NRA Membership Dropped to 3.8 Million in 2023

The National Rifle Association has seen its sixth consecutive year of declining membership ending 2023 with 3.8 million members, The Reload reported on Friday.

The NRA closed 2023 with 3,898,758 members which is a 400,000 member decrease from the previous year and 1.35 million members less than its peak year of 2018. A court filing by NRA outside law firm Brewer Attorneys and Counselors noted that membership dues have declined nearly 80% since 2018.

The Second Amendment advocacy group has struggled in recent years culminating with the resignation of Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre in January just prior to his civil corruption trial. In 2020, New York Attorney General Letitia James had accused LaPierre of gross negligence for allegedly diverting millions from the NRA for personal use. A New York jury found LaPierre liable in February.

The NRA cited James' lawsuit as playing a key role in declining memberships. The New York AG called the NRA "a terrorist organization" during her 2018 campaign for office.

John Commerford, chief of operations for the NRA's Institute of Legislative Action said, "The only common thread that occurs during that period is the action from New York State, which started with a campaign and became real when Attorney General James went into office, and then the legacy media continues to harp on that negative. So it's very hard to overcome that level of adversity against our actions."

The NRA's membership seems to follow gun sales in general with four consecutive years of declining sales, following a peak during the government-mandated lockdowns and social tension of 2020. With 16.7 million guns sold in the U.S. in 2023, it's safe to assume that gun ownership does not coincide with NRA membership. The figures from 2023 were down 4% from 2022, according to SafeHome.

Guns and their ubiquity in American life will always be a presidential campaign issue, but perhaps not as much this year as previous cycles. With inflation, the border, and multiple conflicts overseas, the Second Amendment debate might not play the same role as it has in the past, although the issue still ranks fifth in America's top concerns among voters, according to Pew Research.

In June, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared gun violence a "public health crisis" and called for increased firearm controls. The NRA dismissed the advisory as "an extension of the Biden administration's war on law-abiding gun owners."