A Thoughtful Charter, Abandoned
In a 1930 Congressional hearing into prohibition era gangster gun violence, NRA President Karl Frederick said "I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses."
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The NRA has radically changed from its founding charter of promoting marksmanship, gun safety and sport shooting - to an organization viewed by most Americans, many gun owners, and even NRA members as totally unwilling to participate in any meaningful action to address the rampant number of U.S. citizen shootings and deaths, illegal gun transfers, gun availability to minors, general population access to deadly military grade weapons or to support safer guns.
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In June 2022, Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) leveled criticism at the NRA for their lack of support for the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, saying: “We worked with the NRA, listened to their concerns, but in the end I think they simply — they have a membership and a business model that will not allow them to support any legislation.”
The NRA's 2018 Financial Reports show a 19% decrease in spending for member firearm safety and other training from 2017 to 2018. Between 2018 and 2020, the NRA reported cutting spending on “safety, education & training” in half. In the NRA's 2020 financial statements, less than 6% of their operating expenses were dedicated to the “safety, education & training” category - a total collapse in funding for the founding purpose of the organization.
Witness the NRA's website home page, exuberantly promoting a giveaway of military weapons:
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The NRA has become obvious in its activities to intimidate elected officials, the use of NRA cash to buy votes, to distort the actual words and intention behind the 2nd Amendment, and to outright lie about the very high costs incurred by American society and families resulting from pervasive gun access.