pete brownell nra board of directors resignation
Courtesy National Rifle Association

Brownells CEO Pete Brownell has been a member of the National Rifle Association’s board of directors for about a decade. He served as the organization’s president from 2017 to 2018. Now, however, TTAG has learned that Brownell has announced his resignation from the organization’s board.

Here’s his just-released statement:

In the coming weeks, my company will be making exciting announcements about new opportunities that are important to the future success of our business. We look forward to sharing that news soon as possible. Given the hard work and full-time attention that will be needed as our brands continue to grow, I’ve decided to step down from my position on the NRA’s Board of Directors. It’s been an honor to serve the five million members of the NRA and I will continue standing side-by-side with the millions of Americans who care deeply about defending the Second Amendment.

While Mr. Brownell’s announcement makes no mention of the controversies, accusations, and lawsuits that have been swirling around the NRA in the last few months, it’s difficult not to read between the lines here.

Pete Brownell is (was) a highly respected and influential member of the NRA board. His departure will be seen as a blow to efforts to reform the operation from the inside and weather the current storms.

You have to wonder if other board members will follow suit as a result of this.

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85 COMMENTS

  1. Fill the board up with people like MAC from military arms channel. We need to talk machine guns and the like. The GOP had congress and the white house. ATF wrote a memo advocating suppressors be taken out of the NFA. We got gun control instead. The NRA is not being effective.

        • Yep. I won’t even attend a rally where they have him speaking. It seems like when a 2A function “invites” him to speak, a large part of those attending represent Fudd city, ‘I’m the NRA”, and GOP propaganda.

      • No. Bad idea. Tim from Military Arms Channel is all “Ooooga Boooga” NRA-Deep State. Hickock45 is simply an NRA stooge that works to promote gun control. His son is simply useless.

      • I am bullish (pun intended) on STB410. He has never asked for such a position that I know of, would probably refuse, all of which makes him more attractive to me. If you want the job, I don’t want you in it.

      • Oh hell no not bitchok45 hes is the last person need to be on the board Ted nuggent is 6 times better then bitchok45

      • Cliven Bundy is your man but NRA did absolutely nothing for the biggest self defense case since WACO leaving it to God because NRA are fake news.

    • Learn how people get on the NRA Board of Directors! Thanks to the latest changes in NRA bylaws, Tim Harmsen (Military Arms Channel) is probably not even eligible to serve on the Board.

    • Wrong. Tim is an angry man child that has zero business being on any board, and Hickock45 is a Wayne LaPierre backer. The type of person they’re trying to weed out.

        • LaPierre is just a glorified “K” Street lobbyist in a bespoke suit and Gucci loafers. He is a corrupt despot in a supposedly-constituent-run national organization, a cynical “hired gun” who does not passionately believe in the 2nd Amendment rights of Americans. All he believes in is keeping his cushy executive job and its perks. Take the time to sit down and read the NRA’s Rules and By-Laws…look at the hoops ordinary members have to jump through to be on the Board. It’s impossible. How many non-Life Members are on the NRA Board? (Full disclosure: I am 75 and have been an Annual Member since I was 14. I have the wherewithal to be a Life Member, and have had for a long time, but have not become one out of principle..I don’t want the full-timers at the NRA–on-the-payroll elites within an elite–to count on my lifetime membership…they have to earn my membership and my dues every year.) I now have a good friend on the Board. It’s a snake-pit of competing interests. Board members should have ONE interest…defending our 2nd Amendment rights. No more compromise…not another inch!

    • Tim from MAC, Adam from NFA Review and Honest Outlaw… and maybe the guys from Degeneration Nation – they are on our side.

    • NRA is ineffective and outdated. Time for new blood. Some organization that will go for what is lost rather than trade off what they are afraid to lose

  2. I serious hope there is nothing more to this than exactly what he said. Brownells have proven themselves to be amazing second amendment supporters over the years, and I hope that his leaving really is due to time constraints rather than an insider I trust to be on the right side of things taking a look at the situation and running.

    • Brownell’s was quite literally the reason the “muh Russia” nonsense spilled over into the NRA; it was his shindig that the NRA veeps were attending in Moscow that made all the papers.

      I will say that international outreach is a noble mission, and that an outfit like Brownell’s that (I believe) does exports certainly has business making connections abroad where there is a surprisingly active shooting market –but neither of these is the job of the NRA. The event was at best a waste of time & resources, at worst involved corruption & money illegally changing hands, and is most likely a distracting appearance of impropriety that attracted foreign ’emissaries’ such as Maria Butina (and doubtless others) like flies to shit.

      I’d say that like most of the troublesome figures of the NRA (so far we’re up to; LaPierre, North, Hammer, likely Cox, Loesch…I’m sure I’m missing some others) Mr. Brownell is yet another that let his extracurricular activities outside the NRA leak into the organization’s activities, causing problems. It seems rather obvious (in retrospect) that figures who lack the discipline & focus to avoid these sorts of situations need to not have prominent posts in the org.

  4. I’ve hunted with Pete and he is a stand up guy, and an amazing supporter of our 2nd amendment rights. The NRA better get its act together sooner than later.

    • Things are looking bad for the NRA. It really sucks because the 2A community needs strong supporters and the NRA seems kinda corrupt and wussy.

    • I’ve said likewise about peeps i had good social experiences with.
      Then later find out they were beating their wife, or embezzling from the job, or were married w/ kids and then were busted for soliciting sex w/ minors online.

      It’s the whole judge a book by its cover thing…

  5. “it’s difficult not to read between the lines here.”

    So you’re saying that Pete Brownell is lying.

    • No, he’s saying that anyone who pretends that one of the most influential NRA board members is resigning amid the most tumultuous period the NRA has seen –kicked off in part because of the appearance of corruption in a foreign-outreach venture he himself put together– for reasons that have nothing to do with any of these troubles…is probably being dishonest.

      Long way of me saying “yes, Brownell is obviously not telling the whole story in his statement, which is both obvious to anyone with eyes, and par for the course with unexpected resignations in general”

      • “anyone who pretends that one of the most influential NRA board members is resigning . . . for reasons that have nothing to do with any of these troubles…is probably being dishonest.”

        Since Brownell gave the reason that he’s resigning, you’re saying that Pete Brownell is lying. Spin it any way you want.

      • I disagree. It strikes me more like the “spend more time with my family” reasons commonly given. Brownell’s probably is planning new business moves, so that makes a convenient reason to give to avoid inflaming things even further. After all, he certainly doesn’t want to hand any ammo to the gun grabbers, do anything to damage Brownell’s, or cast aspersions on other board members—some of whom probably are decent people, and some he probably just has to work with in the future.

  6. I sent him a physical letter a month ago expressing my displeasure at his role in LaPierre’s “unanimous” reelection. I never got a reply, but I wonder if it had an effect.

  8. As a casual observer of different websites and posts blasting the NRA about issues and proposals to leave the organization while trying to convince other members to do the same. The disgruntled Parties claim injustice and turmoil among NRA leaders and the Directors fomenting distrust among the members. I have discussed numerous issues with the ILA and member services about certain allegations made here and on other Websites.To show contention to our enemies is exactly what the anti-gun crowd is hoping for because the NRA is the big dog in the fight to keep our liberties. Sowing discord and illicit facts are the bread and butter of our enemies.Dialogue is what has kept us together through all that has happened throughout our history. If you disagree with any organizations policies and cannot rectify in any way ,then go to another group, and be a defender of our 2nd.The last thing we need is to pit one org. against another,we will be jumping into the Fire

  9. Better check up on the remainder of the BoD.
    If you look deep enough, you’ll probably find out that Trump somehow is in the middle of the entire situation.

    • It’s always “Trump’s fault” or “Fox News’ fault” or both “Trump’s and Fox News’ fault”.

      We had better get Robert Mueller on this ASAP.

    • Could be but I suspect more strongly that the NRA became RNC groupies on their own initiative. And, I’ve no love for the RNC, but to their credit it seems they treated the NRA like groupies and cast them aside. Whether there’s some under the table payoff for some of the board I’ve no idea, nothing would surprise me, but the NRA’s credibility got used as toilet paper. Which is good, at least they weren’t subtle about it. Some NRA lifers will never learn of course.

  10. Looking at the past antics of the NRA, I have more than once wondered whose side is the NRA really on? One of the above mentioned was Wayne LaPierr’s “Background Checks For Everyone”, which so far as I know, has never been retracted. Perhaps someone might clarify this.

    In case anyone reading this wonders, I’m a Life Member of NRA, have been one since 1975. I was an annual and 5 year member prior to converting to Life.

    • They’ve been anti-gun every second for the last 85 years. The NRA supported the NFA in 1934 and the GCA in 1968.

      Feel free to disregard this information and rationalize that I’m a Bloomberg agent. I know half the people in here are incapable of critical thought, with mindless tribalism as the best they can do, so if that’s the case, fine. You know, I don’t have a time machine to go back half a century to when they imprinted their ideas of who their tribe is and change it and even if I did, why? They’re just drones.

      • “They’ve been anti-gun every second for the last 85 years”

        Whoah! Every second? Every one of those 2.7 billion seconds? Jeez, the NRA hate is strong on this thread. You’d think NRA was the mastermind organization pulling the strings behind every fascist democratic socialist gun control activist. Who knew?

        If you call NRA ineffectual, well, fine, but please do consider the tireless msm supported opposition funded by our globalist masters. All day, every day. How many seconds does that add up to? Constant attack. Constant incrementalist encroachment.

        NRA anti gun? For godsakes. The left has sophisticated social media operations and I suspect a good percentage of these comments on this site are the work of false flag trolls. At best there are some naive ideologues who have an immature understanding of the political process in this country and human nature in general. If the NRA has succumbed to the same rot that many venerable organizations have collapsed under, then they will either be cleaned up or the members and money will move on to more effective vehicles. But dear god, people, keep your eyes open. This is a public forum and it is infested with anything that can crawl in…including me.

        • green chilli……agreed. There is no intelligent life on this blog. Just a few (and I mean a very few) weak minded blow hards spouting off and thinking they will change the world. Truth About Guns: you are complicit in promoting garbage. This is not effectual problem solving. It is NRA bashing. It is very similar to Trump bashing. We have seen enough of it. These little snide remarks and puffed up NRA slams do nothing to help anyone.
          All these comments, from the same few arm chair crusaders, are not worth the time to muddy through just in case there might be some glimmer of hope with a constructive uplifting comment. This article written about P Brownell was inflammatory from the beginning.

  11. DAN ZIMMERMAN makes some interesting conclusions here that sounds like a gossip swap show.

    Mr.Brownell has served with integrity and has built a reputable business. I believe he can speak for himself and does not need a two bit writer filling in the blanks with what he does not know. Journalist: state the facts. Leave your opinion for the op ed page. I am tired of this petty name calling aimed at the NRA.

    “If your ship is sinking, the crew works together to stop the leaks. You don’t blow holes in the hull.”

    • What are the conclusions you think were made by Dan?

      The only one I read is “His departure will be seen as a blow to efforts to reform the operation from the inside and weather the current storms.”

      The only question to that conclusion is whether Mr. Brownell was part of the problem or the solution.

      • BillyM might be talking about the “…it’s not difficult to read between the lines here.” statement..(not to put words in BillyM’s mouth…).

  12. Woot. Hystrionic spam notwithstanding they’re probably OK without me as a member, but if industry supporters start pulling out the NRA will feel the consequences.

  13. Since there is a vacancy, obviously the NRA needs to fill that vacancy with someone who can properly and fully support the organization as it moves forward through these troubled times.

    The NRA needs someone with experience in handling this kind of situation.

    Therefore the obvious choice to fill that vacancy would be Baghdad Bob

  14. Brownell is making a prudent business decision…..probably too late. Directors are liable for the organization’s sins and mis-doings. Brownell has been unsuccessful in righting a heavily listing ship. His personal liability as a Board member needed to be dumped.
    Why the Hell was NRA ever structured in NY??? Their heaaquarters are in Virginia. Cannot image why NY was ever attractive…..like so many organizations select Delaware.

    • Most all organizations have Directors and Officers Insurance (D&O) to protect them from litigation while in pursuit of lawful activities of the entity the represent.
      I doubt that Brownell departed out of fear.

      • You are a little late to the party, here. The NRA no longer has D&O insurance. They can’t afford it. Since Pete Brownell resigned from the Board, 5 more Directors resigned. Only Pete Brownell was replaced. There are currently 5 open seats on the 76-member NRA Board.

  15. Wayne LaPierre needs to go. ALL of this is on his watch. ALL of the NRA power is vested in him. If ANY of the financial rumors are true, he should be FIRED. If he has ANY integrity- he will resign and retire.

  17. Using all available information, my conclusion is that Pete Brownell is a true believer. Bureaucracy is no place for a true believer.

  18. Cut the hose shit, people, and start thinking seriously or the left will overrun us. Divided we will fall and it would be stupid to have to fight another war for freedom. It is better to retain than have to fight for it a second time.

    • Frightened, unprincipled and needy; you’re in no position to persuade or attract anyone.

  19. The NRA will either get it’s house in order(get rid of LaPierre&cronies) and become the gun rights organization that we deserve, or we’ll abandon it for one that is, like GOA. Don’t tell me it can’t be done, because the Brexit Party is six weeks old and it just handed the Torries their worst election in 180 YEARS. We can do it in America, too.

    • They are the organization their members deserve. They’ve always been fudds and the members loved it when the NRA became groupies for the RNC. Wayne’s background, as a career lobbyist, is no secret. So here we are.

      The question is whenther gun-rights people will start thinking harder and deserve better. Most are a lost cause, but new generations with access to wikipedia and raised by better parents… when I see Royal Nonesuch’s bright, alert eyes as he prepares to fire a pipe gun, I feel a stirring of hope.

    • I am a member so I think that one of the things they need to is improve the member services. It seems to they have a bunch of part time personnel at their headquarters if you ever try to reach someone about some type of information pertaining pertaining to training or other issue there always a answering machine no one answers the phone or they refer you to someone who is not there! Let’s get some business minded people onboard and become professional!

  20. How about: “thank you for your service, sir…we appreciate your time and efforts”.

  23. I’m not sure what to think about all these comments, all I know is that I’ve been having guns all my life and nobody is going to come to my house and take them. Besides I have Mastitis that if they don’t want you on the property, you will not enter.

    • To be certain, a lady suffering mastitis would be a terrible force to reckon with, but one hopes you’re merely suffering unintended auto-correction of “mastiffs.”

  24. How about doing something with the training the way they have moved everything to computers is nuts!
    Then there is it’s seems to me all they want do is sell you something. The lack of service all these big time names is driving members away and allowing the liberal gun haters to get a foot hold lets get some positive things going and publicize them aggressively!

  26. The NRA has compromised for political expediency. The Second Amendment is a part of the Bill of Rights, not the Bill if Privileges. A right is a right for all, not just those the majority considers to be “good” people.

    Every time I hear the qualification “law- abiding” I want to gag. Politicians robbed the Constitutional henhouse with the NFA, GCA ‘68, and every infringing law or ordinance, local up.

    A resident of NYC or any other place in the US should have the same rights to own and lawfully use firearms as do residents of the most unrestricted state. We need a POTUS who will tell NY, NJ, California, or any other state that infringes Second Amendment Rights to clean up or lose all federal money for education, roads, law enforcement etc. Make it painful enough for their voters so they stop electing these liberal creeps like Cuomo. If they want to have the benefits of being Americans, they should act like Americans.

    It is blatantly unconstitutional to deny anyone, even the worst felon, any right under the Bill of Rights, once his or her sentence—custodial and community supervision— has been fully served. The possession of a firearm should not be a crime in the US. If felons re-offend involving a gun, make the penalty Draconian. That would be Constitutional.

    This is the stance courageous gun rights organizations should take.

  28. NRA BOARD MEMBERS:
    01. Tim from MAC
    02. James Yeager
    03. Reid Hendrichs
    04. Jay ‘The Nightmare’ Gibson
    05. Clint Smith
    06. Paul Markel
    07. EJ Owens
    08. Instructor Zero
    09. Taran Butler
    10. Cody – Wranglerstar

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