From: januarybaybee@gmail.com   
      
   Apr 29, 2019 CBC News   
      
      
   The NRA's self-inflicted wounds   
      
   America's all-powerful gun lobby appears to be coming apart at the seams.   
      
   The National Rifle Association held its annual convention in Indianapolis,   
   Ind., over the weekend but the standard guns and God festivities were   
   overshadowed by bitter infighting.   
      
   Oliver North, who left Fox News to become the group's president, resigned on   
   Saturday, saying he was being forced out after raising questions about alleged   
   improprieties and insider dealings including $200,000 US in wardrobe expenses   
   for Wayne LaPierre,    
   the NRA's longtime chief executive.   
      
   The organization was already in deep financial trouble, running deficits of up   
   to $45 million US a year as its corporate patrons and members desert amid   
   legal troubles and reports of the group's cozy ties with Russia. Dues and   
   donations were down $70    
   million US in 2017.   
      
   Now, it finds itself under investigation by the New York state attorney   
   general, who the Wall Street Journal reports is probing "related-party   
   transactions between the NRA and its board members; unauthorized political   
   activity; and potentially false or    
   misleading disclosures in regulatory filings," — all of which could threaten   
   the gun group's non-profit status.   
      
   Plus the NRA is in the midst of an acrimonious split with Ackerman McQueen,   
   the advertising agency that has shaped the group's identity and managed its   
   campaigns for more than a quarter century. That battle has sparked a lawsuit   
   and more damaging    
   revelations about the tens of millions of dollars that flowed to the company   
   — $42.6 million US in 2017 alone — and the hefty payments that came back   
   to NRA stars like North, LaPierre and Dana Loesch.   
      
   If there were any doubt about how much trouble the NRA is actually in, Donald   
   Trump took to Twitter this morning to blast the investigation and implore the   
   group to staunch the bleeding.   
      
   And there are indications that there's more drama to come.   
      
   A scheduled NRA board meeting today has turned into a marathon closed-door   
   session, with all cell phones being seized at the door to prevent media leaks.   
      
   The NRA spent $30 million US helping to elect Trump in 2016, but his   
   presidency hasn't been the blessing they anticipated.   
      
   Gun control advocates outspent the NRA in last fall's midterm elections,   
   helping knock off ultra-firearm friendly Republican incumbents and handing   
   Democrats control of the House of Representatives.   
      
   Using their majority, they passed background check legislation – the   
   furthest a major federal weapons restriction has made it in 25 years.   
      
   And at the state level more than half of U.S. legislatures passed gun control   
   measures in 2018.   
      
   More importantly, as the U.S. continues to experience the horrors of mass   
   shootings and daily violence — almost 40,000 Americans died by gun in 2017   
   — public opinion seems to be slowly turning, with over 60 per cent of the   
   public now favour stricter    
   gun laws, according to Gallup.   
      
   Overall, firearm sales in the United States fell 6.1 per cent in 2018, the   
   second straight annual decline.   
      
   That, however, might have more to do with a saturated market, than any change   
   of heart.   
      
   Gun sales spiked during Barack Obama's presidency, and hit record levels when   
   it appeared that Hillary Clinton might take over the White House, as   
   enthusiasts stocked up.   
      
   The United States, which accounts for just under five per cent of the world's   
   population, now has 46 per cent of all civilian-owned guns.   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)