Red Alert: NRA in 'Clear Crisis,' Nearing Total Meltdown
Ever since November 17, 1871, the National Rifle Association has been on the front-line for law-abiding gun owners across the United States. They’ve spent untold amounts of money and time standing guard for the Second Amendment and going against the anti-gun Democrats who want to strip it down.
Unfortunately, the NRA has recently spiraled down into a complete internal mess. Multiple resignations and scandals seem to have all but crippled the patriotic organization, which should be a massive concern for gun owners everywhere.
The turmoil also creates an emergency situation for the upcoming 2020 presidential election. According to Politico, the NRA pushed what it reported as an “avalanche” of television ads in 2016 to get its 5 million-plus members to the ballot box to vote for Donald Trump.
If the NRA isn’t able to have the same effect in 2020, it means that other organizations — even those on a state level — will have to fill the gap and make sure voters who place gun rights at the top of their priority list are encouraged to vote for Trump again.
“No organization has been more important to conservative voter education and engagement than the NRA. We all hope they’re able to mount the kind of effort in the 2020 cycle they have in the past,” said Gregg Keller, a former American Conservative Union executive director. “But in case they can’t, given their current situation, I hope they’re being forthright about that within the movement so others can pick up the slack.”
Gun control, as we witnessed on the Democratic primary debate stage in June, will be a smoking-hot issue for the 2020 election. Perhaps never before has the country seen such monumental efforts by Democrats and the liberal mainstream media to push out as many gun control measures as possible.
They’re continually trying to sell the common-sense solution — which will essentially take away your guns and ammo — and that, according to their thought process, will somehow lead to fewer mass shootings and gun violence on the street.
They can’t all be that ignorant — I know they saw the failures of the “war on drugs.” Bad guys will obtain the tools they need for bad deeds, no matter what a piece of paper says. The only effect gun control has on the U.S. population is that it takes guns out of the hands of good folks who actually obey the law.
In recent weeks, the NRA took another massive public relations hit when long-time leader Chris Cox suddenly resigned. Politico described Cox as having deep connections with donors and as the head of the organization’s lobbying arm since 2002. He was even recently involved in consulting with several 2020 pro-Trump PACs.
“Chris Cox is the guy everybody dealt with,” said Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund.
The NRA is also dealing with an investigation by the New York state attorney general’s office, which is looking into its tax-exempt status. Also in April, then-president Oliver North left the organization in not-so-pretty fashion, claiming it was in “clear crisis.”
In an effort to prevent more of their organization from leaving in the wake of Cox’s departure, the NRA appointed their director of federal affairs, Jason Ouimet, as his replacement. And he has an optimistic outlook on what the NRA will mean in 2020.
“Anyone who chooses to discount us does so at their peril,” Ouimet said. “The NRA is poised to mobilize the tens of millions of Second Amendment supporters in the upcoming elections.”
Even President Donald Trump himself has weighed in on Twitter about the organization’s public turmoil, calling it a “victim” of political harassment. He also hinted that the NRA might move to Texas.
People are fleeing New York like never before. If they own a business, they are twice as likely to flee. And if they are a victim of harassment by the A.G. of the state, like what they are doing to our great NRA, which I think will move quickly to Texas, where they are loved…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2019
NRA board member Ken Blackwell offered another positive outlook for 2020, reminding people that the voter turnout efforts in 2016 were largely a result of state and local level efforts.
Either way, an organization such as the NRA needs leadership at the top and in its current state, it’s not looking great. That’s tough for me to point out, as I’ve been a member and supporter off and on since I was a young boy, and I hate to see it go through something like this.
Nearly all major organizations experience troubling times and failures. All we can do is pray that the NRA is able to learn lessons, regroup and get back on track.
American gun owners absolutely need the NRA to continue to fight to protect their Constitutional rights.
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