The National Rifle Association is a shadow of its former self. The depredations of Wayne LaPierre have left a lasting scar on the organization and while it's entirely possible for it to regain it's former clout and even surpass that degree of influence, it has a lot of work to do before we get to that point.

The recent board elections took a few steps in that direction, with some reform-minded candidates winning elections and taking their seats to help guide the NRA forward.

But is that enough?

A piece by Doug Hamlin, the executive vice president and CEO of the NRA, suggests that he thinks it is.

This is why, in my short time now as your association’s executive vice president/CEO, the message I have been bringing to those who will report what we say honestly is that now is the time for an NRA homecoming.

The NRA is an extension of your family. That is how I feel when I attend an NRA event. I feel the love, the camaraderie, the shared ethos from like-minded citizens who know this freedom cannot be taken for granted.

I also feel the shared understanding that we know we are the good citizens. We are the exact opposite of the criminal elements in our society, though that is how President Joe Biden (D) and others who share his politics paint us.

So, yes, it is time for our former members to come home. It is time for the 22.3 million people who decided to become first-time gun owners since the 2020 election to join the NRA. The previous mistakes made by former leadership and the money-wasting endeavors you’ve read about are things of the past. We have top-notch accounting practices that are responsible and transparent.

As we head together toward the critical 2024 election, I am asking all of you to talk to your friends, family and more. We all need to reach out. We need to show people by example, as only NRA members can, who we are. Tell them about the need to gather within this civil-rights association to defend our American freedom. But also tell them about all the resources and benefits the NRA brings to members, such as:

Hamlin goes on to note the many things the NRA does that have nothing to do with lobbying, and these are all valid and vital.

But is that enough of a reason why anyone should rejoin the NRA, to answer Hamlin's call for a homecoming?

The truth of the matter is that the NRA isn't a family, church, or high school that people had deep ties to and still feel those ties. It's an organization that many poured blood and treasure into working with, only to see them squander it and let someone enrich themselves at the members' expense. They joined and volunteered, but still had to answer phone calls wanting more money, then saw it go toward fancy suits and expensive homes that did nothing to help our rights.

Yes, the NRA has taken some steps forward, but the case needs to be made that those sins of the past not only will not be replicated but cannot.

Oh, there's no doubt the NRA does all kinds of good work. They did that under LaPierre's tenure as well, though. Those programs aren't controversial, at least among the gun rights supporters.

And if you're calling for a homecoming, that's who you need to talk to.

Hamlin talks about the mainstream media's misrepresentation of what the NRA does, and yes they do, but we all know this. We don't listen to the mainstream media. Not on stuff like this.

Until then, I don't see people flocking back into the arms of the NRA despite whatever else the organization has going on.

There are too many other groups out there doing good work, particularly in regard to our Second Amendment rights that don't have the baggage. Yeah, they might not have the extensive non-political programs the NRA has, but they also haven't had their head honcho enrich themselves at the expense of those programs, so a lot will consider it a wash.

If Hamlin wants this homecoming, he and the rest at the helm of a sinking ship have to show they're doing more than bailing water. They have to show they fixed the hole in the hull.