Former Top NRA Exec Says Greed, Corruption Pushed Gun Group Into 'Death Spiral'

When the NRA opened its annual convention in Dallas in 2018, only a few months had passed since the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Seventeen students and teachers were dead and more than a dozen others grievously wounded.

I had been in Parkland for NPR talking with shattered young survivors who were organizing, hoping to finally shift America's debate over guns and gun violence. But when I went to Dallas, it seemed nothing had changed.

The convention was packed with men and women (and firearm dealers) committed to a gun culture unfettered by regulation or government oversight. The NRA's long-time leader Wayne LaPierre (who once described federal law enforcement agents as "jack-booted government thugs") appeared on stage grinning and waving.