Does No-Compromising Really Work?
Aaron Dorr heads pro-gun groups in several states across the country, but he films most of his Facebook Live videos in front of an interchangeable set of banners. Chris Haxel for KCUR hide caption
Aaron Dorr heads pro-gun groups in several states across the country, but he films most of his Facebook Live videos in front of an interchangeable set of banners.
Chris Haxel for KCURThe Dorr brothers and their friends have built trust with millions of Facebook followers in part by presenting themselves as outsiders.
They record videos of themselves standing at state capitols, and say they're lobbying hard against "RINO" republicans on behalf of their members. The Dorrs and their friends take credit when pro-gun bills are passed — and when anti-gun bills are defeated.
But as reporters Lisa Hagen of WABE in Atlanta, Ga. and Chris Haxel of KCUR in Kansas City, Mo. talk to other people who craft bills and lobby legislators, a different picture emerges.
In Iowa, Aaron and Chris Dorr were connected to one of the biggest political scandals in state history. And House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, a pro-gun Republican, says Aaron Dorr is a "scam artist" and a "liar."
In Missouri, which in 2016 passed one of the country's most sweeping pro-gun bills, State Rep. Suzie Pollock says the local Dorr gun group is "completely ineffective" and many legislators have "never seen or talked to [Aaron Dorr]."
Legislators and lobbyists in Georgia and North Carolina say much the same about Patrick Parsons, the Dorrs' southern ally. North Carolina pro-gun activist Paul Vallone says he's only seen Parsons at the state capitol in Raleigh once, and dismisses Parsons and his team as "political ne'er do wells."
Hagen and Haxel also examine the finances of this multi-state gun group network, and learn that much of the money donated to the groups ends up being routed to a for-profit company that the Dorrs control.
Hoping to learn more, the reporters start reaching out to people who ostensibly run the Dorrs' network of nonprofits — the board members.