The National Rifle Association is seeking more contributors to further finance the luxury lifestyle of the extremist group’s CEO Wayne LaPierre and other top officials.
“Stand and Fight. Join NRA today,” the scandal-plagued organization tweeted on August 6. The NRA tweet linked to a donation solicitation page offering up memberships starting at $30 a year, all the way up to a $600 “life” membership. The NRA highlighted the availability of a “free hat” for donors.
The message was posted on the same day that New York Attorney General Letitia James filed suit against the NRA, calling for its dissolution.
“Attorney General James charges the organization with illegal conduct because of their diversion of millions of dollars away from the charitable mission of the organization for personal use by senior leadership, awarding contracts to the financial gain of close associates and family, and appearing to dole out lucrative no-show contracts to former employees in order to buy their silence and continued loyalty,” the Attorney General’s office said in a press release.
Several of those alleged abuses were detailed in James’ suit, and would possibly be financed through future donations.
- $1.3 million in chartered private flights for LaPierre and family
- Trips to the Bahamas for celebrity retreats
- A personal travel consultant for LaPierre
- Reimbursement for LaPierre’s Christmas gifts
- Luxury hotels for LaPierre’s family (at the Four Seasons, for example)
- Hiring the family members of top NRA staff
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution affirms that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” because a “well regulated Militia” is “necessary to the security of a free State.”
Donations to the NRA to finance the luxury lifestyle of its executives do nothing to defend those constitutional guarantees.
The NRA has continued to oppose popular gun safety legislation, despite the growing death toll in America from gun violence.
One of the first political bloggers in the world, Oliver Willis has operated OliverWillis.com since 2000. Contributor at Media Matters for America and The American Independent. Follow on Twitter at @owillis. Full bio.
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