Like many, I’ve watched the drama at the National Rifle Association these past few months. Also, like many People of The Gun, I’m trying to figure out who has the best interests of the NRA and its mission at heart.
Given what happened at the NRA annual meeting this year, I can’t help but wonder, was the NRA’s public relations firm Ackerman McQueen really trying to save the organization by asking NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre to step down?
Or, to hear others tell it, is LaPierre trying to save the NRA from a bunch of blood-sucking big spenders at their (now former) ad agency?
I have no doubt Ackerman McQueen employs some good people who are dedicated to our cause. Just as virtually everyone I’ve had dealings with at NRA headquarters has earned my respect and admiration for the quality of the work they do.
Furthermore, I have the highest respect for Lt. Col. Oliver North. He signed on as an Ackerman McQueen employee, which allowed him to leave Fox News to take the position of NRA President.
If Ack-Mac really just wanted to pick the NRA’s pockets and fleece them for all they were worth, why would they allow their employee (North) to ask LaPierre to step down?
Why would Ackerman McQueen (allegedly) expose information about LaPierre’s hyper-spendy charter jet rentals, or the ten $20,000 suits, to say nothing of putting up a sorority girl intern in a $4,500/month apartment near NRA HQ? Why would Ack-Mac do any of that if they wanted to keep the gravy train rolling? Or was that just their way of striking back at LaPierre after the first lawsuit was filed by the NRA?
Obviously, if LaPierre really had the best interests of the membership and gun rights in mind, he would fly commercial, pay for his own suits, and not be one of the highest-paid executives of any non-profit in America.
But Ack-Mac and North aren’t the only ones out of the picture now.
Just days ago, LaPierre suspended NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox. And now Cox has resigned. We hear that a number of other top NRA-ILA employees are threatening to jump ship with him. That would be catastrophic-level bad.
While Cox doesn’t walk on water, hasn’t been accused of buying clothing or renting private jets and charging them to the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. He has been accused of providing great leadership at ILA by plenty of people who have earned my trust and respect.
And while no organization has a perfect record in every state, the NRA-ILA has been vitally important in holding back all manner of gun control in my home state of Illinois – for decades.
Not only that, but NRA-ILA-supported endeavors have helped give us concealed carry in the Land of Lincoln – the last state to get concealed carry, if you didn’t already know. And more recently, with the NRA-ILA’s support, Guns Save Life has blocked the Village of Deerfield’s gun and magazine ban. And then there’s the GSL suit challenging the FOID Act…also done with the NRA-ILA’s support. And there are plenty of others, too.
Am I the only one who thinks a whole lot of the good guys are getting forced out of the gun rights fight while LaPierre circles the wagons, not to defend gun rights and the NRA organization, but to protect his his job, his ego, his cronies, and his platinum-plated pension?
This is turning into the battle of Stalingrad or the Iraq-Iran war… in the immortal words of Henry Kissinger: “It’s a pity both sides can’t lose”.
I’m right there with you. I think LaPierre really is just a vampire sucking at the life blood of the NRA. But I also think McQueen was trying to make bank of the NRA as well, even if he might have at least cared about the 2A as a whole. But at this point I think just about everyone wants to see the NRA clean house of all of these a-holes.
Right there with you. The optimist in me says, both sides ARE losing, right now. I don’t have access to the books, but I’d bet big that both AM and the NRA are down to under 50% of their normal revenue stream. Probably more like 10%, but since there’s no way to find out without a payoff to LaTrine or AM, it’s a moot point.
Maybe a bankruptcy judge might open both sets of books to the public someday, but I’d bet against that happening too. My money would go on this being settled out-of-court before the discovery phase. AM doesn’t want their books examined any more than the NRA wants theirs looked at. It is in both of their interests to settle before discovery and hope to sweep all the skeletons back into the closets where they’ll stop causing trouble.
Both sides (Ackerman and the top nra officials they were paying off with the NRAtv slush fund) should and can lose, and the members win, if the membership forces an emergency convention, a new smaller focused board and a mission statement to reiterate its core missions: train people, support local gun clubs, and robustly advocate on the second amendment and only the second amendment.
Having a vendor like Ackerman is not a bad thing if they don’t start trying to run things and subvert controls and systematically destroy transparency. But Ackerman looks to have know what it was doing and only burst the sore open when its sweetheart deal was threatened
so Wayne wants to save us from the big spenders?….that’s rich!
Ask-Mac seemed more interested in saving its cash cow then the organization itself.
Did I hear that an attorney involved in this mishegas is getting $100,000 a month and said attorney is related to someone on the “other side” of one of the suits?
Just lovely.
Overall, I’m underwhelmed with the NRA’s times at bat when gun controllers were pitching (back to 1934).
Today, received another NRA envelope. Without opening, I could see it was a renewal request (although my annual renewal date is somewhat distant). Didn’t bother to open. As I returned from the mailbox through the garage, the unopened missive hit the trash, as have other recent mailings. Hope things change because gun owners desperately need strong organizational support in the face of the fanatical left’s goal of defeating the 2nd amendment. Abuse of position to live a lifestyle few of us enjoy is reason enough for this humble gun owner to say adios.
I received mine yesterday, mine was for extending my membership, I get one every couple of months, mine went in the trash as well. I only have an NRA membership because the gun club I belong to requires you to belong to the NRA, otherwise I would belong to a different organization.
Lifers are getting envelopes with a membership expiration date printed on the outside.
I don’t know if it’s a mix-up with the mailing lists due to no having Ack-Mac’s professionals around any more, or if they’re deliberately trying to scam life members for renewal money.
It’s the latter. Got the same envelope and when I opened it, it was clearly to up your life membership to an endowment level for 1/2 the normal going rate but that also depends on what day of the week it is now.
Perhaps Cox and the other NRA expats can form a new NRA…?
You mean Chris Red Flag Laws are Good Cox? He needs to go work at Bloomberg with the rest of his kind. He’s just one of the cogs in the machine called the NRA that has been selling our rights for money. Good riddance to that turd.
My thought as well.
The NRA should never be about one man, even if lapierre was the best and brightest, he won’t be around forever and a healthy NRA shouldn’t be centered on him, anymore than having a permanent leader for the country would be good, eg a king. Lapierre should humbly and willingly step down because the NRA is supposed to be about its millions of members, not about the one guy at the top.
Ackerman was corrupting more than Lapierre alone.
This is by far the most ridiculous editorial and one that obviously is not based on facts.
Ackerman maqueen is obviously a major part of the problem. Thus have been taking a big portion of the funding they got for services and channeling it to a half dozen in the nra leadership in exchange for keeping the contract.
Essentially nratv budget was a Ackerman SLUSH FUND for a number of uses but clearly a main use was to bury compensation to a number of people at NRA. I have no problem with effective NRA leaders earning top dollar but this was a conspiracy to hide it.
Ackerman also obviously went from a posture of bribing to one of attempting to blackmail.
As far as Ollie north his own expertise is conspiracy to illegally move money around. He is no solution he is just another face of the same problem.
What we need is a grassroots member driven class action against anyone in the NRA involved in this that does not resign immediately. We do not need anyone associated with Ackerman rondo anything but accept the FACT that severe all ties with the NRA and not one more cent going to Ackerman.
The membership needs to force a new emergency general convention with no sideshows, entertainment etc, just thenbusoness of electing a new, small board that will clean house and set NRA on right path including its training programs and yes it’s power in advocacy and lobbying on the second amendment — and nothing else .
We don’t need to fanaticize about why Ackerman – an obviously corruptive force — decided to go from bribery to blackmail. That is not the memberships’ problem or responsibility. We need to move forward.
Link your facts please.
Tim nailed it.
I suspect that a lot of this is just run-of-the-mill incompetence that some people have a vested interest in covering up.
I haven’t been a member of the NRA for two years now. Why? Because they cannot tell the difference between my dad and I. To try to fix the whole thing I let my membership lapse so his could get straightened out. Two years, dozens of phone calls, a hundred emails and God-knows-whatelse I still get his mail and I don’t even live in the same fucking state. He still occasionally gets phone calls for me, asking if I don’t want to renew.
If they can’t get this sort of simple shit right after two years, one canceled membership to remove any confusion, loads of emails and at least ten hours on the phone, what can they do?
This is the NRA and it acts like Microsoft’s support for Win 8.0 back in the day. Both of them make me want to just scream into the phone “Since when the actual fuck is completely uninstalling something a basic, like step 3, part of the diagnostic criteria!?”.
All large membership groups with pittance membership fees ($30) are like that. I belong to several. This is not some medical practitioners or it attorneys membership group. My wife is a professional and belongs to two professional groups, one is $300 per year the other $500.
That is it the problem with the nra. A vendor taking it over, sending funds back to the people who decide if the vendor gets the contract and an corruptive feedback loop is the problem.
My brother belongs to GOA and that is even worse of a circus when it comes to member service
Which is still retarded. This is two additional fields (or maybe records, I don’t recall which is columns and which is rows off the top of my head) in their SQL database. TWO. Plus a line in their program to recall that data.
Fuck, in ISE it’s “Select FirstName, LastName, MiddleName, Suffix FROM [insert database name] Where…”
A fucking middle schooler in a first time scripting class could fix this and create a clickable wizard to make it easy to do for idiot users.
WE NEED A RECALL ELECTION AT THE NRA AND GET WAYNE OUT AND PUT BACK THE GOOD PEOPLE WHO PAY FOR THEIR OWN SUITS!!!
Theory: Ackerman was trying to save the NRA.
Question: Why did Ackerman refuse to help the NRA prepare for audits by the bloodthirsty NY AG? Was being unprepared for political opponents’ attacks part of some grand plan?
My theory is both sides put their seal of approval on acts that put the organization in trouble in the NY lawsuit, and they believe they can get out of the mess with a solid scapegoat.
Lapierre thinks he can make it look like ack Mac malfeasance. Ack Mac thinks they can throw some of the corrupt board under the bus and just say the we’re following orders.
I’m guessing the fact none of these turds will fall on their sword to save the organization will be bad in the end.
I will say that if this mess has you not giving money to the nra, pick saf, goa, fpc, or whatever org you think can be effective and give them the cash.
I don’t know if it’s a mistake or not, but I am still a Life member and gave money again last month. I don’t know all of the inside baseball on this debacle. Yes, Wayne has had some objectionable expenses. Yes, a lot of them are old news. Hearsay: North wanted a salary for his ceremonial position and was denied. Was Wayne involved in the denial? Ackerman signed North and paid him. Wayne sued Ack for financial info. North went to bat for Ack by blackmailing Wayne. What a mess.
I am probably leaving stuff out. There were many twists and turns.
Personally, I’d prefer a strong NRA that fights for us. And, I am not hung up over bump stocks but, that said, I empathize with people who are. It would totally suck to send the NRA a check and then watch them roll over on something you cared about.
I hope that the NRA helps to steer our president in a pro gun direction. Also, that Don Jr who seems to have a relationship with Silencerco (he visited and tried their stuff, met their president), helps talk his father down from his negative position on silencers.
Anyway, 2020 is almost here. The Democrats know that the trick is to win elections first, then argue about agenda. We need to win 2020 or some nut will have executive authority.
What I want to know is has Ackerman McQueen management been checked out to see if the money given to them by the NRA been well spent and not wasted in places where the ads would have little support? For example, Bridal magazines would definitely not be the best place to target gun owners. If the management has been doing this it would be pretty clear that AMQ has betrayed the NRA.
Perhaps there are no clean hands between LaPierre, Ask-Mac, Cox OR North. However, if I have to pick sides, it would be with Cox and North (the former Lt. Colonel’s past shenanigans in Iran-Contra notwithstanding).
La Pierre’s own track record in 1) getting his job as EVP of the NRA is highly dubious, and 2) he hasn’t done jack-shit as EVP to advance a REAL 2A agenda since taking office. What he has managed to do is squeeze the NRA’s tit until its purple and bleeding, all the while the Left is smacking its lips, roiling its hands and salivating over the prospect that the NRA as it should’ve been, is dead, and will likely never recover. Had LaPierre had the NRA’s and the peoples’ best interests at heart, he would’ve stepped down long ago. But it’s obvious that he’s nothing more than a blood-sucking vampire and a hypocrite to boot.
Cox has always been a straight-shooter. And no one but a brain-dead moron could question Oliver North’s patriotism or his dedication to the Second Amendment. While not a personal friend of either man, we’ve been around the same campfires over the years to give me a strong sense of confidence in both these men, as well as their selflessness, integrity and dedication to the cause of liberty.
And while not a Bible-thumper, I’m reminded of the scripture that intones “by their works shall ye know them.”
I question north, I think he is unethical scum bag of the highest orders and the exact opposite of a patriot. His record on the second amendment is not good at all. and think his presence had been a huge negative. He was EMPLOYED by Ack/Mac. He particular specialty when he was in government Leadership was to create hidden slush funds just like nratv was.
I liked a lot about Reagan but the fact is our constitution clearly gave the right to Congress to forbid aid to the contras. Right or wrong of Congress it was a total subversion of north to run a slush fund op selling weapons to Iran and fund the contras.
We need a total house cleaning. There are plenty of legitimate and ETHICAL patriots out there to fill the positions at the nra that need to be purged. We don’t need scum bags like lapierre or north or the scum bags at Ack-mac
Tim, I can’t defend North’s involvement or actions in the Iran-Contra affair. I agree it was illegal and exceeded the Executive’s authority in acting in such a manner. Your entire attitude toward North seems grounded solely in that sad episode. Nevertheless, the odor emanating from Col. North is far less offensive than the behavior of LaPierre.
I’d love to see a wholesale housecleaning at the NRA. But who could enough of us get behind in order to lead the NRA out of this whole mess?
I’m deeply disappointed in the Board for its lack of oversight, and certain nameless board members in particular, who failed to stand up on their hind legs and beat the drum. LaPierre has ensconced himself as Emperor and appears willing to play a fiddle while the NRA burns to the ground after raping and pillaging for his own personal gain.
Cox looks far better to me simply because at least he attempted to do something to unseat LaPierre prior to their last convention in my old hometown of Indianapolis. He may well have “blood on his hands” as well, but his track record has been pretty good and there’s no evidence (at least that I’m aware of) that he betrayed the membership while lining his own pockets. LaPierre has been the spineless pussy who’s caved in too many times over too many years.
With the NRA’s charter and by-laws being structured as they are, I’m at a loss as to how we can achieve a complete housecleaning. Just getting on the ballot for a seat on the board is a Herculean task in and of itself. And that brings me full circle back to just whom we can rally around to lead us and restore the NRA.
I don’t know who else to trust to take on the fight at the federal level…..with no game plan and no house cleaning and La Pierre firmly entrenched as dictator of the NRA, I see no hope for a turn around and the NRA in a continuing death spiral as I am sure many of their big donors like Larry Potterfield and others are likely to jump ship not to mention rank and file members like myself……we have a nasty war we are fighting in Illinois with our own gun grabbing politicians firmly entrenched ……I am considering keeping my money closer to home and helping out organizations like the Illinois State Rifle Association and Guns Save Life.
Ackerman McQueen was, at best, a parasite trying to preserve its host. Never forget LaPierre Laval hired them in the first place, against the board’s orders no less.
Ackerman McQueen had been with NRA since 1981. LaPierre joined NRA in 1991. Do the math.
I’ve got NRA publications with LaPierre in them from 1986. He’s been there for far longer than he has been Executive Vice President for Life.
I should’ve said he became EVP in 1991. Do you contend he made executive decisions before then?
https://mobile.newsok.com/article/5629229/ad-firm-and-nra-grew-together-before-recent-spat
“Firm founders Marvin McQueen and his son Angus McQueen, meanwhile, were members of the NRA.
“Lee Allan Smith, a retired co-founder of Ackerman McQueen, said this week that while he was not connected to the account, he recalls the relationship between the firm and the NRA started with Ackerman but was nurtured by Angus McQueen.
“Ray was the king at the time,” Smith said. “But Angus truly took it to great heights, which is as it should be when you follow someone. When I was there, I saw that relationship prosper with Angus and that relationship prospered so well with Angus and LaPierre.”
“The relationship started in 1981, a pivotal time for the NRA that a few years earlier had changed direction with a so-called “Weekend Massacre” that saw traditional old-school board members focused on hunting sports and gun safety being ousted from power by a faction interested in high-profile political fights over gun rights.
‘David Handy, an attorney and frequent writer on the history of the NRA and gun control, wrote the shift started in the 1970s with NRA leaders deciding to pursue a more political stance.
“In the years prior to the coup, the NRA supported gun control efforts that included the National Firearms Act passed by Congress in 1934 in response to the use of machine guns by gangsters. Then, in 1968, Congress passed laws banning gun sales to felons, drug users and the mentally ill and banned the import of some handguns, and requiring more detailed record keeping by gun dealers.
“With Ackerman McQueen running advertising campaigns and assisting on lobbying efforts, the NRA in the 1980s started enjoying wins in Congress that included weakening restrictions dating back to the 1968 legislation.”
So, there’s that.
Agreed. Their actions seem to me to be one of primarily self-preservation. A parasite that kills its host is a bad parasite. One that allows another parasite to kill its host isn’t much better. Ack-Mac’s actions read to me like one parasite trying to drive off another when the host can’t support both, almost like the antimicrobial agent penicillium mold releases to expand its own feeding grounds. The NRA needs a flea bath.
wayne is 69 and has been there for 28 years as the head of the NRA. Move the heck on. He hasn’t advanced gun rights issues at all, there are many groups like gottlieb, alan gura, etc who have moved the issues.
I’d want wayne fired if the only thing he did wrong was buying those expensive suits. No group should have a CEO for 28 years, it almost certainly will lead to corruption. wayne should go now
If my public relations firm was so effective that I was the most hated organization in the US, maybe something was wrong – probably on both sides. We need the organization that the NRA used to be, and so far I haven’t seen an organization that can take its place. Several other pro-2A organizations are doing great work, but none have the critical mass that the NRA has, and even that is being overwhelmed but several multi-billionaires. I have very mixed feelings about Wayne. I think he is often right but I seldom feel he is effective in getting the right message out. I would like him to step down, but with Chris gone I don’t know who in the organization could take his place. But I feel I must support the NRA even as it works through these tough times.
The NRA ‘as it used to be’ is not relevant in today’s environment.
I’m gone. Yes, I am one of those who pays the NRA a pittance membership fee. A one to two years at a time membership. Mainly because I’m retired and every nickle I have once spent is gone forever. Yet, every day I get e-mails and every week mail offering me gifts to donate more. When, I find out that the NRA supports so called “Red Flag Laws” and the banning of Bump Stocks, don’t own or want one, which in my mind should not go down without some sort of fight from the NRA I am discouraged with my membership. With the constant request for donations, only to find out that LaPierre is buying a 200,000 wardrobe charging it to the NRA, along with charted jets and 4,500 a month apartments for interns. That is not why I joined the NRA or what I intended my pittance dues to go for . The whole time I worked, I was in upper corporate management, I never had any company finance my wardrobe or daily normal living expenses and when I flew, I flew commercial public transport. The NRA has problems and it is not with money but with blood sucking so-called management ego’s and a loss of the mission of the NRA. The NRA is not and should not be a cash cow for overpaid ego’s and blood sucking managers.
What he said!!!
I don’t think either side is with the angels. AM has been accused of charging staff to the NRA, but for using them to support another client, the Chickasaw Nation. Understandably, a lot of the knowledge and skills would be transferable between chickasaw.tv and NRATV, but they each should be billed accordingly.
Another thing that makes me wonder about nepotism and conflicts of interest is NRA Board member Dan Boren. He’s a former Blue Dog OK Democrat Congressman who often voted with the Republicans. He was elected to the NRA board in 2008, and left the House to become the president of corporate development for the Chickasaw Nation in 2012. I don’t know when AM began business with CN. Maybe it was after 2012, and Dan liked them so much from NRA experience that he hired them for CN. If that’s not the case, then it’s suspicious that one person would be highly ranked in two organizations repped by AM.
AckMac and North made the NRA a laughingstock.
Wayne brought in Ackerman. Wayne used Ackerman to pay for his expenses: he charged them, they charged the NRA. Wayne is the one that said North is “black mailing” him. Wayne is the one that said Cox was conspiring in text messages to get rid of him. Wayne was the one that said the letter from major vendors calling for him to retire was a conspiracy to destroy the NRA. And so on.
Ackerman is a business that got a fantastic contract. They did what a big business in America does. What is the NRA’s leadership’s excuse?
What a mess. I don’t know who to believe anymore. I may have to send my money somewhere else for awhile.
This is all quite simple. You see, Ackerman McQueen had to destroy the NRA in order to save it. Yaaaaaa, that’s the ticket! Who are you going to believe anyway, Ackerman McQueen or your own lying eyes?
Where is all this “evidence” against LaPierre? I hear about it. I read about it. But where is it?? As one who experienced the Washington DC “inside the beltway” blood sport for a lot of years, this entire debacle smells of a very successful misinformation campaign, aka psyops. And it appears to be working, as I continually read about NRA members cancelling their memberships. Bloomberg and his minions must be having a hearty laugh; seems some of the money he spent to kill the NRA is finally having an effect. Think about that before you cancel YOUR membership. As an NRA member for nearly 50 years I hate seeing all this distraction from the important mission the NRA has been successfully accomplishing. If you take a look at where we were as gun owners in 1970 and where we are today, you had better give credit to the NRA! If not for that organization, we would look like Canada or Australia!
I saw is a thread on AR15.com that collected the various evidence/documents you need to look at to see what is going on is not disinfo by commie mommies. All of this stuff the leftist corporations are writing up comes from the NRA itself. If this was all fake they could have done this right after Sandy Hook or the Mandalay Bay shooting.
It’s the NRA’s own disclosure docs. Don’t take it second-hand, you can look it up yourself. That’s all WaPo did in their hit piece. Pity the NRA leadership made the job so easy for them. The hit piece was factually correct, per public records; IMO, the bias was mostly limited to the self-righteous “shock” that a charity could possibly be corrupt (heaven forefend!) even after all the Clinton/Soros/Bloomberg/etc nonsense.
It should surprise no one the NRA is run by so-called “swamp” types. If you think it’s defamation or a fake, you need to read more history and do more research.
NRA is not a charity. But thanks for your comment.
Not exactly accurate.
“The NRA, which received tax-exempt status in 1944, is classified as a 501(c)(4) membership association, which is an organization that allots membership status to patrons who give a requested amount in dues. (Think: public radio.)
The NRA is actually an umbrella organization, with four 501(c)(3) charitable subsidiaries and one Section 527 Political Action Committee separate segregated fund”
-Guidestar
People who cancel their memberships, will not be eligible to vote again for 5 years, IF they do decide to join the NRA again. That is something everyone who is a current member should keep in mind before they cancel their membership.
For those who are pissed-off about the current situation, ( as many of us are ,) withhold funds you would normally contribute to the NRA, and send them to any other organization who is fighting for our 2nd amendment rights, but maintain your NRA membership, to help get this organization back onto the correct course.
One of the reasons the NRA is so messed up today, is because not enough people made an INFORMED decision to vote when they were eligible to. Yes, it is hard to know those of the board members would vote in our best interests, but not voting at all certainly did not help the present situation.
There are plenty of anti’s and trolls here on TTAG and elsewhere, that I am sure, are delighted with NRA’s current problems. They don’t know shit about guns, and it’s evident from the stupid comments they make. Some even drop their last name from current posts, while previously they used their full name, but they aren’t fooling anyone. They spout their bullshit to create hate and discontent, all the while, trying to impress people with their “knowledge.” Others use a different name to post from what they had used.
To all the current members of the NRA who are TRUE supporters, I say ” Hang in there, things will get straightened out, but it will take time “)
Ehhh I just ignore all the NRA e-mail. It piles up on Yahoo and I do a mass dump every few weeks. I appreciate NRA ILA for helping us in ILLinois too(where is the much touted GOA????). Oh and I NEVER watch troll videos😏
What is a “troll video”?
Can the membership do anything about the situation?
Stop giving them money, speak out against them and inform the Fudd. That’s the most you can do regarding the NRA.
There is a lot you can do to fight for human rights in America. Joining the NRA is not one of them. Activism is required. The NRA is not an activist group. Activism requires your personal participation not just a check.
Make a decision: become an informed activist or have fun with what guns you have until they’re gone. Be an American or be a Kiwi/European.
Today I sent my membership renewal request back with “Not another penny until Wayne is gone!” written on it.
I hope others are doing the same. It’s all about money for LaPierre and cronies. When the money dries up they will leave with whatever they can carry from the ruins and the organization can start to rebuild.
Withold money (they sure feel that) and if you’re a lifer, be sure to vote the annual elections. Even rigged elections have their limit.
If you are attending NRAAM, please participate in a riot to eject the leadership from the building by force when the rigged results are announced. It was pathetic that there was no physical outrage after this year’s vote to not hold anyone accountable or even to air the dirty laundry.
Rats stowaway on our ship and gave us the plague via their fleas.
You can blame the rat, you can blame the flea, you can blame the people that let them on the boat, you could be crazy enough to blame the non whites for having such an infectious disease… It could be all of the above.
At this point, we need an enlightenment and reformation. This requires new strategies and fresh people. This is the time of the Millennials; they are now in their 30s and they are getting societal power. The NRA refuses to let go of their old world ideas and their tired strategies during a time where there’s two new generations replacing the old. The NRA wants to stay old white people doing Fudd stuff.
There is no honor among thieves. We don’t need to keep enemies around. Someone opened the gates to let them in. Now we need to deport them and create a filtration system of merit to come in.
Either we can cry over spilt milk or we can get to work cleaning up the Fudd’s mess. We know who has to go and we know what needs to be done.
No, Trump isn’t going to save you. Just stop already. His little tweets and his phony 2A support is a contributing factor to the fall of the NRA.
Identity politics will not save the NRA, but it’s telling that this is the first place you go. There are likely more Fudds among minorities than whites simply due to increased unfamiliarity with guns, and still more urban folk of all stripes that think even sport/hunting aren’t acceptable.
This is a leadership problem that starts & ends with LaPierre. There’s an underlying diffuse problem that got us to this point, but the fact remains that Wayne has completely molded the NRA around himself; it is shameful, but it also makes dealing with the immediate problem easier. We don’t need a “boomer purge,” we just need to stop tolerating Fudds & backstabbers.
If minorities want more influence in the NRA, they need to earn it by bringing in more members. It’s rather silly to expect the existing majority white membership to simultaneously pander/bend over backward to attract new demographics, AND to hand over the keys to the kingdom at the same time. You gotta earn that kind of trust, and no offense to minorities (particularly black communities) but they’ve never been significant political allies of gun owners –regardless the ancient & now (thankfully) largely irrelevant reasons for that history.
If you had watched a lot of the NRA’s content you would have seen that they focus on identity politics in a bad way. They represent the old white Republican man and exclude the others. The membership hates the word “diversity.” They literally told me to “fuck off” with stupid commie ideas when I said we can’t be catering to old white Republicans. They said to leave if I don’t like it. Now the NRA is irrelevant to most gun owners.
The NRA leadership and membership is a bunch of older people who are mostly white and Fudds. That’s what I said. That’s what I meant. Their way of doing things is not the young person’s way. Catering to old closed minded white people in 2020 is stupid as it can get.
I never said to force black people in positions of power. That’s what racist people who hate “diversity” would likely think. I think young people need to replace the old people who are out of touch.
The NRA does not speak for every gun owner. They speak for their members, which are mostly older white people who love the police state and Trump. They focus on the older white person because they are the ones giving them money. They make the customer happy. They do not focus on the other demographics because the old white people get angry when you do. This is why we need to get rid of those types of people; they are creating the eventual downfall of the NRA.
The NRA needs to stop boot licking and politicking. They have to stop making the 2nd Amendment about hunting and sport. They need to stop closing off diversity of thought by limiting themselves to the Republican party’s current platform. They have to speak to other people in the way that needs to be done.
Not everyone hunts, not everyone is old, not everyone is white, not everyone is a man, not everyone is straight, not everyone is a Christian, etc. Limiting your demographics and catering to them is how you limit your membership to less than 6 million. You’ve created an artificial cap to make certain people happy. It makes the NRA seem rather racist, homophobic and sexist. Very much like the old days of the baby boomers and generation X.
So…you say we shouldn’t force black/young people into positions of power when they haven’t earned it…but we should put them into positions of power despite the fact they have little track record on gun rights. Uh-huh. If you can’t see the contradiction, I don’t know what to tell you, and I would also suggest you take it on the arches if you think that’s any way to manage an organization.
Besides, both Noir and West are excellent ambassadors already, unless they “don’t count” simply because of their popularity with white people. I’d love to see them with some sort of real org authority, at least with regards to messaging. Exactly how many young and/or non-white people would you suggest head up a group that is currently overwhelmingly white & has all of five prominent figures? Why do you even care…unless you think that a person’s policy goals & philosophy are dictated by demographic? I want old, white Fudds who vote for anti-gun Republicans gone, and I want young black Fudds who vote Democrat gone just as badly. Mostly, I want the overwhelmingly fat, old, white, male membership to want those guys gone, and that’s the real problem.
I do favor a reformed NRA that is basically a consortium of state/regional groups that send representatives to hammer out the national goals of the pro-gun movement; I suspect geographic realities would likely result in a more ‘colorful’ leadership class, if that’s important to you. But still, the most active members and leaders of orgs in minority-heavy areas still tend to be –wait for it– white people, typically older, and almost exclusively Republican. Why shouldn’t they be rewarded with leadership roles for their effort & competence in activism? Simply so we can take a chance on some newcomer with fewer accomplishments? Or so we can feel good about ourselves? To meet some arbitrary perception of symmetry?
The ID politics stuff is so far down the ladder of priorities behind disrupting crony networks, financial conflicts of interest, air-head celebrity worship, and nepotism, it’s not even worth mentioning.
Ackerman McQueen being unwilling or unable to provide detailed billing records is enough to distrust and fire them.
Wayne LaPierre’s massive perks and outlandish spending, including that college intern gal in the $4500 a month rental, is a man I lost all confidence in long before the current unpleasantness.
Oliver North was by various accounts a good US Marine. That is a very long time ago. His criminal actions aiding Iran in securing weapons was unforgivable then and remains so today. From that point forward I have never trusted him. That his position on wanting Wayne kicked out coincides with my own thinking does remove from him the stain of past crimes. He never should have been brought aboard by NRA leadership in the first place.
Since getting into guns back in 2008, I have always read that the nra-ila was actually more important, more effective, than the NRA itself. Working at a state level to change laws and get the citizens civil rights back. The loss of an effective leader at the nra-ila, Chris Cox, not talkin about whatever Whispers might be said about him now, Cox was an effective leader and got things done.
Back of the 1990s Wayne made appearances everywhere on TV. And he even had his own talk radio show on Sunday nights. I listen to it when I was stationed at Fort Bragg in the late 90s.
In some archives somewhere there’s tape of me asking questions of his guests, two pro gun Black Americans on that show.
I was on the NRA Board for years.
THE problem is twofold.
(1) Wayne who believes he is King for Life and not an employee, and
(2) The Board, led by Wayne’s sycophants, who have ignored many “red flags” in this century and blessed his coronation as King of the NRA. They deserve the primary blame because it is their JOB to evaluate, judge, and discipline the EVP. Not to mindlessly RUBBER STAMP the annual re-election of Wayne to continue in office.
Just what else were they rubber-stamping, I wonder? “Expense audit committee,” my ass. I hate that our enemies the sleazy NY Dems are getting credit for the kill, but I’ll be very surprised if they aren’t able to find enough dirt to shut down the national office & possibly even prosecute some people. This crap is already beyond the pale, and we don’t even have discovery info yet. And all of it could have been avoided if not for LaPierre’s mismanagement.
To Former Board Member, if I knew who you were, I’d cast my vote for you in a heartbeat based simply on the words you posted here on this subject. My own comments include harsh criticism of the current board. I’m a bit red-faced over the fact that I let my emotions get the better of me to the point I used a couple of words I don’t normally let flow through my keyboard.
LaPierre has to be the problem. All this developed on his watch – he’s been in firm control for a quarter century and has been paid a CEO-level salary. But CEOs resign when things don’t go well for the organization and LaPierre is hanging on like a Venezuelan dictator.
I’m betting he’s corrupt and milking the job for every dollar as long as he can, but even if he isn’t that still leaves extreme incompetence as a strong reason for him to resign.
What I’d really like to know is who is in the “cabal” that keeps him in office and what are they getting out of it? Apparently Chris Cox isn’t in the cabal, which is good to know.
Two parasites fighting over who deserves blame for killing the host, is *not* “one of them trying to save the host”
Maybe we need to clear the entire directorship and start with a clean slate. We are at a critical time in the gun rights fight. Bring Uncle Ted up to the front office. He has a backbone and won’t back down from a fight. Bring back Chris Cox. And there are lots of young fire eaters out there to fill the ranks. Now is the time we need a crew in there that know how to play hardball.
I am a member and support the ideals and concept of the organization; however, Support for the leadership, the board, accountants and lawyers monitoring the accounts and legal performance of the Organizational Leadership garner no support from me. I pay my dues but do not and will not support their pleas for additional support until they get their house in order, have a complete audit of their books and records, and enact rules for the leadership accountability to the members.
It’s pretty simple, what the NRA needs is an independent investigative committee made up of well known 2A supporters.
Possible nominations for it
Robert Fargo, TAG
Alan M. Gottlieb, Founder of the Second Amendment Foundation
Colion Noir
Billy Johnson
Tom Selleck
A sheriff or two that declared their jurisdictions gun sanctuaries
My point is that there are plenty of people out there that are trusted when it comes to defending the second amendment and that can be called on to objectively help clean house at the NRA.
Interesting you bring up Farago. I think he’d be good too but I doubt he’d be interested. After he left TTAG he seems to have washed his hands of it. Can’t blame him.
Didn’t realize he left. I followed him back in the on the Truth about Cars.
What special skill set does Wayne LaPierre bring that can’t be had better, cheaper and without the taint?
Since everyone has an opinion here’s mine. The NRA has basically “enjoyed” a free ride since 2008 when President Obama was elected. Now that Trump has been elected, the big bad boogeyman has been beaten and no major threat to the community has come about The NRA has no real big enemy to fight so they fight amongst themselves.
Remember you said that about the boogeyman when AOC gets elected in 2024 which she will because they’re grooming her for it and we’re four years out and I can’t think of a Republican that they can run successfully against her. The Republicans need to start grooming their own candidate if they hope to have any chance. They need to be young and a person of color. They need to get Candace Owens into office yesterday she’s probably the only person who can beat AOC in a general.
The NRA told me I need to send them money or the gubment was going to take my gunm. They sent me a bunch of stickers to plaster all over my truck, so I did, then the cops saw the NRA stickers , pulled me over and took my gunm.. So I called up the NRA and told them about it, they said, ” Yeah, we know they do that, you need to send us some more money, we got NRA coffee cups this month.”
Always thought the “end of the NRA” was very conveniently orchestrated…(Putting on a Tinfoil hat): It wouldn’t surprise me that this was designed to happen from the get go…Set in motion by the “Deep State…” To further collapse our U.S. Constitutional -Bill of Rights…with the main target to be undermined , the 2nd Amendment..And the destruction of a leading Pro2@ origination…Welcome to the New World Order, Authoritarianism, and Hard Paternalism, YO!
“NRA-ILA-supported endeavors have helped give us concealed carry in the Land of Lincoln – the last state to get concealed carry..”
[corrected] NRA-ILA-supported endeavors have given the Land of Lincoln the ability to decide who goes on the defacto gun owners list, for a price.
Somewhere up above, Neal Knox is laughing and saying “I told you so”.
got a chance to meet and talk to him once…truly, one of the “good guys”…among a nest of vipers…
Another theory:
Under New York state law, where the NRA chose to incorporate and which has jurisdiction over them, no executive can claim they were not responsible. There are no “honorary” or do nothing titles. North and Cox are gone. All AckMac execs are gone. Next LaPierre will resign and whoever is left is holding the bag. The bandits make a clean break and the true believers, including dues payers, take the fall. This is all smoke and mirrors.
And if you think the NYDA’s case is a liberal conspiricy, then you haven’t been paying attention. We know they’ve been grabbing every dollar they can, you think they were worried about where it came from?
I’ve been wondering if we don’t need a new organization. The problem is getting started. Maybe it’s time for voting members to clean our own house and bypass any need for anyone to step down. We might not be able to pull it off properly in Congress but there’s no reason we can’t do it in our own organization.
LaPierre has always, always struck me as coming from the same vein as a tv preacher. He’s all show and no go. He is there to fulfill his needs at the expense of others. Always has and always will. He’s the biggest rat that needs to be thrown off the ship, otherwise it’s going to sink. The writing is on the wall.
Wayne has got to go.
The LAST thing we should do is non-renew or cancel our membership!! Who else is fighting for us?? “Doing something inefficiently is better than doing nothing at all !!!” We all know these problems will get resolved eventually …and it would be a lot faster recovery if we keep membership numbers up. I encourage everyone to stick it out.
Our enemies are frothing at the bit over our problems and their hope that we are weakened by these problems. Please reconsider your thots of cancelling or non-renewing!
A Life Member
I was watching a gun gripe video with IraqVeteran8888 and Tim from M.A.C…. Tim made the comment that LaPierre’s salary and budget were larger than the ILA’s.
Don’t know if that’s true or not but… if it is, it speaks volumes…
I have heard this SOS from NRA members for decades!
U CAN OPT OUT OF ALL MAILING EXCEPT IF UR A VOTING LEVEL MEMBER ONCE A FING YEAR!
U CAN DO THIS ONLINE OR CALL…I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANYTHING FOR DECADES AND I AM GLAD I DID NOT GIVE MY HARD EARNED MONEY TO BIG CORP GREEDY TYPES SPENDING A MILLION A DAY ON LAWSUITS TO FIGHT THE MESS THEY CREATED!
IF THERE WAS ONE BRAIN CELL IN THE NRA WHY IN THE HELL DID THEY NOT MOVE THE CHARTER OUT OF COMMUNIST NEW YORK TO ARIZONA OR SOME GUN FRIENDLY STATE?
NEW YORK FROM THE TOP DOWN WANT THEM GONE CUZ THEY DON’T LIKE CIVIL RIGHTS THEY DO NOT AGREE WITH ..GOD GIVEN OR NOT!
2 more days and I’ll no longer be affiliated. Stickers scraped off the truck and safe, T shirt and cap are in the trash and it’s over. They got me with the brady bill and now again with bumpstock ban support. There won’t be a 3rd
They became what they were supposed to fight
The NRA has to rebrand itself and focus on the younger generation that are anti second amendment in large because they’ve experienced so many mass shootings which has had a very negative impact on guns and gun owners. When those of us 35 and older pass away it’ll be the current generation that’s going to decide if groups like the NRA remain viable. NRA like Harley Davidson need to reach out to everyone that’s not white, old and Republican.
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