According to federal law, NRA dues CANNOT be used for lobbying.
See, you got your wish. Get out your checkbook.
Not quite.
I'm no accountant, but I know something about how corporate books are done.
I work about a mile south of the headquarters building.
I'm pretty sure there's only one building.
I don't think you can guarantee, outside of the on-the-books legal separation of funds, that rent on the lobbyists' offices wasn't in part paid by member fees.
You can't guarantee that a photocopier bought with member fees never copied a draft of the FINAL NOTICE letter.
I would be against this inbreeding even if it went the other way around, with the ILA helping to support the educational programs.
They associate with each other, so the line between them is blurred.
And I am so much against their scare tactics and general lack of action over the last decade that I will not enter a relationship with them until that line is a lot less blurry - the ILA moving to another building and officially breaking ties with the NRA would be more than sufficient.
Although, one of my '08 goals is to become an instructor, and based on their behavior, I'm fully expecting to be told that I can't be certified without being a member... so you'll all get your wish, I suspect.