"Arrogant." "Dishonest." "A plague upon our state's gun owners."

Aaron Dorr, the face of more than a dozen interconnected gun-rights groups across the country, has inspired some harsh descriptors from influential gun enthusiasts who theoretically should be on his side. But according to these critics, Dorr is actually a bully with few legislative accomplishments to his name, prompting some to claim he is a grifter who capitalizes on the good-faith donations of hardworking, trusting gun owners for his own gain.

Blaze News spoke with current and former political leaders and a podcaster in Wyoming as well as a gun-rights activist in Illinois, who all told us the same story: Aaron Dorr and his organizations do the gun rights movement much harm and very little good.

Who is Aaron Dorr?

According to his eponymous website, Aaron Dorr is "a political activist with almost 20 years of experience fighting for the Second Amendment in state legislatures" across the U.S., including in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, New York, North Carolina, and Wyoming.

Wyoming state Sen. Larry Hicks (R-Baggs), who has been in the state Senate for 15 years, recalled that Dorr and his group Wyoming Gun Owners — or WYGO for short — "just kind of come out of the blue" and demanded that Republican legislators in the already gun-friendly state follow their lead.

"They were going around, trying to recruit people and teach them how to do confrontational politics, how to get in people's face and intimidate them," Hicks explained to Blaze News.

Hicks said that some "tremendously weak" lawmakers caved to Dorr and WYGO, unable to withstand the "intimidation tactics" and eager for the campaign contributions WYGO could send their way.

'WYGO members scored a lot of wins tonight, but nothing gave me more pleasure than watching our members piss on your political grave.'

Other Republicans like Hicks found the approach off-putting and became instantly wary of Dorr and WYGO. Their lack of cooperation prompted Dorr and his "sycophants" to characterize these politicians as spineless, unprincipled RINOs — Republicans in name only, Hicks explained.

An exchange between WYGO and a then-Wyoming lawmaker in the comments section of a 2019 WYGO Facebook post seems to confirm Hicks' assessment. Though the lawmaker initiated a civil discussion in response to a video from Dorr, WYGO shot back with insults, calling the lawmaker an "ignorant," "back-stabbing" traitor who has "never stood tall for gun owners."

Dorr does not just verbally attack legislators he considers adversarial. He often threatens to support their challenger in an upcoming primary.

One Wyoming politician who may have fallen victim to a primary campaign from Dorr and WYGO is former state Rep. Mark Jennings (R-Sheridan). According to Vote Smart, the National Rifle Association gave Jennings a 92% rating in 2024, and he was endorsed for re-election by Gun Owners of America that year as well, his campaign Facebook page showed.

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  Composite screenshot of photos from Mark Jennings WY State Representative House District 30 Facebook page. Used with permission.

Jennings worked with Dorr when he was first elected in 2014 and even partnered with him to pass a Stand Your Ground law as recently as 2018. However, Jennings said he ran afoul of Dorr after putting forth in the Wyoming House a Second Amendment Preservation Act-type bill, commonly referred to as a SAPA bill, that Dorr had not endorsed.

According to Jennings, Dorr later cornered him in a hallway, enraged that Jennings had not first asked his "permission" to run the SAPA bill.

"You shouldn't have run that bill in this last session," Jennings recalled Dorr saying. "It's not my bill, and you didn't get permission, and we're not going to put up with that kind of nonsense."

"Dorr had made it very clear with foul language and threats that he was going to see to it that I was not going to remain in office," Jennings added.

Dorr seemed to make good on that promise. When Jennings made a run for a state Senate seat last year, WYGO supported Jennings' primary opponent, state Rep. Barry Crago, who ended up winning both the primary and the general election.

Sen. Hicks, a friend of Jennings, claimed WYGO and Dorr played a key role in torpedoing Jennings' chances. "They absolutely targeted him because he wouldn't buckle down and just toe their line," Hicks told Blaze News. "And he stood up to them."

The night the results of the primary were announced last August, Dorr apparently sent Jennings a scathing text message celebrating Jennings' loss and making overt reference to their differences over the SAPA bill.

"I told you, two years ago, if you f**ked around with SAPA and with WYGO you would be held accountable. Tonight, I kept that promise," Dorr wrote, according to a screenshot sent to Blaze News.

"WYGO members scored a lot of wins tonight, but nothing gave me more pleasure than watching our members piss on your political grave," he added. "Enjoy your free time in January."

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  Screenshot sent to Blaze News

In an email to Blaze News, Aaron Dorr described Jennings as "a RINO State Representative." Dorr also bragged that Jennings "lost his primary election last year in Wyoming after we exposed his pathetic record on gun rights."

"Most organizations are too afraid to call out anti-gun Republicans, which is why they are never attacked and why freedom so often dies, even in 'red' state legislatures," Dorr continued. "We're not afraid to call them out, which is why we're loved by our members and have been attacked by the left and the media through hundreds of phony 'investigative stories' in a coordinated effort to silence us."

Because a relative of Rep. Jennings works for Mercury Radio Arts — a production company created by Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck and that produces podcasts for Blaze Media — Dorr also took direct aim at Blaze News in his email, claiming we had deliberately withheld a "conflict of interest" from him in our initial phone conversation and that our investigation into his activism was a mere pretense "to settle a personal score for a colleague."

"I had high hopes that we could engage in a productive conversation about the Dorr Brothers and our proud advocacy on behalf of gun owners in state legislatures all over the country. There is a lot to talk about," he wrote. "[But] you are not interested in the truth."

"Sad stuff coming from a media company like TheBlaze, which has traditionally enjoyed a strong reputation amongst gun owners."

'No compromise,' no matter what

According to its website, WYGO wants "to expand the Second Amendment for our members, not to protect the careers of politicians in Cheyenne!" Its affiliated groups in Iowa and Missouri make a similar statement. However, most of the affiliated groups bill themselves as absolutists, claiming to be the only "No-Compromise gun rights organization" in their respective states, which include Alabama, Illinois, and New York.

While a "no compromise" pledge from a well-connected group may compel Republicans in red states like Alabama to remain committed to the right to bear arms, that approach in deep-blue states like Illinois and New York is more puzzling. As John Boch of Guns Save Life in Illinois told Blaze News, support for gun control far outweighs the support for gun rights in the Illinois state capital.

"Frankly, we could have 100 lobbyists in Springfield," Boch said. "We could have 1,000. And when it comes to the gun issue, we don't have the votes to stop anything. It's just the sad reality of life on the ground here."

'They want it to fail so that they can raise money. They can say, "See how bad these legislators are?"'

Blaze News was curious to know why Dorr's groups would demand a hardline, "no compromise" stance from pro-2A politicians in Democrat strongholds since doing so makes any progress on the issue even less likely than it already is. Dorr did not respond to our question on the subject, but the others who spoke with Blaze News claimed that Dorr is more interested in stirring up public emotions about gun legislation, both good and bad, rather than helping to pass or defeat it.

Former state Rep. Mark Jennings said Dorr takes this same approach even in Wyoming, the state with perhaps the highest per capita rate of gun ownership in America.

"They don't really want it to pass," Jennings said, referring to a SAPA bill. "They want it to fail so that they can raise money. They can say, 'See how bad these legislators are?'"

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— (@)  

Jennings, Hicks, and David Iverson, host of the "Cowboy State Politics" podcast, all noted that though Second Amendment Protection Act bills might seem attractive to gun enthusiasts, some such measures can create major problems, especially for law enforcement. For example, a failed version of SAPA that Dorr and WYGO once promoted in Wyoming would have eliminated qualified immunity protections for cops, all three men told Blaze News. As a result, police departments from around the state firmly opposed it, rendering it practically dead on arrival in Cheyenne.

"It's got no hope of passing," Iverson told Blaze News, "but [Dorrs and WYGO] do it anyway because they can raise money off of it."

'They're just siphoning off money from well-meaning gun owners who don't know any better.'

Jennings recalled an instance in which Dorr and then-Wyoming state Sen. Anthony Bouchard (R), who founded WYGO, were invited to testify about a SAPA bill in front of a legislative committee but refused, ostensibly so they could later blast the committee members for shutting them out.

"[The committee chair] asks them to testify on this SAPA bill. They literally refuse," Jennings said. "She actually asks them point blank: 'I've asked you three times. Is there anyone else that wants to testify?' They don't do it, and then five minutes later in the hallway, they're on their podcast or they're filming their stuff, saying, 'This was just a kangaroo court.'"

In reply to questions about his legislative victories, Dorr told Blaze News:

Over the last 17 years, we’re proud to have passed Constitutional Carry, Stand-Your-Ground law, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, a ban on 'Red Flag’ laws and more. We’re equally proud of the gun control bills we’ve defeated (especially those filed by anti-gun RINOs) and our massive Circuit Court victories in cases like Wyoming Gun Owners v Gray. But the list of anti-gun incumbents removed from office by our members through our educational efforts at election time — a list numbering well over 100 — may be our biggest achievement.

Despite making contact with Sen. Bouchard on multiple occasions and leaving several messages, Blaze News never received a comment from him.

'Professional grifters'

All of the sources who spoke with Blaze News said that Aaron Dorr uses high-profile activism — which has since spread to other issues, including the pro-life movement and COVID-related government tyranny — as a massive fundraising scheme.

"When you look at their organization nationwide, you get a pretty good picture of really what the main purpose behind their organization is is raising money for themselves under the guise of Second Amendment advocacy," Iverson said.

Jennings made similar comments. "That's how they do business," he explained. "They put it out there that everybody's beating up on them. 'Please send money.'"

"They're professional grifters," Jennings added. "There's no question."

"They found a way to get people to send them money, with all of their rhetoric and their lies," added Sen. Hicks.

'You're being lied to.'

John Boch of Guns Save Life said he had heard about Dorr and his groups' "shenanigans in other states where they fundraise the heck out of everything and don't really do anything." However, those "shenanigans" hit closer to home after Boch obtained a four-page fundraising letter from WYGO-affiliate Illinois Firearms Association, signed by Dorr, asking recipients to make a donation to help "mobilize as many gun owners as possible" against a gun-control bill in Illinois pushed by Democrats.

"I think they're just siphoning off money from well-meaning gun owners who don't know any better," Boch explained.

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  Screenshot given to Blaze News

"Just out of the blue, they rolled into Illinois," Boch claimed. "And here they are, sending out these letters. And they send out the same letter every month, every 30 days."

After doing some investigating, Boch learned that the address for Illinois Firearms Association listed on the letter is actually a private mailbox inside a UPS store in Peoria. Boch doubts that Dorr and his associates in Illinois Firearms Association have made strong connections with any Illinois state lawmakers.

"I've never seen anything of them actually being in Springfield," Boch said. "I'm going to say it didn't happen, but nobody's ever told me that they've seen them in person in Springfield."

Blaze News heard similar stories that Dorr rarely visits the states whose lawmakers he claims to lobby on behalf of gun owners. In fact, Iowa state Rep. Matt Windschitl (R-Harrison), a strong gun-rights proponent, took to the floor of the chamber in 2017 and excoriated Dorr and other leaders of Iowa Gun Owners, yet another WYGO-affiliated group, for failing to attend legislative sessions when a major gun-rights bill was under consideration.

"Where are they?" Windschitl railed. "Why aren't they registered on this bill? Why did they not even come to a subcommittee to give their opinion on what we're trying to advance? Where are they? Where have they been?"

"They're not even registered on this bill," he continued, "and yet they've already gone out, taking credit for it."

"You're being lied to."

Even though Dorr fails to show up in Des Moines at key moments for gun owners, he still heavily fundraises in the state, Windschitl warned.

"If you're sending this guy money, I'm asking you to stop."

Windschitl did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News, and Dorr did not reply to our question regarding the grifting allegations.

A sketchy bottom line

Despite these aggressive fundraising efforts, Dorr appears to receive little money from his bevy of organizations. Tax filings reveal that Dorr logs very few working hours for them and earns almost no salary from them.

Iowa Gun Owners appears to be the lone exception. The 2022 tax filing for the group, the most recent filing available, claimed that Dorr worked 35 hours per week that year and was compensated $60,000.

'AT ROCK BOTTOM COST!'

Christopher Dorr, believed to be one of Aaron's brothers, is named in tax filings as the executive director of Ohio Gun Owners. A Chris Dorr is likewise identified as the executive director of the Pennsylvania Firearms Coalition. In 2022, Chris Dorr reportedly worked 40 hours per week at and collected $72,000 from each group. If so, he put in a total of 80 hours per week that year and took home less than $150,000 as a result.

Notably, the Dorr-affiliated Missouri Firearms Coalition is not listed as a tax-exempt organization in the IRS database, even though Aaron Dorr lists Missouri as his home state on his personal website.

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  Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Just because their nonprofits do not always pay the Dorrs well, however, does not mean they are not profiting off their activism.

Aaron Dorr and some of his brothers, including Chris, also run Midwest Freedom Enterprises, a private company that purports to provide "gun rights and grassroots conservatism all across America ... AT ROCK BOTTOM COST!" According to a 2020 exposé on the Dorrs from NPR, Rep. Windschitl of Iowa openly suggested that Midwest Freedom is actually the main source of their income, not the gun nonprofits:

If you look at their 990s, not only in Iowa, but in the other states, they all claim that they're working 80 — 60 to 80 hours a week and getting no salary. The only way that they could be paying themselves is through their Midwest Freedom Enterprises LLC. They've got to be funneling money into that through the donations they're bringing in and then somehow driving a salary out of that. And from my understanding of tax code, federal tax code, that's a violation of 501(c)(4) nonprofit status.

Some sources who spoke with Blaze News likewise speculated that the Dorrs may be cashing in through Midwest Freedom. However, Iverson of "Cowboy State Politics" also emphasized that even with all their fundraising operations and the Midwest Freedom business, the Dorrs do not seem to be doing anything illegal — just untoward.

"I honestly think that what they're doing is legal to the letter of the law," Iverson opined. "It's just not entirely ethical."

Dorr did not respond to Blaze News' questions about Midwest Freedom or the tax filings from his nonprofits.

'Exploit a lot of people and take a lot of money'

Cognizant that activists who agree on the substance of an issue may disagree vehemently on the best ways to advocate for it, Blaze News asked the critics whether they viewed Aaron Dorr as an effective lobbyist for gun rights, even if his methods do not suit their personal taste.

Boch of Illinois gave the most succinct reply: "Hell no."

When attempting to list Dorr's "redeeming qualities," Sen. Hicks could come up with only one: "lying." "I hate to speak ... bad about anybody, so I will just stop with that," he said.

'If it's not a perfect bill, they're going to be adamantly opposed to it, and they're going to crucify anybody that supports it.'

David Iverson of "Cowboy State Politics," by contrast, did sincerely identify some positive contributions the Dorrs have made to the gun-rights movement. "They have been successful in getting some people that truly are not conservatives, that are against the Second Amendment kicked out of office," he told Blaze News. "There's been a couple of cases where they've gotten rid of, or they've really helped to get rid of, some pretty bad guys."

Additionally, Iverson confirmed that Aaron Dorr did visit Cheyenne to advocate for "no gun-free zones" on at least one occasion.

Other than that, the men had nothing to say in favor of Aaron Dorr or the Dorr family.

"They are one of these people, if it's not a perfect bill, they're going to be adamantly opposed to it, and they're going to crucify anybody that supports it," Boch claimed.

"When you look at the sum total of what they do," Iverson concluded, "they exploit a lot of people and take a lot of money from them."

"And really, they don't produce a whole heck of a lot."

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