NRA cuts staff, salaries as Americans buy record number of firearms in March

In the past few weeks, the National Rifle Association has laid off several dozen employees and canceled its national convention as the coronavirus undercut its normal election-year efforts to motivate gun-rights voters.

For the employees who remain at the company, salaries have been cut by 20% across the board, including CEO Wayne LaPierre, who earns in the ballpark of $2 million a year according to the group’s most recent tax filings. The company has additionally imposed a four-day workweek for some employees.

Though these changes are meant to be temporary, according to a memo from LaPierre to the company staff, the financial setbacks and event cancellations pose a threat to the group’s ability to exert influence during the 2020 election.

In 2016, the NRA spent $30 million on efforts to put Donald Trump in the White House. 

The financial stresses of the coronavirus pandemic are just the latest in a series of challenges that have befallen the group. The NRA is presently engaged in several high-profile legal battles with regulators and its former marketing agency. It also has faced heightened criticism in the past years, particularly since the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

The massacre in Florida led to an increase in anti-NRA messaging, led in large part by student-activists and resulting in the participation of Corporate America. Several major retailers agreed to halt gun sales, and banks ceased offering discounts and some services to NRA members. This week, Wells Fargo commented that its relationship with the NRA was “declining.”

While the NRA recalibrates, many Americans embrace of the 2nd Amendment remains strong. Background check data indicates that Americans purchased a record number of guns in March, as statewide shutdowns went into effect and uncertainty surrounding the pandemic began spreading across the country.