demographics-of-the-nra/#axzz6e90pUeLf
National Rifle Association. (2020). I just joined NRA! Nra.org. https://membership.nra.org/Join/Annuals
Reuters. (2013, June 14). Poll: Most Amercians support NRA, right to protect self, but also a few gun limits – U.S. News. Web.Archive.org. https://web.archive.org/web/20130614184214/http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/04/13/11187222-poll-most-amercians-support-nra-right-to-protect-self-but-also-a-few-gun-limits?lite
