I don’t have time to go into it right now, but I’d like to leave you with this line from a story on NRA’s court actions. I’ll comment later.

New Orleans Police Superintendent P. Edwin Compass III “completely overstepped his bounds … when he announced two weeks ago in the New York Times that only law-enforcement personnel are allowed to have weapons,” Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the 3-million member NRA said in an interview yesterday.

UPDATE: Now that I’m home, I have time to write about this. I thought I had written about it before, but I can’t find it in my archives.

Have you ever noticed the number of members that NRA claims? For obvious reasons, it’s always rounded to the nearest million. It wasn’t long ago that they were doing a drive to five promotion. They were close to reaching 5 million members, and I seem to recall seeing that number associated with them in various outlets. Then, when it didn’t happen, the number they cited was more than 4 million. Then, after a while (and I’ll assume it was a loooonnngggg while after falling below the mark), it became almost 4 million. Now they are saying 3 million. Even if they are claiming more than 3 million, it means they are likely well below the 3.5 mark.

Obviously, I could be completely wrong about this, but I’ve worked with enough organizations (volunteer and otherwise) that make an art out of fudging member numbers for public accounts. It’s all about the wording. So pay attention. If they ever start saying almost 3 million, then the number is probably closer to 2.5.

I know I have my reasons for getting very frustrated with the organization or some decisions, but let’s face it, 90% of the people who aren’t renewing are doing it for different reasons. They aren’t mad at NRA. They are doing it because they are too comfortable. As much as one hates to admit it, only when there’s a threat to rights does anyone give a damn. And yet it’s still only about 5-10% who even do something as simple as join a group at that point.

No obviously related posts.