Editing National Rifle Association (section)

===Interconnected organizations===
The National Rifle Association is composed of several financially interconnected organizations under common leadership,<ref name= Hickey121218>{{cite news |last=Hickey |first=Walter |date=December 18, 2012 |title=How The NRA Became The Most Powerful Special Interest in Washington |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/nra-lobbying-money-national-rifle-association-washington-2012-12 |website=Business Insider }}</ref> including the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) which manages the NRA's [[political action committee]] and the NRA Civil Defense Fund which does ''[[pro bono]]'' legal work for people with cases involving Second Amendment rights.<ref name=Hickey121218/> The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund was established in 1978.<ref name=CDF-About2015>{{cite web |year=2015 |title=Civil Rights Defense Fund: About Us |url=https://www.nradefensefund.org/about-us.aspx |website=nradefensefund.org |publisher=National Rifle Association of America of America |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222071902/http://nradefensefund.org/about-us.aspx |archive-date=February 22, 2015 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 10, 2015 }}</ref> Harlon Carter and Neal Knox were responsible for its founding.<ref name="Inside RS">{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-the-gun-lobby-19810514 |title=Inside the Gun Lobby |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |first=Howard |last=Kohn |date=May 14, 1981 |access-date=January 18, 2017 |archive-date=August 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822154356/http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-the-gun-lobby-19810514 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1994, the Fund spent over $500,000 on legal fees to support legal cases involving guns and gun control measures. It donated $20,000 in 1996 for the defense of New York City resident [[Bernhard Goetz]] when he was sued by a man he shot and left paralyzed.<ref name="goetz fund">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/16/nyregion/fund-linked-to-nra-gave-20000-for-goetz-s-defense.html |title=Fund Linked to N.R.A. Gave $20,000 for Goetz's Defense |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| first=Jan |last=Hoffman |date= April 16, 1996 |access-date=January 18, 2017}}</ref> It paid the legal bills in the case of [[Brian Aitken]], a [[New Jersey]] resident sentenced to seven years in state prison for transporting guns without a carry permit.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/freed-new-jersey-man-wants-gun-conviction-overturned/ | website=[[Fox News]] | title=Freed New Jersey Man Wants Gun Conviction Overturned | date=December 23, 2010}}</ref> On December 20, 2010, Governor [[Chris Christie]] granted Aitken [[clemency]] and ordered Aitken's immediate release from prison.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}}

====NRA Foundation====
The NRA Foundation is a [[501(c)(3)]] non-profit organization that raises and donates money to outdoors groups and others such as [[ROTC]] programs, [[4-H]] and [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]]. In 2010, the NRA Foundation distributed $21.2&nbsp;million in grants for gun-related training and education programs: $12.6 million to the NRA itself, and the rest to community programs for hunters, competitive shooters, gun collectors, and law enforcement, and to women and youth groups.<ref name=FactCheck130115/> The foundation has no staff and pays no salaries.<ref name=FactCheck130115/>

[[Friends of NRA]] is a program that raises money for the NRA Foundation. Since its inception in 1992, Friends of NRA has held over 17,600 events, reached over 3.2&nbsp;million attendees and raised over $600&nbsp;million for The NRA Foundation.<ref name="Melzer2012">{{cite book |last=Melzer |first=Scott|title=Gun Crusaders: The NRA's Culture War |year= 2012 |publisher=NYU Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0814764503 |pages=66–74}}</ref>

====Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF)====
{{Main|Political Victory Fund}}
By 1976, as the NRA became more politically oriented, the Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF), a PAC, was established as a subsidiary to the NRA, to support NRA-friendly politicians.<ref name=BruceWilcox1998p186/> [[Chris W. Cox]], who is the NRA's chief lobbyist and principal political strategist, is also the NRA-PVF chairman. Through the NRA-PVF, the NRA began to rate political candidates on their positions on gun rights. An NRA "A+" candidate is one who has "not only an excellent voting record on all critical NRA issues, but who has also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment", whereas an NRA "F" candidate is deemed a "true enemy of gun owners' rights".<ref name=Lowes140311/>

In the 2008 elections, the PVF spent millions on "direct campaign donations" and "grassroots operation".<ref name=NRAPVF2015>{{cite web |year=2015 |title=About PVF |url=https://www.nrapvf.org/about-pvf/|publisher=National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund |access-date=April 14, 2015}}</ref> In 2012, NRA-PVF income was $14.4&nbsp;million and expenses were $16.1&nbsp;million.<ref name=CRP-PVF2012/> By 2014, the NRA-PVF income rose to 21.9&nbsp;million with expenses of 20.7&nbsp;million.<ref name=CRP-PVF2014/>