# New NRA Proposal: One Step Beyond? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 26, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nra-proposal-one-step-beyond/694098 "2014-07-26T15:25:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nra-proposal-one-step-beyond/694098/101 "2014-08-01T16:11:12Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > It’s right there in the OP you wrote. You haven’t backed down from it. You’ve doubled down on it. I’m not making this up. And further on, _several times_, I discuss how the supporters of the video respond and take it seriously in their comments, and the narrator of the video also participates in the conversation and does nothing to disabuse his ardent supporters of their notion that he was being serious. Have you got something to say about this, or do you want to stick with your stock response? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nra-proposal-one-step-beyond/694098/102 "2014-08-01T16:28:05Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Here’s what your cite actually says: > > Wow. That’s a lot of money, even if it’s spread out over many years. I’m sure that’s the majority of the money they get, right? > > Whoops. Looks like your cite says that your claim isn’t true at all. In fact most of the NRA’s money doesn’t come from gun manufacturers at all. > > Did you not read it? I read all of them, and they indicate that the NRA went from a grassroots organizations that promoted gun safety AND gun registration to the looney toon outfit we know today at about the same time gun manufacturers began pumping millions of dollars into the group. Corporate interests donated $71.1 to the NRA in one year alone: > [@](#): > > The NRA received $71.1 million in donations last year, up 54 percent from $46.3 million in 2004, according to its federal tax returns. I am sure that the good men of the NRA leadership were strong enough to ignore all that money, consistently advancing their leadership’s agenda. Oh, wait, the articles state that the vast majority of the NRA’s membership have polled that they favor reasonable gun registration laws, which the leadership bitterly opposes. You must have missed those little points in the articles when you “read” them. In any event, I never thought my cites would persuade you, only interest you to the extent that you would search them for points you thought would debunk my contention, which of course is exactly what happened. I leave it to more disinterested readers to examine my contentions vs. yours and decide which ones reflect the truth. I’m through with you. ---
**Author:** ![PorchePine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@PorchePine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PorchePine)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nra-proposal-one-step-beyond/694098/103 "2014-08-01T20:10:53Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Yes, because the only logical explanation for comparing this video to PETA is if you were whooshed by the video, as **Czarcasm** was. Either you are getting wooshed by every asinine thing PETA does, or you’re being disingenuous. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nra-proposal-one-step-beyond/694098/104 "2014-08-02T03:56:21Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > H[ow the gun industry funds the NRA](http://www.businessinsider.com/gun-industry-funds-nra-2013-1) > > [How the gun industry lobby differs from NRA membership](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/11/nra-gun-control-firearms-industry-ties_n_2434142.html) > > [NRA as a former grassroots group now controlled by industry](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-29/nra-raises-200-million-as-gun-lobby-toasters-burn-logo-on-bread.html) > > That was easy. Well, yes its easy to prove that the NRA gets SOME money from the gun industry. Its a lot harder to prove that they are in the pockets of the gun industry. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nra-proposal-one-step-beyond/694098/105 "2014-08-02T04:12:42Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > I read all of them, and they indicate that the NRA went from a grassroots organizations that promoted gun safety AND gun registration to the looney toon outfit we know today at about the same time gun manufacturers began pumping millions of dollars into the group. > > Corporate interests donated $71.1 to the NRA in one year alone: Whoa. Are you referring to this sentence: “The gun industry and other large corporate and **individual** donors chipped in $71.1 million in 2011 to NRA coffers, compared with $46.3 million in 2004, according to a Bloomberg News review of NRA tax returns.” You see the part where it says individual? I know it sounds like an afterthought but considering we already have a good idea of how much the gun industry donates, we can fairly assume that the vast majority of that 71 million is from individuals. Or are you still on the article where they say that the firearms industry gave at least 14.8 million. But the reference to the $71.1 million number there says NOTHING about corporate interests being the source of that money. In fact the example they give is a rich investment company CEO giving a million dollars so he can wear a special gold jacket around at NRA events. > [@](#): > > I am sure that the good men of the NRA leadership were strong enough to ignore all that money, consistently advancing their leadership’s agenda. Oh, wait, the articles state that the vast majority of the NRA’s membership have polled that they favor reasonable gun registration laws, which the leadership bitterly opposes. Say it isn’t so. The leadership of an advocacy organization is more extreme than the average member?!?!? This has been true of the NRA since Cinncinnati. > [@](#): > > I leave it to more disinterested readers to examine my contentions vs. yours and decide which ones reflect the truth. I’m through with you. I wonder how disinterested readers will view how you characterized the source of the $71 million in donations the NRA gets. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-nra-proposal-one-step-beyond/694098.md?page=5)