Bonney Lake NRA Dinner Apolitical, Nonprofit Experts Say Otherwise

BONNEY LAKE, WA – Two weeks after the mass shooting in Las Vegas, dozens of people gathered inside a Swedish-themed banquet hall in Bonney Lake to raise money for the National Rifle Association Foundation, the charity wing of the NRA dedicated to shooting sports.

The fundraiser was billed as separate from the NRA's political lobbying activities. But nonprofit experts who reviewed the foundation's filing say there are questsions about the relationship between the two organizations.

The fundraiser was hosted by the Washington Friends of the NRA, and there are similar groups in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The Friends puts together fundraisers that supports the Foundation. In 2015, the year the most recent tax returns are available, the Foundation raised $34 million.

The NRA established the Foundation in 1991 ostensibly to support shooting sports and firearms instruction. Legally, the Foundation stands on its own. The IRS classifies it as a 501(c)(3), a charity just like the Red Cross or Salvation Army. That means it can’t get too involved in politics. The NRA is a 501(c)(4), a nonprofit classification that allows political activity. Donations to 501(c)(3)s are tax deductible, donations to 501(c)(4)s are not.

The relationship between the political NRA and its charity is normal and legal, but the way the two exchange money is murky. At the beginning of an auction at the Bonney Lake fundraiser, an emcee stood in front of the crowd and announced, “none of it goes to the NRA,” referring to money raised that night. Behind the emcee was a big vinyl poster with a line through the phrase “political activity.”

According to its tax returns, however, the political NRA was the biggest recipient of money from the Foundation – nearly $19 million out of the total $34 million raised. Patch spoke to several nonprofit experts who said that it’s possible – and legal – for the NRA to use money from the Foundation for political lobbying activity.

NRA spokesman Jason Brown told Patch via email, “[the] NRA Foundation funds do not support political causes, only shooting sports programs.” But in follow-up emails, Brown did not respond to questions asking whether the Foundation contributes to the NRA’s “advocacy or lobbying,” which are the terms the IRS uses.

Fundraiser Draws Politicians, Young People

Oct. 20 was a crisp, clear fall Friday night. The fundraiser was held at the Swiss Sportsman Club Park, a 1950s era chalet-style building built by a Tacoma Swedish heritage group. Inside the chalet, people browsed guns and assorted gun paraphernalia up for auction. They bought raffle tickets to win all sorts of firearms from camouflage shotguns to tiny handguns. Entry to the dinner cost $50 per person, but groups could buy a full table for $70 per person.

At one end of the banquet hall, a lone man was selling raffle tickets for the “Wall of Guns.” A large vinyl poster behind him showed pictures of various handguns, rifles, and shotguns. Tickets cost $20. The lucky winner got to pick out whichever gun they wanted off the poster. One man walked up to the table and casually bought five tickets.

In another corner of the room, a man sat in front of a turkey — a hunting dummy — with a bunch of small knives stuck in it. If you bought a ticket, you’d get a free knife. Soda was free, but alcohol was extra. The buffet-stlye dinner offered an assortment of smoky barbecued meats, plus rolls and coleslaw.

The attendees skewed older and male, but there were young people there too. There was also a complement of local politicians: Pierce County Councilwoman Pam Roach, Pierce County Councilman Jim McCune, Sumner City Councilman Patrick Reed, and former Pierce County Councilman Shawn Bunney all shared a table. State Sen. Phil Fortunato (who replaced Roach when she left the Legislature at the beginning of 2017) was at a different table with friends — he had tried to buy a whole table, but was one person short. Local businesses like Sunset Ford/Chevy and a septic company sponsored whole tables.

Of all the people there, Fortunato was particularly enthusiastic about guns. He talked at length about different gun models, parts, and prices. He seemed to knows guns like a "Star Wars" fan knows the equipment aboard the Millennium Falcon.

At one point, Fortunato drew my attention to an AR-15 style gun on display. He said it was probably the most sought-after and expensive gun there. The weapon was strangely alluring in the same cold way a Ferrari or power tool is — that is until you remember the AR-15 was used in mass killings from Las Vegas to Sandy Hook and many more.

And since the Oct. 20 event, an AR-15 was used to massacre 26 people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

An A+ Charity

The NRA Foundation has an excellent reputation. GuideStar awarded it “gold” status, indicating that the charity is very transparent about its finances. It has an A+ rating with Charity Watch.

More important, nonprofit analysts told us, the relationship between the NRA Foundation and the NRA is common.

Charity Watch analyst Stephanie Kalivas told Patch that larger organizations like the ACLU or Greenpeace have the same 501(c)(4) to 501(c)(3) arrangement, and it's perfectly legal.

“As long as the 501(c)(4) is using that money for a charitable purpose that aligns with the NRA Foundation’s mission, that's allowed,” Kalivas says.

According to a spokesman, the NRA uses the money it receives from the NRA Foundation to support public service and training programs. Eddie Eagle, for example, is a cartoon mascot the NRA created to teach kids about gun safety. The NRA operates many explicitly non-political programs like gun training for women and young people. Unless the NRA opens its books to public inspection, it's impossible to know where exactly the money goes. IRS rules do allow 501(c)(3)s to use resources for political causes as long as it's not a "substantial part" of the organization's resources.

It’s also important, Kalivas said, to compare the NRA’s revenue to the Foundation's grant. In 2015, the NRA reported $336 million in revenue. The Foundation's 2015 tax return shows a donation of $18.9 million to the NRA. That $18.9 million is a pretty small part of the NRA's overall budget, Kalivas said. And under IRS rules, the NRA would only be allowed to spend a small portion on political activity or risk endangering its tax-exempt status.

Patch specifically asked Brown, the NRA spokesman, whether the NRA used any of that $18.9 million for "lobbying activity," but he never responded. In a previous exchange, Brown said, "[the] NRA Foundation funds do not support political causes, only shooting sports programs." It's true the NRA operates shooting sports programs, but it's also a major political force.

The NRA's Political Victory Fund is a major political action committee, and it also operates a get-out-the-vote organization called NRA Freedom Action Foundation.

Deeper into the Foundation's 2015 tax return you see grants made to organizations that could be considered political. The 2015 return shows a $213,000 donation to the Independence Institute in Denver, Colo., a Libertarian think tank active in politics. That same year, the Foundation gave the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund $44,000. The CRDF sued Seattle to stop a gun tax approved by the City Council in 2015 (and lost the case in the state Supreme Court this summer).

The Foundation also keeps the NRA popular at the local level by giving out small grants to local organizations.

The Foundation gave out hundreds of grants in 2015 ranging from $2,300 to a Spokane Boy Scouts group to $316 for a 4-H club in McKenna. The Tacoma Sportsmen's Club in Puyallup got a grant close to $6,000.

In a statement, Brown stood by the assertion that the Foundation does not get political.

“Friends of NRA fundraising events are held throughout the United States to bring like-minded Second Amendment supporters together for an evening of fun, fellowship and fundraising for the NRA Foundation’s grant program. One half of the net proceeds raised at these events are used for projects at the state and local level, as recommended by the volunteer State Fund Committee for the state in which the funds were raised," Brown told Patch in an email.

"The other half is used by the NRA for projects similar to those funded at the state and local level but with a national scope. Funds available at the state level funded 60 grants in the state of Washington in 2016 and included organizations such as 4-H, Boy Scouts of America, high school JROTC and rifle teams, sheriff offices, and a number of other clubs and associations."

Not Everyone Is An NRA Member

The tone at the NRA Foundation in Bonney Lake seemed to skew conservative. The first event of the night was an auction that honored a veteran in attendance. A non-veteran bid on an item (on this night, a large hunting knife that went for $275) and then gifted it to the lucky "veteran of the night."

One item up for auction was a gun inscribed with the "Pledge of Allegiance." There was a fiddle on display signed by Charlie Daniels, a legendary musician, and one who has publicly supported Republicans and mocked the left. But there were no MAGA hats, and conversations overheard seemed non-political, ranging from guns to the Seahawks and the food served that night.

In the first raffle of the night, Fortunato won a .22 caliber pistol. While showing me the gun, he explained how serious the Foundation is about gun safety. Anyone who wins a gun can't pick it up until the following day at the event's sponsoring gun dealer, which was Pistol Annie's Jewelry & Pawn in Bonney Lake. Melissa Denny, co-owner of Pistol Annie’s, explained that her staff maintains custody of all the guns that were on display. You're not even supposed to touch them.

Toward the middle of the night, I sat at a table with a retired couple, Dan and Pam (not their real names) from Bonney Lake. Dan was really into collecting guns, but only because he inherited his father’s collection, Pam explained. He keeps all the guns locked up because of grandchildren. He’s even trying to consign some of the more valuable ones.

Dan had piles of raffle tickets arranged neatly in front of him and looked anxious but very happy. The thrill for him seemed to be about winning the raffles, gambling on a number. He was having a good time on a Friday night with some barbecue and the chance to win a gun. Whether that gun was synonymous with a mass shooting seemed beside the point.

Pam seemed content, but not excited like her husband. She told me she doesn’t like assault weapons, and at one point, we talked politics.

“What do you think of the NRA?” she asked me.

“I don’t know, I guess that’s why I’m here,” I responded.

“We’re not members,” she said.

Images via Neal McNamara/Patch