On July 22, four National Rifle Association board members wrote a letter to NRA secretary John Frazier asking that the NRA conduct an independent investigation of various allegations of impropriety and financial misconduct. They also asked for an independent review of the tens of millions of dollars in legal fees being paid to outside counsel William Brewer.
Finally, the letter asked for an . . .
…Outside Independent Special Committee be formed, tasked with investigating and addressing the problems identified above, and required to report its findings and recommendations to the entire Board of Directors.
Long story short, the requests made in the letter have been denied and we understand that NRA President Carolyn Meadows has let it be known that none of these issues will be addressed with any board members until the board meeting scheduled to take place in Anchorage, Alaska in September.
Now three of the four signatories to that letter have resigned in protest. As the Washington Post reports,
Three National Rifle Association board members who raised concerns about reports of reckless spending and mismanagement by the group’s leadership resigned Thursday, another sign of mounting dissent within the nation’s most powerful gun-rights group.
The three board members – Esther Schneider of Texas, Sean Maloney of Ohio and Timothy Knight of Tennessee – said they were stripped of their committee assignments after they asked questions about allegations of lavish spending by NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and other financial excesses. …
In their letter, Schneider, Maloney and Knight said they have sought information from NRA leaders as part of their oversight responsibilities as board members, “only to be rebuffed at every turn.”
“We had expected – or at least hoped – that the executive leadership team would recognize the seriousness of these allegations and work with us in a constructive and transparent manner to address our concerns and minimize any further harm to the Association,” they wrote. “Instead, we have been stonewalled, accused of disloyalty, stripped of committee assignments and denied effective counsel necessary to properly discharge our responsibilities as Board members.”
Ammoland has the full letter of resignation here.
That’s three A-rated board members down. Three thorns in Wayne LaPierre’s and Carolyn Meadows’ side removed.
And yet board members such as Joel Friedman and Scott Bach assure members that all is well in Fairfax. None of the increasing amounts of smoke emanating from NRA headquarters should be seen as any evidence of an actual fire.
This is really all just a clever, multi-pronged attack on the NRA by enemies of gun rights and a few deluded insiders who have bought into it all, they say. Or, as Bach wrote,
We have incredibly difficult and consequential battles ahead. No one is better equipped, more experienced, or has a better track record to take gun owners through them, than LaPierre. Further division will only damage the Second Amendment. Now is the time for everyone to heal, to stand together, and to prevail over the real enemy: those trying to destroy freedom itself.
Sad news indeed. I just posted this on the Facebook page of NRA Director Willes Lee. I’m reposting it here assuming that Lee will delete it when he sees it. – – – –
With respect, Col. Lee, I’m not a Bloomberg-funded agent. I’ve had my own articles published in America’s First Freedom, so I hope you won’t question my honor when I say that I’m tired of the LaPierre faction blaming everything on the gun grabbers. Everyone sees that as a blatant smokescreen.
Saying that you can’t reveal the truth due to various lawsuits does not ring true either. There is no judicial gag order that I know of.
The more you try to deflect attention from the real issues, the worse it makes you look. We are left wondering, what could be so terrible that you won’t speak of it?
When I joined the gun rights movement in 1998, I was warned by my fellow activists that Wayne had his hands in the till. By general agreement, we didn’t make an issue of it, but we assumed he would soon retire with his loot and let the next generation have their turn. There was plenty of money coming in, so it wasn’t a serious issue.
Now this whole Cult of Wayne thing is getting really bizarre. He is not President for Life and there are many people who can do his job.
The loss of skilled personnel and the financial drain on the organization can’t be ignored. Something has to be done soon and I hope that board members like yourself will be the ones to bring the problems out into the open so the NRA can begin to rebuild for the fights ahead. Please vote for reform at the upcoming board meeting in Alaska.
On a more positive note, I commend you for having an open Facebook page. So many of your fellow board members have chosen to stay in the shadows and avoid contact with real NRA members.
Dr. Michael S.Brown
“I’m totally a huge supporter of that gun-nut right. Yes sirree. But, according to my hearsay, – people all know that its top defenders are dirty dippers. And every coup player that they defeat just means they’re even dirtier. Eff those guys, amiright? Grrr. But all I know is .. that I (and my huge 2A supportingness) 100% agree .. as we all should .. with Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post: no one should fund our largest enemy, the, err, I mean, no one should fund those rapscallion rascals at the NRA until the guy that’s pwned us for 30 years is debased, defamed, and dethroned. Hurrumph, hurrumph. Umm, ‘2A 4ever!’ Hurrumph.” – Dr. Michael S.Brown
I’d hope that was sarcasm because otherwise that may be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen posted here. It’s fairly obvious that something is wrong at the NRA and I would be absolutely amazed that a large number of people are all raising the same concerns, at the same time, and being accused of being plants for ‘the enemy’.
… because an organization of anti-US billionaires, whose toties – each morning – manage a breakfast list of talking points and marching orders for over 1,000 MSM broadcasts and publications, would NEVER all say the same thing at the same time ..
every.
single.
day.
Would they.
‘Is this the end?’
‘Dark heart..’
‘Deeply racist..’
‘Russian puppet..’
etc etc
just go youtube for this one — ‘The walls are closing in..’
search – Washington Free Beacon Democrats, Media Love Saying the Walls Are Closing in on Trump
There are worse.
My grandmother told me once to stay silent if I was gonna say something stupid. You should have listened to her.
Wow, Capt. Obvious is really showing how thick skulls can be.
Is there a “report” feature for this site? Cause “obvious” should be sent packing pronto.
“Cause “obvious” should be sent packing pronto.”
It’s all part of the adventure, here.
NRA needs to go under & then get reborn with ALL new people or not, but I tired of all the stories of the NRA. They are worst then the Swamp infested D.C. Liberal Democraps!
I’ll take my chances on my own….MOLON LABE!
I won’t renew my membership until Wayne is gone.
Me too.
Not a good idea, as you’ll lose your voting rights and the chance to vote in better people, like Adam Kraut. I held my nose and re-upped for two years just for that specific reason.
I’m not even sure they actually count the ballots. There were a couple years when I was a voting member when I didn’t even receive my ballot at all.
Vaction er meeting in Alaska huh? Anyone notice that?!? Another nail. No plans on renewing my membership…
I heard the board meeting is in Alaska because they are going to combine it with a cruise trip to raise more money for their organization. They call the luxury trips, expensive traveling and nice wine “Friends of NRA” events. You can buy your way in and socialize with Wayne. You could even scratch their back… Feels just like Washington D.C. parties. Makes you wish the Clintons were there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW1dbiD_zDk
Rut row.
Terribly disappointed in Scott Bach. I thought coming from a slave state he would understand that corruption needs to be battled and bad guys need to toss out on their butt.
He’s stating, and there’s considerable evidence that it is true, that the NRA can no longer be fixed from within.
How is it the members can’t force a recall of Wayne? Or a vote of no-confidence?
I know my political understanding sucks, but surely member are in charge of leadership. Yes?
“How is it the members can’t force a recall of Wayne? Or a vote of no-confidence?”
Well, one way it can happen is that Wayne let the board members ‘wet their beaks’ with some payola that Wayne can threaten to expose if they ever cross him or her…
That “pop” sound is me pulling my head out of my a$$. Not gun fire.
And they also have the actual payola to lose. This is why when you set up a grift, everybody gets a taste.
Related, if you’re the one sitting at the table who isn’t getting a piece of the action, you’re the mark.
“Related, if you’re the one sitting at the table who isn’t getting a piece of the action, you’re the mark.”
Old timer’s version:
If you’re at the table wondering who the mark is, it is you.
It’s a business and Wayne is CEO. In other words, he is King.
There is no way his knights will take him down. His subjects worship him like good little law abiding citizens.
Yea, and the good guys just left. Pretty soon only the pals of WLP will be left, and to raid the rest of what’s left of the money.
Wayne can’t be thrown out because the leadership structure was changed so that gun grabbers couldn’t buy their way in and take over the NRA. It also means gun owners can’t buy their way in and take over the NRA either.
Even if you take mitigating harm as a win, when was the last win the NRA had? 1994?
And they are pissing away money and have done so in a manner that has them looking at serious problems with the NY AG.
The only vote we get is with our dollars and our feet, and people are voting.
Oh, boy. Sittin’ here in the cheap seats. Got my beer and popcorn before there is a run on ’em. Been to a rodeo (roe-day-oh for those in Rio Linda) and two state fairs; ain’t never seen nuthin’ like this.
Lol, my dad used to say, “I been to two hog callins and a county fair and I ain’t *never* seen nothin’ like that.”
How long were these four board members? Did they not realize they had no real power before this event? Doesn’t being a board member and having 0 authority in the organization ring some internal alarms?
This has been S.O.P. in the NRA for decades. I dont understand how any of these board members can be A rated.
I heard the board’s powers rests in their committee duties. These directors got removed from all their duties. So they were stripped of most of their powers. No point sticking around and going to jail with the commie types running the NRA.
It’s a rigged game setup for people seeking to be rich and politically connected to Washington D.C. They negotiate your rights away for a price. It’s good business while it lasts.
They were between 5’9″ & 6’1″.
Let it burn and see what rises from the ashes. Maybe my Life Membership will be honored in the next iteration.
Wayne is the tumor. The Board of Directors is the cancer (as Scott Bach recently demonstrated). Both must go.
I know this stuff is important, but I’m starting to feel fatigued with all the bad news stories about the NRA internal scandal.
I hope Mr Dell’Aquino kicks ass and takes names
Rome wasn’t burned in a day.
Nice.
“Rome wasn’t burned in a day.”
Bravo !
Top candidate for interwebz winner of the day.
Please, if you are a voting member, please renew your membership. Your vote could be critical to turning this around. Its gonna take a member revolt to do it. Dont send them another dime for any reason but please keep your vote and use it. A non member name on a petition is useless. Send their postage paid business reply envelopes back empty or with a note saying
“Wayne’s gotta go.”
Wayne and his protectors absolutely love seeing voting members dropping out.
“Its gonna take a member revolt to do it. Dont send them another dime for any reason but please keep your vote and use it.”
That’s the hope, but not as you describe. Very curious….just what can the voting members actually accomplish regarding removing the board and current leadership? As I understand it, only the BOD can remove leaders, and with 76 members, it is impossible to get the right number to take action.
Right. At least 39 members are needed to get rid of Wayne (assuming no super majority is required by the rules). We just lost 4 of the good guys, so instead of 35 more, we’re back at needing 39. If you’re a life or multi-year member (can vote without giving more money), don’t resign – vote for the ones who will get rid of Wayne. Remember that toowhen you’re considering not voting for Trump. He may be a C or lower for 2A, but he’s still a hell of a lot better than an F- from any Dem candidate.
3/4th of the Board members present are required. 25 present Board members are a quorum. Read the bylaws, under Article V Section 3 (b) on page 20: http://www.savethe2a.org/wordp/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/NRA_Bylaws.pdf
When push comes to shove, the LaPierre loyalists will make sure that all regular no-shows, like Marion Hammer and Ted Nugent, show up for a Board vote, so to get rid of Wayne LaPierre one would need 57 Board votes. Good luck with that!
By the way, each annual election of Board members only covers 26 Board members (25 for a three-year term and 1 for a one-year term).
At this point I’d not donate a single dime –even for voting– until independent oversight is brought in to review the ballot. I previously agreed that a small donation to maintain a vote was more good than harm, but no longer. The ballot is rigged, and LaPierre would see to the isolation & destruction of anyone who did manage to get through & oppose him. It’s over, and there’s nothing left to save at the nation level. I suspected irregularities in last years’ ballot, but given the degree of corruption and defensiveness we are now seeing, it’s progressed from smoke to a fully involved fire.
I no longer have any questions about whether the NRA can be reformed. Wayne’s administration will have to be broken by external forces (legal or by boycott) before anything can even be attempted. Decades of complacency by gun owners has brought us here.
No calls emails or faxes. To comment on LaPierre etc you must send mail to
President Carolyn Meadows
The National Rifle Association of America
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030
Secretary John Frazier
The National Rifle Association of America
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030
The National Rifle Association of America Board of Directors
The National Rifle Association of America
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030
Demanding an independent review is a shuck-and-jive solution. It is probably a signal that there is nobody on the NRA board who can—or cares to—analyze what happened, identify the involved parties, and then do what is necessary to set the organization on a path to effectiveness. Is there nobody on that board willing to kick-ass and take names? And where the hell is Ted Nugent? If there’s anybody on the NRA board who can do that, it’s him.
Ted Nugent is clown shoes. He never showed up for any regular meetings, so he knows nothing of what’s going on.
That’s the problem, right there. More than half the board is filled with “stunt members.” Celebrities and people with name recognition who don’t pay attention, never go to board meetings, and have never been asked to.
Nuge got $50,000 to sign autographs at NRAAM for a single day.
Fuck that poaching asshole douchebag poseur.
What,Crickets Nugent make a sound,his silence speaks volumes.
NRA is a NON profit organization, therefore it needs to be conducted as one.
In the end, money talks. If this leads to a consistent 5, 10, 20%… etc drop in contributions and memberships over the next few years then there will be a change in leadership. If not, then it will be business as usual…until the NRA is stripped of its non profit status and gets reborn as Wayne’s private LLC.
The NRA has become a huge steaming pile of manure lit on fire in a dumpster! I see that my departure from NRA in 2005 for the greener pasture of GOA life membership is now fully vindicated.
If Whiny LaPee-yew cared about 2A, he would’ve resigned. Instead, he’s gonna ride the NRA all the way down to ground zero, screaming YEE-HAW!! YEEEE-HAWWW!! just like Major Kong from the movie ‘Dr. Strangelove’!
“3 A-Rated National Rifle Association Board Members Quit in Protest Over Stonewalled Oversight Efforts”
Throwing themselves on their swords, how noble…
Not really, but what else should they have done, given the situation?
The dumpster fire continues to rage out of control in Fairfax Virginia at Negotiating Rights Away, nothing to see here folks.
My membership runs out late this year. I see no hope that voting for change has any prospect of fixing NRA. I for one will not return until Wayne and his corrupt faction have retired, been terminated, or are in jail for the corrupt acts they have clearly been engaging in. It is a shame it has come to this, but there are other groups like GOA who will welcome us. Time to move on people!
Having been the victim of a bogus political attack myself, I have tried to withhold judgement on Wayne and his cronies until I knew more. If they were really innocent however Wayne and his friends would welcome an independent investigation as a way to get this whole thing behind them. Refusing such an action only gives credence to the charges against them.
Even if they were innocent you would think Wayne and his friends would resign at this point as the cause is more important than any individual. The gun grabbing wolf is at the door and we can’t afford to ahve the NRA out of the fight!
“The gun grabbing wolf is at the door and we can’t afford to ahve the NRA out of the fight!”
Slowly losing is not being “in the fight”. Such thinking is why things are as they are. Same for the Republicrats.
Not sure how anyone can change anything by just quitting, but whatever.
I’ll be in Nashville next spring. Hopefully we can get something done from the floor, but it would help if support for change remained on the board.
“Hopefully we can get something done from the floor, but it would help if support for change remained on the board.”
Really wanted to understand your comment, but…
What can members actually do, “from the floor”? My understanding is it takes something like 59 BOD members to actually make changes in the organization. How does a high count of general members at a convention move NRA in one direction or another?
As to changing things by resigning/fleeing/quitting…we have seen political battles changed because people “quit” their support (as in staying home, rather than voting). Members equal dollars. The more members, the more dollars. Thus fewer members equals fewer dollars. Fewer dollars impairs the leadership spending.
Note: depriving a fire of oxygen kills a fire 100% of the time.
“What can members actually do, “from the floor”?”
I’m not sure, other than making it clear that the status quo has to go. A big room full of pissed off people has its own power of persuasion, but could be wasted energy if the right voices aren’t on the board.
Anyway, however it turns out, I’m guessing engagement is more productive than picking up my toys and going home.
Just my 2 cents….
“…I’m guessing engagement is more productive than picking up my toys and going home.”
In many circumstances, I would agree. But, when engagement is proven futile?
Well, they were at a point where they couldn’t change anything, but were still legally liable for the Board’s actions. Resigning from the Board was actually a smart move, opening the door further for legal action against the remaining Board members and the NRA officers.
Note that these three Board members were likely going to be removed from their positions at the September Board meeting anyway. Fortunately, the incompetent and power hungry NRA leadership opened the door for them to resign based on the reason that they were being prevented by the NRA leadership to perform their legal duties as Board members.
Sam I Am, as for the NRA Annual Meeting, there is public perception. A leader without followers is just a guy standing alone in the desert. The NRA leadership can very quickly find themselves in that situation at the NRA Annual Meeting. Isn’t that what denying donations to the NRA is all about in the first place? One can show LaPierre & Co the door by denying funding and by voicing an opposing opinion at the members’ meeting, both at grand scale.
“One can show LaPierre & Co the door by denying funding and by voicing an opinion at the members’ meeting, both at grand scale.”
Not sure how that can actually work. Deny funds is partly rooted in membership dues. In order to deny those funds, the membership must stop being members, thus not permitted at the convention (or at least denied any type of “voice”). As long as there are funds, leader positions will remain; everything else is expendable. Fewer members at an annual meeting will not impress the BOD, or leaders of NRA.
When leaders of an organization become “embattled” it is usually because they refuse to change, and lack the persuasion to convince followers to continue. My favorite example is Roger Smith, former CEO of GM. In retirement, he was asked about the forces that led GM from undisputed leader (and most financially powerful) of the automotive industry. Smith answered, “I don’t know; it was a mysterious sort of thing. GM was almost ruined by leadership unable to adjust to circumstances.
PS: pay me umpteen million per year, and into retirement, and I would be glad to be a leader standing in a desert that I own and control.
I am a Life Member, so are many others that actually show up to the members’ meeting at the NRA Annual Meeting. We have already paid our dues!
The NRA leadership will be more happy with having less people show up at the NRA Annual Meeting and no one making noise. That is how they survived the crisis in the late 90’s. That’s how they try to survive the crisis this time. There are simply too many idiots and Fudds in the US that believe in the NRA propaganda and will keep the NRA the way it is if there is not some serious noise. I expect some clown to be appointed as the new NRA President before the next NRA Annual Meeting, just like they appointed Charlton Heston the last time.
“We have already paid our dues!”
Indeed. But it is likely there are far and away more annual members than extended members. A raucous crowd will be dispersed, the meeting shut down, the convention truncated if necessary. Leadership already declared they refuse to recognize any opinion other than their own.
In a corporate hostile takeover, the absorbed company leadership is eliminated because they were too stubborn, self-absorbed, to adjust to changing circumstances, and they can’t be “fixed”. Just as NRA can’t be “fixed” by leaving them in charge of an organization that needs a hostile takeover.
Jeez there were only like 5 a-rated board members to begin with.
ALL is well in Hell too.
Join/Spread the movement #every2ndmatters
https://www.instagram.com/2020americamatters/
Look, here is the probably as I see it, we need to have a United front RIGHT NOW! Have the audit, if there is no in proprietary, then we can move forward, if there is cull the heard, get some new blood in the top spots and let’s get on with the business of defending the second. All of this infighting is doing nothing but harming the cause.
BTW, if Wayne is ousted, I would like to nominate Allen West for the top spot.
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