The smoking gun

Max Kleinen / Unsplash

In the 2016 presidential election, the National Rifle Association spent $50 million on political campaigns. Even though they were already dangerously in the red. Why? They were keen on one particular candidate: Donald Trump.

Four years later, the NRA is at it again.

The organization of gun-toting activists has already spent over $6.8 million on the 2020 presidential race. Of this, $941,951 was to support Donald Trump.

Another criminal organization, allied closely with the trump Republicans and Moscow. Yeah, your as American as apple pie. #PlanYourVote pic.twitter.com/3nVccXojx8

— Fr33D0mftr58 (@Standup4whatsrt) August 30, 2020

What are they scared of?

Flickr/Phil Roeder

They dedicated a staggering $5,865,377 to bring down Joe Biden. That does not include the tens of thousands spent on canvassing, yard signs, and anti-Biden posters. These are all targeted to tear down the democratic rival to Trump. They keep claiming Biden will “destroy” the Second Amendment:

If Joe Biden wins, he will destroy our Second Amendment, and America will become unrecognizable.

— NRA (@NRA) August 29, 2020

For a registered charity, they do spend an awful lot on politics though…

According to section 501(c) of the IRS, an organization may not publish or distribute printed statements or make oral statements on behalf of, or in opposition to, a candidate for public office. In effect, nonprofits cannot endorse political candidates or get involved in election campaigning.

NRA is a ‘personal piggy bank’

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But what is endorsing a few candidates when the leaders of the non-profit are already using its funds as their personal cash flow?

Last month, New York’s Attorney General sued to dissolve the NRA. Letitia James argued that the supposed nonprofit, which has been a registered charity since 1871, has diverted funds to serve its members.

She accused powerful leaders of using the NRA like their “personal piggy bank.” The charity’s spending included flying family members to the Bahamas and paying for private jets.

The hoplophiles versus the gun control reformers

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When it comes to election spending, the NRA called the shots (pun intended). Until two years ago, when groups calling for gun control and reform began to eclipse NRA spending. Now things are starting to even out.

In the 2020 race, the big names are NRA on one side, versus three major groups calling for gun control: Everytown, Brady, and Giffords. Together, Everytown and Giffords alone have spent around $7 million — on par with the NRA.

What’s different this year to 2016?

This time four years ago, the NRA had already invested an astonishing $9.6 million in the business tycoon Trump. That is nearly three times more than this 2020 election.

Did the non-profit overspend on private jets and have to cut back on their political spending? Is the NRA complacent in Trump’s victory? Or are they distancing themselves from a sinking ship?