Read more at AmmoLand blog written by one of the NRA 'reform' board members
Many of the respondents are or have been, NRA members and the broad consensus was that they felt betrayed and frustrated. A few of the current members, perhaps ten percent, expressed their continued faith and trust in the NRA and its mission in general while still expressing anger regarding the scandal. Most of the past and present NRA members expressed a desire to return to the Association but an unwillingness to do so now, preferring to “wait and see” whether NRA leaders could get the Association back on track. A significant number expressed their utter disgust and resolve to never support the Association again under any circumstances.
What struck me was the mishmash of information among the respondents. A few seemed to be fairly knowledgeable about the whole affair, but even among those, there was some misinformation and much that was clearly missing. The majority appeared to have limited knowledge regarding details of the violations of Wayne and others, the trials, or the recent efforts to reform the Association. They simply knew that Wayne had abused his position, that members of the Board had allowed or assisted in that abuse, and that they held the entire Board responsible for failing to stop the abuse or taking decisive action to rectify the situation sooner.
This led to the most often repeated suggestion for reform, which was a call to reduce the Board to a much smaller body. Other often repeated criticisms involved the incessant pleas for money and membership renewals through the mail and over the phone, as well as strong objections to the continued use of “cheap Chinese-made junk” as premiums for memberships.
All in all, this was a very enlightening exercise. Clearly, the NRA is doing a poor job of communicating with our members, former members, and the shooting public, and we have a whole lot of work to do if we ever hope to restore their faith and trust.
Seems the author got many of the same comments praising and condemning the NRA that I have read on this forum.
The responses largely confirmed my original beliefs, though not exactly.
Many of the respondents are or have been, NRA members and the broad consensus was that they felt betrayed and frustrated. A few of the current members, perhaps ten percent, expressed their continued faith and trust in the NRA and its mission in general while still expressing anger regarding the scandal. Most of the past and present NRA members expressed a desire to return to the Association but an unwillingness to do so now, preferring to “wait and see” whether NRA leaders could get the Association back on track. A significant number expressed their utter disgust and resolve to never support the Association again under any circumstances.
What struck me was the mishmash of information among the respondents. A few seemed to be fairly knowledgeable about the whole affair, but even among those, there was some misinformation and much that was clearly missing. The majority appeared to have limited knowledge regarding details of the violations of Wayne and others, the trials, or the recent efforts to reform the Association. They simply knew that Wayne had abused his position, that members of the Board had allowed or assisted in that abuse, and that they held the entire Board responsible for failing to stop the abuse or taking decisive action to rectify the situation sooner.
This led to the most often repeated suggestion for reform, which was a call to reduce the Board to a much smaller body. Other often repeated criticisms involved the incessant pleas for money and membership renewals through the mail and over the phone, as well as strong objections to the continued use of “cheap Chinese-made junk” as premiums for memberships.
All in all, this was a very enlightening exercise. Clearly, the NRA is doing a poor job of communicating with our members, former members, and the shooting public, and we have a whole lot of work to do if we ever hope to restore their faith and trust.
Seems the author got many of the same comments praising and condemning the NRA that I have read on this forum.
