NRA reports spending on foreign fundraising as it scrounges for cash

The National Rifle Association might want to consider changing its name.

As the gun rights group continues to lose money, it reoriented its fundraising strategy to start focusing on currying the favor of leaders and manufacturers around the world. And for the first time ever, it has reported spending some of its own money to aid that effort, the Center for Responsive Politics reports via the NRA's tax returns.

In 2018, the NRA reported spending $24,000 on foreign fundraising and $92,000 on foreign program expenses, per the tax returns. That includes fundraising work in Europe, the Middle East, and South America, the returns show. That total is just a tiny piece of the more than $355 million the group spent overall in 2018, but it doesn't reveal how much of the NRA's $352 million revenue came from foreign sources.

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Regardless of what that total is, foreign fundraising didn't stop the NRA from reporting a nearly $3 million gap between its revenue and spending, marking a the third year in the NRA's multimillion-dollar losing streak. In attempts to make up for that shortcoming, the NRA has taken more than $320 million from its charities over the past year. It also took out loans from its charitable and lobbying arms throughout 2018 — a year that saw the first campaign cycle where gun control groups outspent the NRA.