CBS News is reporting that a Charles Schwab charitable fund has “stopped allowing customers to make donations to non-profits linked to the National Rifle Association.”
The donations were being made through Schwab’s $10 billion donor-advised fund, the network reported.
It’s just the latest chapter in a saga that’s been on-going since before the NRA convention earlier this year in Indianapolis. The association has been in the headlines frequently since an alleged internal “power struggle” became public with the resignation of NRA President Oliver North in what has been described as an “attempted coup” to dislodge longtime Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
According to CBS News, “The decision to suspend contributions to charities linked to the gun owners’ advocacy group, which has not been previously reported, was made in the past few months. It comes at a time the NRA has faced a drop in donations, as well as allegations that it abused its non-profit status. Schwab’s fund had donated a total of $146,000 to NRA-affiliated charities in its past three fiscal years, according to IRS filings.”
The report said Schwab Charitable is an independent non-profit, responsible for managing Schwab’s “affiliated donor-advised fund.” This appears to be a standard practice when a non-profit organization is under investigation.
NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told CBS, “We are disappointed in Charles Schwab’s decision, however, it has no material impact on the NRA, its affiliates, or our mission to protect the Second Amendment.”
Financial institutions have been distancing themselves from NRA and the firearms industry in the aftermath of highly-publicized mass shootings, CBS News noted.
