Post-Sandy Hook: NRA "Clips and Magazines" Replinished

Funeral Procession for Some the Children Murdered at Sandy Hook Elem School in CT

(more photos at the story link below)

All that GREEN Surrounded by all that RED

NRA Attitude and GOP's, Same, Same

Meanwhile, in the bowls of the NRA (Nobody Really Aware) this exclusive from New York Daily News:  NRA Donations Soar to $96.4 million (up 11.5%) after Newtown School Massacre

A few tidbits from that article that I found both interesting and disturbing:

ALBANY, NY — Donations to the National Rifle Association soared in the aftermath of the Newtown, CT school massacre (in December 2012), new filings show.

Contributions and grants to the NRA in 2013 totaled $96.4 million, up 11.5% from the $86.4 million raised the previous year, according to the latest financial disclosure form filed by the gun group with the IRS.

The money poured in as Congress and states, including New York, debated gun control measures  following the massacre of 20 small children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School by a crazed gunman.

“It’s very perverse. Most Americans would have a visceral reaction toward those numbers following a tragedy where 20 (children) were slaughtered,” said said Leah Gunn Barrett, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

NRA donations grew even as they, headed by Wayne LaPierre, actually spent less on professional fund-raising fees. For example, in 2013, they spent $7.2 million on professional fund-raisers, down from $8.5 million in 2012.

Noteworthy: Donations and grants were not the only NRA revenue to jump after Newtown:

1.  Total revenue in 2013 increased by 35.8%, to $348 million. That includes $175.6 million in membership dues.
2.  They spent $27.6 million on legislative efforts, $24.5 million on advertising, and $14.5 million on an outside public relations and advertising consultant.
3.  The NRA has 67 employees on the payroll, each makes at least $100,000.
4.  Wayne LaPierre in 2013 had a compensation package of just under $1 million.

The bottom line, if there is a bottom line? The NRA is a single issue organization (2^nd Amendment) and I have no problem with that or the 2^nd Amendment, and I would not change on word in it, but (but a nasty but) the NRA could do good by helping craft laws that protect gun rights yet help put a stop to gun violence, too. They are not willing to do the latter. That is why I do not and can no longer support them.

To me, the NRA is out of step with reality as they deal in one product that causes huge losses and that overall this driven by their #1 marketing ploy: “Fear-mongering” and that silly-ass message: “They are gonna take your guns.” 

Fear sells and the NRA has the money prove it.