The NRA called today...

[PinesAndProjectiles]

And I had the pleasure of speaking to a nice woman who's name is Alice, god bless her.

Alice started the conversation with the "Biden wants to put a child killer at the head of the ATF" schpeel that they've been pushing ever since that fuck face Chipman's name was mentioned.

In a not very nice tone, I asked here where the NRA was when Trump was banning bump stocks and why should I donate more money when La'Pierre pisses away money like it's free?

She didn't have an answer for me and I'm honestly surprised she just didn't hang up the phone. After all, why should she tolerate my venting for what's (probably) a minimum wage job.

Just when I thought she had given up on me, she responded with something along the lines of "I don't have an answer for you, Mr. Braaten."

Fair enough.

She then went on to explain that she just works in the fundraising department and although she didn't say it, I have a feeling she, along with many others, are just hired out to do the NRA's dirty work. After all, the NRA doesn't want to actually fix anything, they just want our money.

I asked her about when she ends up on the phone with assholes like myself, what happens to the negative feedback that is spewed upon her.

Is it passed on to Alice's superiors? Nope.
Is it passed on to a person in charge of handling negative comments? Nope.

What does happen is this. Absolutely fucking nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

With one exception. They'll ask if you'd like to be removed from their list. That's it.

La'Pierre and his fellow elitist asshole cronies don't hear a god damn word of it.

After a few minutes of civil conversation, I apologized to Alice and informed her that there are many other pissed off NRA members out there and that on behalf of all of them, I apologize for directing our anger at a poor woman on the other end of the line who more than likely has zero idea on what the hell we're talking about.

 

[zeroz]

Hi, Im' Alice, A PAID CALLER FOR THE NRA. Blah blah blah. Poor Alice works at a call center, reads the paper they gave her and may not even know what NRA stands for. Bitching at her is worth about as much as bitching to your dog. I was removed from their list years ago. Its been nice not to get the calls. They don't waste my time, and I don't waste theirs or more NRA money paying them to not get anything from me. If they ever shape up I'll donate more but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

Hi, Im' Alice, A PAID CALLER FOR THE NRA. Blah blah blah. Poor Alice works at a call center, reads the paper they gave her and may not even know what NRA stands for. Bitching at her is worth about as much as bitching to your dog. I was removed from their list years ago. Its been nice not to get the calls. They don't waste my time, and I don't waste theirs or more NRA money paying them to not get anything from me. If they ever shape up I'll donate more but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks for missing the point.

 

[lonegunman762x51]

I had one last year. I asked, "Are we still paying for private jets for Wayne LaPierre's wife and European vacation's for Wayne and various "interns" to fornicate in Paris?" She got uncomfortable? So I said, "As soon as we cut the $2.9 million a year we pay Wayne from the budget, call me back and I'll donate."


Nothing for the last 15 months.

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

I had one last year. I asked, "Are we still paying for private jets for Wayne LaPierre's wife and European vacation's for Wayne and various "interns" to fornicate in Paris?" She got uncomfortable? So I said, "As soon as we cut the $2.9 million a year we pay Wayne from the budget, call me back and I'll donate."


Nothing for the last 15 months.

They removed you from the list and added you back when you renewed.

The sense of urgency to repair their broken system is next to non existent.

 

[judgedelta]

I remember a year or so ago, LaPierre was supposed to debate some anit-gun liberal on TV. He couldn't make a complete sentence. He also gets a salary of almost a million dollars a year. He doesn't, however, get a cent of my money...

 

[Holliday]

Wanye needs to go! Until then they can kiss my ass.....unshaven

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

I remember a year or so ago, LaPierre was supposed to debate some anit-gun liberal on TV. He couldn't make a complete sentence. He also gets a salary of almost a million dollars a year. He doesn't, however, get a cent of my money...

The only reason he’s taking mine is because my local gun club requires an NRA membership to qualify as a member.

I’m guessing there’s many in the same boat.

 

[Jrb572]

The only reason he’s taking mine is because my local gun club requires an NRA membership to qualify as a member.

I’m guessing there’s many in the same boat.

Maybe it’s time to vent to your gun club like you did with the NRA lady.

Ask them why they support a company that does nothing for its members.

 

[lonegunman762x51]

I'm a life member so no more dues. Wayne's salary is close to $3 million a year. He and his top 10 cronies all make more than a million dollars a year from the NRA. Wayne got his cronies to agree his wife deserves private jet travel funded by the NRA because people could threaten her in first class. Wayne flies a private jet to Beverly Hills a few times a year for NRA fund wardrobe updates. The NRA had paid something like $400,000 for his clothes in the last few years. Crap hit the fan when Wayne ordered the NRA to buy him a $13 million dollar mansion in Dallas Texas as part of his compensation package.

I used to donate a firearm every year for a prize at an NRA event. Wayne was grubbing hard for extra cash around 2012. The NRA contacted me and refused the firearm, demanded $1000 in cash to use as they chose. Only promised a $50 dollar Visa gift card as a prize. They pocket the $950, I get a free polo shirt with an NRA logo. I declined. Still have the last Springfield Range Officer I was going to donate in the safe, NIB. The NRA would not accept it and I had already paid for it.

They have canceled benefits for most employees, they have hocked their building to the max and have even tried to pilfer the PAC for money to enrich Wayne and company.

If we ever manage to dislodge this parasite, he has gotten the NRA to contractually guarantee his current salary for LIFE as his retirement package.

Here is a horrifying video of him and his ridiculous wife attempting to gun elephants on the NRA dime, it was supposed to impress the Safari Club crowd. It basically is two sweaty idiots with horrible firearms skills murdering wild game. It is a miracle this crap hasn't gained serious traction.

 

[Keel Haul]

I haven’t heard from them since I told the person on the line that if they needed money that bad, tell Wayne to sell some of those suits he bought with membership funds.

 

[moaorbust]

Because I am not an NRA member I end up paying more to ranges and there are some clubs I cannot attend or join. We mustn’t forget how many unconstitutional laws the NRA supported. Whatever the NRA was is long gone and it’s not ethical to feed that beast.

 

[pmclaine]

I get the requests to renew and mail them back on their dime with a note "Not until Wayne goes and a Constitutionalist takes over"

 

[Flyingbullseye]

Maybe it’s time to vent to your gun club like you did with the NRA lady.

Ask them why they support a company that does nothing for its members.

I'd put money on it that the range is owned by a boomer fudd and you'd get a blank stare asking that question.

 

[samadisoulcrusher]

Have not been a member in well over 15 years . I do support my local state gun lobby group .
Plus one other national group .
The NRA is a scam at this point run by a scumbag beltway grifter .

 

[DarnYankeeUSMC]

It's about the cost of insurance.

I'd put money on it that the range is owned by a boomer fudd and you'd get a blank stare asking that question.

No one wants to pay extra for their membership to cover the difference in insurance

 

[Changed]

Well they really need the money. Lapierre is in need of upgrades to his home. Seems it's too small.

 

[ditter]

They are likely paid fundraisers that make calls on behalf of various organizations. They get a cut of funds raised. One day they call for the NRA, the next day they call for another organization.

Our local range flirted with the idea of requiring NRA membership because the owner is about 90 years old and a lifetime member. That idea got rejected soundly by the overwhelming majority of members.

 

[pmclaine]

My club had the NRA requirement and than ended it.

Its still strongly recommended to join either the state 2A org or one of the good orgs like GOA or SAF.

I send my NRA dues to SAF now.

 

[vinniedelpino]

Just a public service announcement:

The wildest improprieties you'll see in the for profit sector pale in comparison to the crap NPOs pull. The IRS doesn't get involved with non profit organizations except in truly unusual circumstances. That's left to the state, and depending on which state the nonprofit is registered in oversight varies from barely any to none whatsoever.

By far, the worst of the bunch is churches. Churches are exempt from federal filing requirements, "clergy" can voluntarily exempt themselves from social security and medicare taxes and whatever portion of their compensation is deemed a "housing allowance" is exempt from income taxes as well. I often find myself wondering how many churches are really money laundering money for the cartels.

My point is that the whole non profit sector is complete shit show. Before you give your money to ANY organization, make sure you do your due diligence. Odds are, if ANY organization is calling you to ask for money it's probably a scam.

 

[Ratchette]

I'm reluctantly still a member. I have some unjustifiable felt obligation to renew. The OP is right - rude behavior to the solicitor isn't an effective avenue to voice complaints. Unfortunately, I don't believe there is an appropriate avenue. Even with NRA-involved (maybe even sanctioned) shooting sports, their bullish behavior ignores feedback from match directors and leaders, and their lack of attention to those voices will ultimately lead to abandonment. We all know other shooting sports are thriving without the NRA.

Over the years, I've become lackadaisical toward paying attention to various memberships, and my wife commented that it seems "like we just renewed" every time we receive those warnings and final notices from the NRA. I checked into it and learned that's a tactic of theirs they use to push/trick people into premature renewals. I called the NRA to check into it and was greeted by a member one of those contracted fund-raising orgs who claimed to have computer probs and used the proclaimed downtime as am opportunity to spill his pitch for me to renew. I forced him to verify my current membership expiration date, which was over 1 year out...

That behavior is pure trickery and isn't sustainable in anyway at all, indicating a short term vision of the organization. Abuse the asset and get out when it's milked dry.

I'm ashamed I never noticed what they were doing.

 

[DocRDS]

I think what is most frustrating is we all know a leadership change at the top is needed, but we can't form the grassroots movement to get it done.

I'm in the "Reform the NRA" camp for now, but the more I think about it and our inability to fix this sack of pus at the top, maybe we do need to toss it. The NRA is the left's favorite boogeyman, but we need to make it lean and mean again like they think it is. Or get some people who can.

 

[BullGear]

I'm costing the NRA money every month. I became a Lifetime member some 30+ years ago. Since then, I've received their magazine every month (or there about) and I have received some fine trinkets over that time as well.

How many of you have the NRA Challenge Coin from about 10-15 years ago? Anyone have a couple of sew on patches? I even got a key fob.

Funny thing, I never get the calls or any begging letters from them any more. Probably haven't gotten anything from them in about 10 years as far as my memory serves.

 

[Holliday]

Just a public service announcement:

The wildest improprieties you'll see in the for profit sector pale in comparison to the crap NPOs pull. The IRS doesn't get involved with non profit organizations except in truly unusual circumstances. That's left to the state, and depending on which state the nonprofit is registered in oversight varies from barely any to none whatsoever.

By far, the worst of the bunch is churches. Churches are exempt from federal filing requirements, "clergy" can voluntarily exempt themselves from social security and medicare taxes and whatever portion of their compensation is deemed a "housing allowance" is exempt from income taxes as well. I often find myself wondering how many churches are really money laundering money for the cartels.

My point is that the whole non profit sector is complete shit show. Before you give your money to ANY organization, make sure you do your due diligence. Odds are, if ANY organization is calling you to ask for money it's probably a scam.

Yep! I used to give whatever I could to charities, as often as I could. Now I realize that many of these charities are funneling money to leftist causes, indoctrinating workers and children, and pilfering for private gain.

Because of this I give very thoughtfully and cautiously now. Having said that, now every freakin store tries to shame you at the register to give to some cause. I just say no. I won’t even buy girl scout cookies after learning how leftist that organization is........

 

[Holliday]

I'm reluctantly still a member. I have some unjustifiable felt obligation to renew. The OP is right - rude behavior to the solicitor isn't an effective avenue to voice complaints. Unfortunately, I don't believe there is an appropriate avenue. Even with NRA-involved (maybe even sanctioned) shooting sports, their bullish behavior ignores feedback from match directors and leaders, and their lack of attention to those voices will ultimately lead to abandonment. We all know other shooting sports are thriving without the NRA.

Over the years, I've become lackadaisical toward paying attention to various memberships, and my wife commented that it seems "like we just renewed" every time we receive those warnings and final notices from the NRA. I checked into it and learned that's a tactic of theirs they use to push/trick people into premature renewals. I called the NRA to check into it and was greeted by a member one of those contracted fund-raising orgs who claimed to have computer probs and used the proclaimed downtime as am opportunity to spill his pitch for me to renew. I forced him to verify my current membership expiration date, which was over 1 year out...

That behavior is pure trickery and isn't sustainable in anyway at all, indicating a short term vision of the organization. Abuse the asset and get out when it's milked dry.

I'm ashamed I never noticed what they were doing.

I begrudgingly keep up my Instructiors and RSO certs. No membership now though. Wayne must go.....

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Take the NRA and multiply it times 1,000 and you have the largest money making operations in America. All funded by "We the People". The down fall continues.

 

[Ratchette]

My employer kindly encourages employees to become involved in local charity work, even sending some of us through development courses to serve as members of boards of local charities. It's a good thing, and it exposed me to the good and ugly.

While I will always try be charitable if for no other reason than my duty as a Christian, I did learn two major things about non profits:

The big, national/global orgs do indeed grab significant percentages of local donations, and in some cases, even if the donor requires 100% of funds to stay local, they still grab their percent. Again, that's in some cases. It sucks because some of the big ones do at least partially serve a need that must be served in our society.

Secondly, a double-edged sword...while your funds are most likely safe when you donate to locally started and (still) locally managed charities (whose mission statement you agree with of course), you have to vet them heavily. There is a surge of unnecessary non profits that start up with a mission that serves an already served sector of society, huge red flag. That screams potential embezzlement, and those charities don't last long. My community actually has a new one that takes donated cash and supplies in order to supply foster parents as their needed supplies change as the age of their foster children change. Now that's a charity worth donating to. That's a huge and historically unmet need.

 

[Steel+Killer]

I'd put money on it that the range is owned by a boomer fudd and you'd get a blank stare asking that question.

I recently re-joined only because I was wanting to shoot in some F-Class matches and being an NRA member is a requirement. I went to one match and realized I had made a mistake. Most of the guys seemed like uptight fudds and it just wasn't my cup of tea. I will stick to banging steel and not giving the NRA another dime of my money after this memberships expires.

 

[TmisterE]

I have been a life member for years, they finally quit calling me after telling them they will never get another dime from me until Wayne goes away hopefully in handcuffs, and to never call me again. He has scammed NRA members for years and became extremely wealthy in the process. I get mail from them three to four times a week, it goes into the shredder unopened, all they want is $$$ to line the pockets of Wayne and the rest of the top brass at the NRA. It's really a shame what he has done to a once great organization that has in the past done a lot to support the 2A. Lapierre has managed to turn the NRA into nothing more than a flippin joke.

 

[Snuby642]

I dropped my training certs and club membership as well.
My wife keeps hers up due to her club activity and being a md for some and rso for others.

She now holds a bod position in an international outdoor association.

So I don't bitch about her required membership. It's about insurance.

I'm done teaching, running and pretty much participating in comps.

A local club I'm a member of wanted me to run for president, not happening again. I volunteer and help facilitate causes I like but that's it.

Oddly a new activity has members of the old NRA affiliate club that will take me out there as a guest.

Life is strange.