As my father taught me, something is worth exactly what someone’s willing to pay for it. So there’s no question that NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre was worth $5,110,985 in 2015. For those who wish to examine Mr. LaPierre’s salary and retirement benefits on a return-on-investment basis, washingtpost.com has the numbers . . .
According to the tax filing, the NRA recorded a bump in total revenue in 2015 but a dip in contributions. The NRA brought in more than $336 million in total gross revenue in 2015, an increase of about $26 million from the year before. According to the filing, contributions to the NRA dropped to just under $95 million in 2015, down from $103 million in 2014.
So Mr. LaPierre’s 2015 compensation represents around 1.5 percent of the NRA’s 2015 gross revenue. After 36 years of employment. Is the NRA Veep a bargain or a fat cat?
Just more greed and corruption.
Seems the NRA swamp needs draining too.
LaPierre was paid the equivalent of 5000 lifetime NRA memberships last year. Now will someone please tell me why that guy is worth five thousand times more than the NRA lifetime member?
Or how about LaPierre’s pay being…ready for this…the equivalent of 125,000 annual memberships!
125,000 annual memberships!
Better see some quick changes or I’m outta here!
Under his leadership the membership has grown by 40%. We went from only having a handful of state that had shall issue to now having more that 20% of the states being constitutional carry. The NRA barely has a lobby wing in 1911 and today it has 26 full time lobbyists and a ground game in every state. The NRA is an organization of more than 1100 employees, 10,000+ volunteers and an annual budget of more than $220m. What if we paid him less? Would he stay? What if we fired him and hired someone for $87,500/yr? What would happen?
Given the growth and success of the NRA under his leadership, yeah, he’s been worth everything he’s been paid and I (as a dues paying member) have no issue with his salary.
Dude, he was along for the ride. In fact I bet there NRA would have grown more without him at the helm. He sung to the choir and quickly offended the bystanders who might not have anything against the NRA until they encountered LaPierre.
Hillary and Obama were the boost to the NRA. LaP was just lucky to be nearby.
Dude! Bro! Man!
Really, he was along for the ride? The NRA in the 1980’s was a total wreck. They were a training organization and that was it. They didn’t didn’t much bother with political advocacy and they were more than willing to help write legislation that was pro gun control. When you’re the leader of a non-profit, you’re not along for the ride, you’re driving. Even in the 90’s gun ownership was much different than it is today and Wayne helped steer that organization from being a wood stock bolt action fudd club into mean lobbying machine that support the HPA, helped win Heller and McDonald, and made pushed in every state for shall issue laws and now constitutional carry.
Most of the NRA’s membership growth occurred long before Obama was on anyone’s radar.
Do you want to drain the swamp or not? Defending absurd CEO salaries and packages is filling the swamp no matter how you look at it.
My second amendment right is not a market, a commodity, a stock or a business. If LaP needs that kind of money, then why doesn’t he run a real company? Because he can’t. His hostile blasting would have him fired the first day on the job. I could do a better job that LaPierre.
People the swamp is the FEDERAL GOV’T.
If your some marxist/socialist dope just move on out to Kommifornia (or Eurp) and fit yourself in.
The swamp includes any concentration of power sufficient to preferentially influence government in its favor, thus distorting liberty (and the free market).
Median CEO pay is about 4.6 per cent of revenue; by that standard, WLP makes about 1/3 what an average CEO makes in salary as a VP. And for-profit CEOs get stock options, insurance plans, etc. that are not available to not-for-profit executives, so his compensation is not out of line.
So long as there remains any serious challenge to second amendment rights, even $1MM may be too much. Paying serious salary to the head of an organization that struggles to maintain a status quo should be questioned.
Not sure of your source but if it is correct it would still be misleading. in general there is no way in the world average CEO pay is 4 percent of revenue. 0.1% is more likely for a pubkic company.
Probably that figure would include small businesses and owners who are ceos
https://www.ceoupdate.com/articles/compensation/median-ceo-compensation-46-percent-revenue
And please keep in mind that the nearly $5 MM he received in 2015 was inflated by $4MM, as a one-time payout of accrued retirement pay for 36 years of service. Not so much.
I’m so glad you commented this. I was not sure what it wasn’t but Wayne’s salary didn’t seem crazy to me.
I dont think you understand what drain the swamp really means. That applies to politicians funded by taxpayer dollars, corporation, and large nonprofits have a totally different risk reward structure based not based on the taxpayers. I for one am okay as long as the key metrics are rising. Its called pay for performance. I hate the whiney bitches at my work complaining about the CEO’s salary, but throw a shit fit if they have to a damn decision on their own with out the group. Their is a reason C suite of companies get paid what they do, the shit is not easy! Its very easy to sink a large corporation through mismanagement and bad strategic vision……
“Greed and corruption”
Nice tag line but no substance, come back with facts to back it up.
Very misleading headline. He earned about $1 million in compensation, not $5 million. The bump over last year was the result of a one-time payment of a retirement fund accrued over 36 years of employment – about $100K/year – which is peanuts considering it has to last him, after taxes, for the rest of his life. Do the math. This headline is unnecessarily misleading and in the circle of “fake news” that undermines TTAG’s credibility.
“The only way to stop a bad buy with a gun is with a good guy with a go.”
That simple sentence alone completely derailed the strongest anti-gun, anti-2nd amendment social movement in modern history. The gun-control argument was never quite the same after LaPierre made this comment. To this day, the movement’s agitprop is still haunted by this unassailable fact.
The bottom-line is that nobody, but nobody came close to so succinctly underscoring the historical logic of the 2nd amendment. In one statement, LaPierre presented gun ownership and our tradition of self-defense as a counterpoint, thereby disproving the principal elements of the gun-control movement’s ideology. So, yeah, I think he’s worth what he get’s paid.
“In one statement, LaPierre presented gun ownership and our tradition of self-defense as a counterpoint…”
What makes you think that LaPierre thought up that sound bite? Maybe it was penned by the Ackerman-McQueen advertising agency which effectively runs NRA, along with the unelected staff.
The ad people almost certainly wrote it.
Wayne was a mediocre writer and a fair speaker before they got hold of him.
Are we becoming SJW’s here here on TTAG. Compensation for NRA executives is not a problem.
I am not a Social Justice Warrior!!!!!
^^^THIS.
What business is it of mine what two consenting groups decide to pay each other?
If you are a member, it is your money they are being so generous with. You have the right to an opinion (and a vote?) regarding how well your money is spent.
I’d proudly call my self a social justice warrior. It is a social injustice that many of our political leaders want to disarm the public including those most at risk for violence. Few people have a better claim to need firearms for self-defense than the impoverished living in crime riddled neighborhoods, but all of us deserve and have the right to protect ourselves and our families against those that might cause our harm. That is a legal, social, and ethical issue that some are trying to turn into a culture war by turning gun owners against minority groups like the LGBTQ community even while we should be rallying to their aid and showing them that firearms are the best way for them to defend themselves from the bigoted idiots that assault, rape, and kill them at a higher rate than the rest of the population. Instead, we allow those against our right to self-defense to brand gun owners as ignorant bigots who care little for the rights of minorities and make us look like those who attack minorities represent us. Attacking other “social justice” issues while fighting against other injustices only serves to feed into the false (most of the time) narrative of the gun clinging idiots who bash gays, blacks, etc.
$100K/year in retirement is peanuts?
That $5M total for the year… say gives him $3M after taxes. Assuming he had no other money, and didn’t invest any of that, he could live on $100K/year after taxes for the next 30 years (assuming he lives that long… he’s 67 now).
The median salary in the US is just over $50K… so approximately 100 years of steady, hard work to get the same $5M that Wayne got.
Not saying that he doesn’t deserve it, and what he does isn’t important… just pointing out that it’s in no way, shape or form peanuts.
Hell, I’d quit my job today for $100K/year after taxes for the next 30 years, and I’m almost 30 years younger than Wayne!
Would you quit your job today for a retirement benefit that amounted to about 10% of your salary? Because that’s what his retirement package equals. Teachers, in my district, get anywhere from 60% up of their average salary over the past 5 years after as little as 20 years of service. We pay them more in retirement for doing nothing than we paid them when they were teaching. Yes, $100k/year is peanuts, for someone earning nearly $1MM/year.
Anyone earning a million a year for even ten years should be set for retirement. The other $100k/year should just be frosting on the cake.
Let’s put it in perspective; you earn $100,000 a year. Your company says: “guess what! we’re going to give you a $10,000 a year retirement package! It’s not our fault that your property taxes are $12,000 a year! Thanks for your service, and have a nice life!” You realize that you have to spend $20,000 a year on security, because the anti-gunners have threatened your life oh, say – 16,000 times. But your Social Security check almost covers that, so it’s no big deal – the family can always make up the difference. “You decide it’s a better idea to work until you die – the wife and kids can go on those vacations. And the office has bulletproof walls, so things are good. Unless, of course, you go outside. Such a deal!
If it wasn’t for the NRA, you wouldn’t own a single gun right now. The NRA straight up saved the second amendment. This guy is worth every penny. He gets results, and he wins. He wins a lot. When speaks and pulls levers in Washington, people listen. Politics isn’t about playing nice, or fair. If he was getting paid this much and losing, then no. He wouldn’t be worth dick. But him and the NRA helped change the entire course of human history over the past 30 years.
Hank- “If it wasn’t for the NRA, you wouldn’t own a single gun right now.”
Nonsense. At the state level, NRA didn’t put more than a few thousand dollars into local races in Illinois for the last forty years. Grassroots people put Otis McDonald together with attorney Alan Gura, not NRA. Alan Gottlieb & SAF funded McDonald v. Chicago, not NRA. NRA state lobbyist Todd Vandermyde put Duty to Inform in Illinois’ 2013 concealed carry bill, not Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
“The NRA straight up saved the second amendment.”
Once again, nonsense. 2nd Amendment rights have mostly been saved by grassroots work of ordinary people. NRA comes in later and steals the credit.
“When speaks and pulls levers in Washington, people listen.”
When the President of the United States Barack Obama invited Wayne LaPierre to a nationally televised town hall, he didn’t show up. Most NRA staffers like LaPierre and Chris Cox went to 2nd tier institutions, not Harvard or Yale. They talk big in front of the hicks at NRA conventions, but they cannot play in the big leagues.
“But him and the NRA helped change the entire course of human history over the past 30 years.”
Ridiculous statement. Every gun owner in America would be better off if NRA ceased to exist.
Talk about choking on the kool-aid. You’re like the bozos who pay for concealed carry insurance, even bragging about, but too dumb to realize that what the insurance offers are your legal rights in the first place. The insurance company just sold them back to you in a policy you pay for.
It would be beneficial if you elaborated on your point. The claim alone is not persuasive, or informative. I, for one, would be seriously interested in your reasoning.
Azzhurtz, you’ve been hanging out with little Johnson jr. to long.
The $985,885 Wayne received in 2014 was his salary and the remainder was a federally required distribution.
He’d be more than worth his salary at twice that figure.
Wrong. Read the Wapo article.
Too fat a cat.
Give me a break….$5mm.
How much does he donate to the NRA?
Maybe contributions should be going to Gun Owners of America…this organization seems a bit more stalwart in its opposition to anti-gun lobby.
GOA is a great organization and I am a member. However, they simply don’t have anywhere near the clout or muscle that the NRA (also a member) does. Case in point, on one of their take action emails last year, or it could have been the year before, I can’t remember exactly what they were trying to do, but the email basically stated “if you’re also an NRA member, contact them and ask them to….”. Says a lot about an organizations ability to accomplish things when even a “competitor” is recognizing their power and influence.
“Says a lot about an organizations ability to accomplish things when even a “competitor” is recognizing their power and influence.”
Or maybe GOA identified NRA as a breakwater, intent upon mitigating the tide, slowing things down. Maybe GOA recognized NRA is a plodding behemoth, unlikely to be responsive without more pressure from members.
They are all over paid for the job they do , then they beg us to renew our memberships and donate money so they can up their salaries and retirement even if Wayne makes a million a year that’s over the top. I’m tired of being sent requests and phone calls asking for more money. I’ve been a member for yrs. If they’re having money problems then put salaries lower . No more donations from me , they have plenty of money and I don’t.
Jack- one of the reasons I give money to GOA is that from time to time they will point out when NRA is about to sell out gun owners. That’s a sad statement about NRA right there.
I’ll take an off the cuff analysis from Larry Pratt about whether a gun bill is good or bad, over lies from an org like NRA which deliberately allows their lobbyists to collude with police unions any day of the week.
Priests and sisters take vows of poverty. That’s all.
They take vows…. That’s were it ends…
As the priests are all driving Cadillacs and getting an annual vacation in Italy.
I’ve known three priests. One drive an old VW, the second drove an old Mazda, the third had an old Chrysler. And none of them could afford a vacation out of the country.
Complaining about how much money someone else has or earns is small minded and pointless, not to mention irrelevant to everything.
Nope not at all happy about that.
I dont know whats too much money. But even after 36 years as mostly a face, a figure head. Thats way too much compensation for the job he has. Especially for an organization always asking for more and more of my money.
Let him give it back to the NRA as a yearly show of good faith.
Maybe it is time for me after 25 years to join the GOA.
A show of good faith? Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. I don’t know. What I do know is that LaPierre has become the whipping boy for the hoplophobic left, so much so that I’d be willing to bet there are a good number of places he can’t go in public without a few other armed people around him to ensure his safety. No group is more maligned by progressives than the NRA, and LaPierre, for better or worse, is the face of the NRA.
Stay an NRA member. Write/contact them if you don’t like the way things are being done. And you should definitely join GOA. They’re a great organization as well.
The couple times I have seen and spoken to him at gun shows he has had multiple plain clothed bodyguards. I imagine the man and his family receive a lot of threats.
Jay- On February 11, 2017 @ 14:22, “HP” replies to your common sense post and concludes in his last paragraph, “Stay an NRA member. Write/contact them if you don’t like the way things are being done.”
Next on February 12, 2017 @ 14:50, “HP” responds to my post about who is on the Legislative Policy committee, “You realize that list probably isn’t made readily available for a reason, don’t you? The NRA has a lot of very poweful enemies. Think critically for a minute.”
So which is it? Should you stay a member and write/contact NRA, or are you supposed to be afraid to ask who’s on the Legislative Policy committee?
This type of pseudo-intellectual nonsense by people like “HP” is the only reason NRA doesn’t shut down overnight. If it weren’t for the brain dead clowntards from exurbia pontificating from their all-white enclaves south of Joliet about how things really work in Washington, D.C., Illinois might actually have a decent carry bill right now. You really cannot even make this stuff up.
Question: What’s the I.Q. of the average NRA member?
Answer: Average.
I’ve got to agree with the above. I’ll support the NRA as far as the NRA goes, but five mil is a bit much for the director of any nonprofit org unless they really, really bring something special to the table.
“… five mil is a bit much for the director of any nonprofit org unless they really, really bring something special to the table.”
^ This! So . much . this !!!
I can see a salary of as much as $500,000 per year. $5 million per year is
excessiveobscene.Right. And his salary was less than $1MM. Read the Wapo article in the link.
I misspoke … rather than “salary” I meant total compensation.
Not to mention he is the most hated man in America by the left. He’s probably the only guy with more death threats than Trump. 1m is not enough for that BS give the man a raise!
Except it’s not his total compensation. It’s a one-time payout accrued over 36 years of service as his entire retirement package. His total compensation, annually, is about a mil. Really important to know what the numbers mean if you are going to criticize them.
“…unless they really, really bring something special to the table.”
And the NRA seems to have little to show. Other gun rights groups do much more heavy lifting and do much less compromising.
Rick- “Other gun rights groups do much more heavy lifting and do much less compromising.”
Most of the heavy lifting is done by grassroots people who don’t get paid. That’s usually how you can tell someone is legit.
Here in Illinois, NRA initially opposed Otis McDonald v. Chicago and tried to sabotage the case. After Alan Gura took Otis to the Supreme Court and won, NRA lawyers collected $1.3 MILLION in legal fees, because they hired former Solicitor General Paul Clement to barge into Gura’s case at the last minute.
What do other major lobbyist make in DC? Big butt sharks are not cheap. He has already been at the table with POTUS, when was the last time the NRA invited to sit with POTUS so early in office? I’m sure he could scrap by on 1 or 2 million but he is in NOVA/DC almost as bad as NYC or SF. If you want to play you have to pay, such is DC.
“when was the last time the NRA invited to sit with POTUS so early in office?”
I think we’ll be seeing a lot of firsts with this administration.
I can’t wait to see what happens the first time Congress thinks they are going on long break and Trump expects to see some bills on his desk for signature. Whoa there boys and girls, we have work to do, who said you could get up and run home. But but but that is what we have always done. Don’t make me break out smartphone and tweet or ask for 30 minutes of prime time on the networks asking for the public’s help to keep you here.
Just read a couple of stories about people sneaking into Canada 😀 ICE conducting raids, sure the word is spreading quickly, time to GO north or south cause there is a new sheriff in town.
Welp. Unlike myself and most of you reading this, he’ll have little trouble obtaining whatever is on his gun wish list… must be nice.
If the NRA is answerable to the membership, perhaps the membership should demand Mr. Wayne justify his compensation…
That’s what the board of directors is for and evidently they have no problem and neither do I.
If that’s what the board thinks he is worth, then that’s fine. What isn’t fine is the fact that under his leadership the NRA has effectively abandoned New Jersey and other “hopeless” blue states / cities. I keep renewing my membership but it pains me each time I do it, since I know that gun owners here will get no help from the NRA on a state level. They seem to steer clear of the places where they are most needed. Not cool, NRA.
Geoff- “If the NRA is answerable to the membership…”
NRA is not run by the membership or the elected board. It’s run by professional staff like LaPierre and Chris Cox. NRA is a country club with carpeting from 1962.
Try to even get a list from NRA of who is on the Legislative Policy committee for instance. Staff doesn’t have it.
You realize that list probably isn’t made readily available for a reason, don’t you? The NRA has a lot of very poweful enemies. Think critically for a minute. You spend all your time here blasting the NRA and that Vandermyde guy.
“You realize that list probably isn’t made readily available for a reason, don’t you?”
Statements like that have been used to cover a multitude of sins.
“You realize that list probably isn’t made readily available for a reason, don’t you?”
I’m talking about the first and last names of the elected board members who are on Legislative Policy, not their home addresses. If members can’t find out who is on the committees, how are they supposed to know who to vote for, or who to talk to at the national convention?
The flag wavers like you who want to wait for Uncle Wayne to give you a fireside chat like FDR are a big part of the problem.
“The NRA has a lot of very poweful enemies.”
Get real. I’ve shaken hands with U.S. Senators who didn’t have bodyguards. Do you guys ever leave the trailer park?
“You spend all your time here blasting the NRA and that Vandermyde guy.”
Worry more about whether my statements are accurate instead of who they’re about. More repetition is necessary the lower the I.Q. level of the person. You still don’t get it.
$336 Million in revenues, $95 Million in contributions. $241 Million in revenue above contributions. Must mean managing investments to a high degree. Seems OK to me.
I have a friend who worked for Charles Schwab. He worked on Wanynes account from time to time. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. He does indeed have lots of investments.
Something is also “worth” what it costs to secure it. Spokesthings, fund raisers, n figureheads seem expensive to me, but if they can’t be got cheaper, that’s what it costs to have one. Kinda like college tuition, or anything with an H & K on it.
The useful question is whether the cost of NRA-guy could buy a more valuable shopping cart – sorry, range bag – of stuff for the same net price, accounting for what you give up.
They just mailed me my annual reup – I think I’ll pass.
Dom, please don’t take this as condescending, but
if you’re not a Life Member it really doesn’t matter what you think. If you have not been a member for five years or a Life Member you can’t vote for the board. So either up your commitment or move along.
I don’t believe for a second that the NRA wants to see our second amendment rights truly restored as a nation. Let’s say constitutional carry was passed on a national level and the NFA was completely repealed, where would that leave them? They’d be regulated back to a firearms safety and education organization, and we all know there are NO 5 million dollar paychecks (or million dollar ones for that matter) in safety. I, and a LOT of other gun owners and former members are done with this inane obsurd organization of professional beggars. Especially after the absolute crap that Lapiere spewed in the days following sandy hook.
Maybe if they spent some of that money on gun owners with problems getting permitted in may issue states and filing meaningful lawsuits I’d be more willing to support them again. Instead, every time the left jumps on a incident to pander for more gun control I know that the E mails and phone calls begging for money are mere hours away…so Mr lapiere can G5 it up apparently. Non-profit really pays! Apparently the NRA is as non-profit as the Clinton Foundation!
Ed- “I don’t believe for a second that the NRA wants to see our second amendment rights truly restored as a nation…”
True. Here in Illinois, Berron v. Concealed Carry Licensing Review Board was rejected for cert by the Supreme Court. Attorney J.D. Obenberger asked for help from ISRA (IL state rifle association, the state tumor of NRA) and got none.
Right now the unelected Star Chamber CCLRB is holding up the licenses of over 2,000 people in Illinois, because some cop filed an objection anonymously. There is no legal assistance from NRA.
The sponsor of Illinois’ 2013 carry bill Rep. Brandon Phelps stated in print re. the CCLRB, “we wanted to give them (police) the benefit of the doubt.”
NRA is in bed with police unions to deny our 2nd Amendment rights, not restore them. Winning would put NRA out of business.
“I don’t believe for a second that the NRA wants to see our second amendment rights truly restored as a nation”
Don’t worry, nothing like that will ever happen. There’s a certain contingent of politicians and the public that simply won’t let it happen. That’s what we have the NRA for – to fight them. So while you can suggest that the NRA doesn’t want full restoration of rights, it’s a fantasy situation that cannot and will not ever happen anyway.
I saw Wayne LaPierre seated at a conference table next to the President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, so I think for gun owners and those who believe in the Second Amendment, I think whatever the NRA is paying him is worth it. I researched, that is to say I did a Google search, for pics of LaPierre with Obama and couldn’t find any. I think his tenure at the NRA helped get him a seat at that table, and if it helps the POTG, it’s probably a good investment, just as his and the NRA’s support of Trump was a good investment, especially for one-issue voters.
I used to be the type to complain about stuff like this but this is why we have the type of regulated capitalism we do…So you all can collect a check this fat if or when you want to start your own business or invest in one.
It’s only a moral argument that a person becomes greedy and how much do they give up so they can give back to the business. Anyone of you would collect big if you’re in his shoes. That’s why stuff like this doesn’t bother me. Maybe he’s a jerk…Who knows. All I care about is the NRA is running strong. Now…I my self would have collected a far less amount so more money could be put in legislative action.
In general, I agree with you – a person has to be free to make as much money as other people are voluntarily willing to pay him. My only problem is calling a very profitable business a “nonprofit”. That is obscene.
Most people don’t understand what a “non-profit” organization is. It is not in it to just scrape by and have no money left at the end of the year. Almost all successful non-profits have an endowment fund and significant retained earnings, just as for-profit companies do. It’s just that they are not founded for the purpose of profit; they are founded for a purpose – usually – of some public benefit. Their proper name is “not for profit.”
The NRA was founded to foster marksmanship among the prospective candidates of the American Militia, following the Civil War, when it was found out that “most volunteers and conscripts didn’t know which end of the rifle went against the shoulder.” THAT is its founding purpose. Since then it has expanded to have a legislative lobbying function as well, as the Progressives increasingly tried to crush the 2nd Amendment to increase the reach of their totalitarian control. But there is no obligation to be poor as a church mouse, nor is there any less of a management obligation than there is in a for-profit corporation.
+1
It is sometimes easy to understand the difference between “non-profit (which should mean what the label says, but doesn’t), and a “not for profit” (which is just as confusing).
Look at it this way. Every NRA member pays about one dollar per year for LaPierre’s services.
Yeah I’m great with LaPierre earning 5 mill in 2015. Just so long as the NRA finally admits that all they really care about is money and not the 2A. I became a life member of the NRA years ago before I realized this fact.
Frank- “Just so long as the NRA finally admits that all they really care about is money and not the 2A.”
I’ve been told by a person who has observed NRA for over forty years that, “NRA is a fund-raising organization that is concerned with gun rights.” Sort of the way my grandma used to write checks to “end hunger” in Africa or wherever, but there are still starving people in the world. NRA would go out of business if they actually “won” anything.
“I became a life member of the NRA years ago before I realized this fact.”
Join the club. There’s a sucker born every minute, said P.T. Barnum. No offense, I used to be an NRA member also.
The Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus recently went out of business. Here’s hoping the NRA goes out of business also. NRA is nothing more than a carney show with a Big Ring circus for the rubes, and LaPierre is the carnival barker. Step right up, get your NRA membership now, for a limited time only…
I think his compensation is totally reasonable, compared to all the billionaire cabinet members. I have no idea why there is so little outrage about that.
Um, do they get paid billion-dollar salaries to be cabinet members?
No? Then that’s why.
“a dip in contributions” so *NO*.
WLP is only worth 5 mil if he is truly expanding the base, which it sounds like he isn’t.
Frankly I think that gains in 2016 were luck more than anything, the Republicans faced an exceptionally weak candidate in Clinton. If the Republicans/NRA manage to knock off a few governors like MCaulliflower (VA) or a few senators like Casey (PA), then maybe I will change my mind.
Seems a bit excessive, but nobody bitches when athletes and actors make huge salaries. It’s not about fairness (in our eyes) it’s about what is a 1st class lobbyist in DC worth? However, it is a bit irritating to get mail 2-3 times a week with NRA pleading for funds.
No. The NRA never worked to repeal the Hughes amendment like they promised.
This. If we start seeing some actual action vs reaction from NRA, I’m on board with whatever he wants to collect. The only things I ever hear about NRA is for me to give money to them. Not what they’re doing, not what they plan to do. I can find a bunch of videos on GOA’s YouTube page with them testifying at bill hearings and things, at least trying to make a difference.
+ +
Jon- “I can find a bunch of videos on GOA’s YouTube page with them testifying at bill hearings and things, at least trying to make a difference.”
True. Larry Pratt & GOA are legit. At least nobody owns them, and they are not a false front like NRA.
True story: I was talking with Larry about the (lack of) performance of NRA Illinois state lobbyist Todd Vandermyde in the 2013 concealed carry bill, and we decided that he needs to be out of a job. Larry says, “No, he could still have a job working at a motel somewhere.” lol.
The fact that Chris Cox & Chuck Cunningham at NRA/ILA continue to pay Todd Vandermyde to sell out their own members in Illinois tells you that NRA is totally corrupt, whatever LaPierre makes. Anyone who gives a dime to NRA is stabbing themselves in the back.
With the amount of hate and bullshit he goes through, heck yes! To any of these people crying about it, I say YOU DO IT! You do what he does and see if what they pay would be enough. The clowns saying that’s too much simply don’t have a clue.
MLee- Boo hoo. LaPierre is a lobbyist, nothing more. At the end of the day he produces nothing, like millions of other parasites in D.C.: ATF, IRS, Homeland Security, etc. He lives off the money sent to NRA by the aging baby boomers and old farts that comprise most of their membership.
Check out the bullshit image here, with the American flag covering the sky behind LaPierre’s god-like head? This type of nonsense tugs the heartstrings of the geriatric crowd to open their wallets. It’s comforting to the rubes to believe that a father figure like LaPierre is looking out for them.
Watch what NRA does, not what they say. The legislation they put up is written in collusion with police unions to advance the criminal police state. Based on what NRA did in Illinois, I would pay NRA to stay out of state level legislation so they don’t make things any worse.
It seems that Robert Farago’s attacks on the NRA will never stop. If it wasn’t this it would be something else. Like I’ve said before, the NRA is simply too white, too Middle America, and too Christian for some people. A Jewish boy from New York will always see them as a different and undesirable breed. They’re just icky!
Fine. Find a few “Occupy” types to invite to your mother’s fancy dress parties in Manhattan or the Hamptons. Maybe Ruth Bader Ginsburg will show up. What an honor that would be.
I’ll hang out with these good ol’ boys from the NRA and talk guns. Wayne L. won’t be there because he spends every waking moment successfully defending the Constitution. He earned every penny and then some.
Was it worth $5 million to keep Hitlery out of the White House? WAS IT?
Here’s some guidance for a confused person: If your talking point sounds like a New York Times Op Ed piece, then it’s probably wrong.
don’t break you arm patting yourself on your back there Slab.
Being blind with passion for the NRA as a symbol of what used to be is a slippery slope. Like watching the Cruz and Rubio fall in line behind Trump. Souls can be bought quite cheaply these days. What’s yours worth?
My opinion of Wayne Lapierre and the NRA is a principled and logical one, based entirely on their success in protecting the 2nd Amendment.
It is their detractors that have no soul, if they attack this noble organization because of cultural differences, or some other manufactured reason.
Do you think attacking your own side means you have a soul? It just means you’re confused, or a phony.
“It is their detractors that have no soul,…”
Are you confusing people demanding “no compromise”, with people who lack principles entirely?
TTAG… where supposed 2nd amendment folks will eat their own and the blog owner is as fvcked up as a soup sandwich ?
Slab You’re an ignorant dick
Slab- “Like I’ve said before, the NRA is simply too white, too Middle America, and too Christian for some people.”
The problem with NRA is that it is undemocratic and unaccountable. It is run like a white suburban country club from 1962.
Try to find out which elected NRA board members are on the Legislative Policy Committee. If you find the names, let us know. Staff doesn’t seem to have them.
Too easy to criticize. GOA may indeed be more “stalwart”, but I see no other organization with the wide flung presence & broad influence of the NRA. Support both, if you wish, but reducing the voice of our oldest pro-gun organization because you think maybe LaPierre is overpaid is the proverbial nose removal to spite your face.
POTG can ill afford to weaken their best known representative just as a bit of progress is (hopefully) within reach!
Swobard- “…reducing the voice of our oldest pro-gun organization because you think maybe LaPierre is overpaid…”
Who cares how old NRA is? Watch what they do, not what they say.
Here in Illinois NRA state lobbyist Todd Vandermyde fought tooth and nail to keep Duty to Inform IN the “NRA backed” concealed carry bill in 2013, and the only people who opposed DTI were Chicago area Democrat Black Caucus Reps.
NRA’s boy Rep. Brandon Phelps refused to take Duty to Inform OUT of his “NRA backed” bill!!
If Chris Cox & Chuck Cunningham at NRA/ILA pay lobbyists like Todd Vandermyde to sell out their own membership to police unions, then NRA is totally corrupt, no matter how much LaPierre is paid.
As a life member of the NRA, I believe that’s too much money. 5 mil? Really?
Pre-tax, that’s over 400,000 per month.
He’s a poor director in my opinion. The NRA/ILA is doing a piss poor job of fighting for our rights. We are under real attack here in Oregon and the NRA has ZERO backbone here. There is no fight here.
I’m glad I haven’t paid dues in over 20 years. I don’t even open their power begging mailers. I just toss them in the fireplace with the other junk mail.
I’ll donate to others who actually fight in my arena.
Yeah, we could have used some of that money over the last few years here in WA too, to fight the recent crazy anti-gun laws. The NRA did not help us fight against them. 5 mil is way too much money.
This is why occasionally I throw RMGO some money here in CO. Dudley has gotten campus carry and a few other decent things turned in our favor. Shit, Magpul did more for the state before they left than the NRA did.
C’mon – read the damned article. It’s a one-time payout, not $400K/month. Is that too much to ask before you go spouting off over something you are ill-informed about?
Tom- “The NRA/ILA is doing a piss poor job of fighting for our rights. We are under real attack here in Oregon and the NRA has ZERO backbone here.”
Just be glad NRA is not actively working against gun owners in Oregon to get them set up and killed. NRA state lobbyist for Illinois Todd Vandermyde put Duty to Inform w/ criminal penalties in the 2013 concealed carry bill, not Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Consider yourself lucky if NRA is not actually setting you up to be executed by police criminals like what NRA did in Illinois!
“I’m glad I haven’t paid dues in over 20 years.”
Amen to that. Any gun owner in America who gives a dime to NRA is subsidizing police state murder.
you did read that 4 of the 5 mill was deferred retirement correct? or no, you didn’t read the article, just the blurb in TTAG and all the comments from those that think they can run a not for profit better. UPMC in Pittsburgh is a not for profit. The CEO has an annual salary of 6 mill (salary not deferred retirement payout) and at least 26 employees make over 1 mill (what Lapierre makes.) Granted the revenue of the health system and all its subsidiaries is substantial, but its still a not for profit. the common factor is that the Board approves WLP, and if they are happy with his performance so be it. If you are a member and unhappy, run for the board. I have my ballot at home. I plan on voting. Or are you the same people who fill the ranks of the protesters, complainers who didn’t vote and live in their parents basement.
Every member of an organization has a right to observe the performance and compensation of the membership-paid staff and leadership. That compensation does not come from some cosmic tree of money. The paying membership of NRA has a right to expect performance in exchange for the membership paid. If I pay $250 to go see Madonna (yeah, right), and if she is late, puts on half a show, then tells me her performance is better than it was when she began, I have the right to demand a refund. Do you not find it odd that NRA does not advertise its strategy and tactics for the coming year? Does not announce which legislation or court case it intends to crush with it’s influence and money?
Now, I joined NRA because the large numbers of members simply piss off a whole bunch of people, and I am all in for that. But I wore my NRA hat for a week, to work, to picnics, to neighborhood activities. The only people who knew what NRA is, were gun owners or members. The vast majority did not recognize the logo, nor were they familiar with the organization. That is not performance on the part of the NRA. I send my dues, I reserve the right to see that my money is making a difference somewhere besides headquarters.
Worth every penny
Oh, I think WLP is worth at least 4 or 5 pennies. Not much more than that, though.
Here is the deal. Is Wayne getting the job done? By that I mean stopping all the bad stuff that Congress has tried to foist on us? The crap he stopped after Sandy Hook was probably worth $10 Million.
Ya, I wish I made that kind of money. Oh the places I would go! Oh the guns and training I would buy!.
If there is a person available for $2.5 million and can obtain the same or better results let me know.
Do not confuse your envy of the money or disagreement on which issues to oppose or to promote with determining acceptable compensation in the Washington D.C market for lobbyists. Tom Donohue got $4.9 million SIX years ago representing the US Chamber Of Commerce, not our friends (compensation amounts are hard to find).
Meh…worth 5mil? Maybe. Seated next to Trump made me very happy. As mentioned old Wayne is under threat constantly. SO FAR he sure picked the right horse. Did the NRA get Donnie elected? Maybe…it sure wasn’t GOA. No offense to GOA but the 800 lb gorilla gets things done. Like no other…
You have to compare salary vs a comparable business. Salary has to be competitive with other options. Otherwise a VP would just leave the NRA and go work for a private business for more money.
If he were a gay, black, former Muslim, classical liberal who successfully yanks millions of fence-sitters toward the side that promotes the means of defending individual’s life and liberty and either gets ignorant/dishonest politicians to conform or be voted out, he’d be worth $5m. More if he didn’t work for a non-profit.
In my opinion though, Wayne ain’t worth 2 minutes on his YouTube ads.
Stu- “In my opinion though, Wayne ain’t worth 2 minutes on his YouTube ads.”
Agreed. LaPierre talks tough in front of the home team at NRA conventions, but the only people who think he’s big time in D.C. are hicks who have never been to D.C. NRA membership numbers depend on the ignorance of the members.
Here in Illinois NRA has been our worst enemy. NRA is in bed with the anti-gun police unions against gun owners.
My response: did he do 5 million dollars worth of work? Show me his 5 million dollar project. What did the NRA actually accomplish? California lost its rights to black rifles, MD had a capricious reinterpretation of its AW laws, etc. don’t try to tell me that the NRA won the election for DJT because guns were only a small portion of his campaign. In the private sector we show proof of our time and effort. What has Mr. LaPierre done to warrant his income?
I get he’s a prominent figure in the org, but I thought the decisions were all made by the board of directors, no?
Removed- “…I thought the decisions were all made by the board of directors, no?”
Not really. Some observers believe that NRA is effectively run by the Ackerman-McQueen advertising agency. If not NRA is run by unelected staff. It’s a large bureaucracy, like Save the Whales or any other non-profit.
NRA is undemocratic, unaccountable, and Un-American. Try to find out which elected directors are on the Legislative Policy committee. Staff doesn’t know. Why not? Because NRA is like a country club stuck in 1962.
It remains a curiosity that WLP is a vice president. Now an “executive” vice president usually means “operations manager”, and an officer of the business (someone who can legally commit the company to contracts and liabilities. Question is, who/where is the President of NRA? How much does that person make, and for what?
As to proper levels of compensation, performance should be a factor. Someone mentioned that the NRA is not a success if all it manages is to obtain larger and larger donations from fewer and fewer people. NRA has been around long enough that we should see them in the news, in every state and major city, at least weekly. We should be overwhelmed with stories about safety, public outreach, free classes and seminars for non-shooters, constant legal attacks on the restrictions to ownership and use, YouTube should be flooded, along with all the other social media. Full court press, not cherry-picked, de minimus PBAs and flyers at gun dealers.
If WLP could double membership (while doubling the spread of membership) in, say, two years…now, that would be worth a $5MM paycheck.
The lion share of that was a payout of his retirement plan. This is not simply a years salary. I’m not his biggest fan, but yes, I’m OK with this. The NRA CEO sitting at a table with the POTUS was a wonderful sight to see.
Those that have a problem with this should probably read the article all the way through.
Would you rather have a cheaper, less effective executive who failed, and have your gun rights curtailed? Be careful of dimensionless figures like a salary figure – you have NO IDEA what he did with the money, nor any idea how that salary ranks compared to others with similar responsibilities. Would it be too high if he donated 3.5 million to charity? All of it? What is the number that he should earn? Now how do you know what he really pockets? Do you know how much he is giving up of his life to earn that? Do you know to what extent he was responsible for averting the Hillary disaster? Everybody’s an expert on the Internet – of their own opinions, formed based on no facts at all. Let the Board of Governors of the NRA worry about what he makes. And shame on TTAG for posting such an incomplete analysis that it goads people into reacting against what may be in fact a low compensation relative to his accomplishments and responsibilities. I call for TTAG to write either a follow-up that substantiates the implication that is being made, or to retract this irresponsible, dimensionless shredded factoid with an apology to its readers and Mr. LaPierre, who should have an opportunity to respond.
By now, NRA should not be “picking its fights”. NRA is big enough, funded enough, and should be courageous enough to not only take on every legal battle, but carry the fight to the anti-gun lobby. Social media is available, and is alleged to have wider readership than any combination of tv and print media.
No matter how big and how well funded you are “picking your fights” is always required. Failure to properly pick battles and array forces, utilize advantages and manage resources will eventually lead to your defeat. Just read Col. Summers American Strategy in Vietnam: A Critical Analysis (originally titled On Strategy: The Vietnam War in Context) which is required reading at The National, Naval and Air War Colleges as well as the USMC Amphibious School if you don’t believe me.
Fighting every single battle as you suggest will spread you too thin. While the NRA has it’s faults it does do us 2A folks some good, good it will cease to do if it runs itself into the ground.
“Fighting every single battle as you suggest will spread you too thin. ”
Really? Have you been watching the Left the last 20 years? They attack all along the line, everyday, every way. And they do it with funding from likely only two billionaires. Where you cannot defend, you lose.
If nearly complete control of the media and education, which is the basis of the Left’s power, is “thin” I’d hate to see what you’d consider “in depth”.
From the WP article, “According to the organization’s 990 tax form, the NRA reported that LaPierre made $5,110,985 in annual compensation from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2015. LaPierre made $985,885 in 2014. The vast majority of the salary jump, according to the NRA, was due to the payout of a $3.7 million retirement plan.”
It would appear that he normally makes $1 million, and this is just a one time retirement pay out.
No, but it really doesn’t matter does it?
While no fan of the NRA, the mention of Everytown signals this is a hit piece against Wayne and the NRA. Salary is less than one million per year, he had to take the additional money (2015) he invested over the years. Shows desperation of anti-gunners.
Anyone who thinks they can do the heavy lift of the NRA, please step up
“Heavy lifting” is done in the field, just as anywhere else.
I’m well beyond tired of seeing Wayne’s determined countenance on everything they send me. He isn’t the NRA- WE are. I’m looking forward to NOT seeing whoever eventually takes over his role.
He is paid a salary, looks like about $980K a year, he ELECTS to have a portion of the compensation(salary) ‘Deferred’ to an investment account usually managed by the same/similar companies that manage 401K accounts . This money was ‘paid’ to him in the past 36 years and invested. Just doing a 10% deferral over 36 years with no interest growth is 3.52 Million.
#MoralMarch crowds at cities across the country.anti-Trump inspired feminist symbol shirt!
this shirt to show your support for current and aspiring women in politics.
Lots of supporters requested for this Tshirt. “Power To The Girls – SuperGirl”
Recently we relaunch our inspiration campaign: https://teespring.com/power-to-the-girls-supergirl
WTF?
SJ
Who gives a rats a$$!
Sarah,
You are obviously on the wrong blog…
Make sure you have all the facts before you start throwing rocks. People are jumping the gun.
OK, SC rules that gun possession is a constitutionally protected right. Lower courts ignore the ruling and proceed as before. NRA sits quietly. Is that performance worth $1MM?
Not sure what world you are living in. They fight on multiple fronts and sure haven’t been quiet this last year. We know because Hillary’s fat bottom is not sitting in the Oval Office.
And to answer your question, yes. He can go earn a lot more elsewhere.
Whether WLP can earn more elsewhere is irrelevant. His pay should be based on performance with NRA.
Stopping Hilary was not an NRA victory. It was a victory for Trump supporters, all of whom contributed something.
Nice that the NRA was a notable factor in the 2016 elections, an important factor even. However…..elections are relatively rare. Court fights are daily.
After Heller/McDonald, NRA should have smothered the first lower court that ruled a community could strictly regulate guns if the made the citizens “feel better”. The same with any other court ruling that did not embody the Heller decision. The Heller “reasonable restriction” caveat open the gates for endless mischief by the Left in establishing what “reasonable” means.
I don’t care if NRA is the lead in any counter attack, but they should be putting money into cases fought by pro-gun groups who are not as well funded (and I don’t mean kicking the smaller group to the curb; such action says a lot about NRA). The pleas from Washington (not DC) for assistance against Californication of gun laws were met with silence. Why? Does NRA consider some states expendable? On what basis?
Glad you guys aren’t in charge of my annual review and raise, man, I would be making $500 a year!
The moral indignation, you make too much argument feels right when you make less but hard to see on the other side the value.
My question is how much does Shannon Watts make? The Trace? How about various NBA players against gun violence? Lady Gaga? Piers Morgan? Bieber? Kim Kardashian? Starbucks CEO? various anti gun sheriffs, politicians, university administrators and researchers? Soros, Bloomberg? Clintons? How much went to the UN to pay for work on the arms treaty? The money and power arrayed against gun freedom is vast, and perhaps 5 mill is a bargain, or not. After 2016 I think we could give mr lepierre $20million. Just this year, gotta keep performing.
Anyway the battle never ends, Trump won’t get enough done, quickly enough to satisfy all of our desires. But I think we need all the friends we can get. NRA, GOA, supressor association, open carry, support one or better yet support them all.
Well, according to the MSM and the occasional TTAG post it was the NRA that put Trump in the White House. If not for that we’d have HRC in the Oval Office.
If Wayne keeps the MSM, the Lefties, Bloomberg, MDA, Giffords and the rest howling mad and has a significant enough impact to actually keep someone like HRC away from the levers of power I would rate that as “priceless”. A few legislative victories moving forward would be the cherry on top of that particular sunday. On top of that, given the NRA’s income, much of which would appear to come from good management rather than just members opening their wallets out of fear of someone like HRC or Obama, I’d say his salary was a pittance considering the apparent return on investment.
Some things in life are expensive, the question is what you actually bought for your money. Cheap crap costs less up front but usually ends up costing more down the road. Well made stuff usually comes with a price tag up front that causes people who don’t understand the quality of the product to scoff at the price. There obviously is a point of diminishing returns, the question is where you personally see that point.
“Well, according to the MSM and the occasional TTAG post it was the NRA that put Trump in the White House.”
MSM has a win-win: de-legitamize NRA and Trump. I don’t believe the MSM for other things, why should I believe they are admitting the NRA is effective? In their shoes, I would point POTG in a completely different direction from the true source of Trump victory. Every dollar spent on non-effective activities is one less dollar available to truly hurt me.
You can’t have it both ways.
Either the NRA is ineffective and the Left is wasting it’s resources on a threat that doesn’t really exist, or the NRA is effective and has them on their heals.
Either way, they’re losing and we’re winning and part of that, effective or not is the NRA.
If I want you wasting resources on ineffective efforts, I would complain how effective you were, using whatever tactic I wanted you to divert effort to. Meanwhile, you would not be putting effort into that which is really effective. When the enemy declares they are winning, they are losing. When they claim they are losing, beware.
And yes, the Left CAN have it both ways. It is their winningest method.
READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE…hell I didn’t have a problem if he DID make 5000000 bucks. Certainly worth 980000…
If you’re not an NRA Life Member your opinions on the compensation package for La Pierre don’t really matter for two reasons:
You don’t have commitment to the organization.
You can’t vote for board members who make the decision regarding La Pierre’s employment.
So take your pay envy down the road or buy in as a Life Member and do something about it.
Roughly a dollar from each member.
Our rights are worth a dollar, at least, don’t you think?
Think of all the piddly shit we buy for a dollar on a daily basis.
Cknarf- “Our rights are worth a dollar, at least, don’t you think?”
No, our rights are priceless. We need honest lobbyists writing bills that will be on the books for the next fifty years, not traitors that collude with police unions.
“Think of all the piddly shit we buy for a dollar on a daily basis.”
That’s exactly what your life represents to NRA: piddly shit. You are nothing to them.
If NRA continues to pay lobbyists like Todd Vandermyde that set up citizens to be executed by police criminals and police impersonators, then I would pay NRA to shut down their state level operations and can LaPierre just so they don’t make things any worse.
I don’t have a problem with it in the slightest. Especially, when you consider that a $5 million figure includes quite a bit more than salary which others have mentioned.
But even so:
Overseeing expanded membership & contributing to a Trump presidency: …
$5 million
Keeping Hillary Clinton out of the White House…
PRICELESS!
…
The bulk of this was Wayne’s retirement payout. Not “annual compensation”.
What’s the problem? It’s reported as “salary” for tax purposes because it was ‘deferred compensation’.
Wayne makes around $1 million a year. He saved this other money up over his 36 years of employment
in a “employee funded deferred compensation plan.”
Please read the attached article before making a judgment.
“According to the organization’s 990 tax form, the NRA reported that LaPierre made $5,110,985 in annual compensation from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2015. LaPierre made $985,885 in 2014. The vast majority of the salary jump, according to the NRA, was due to the payout of a $3.7 million retirement plan.’
If you’re going to live well in DC a million a year before taxes is not unreasonable for the head if an enterprise that takes in over $300 million a year and also gets results for its members.
…
“The NRA is transparent in its finances and in its reporting of the required Form 990,” NRA President Allan Cors said in a statement. “This is an employee funded deferred compensation plan and the $3.7 million distribution to Wayne LaPierre was required by federal law and properly reported.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/02/09/nra-chief-executive-received-nearly-4-million-retirement-payout-in-2015/?utm_term=.c548fc1ef427
…
“The NRA is transparent in its finances and in its reporting of the required Form 990,” NRA President Allan Cors said in a statement.”
So, Allan Cors”; President of the NRA. What is his function? How much does he contribute to growing the NRA and the anti-anti-gun population? How much does he make?
The NRA DID NOT prevent Hilary from winning the White House. It may have been one of many efforts, but even if all five million members voted for Trump, fact is the popular opinion of the majority of voters favored Hilary and the Leftist program. We can crow about electoral victories, but all those Leftist voters do vote locally, and carry more clout than the NRA. If the NRA included every Trump voter, and put that number against all who did not vote for Trump, pro-gun people and efforts lose. The bulk of opinion polls put pro and anti gun groups at roughly even. That is not “winning.”
Don’t tell me about the “wonder years”, and how far NRA has come. Tell me how NRA will snuff out opposition in the next five years; then prove it.
Typical Farago story…
The Picture of Mr LaPierre sitting next to the president while he picks out a Supreme Court Justice, tells me he is well worth whatever he is getting paid.
You ok with how much Tom Brady makes? His contract extension in 2013 was for $27 million and 3 more years. Gee, that’s almost double what the NRA paid Wayne per year, all for playing a friggin game, not trying to help you and I keep our 2A rights.
I really don’t give a crap how much anyone makes, someone thinks they’re worth it.
I think this is the most idiotic question I’ve seen on this website in a long time, ranks right up there with “which is better 9mm or 40”
“…ranks right up there with “which is better 9mm or 40”
Neither; Smith & Wesson XVR 460 Magnum
I did not have to go to war with my own country to wrestle back my rights. Considering how much I believe my life is worth, $5 million is a bargain.
Because the leftists and the concern tr0lls who are popping off today think that Wayne is the devil incarnate, I’m thinking he’s woefully underpaid.
And the headline is trickily misleading.
We claim there are 100MM gun owners. NRA represents 5MM. For that we pay $1MM?
I haven’t been posting comments here long or often. I’ve come to respect some posters more than others. Some of the comments on this article from people I really respect on this sight are horrible. I hope it’s because they didn’t read the article and not a window into their minds. That would be very disappointing.
Now my thoughts,the NRA has certainly let me down a time or two over the years ,but overall the have been a positive force. Wayne is certainly not over paid for the simple fact that at the mere mention of his name will send antis into a meltdown. If a reminder of this is needed, just look at the comments on the wa po site to this article.
If he had anything to do with helping get Trump elected then he is worth every penny.
It s okay and it s there choose last
If the nra can repeal the nfa act i would give him 50 !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbyEeaDAFhM
Don t forget the grandpower k102/k105
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sgf6WBrEjY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9NH7NvaLck
and the beretta m93r
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X5NQGUcCeg
I’d think Wayne is worth every penny!
It’s not like he’s one of the ripoff execs. at The Wounded Warrior Project.
Careful! Bill O’Reilly investigated and exposed some fake news that had been circulating about Wounded Warrior Project. Their executive compensation is, in fact, right in line with where it should be. I don’t know who would take it upon themselves to spread a false rumor about a non-profit that benefits wounded veterans, but they do good work, and are worth our attention. Just thought I’d pass that on.
Here is betting that the johnny-come-latelys to the gun rights fight are the loudest complainers here. They haven’t been around long enough to understand everything Wayne has done and all the sh*t he has had to wade through over the years.
“They haven’t been around long enough to understand everything Wayne has done and all the sh*t he has had to wade through over the year.”
First, he was not conscripted. His is a voluntary position; he gets paid to wade through whatever the opposition throws at him.
Second, history is nice, but where are we now? What is the goal? How far are we from success? What is being done to accelerate that success? Performance measurement. What are you doing now that moves the agenda forward? Did you succeed, or miss the target?
Wayne is worth it – use it as a tag line if you wish.
What price do you put on the 2A?
I’ve been interacting all day, and succeeded in being included in the “harsh critic” category. But let me tell you why I am so “harsh”.
Back in the day, I worked as a volunteer for a large scale, name brand community service agency. There were 26 agencies under one umbrella. As a fund raiser, I visited the 26 agencies to learn about their mission and services. One, and only one immutable theme arose: self-preservation.
During each meeting with agency representatives, I quickly learned that many of the agencies were mutually supportive, in the sense that one type service led to a recommendation to contact another service agency for additional assistance. Sounds good, right? Well, if you were in need of multiple services, you, the client, were required to contact the other agencies YOURSELF, and then provide the exact client detailed information each time. The exact same client profile, with almost verbatim descriptions of the information needed.
As a result, I approached the governing board of the umbrella agency (members were all top leaders of each of the 26 other agencies), with the idea of sharing client information in a consolidated database, so that client care would be more efficient, and not so onerous. To say the board members “caught the vapors” is an understatement. After all the smokescreen of responses were finished, the single message was that each of the 26 agencies regarded their clients as private property, and financially exploitable numbers. Bottom line? The mission of each non-profit agency was not to serve, but to survive as an agency.
NRA is not exceptional. Where they should be providing mutual support to other major pro-gun groups, NRA spends extraordinary amounts on fund-raising, and survival. If you look at how charity oversight groups evaluate performance, the prime indicator is the percentage of donations spent to support the charity, vs. the amount spent directly on mission. 5% admin fees are probably the gold standard, with up to 9% being acceptable. I don’t know the NRA ration, but if known, it might be instructive. If I must pour over financial statements and derive my own numbers, that speaks volume, in and of itself.
So, NRA should be subject to strict scrutiny, not only financially, but how effectively they support the overall pro-2A effort. We have already seen comments that NRA has limited resources. What is NRA doing to improve that (other than going back to the same well of donors time and again)? When the non-profit begins to see total donation dollars rise, but total donors decline, that is not a sign of good health.
It can be said that the man has a definitive influence within, and outside his circle. Whether or not such “influence” amounts to this hefty sum is debatable. Wayne’s true worth lies in the knowledge he has of lobbying and politician’s. When one knows the sticky specifics of the “machine” it becomes mere child’s play to effectively wield the NRA’s massive clout to affect the delineations of elected officials.
One thing is for certain, Lapierre(NRA) and 2nd A advocates played a pivotal role in the 2016 election. Such narrow victory margins for Trump in several states can be attributed to a “perfect storm” of events. Had the NRA been any less effective, or if 2A proponents hadn’t shown up to the polls in certain states, Hillary would have won the election.
I’ll do his job for only 4 million.
Hell, I’d do it for $1K, but could I do it as well, with the contacts and schmoozing?
Yes. If it weren’t for Mr. Wayne LaPierre ~25 years ago helping to make the NRA the ultra pro-active organization is today, we would all be either airsoft aficionados or hunters with muzzle loaders. Constitutional Carry? A thriving AR-15 industry? Hah! In your dreams. The entire US would be like NYC in terms of gun laws. Maybe even worse. I don’t think anyone here, myself included, has the combination of political connections and tenacity to be even 10% as effective on the national stage as Wayne. You want effective leadership, you have to pony up. That is how capitalism works. As far as I’m concerned, the man has delivered and continues to deliver. Otherwise the board would have voted him out.
Do hard shit; get paid a lot.
Welcome to the Real World…
Spot on.
The NRA has successfully pushed conceal carry and 2nd Amendment rights for all of WLP’s tenure. It’s a slow grinding battle.
He’s worth $5 million per year but paid just less than $1 million.
Gates at Microsoft may end up a triollionaire, as he terminated many long time temps and brought in foreign workers at a lower salary. Any of you complaining?
Kevin Klose, emeritus president of NPR received $1.2 million in salary in 2009. Think he was worth it?
If the NRA started failing, WLP would be gone. He is well worth it.
You gotta tell us RF, when and why did the NRA piss you off?
This ranks as FAKE NEWS when you realize it was mostly deferred compensation.
“You gotta tell us RF, when and why did the NRA piss you off?”
From where in the posting does anyone conclude RF is hostile to NRA? Asking a question alone is somehow a negative? An attack? If I state, “A Tesla costs $100,000, do you think it is worth it?” Does that mean I am anti-Musk?
Anon- “The NRA has successfully pushed conceal carry and 2nd Amendment rights for all of WLP’s tenure.”
Not really a true statement. NRA did not put any money into Illinois for the past forty years, except for a few thousand to state Reps. here and there.
Grassroots people put Otis McDonald together with attorney Alan Gura, not NRA. Alan Gottlieb & SAF funded McDonald v. Chicago, not NRA. NRA barged into the McDonald case at the last minute by hiring former Solicitor General Paul Clement, then later collected $1.3 MlLLION in legal fees from the city of Chicago.
NRA state lobbyist for Illinois Todd Vandermyde put Duty to Inform in Illinois’ 2013 concealed carry bill, not Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Any gun owner who gives money to NRA to pay LaPierre or anyone else is funding their own enemies.
I have been following TTAG since its inception (or a month there after at least), and I am just about done with the half-a$$ B.S. “reporting” that appears to have become the status quo.
I’ve read every comment. And in spite of his denials I am convinced that Sam I Am and 2asux are the same guy.
My IT guys tell me his responses come from servers in Europe. What do I know? I just like guns and politics. Also, I am an NRA member already.
Lhstr, Yep without NRA we would really have problems with the 2nd. amend. I’m a life member and so are family.
Regardless of whether or not he’s worth it, and misleading headlines aside…
Is it REALLY that smart to try to change horses in the middle of a Trump administration which doesn’t know what it’s doing????
WLP, love him or hate him, certainly knows the lay of the land.
Who the hell would be a better person to navigate an inexperienced administration through the minefield and backstabbers?
Goddamn, it really IS like some people don’t want gun rights to advance, as it will put them out of panicked clickbait… The exact accusation leveled against the NRA (don’t want to win because it will put them out of a job).
Give me substantive proof of failure to twist arms and get an agenda passed. Then we’ll talk.
But talk about shooting the pilot who memorized the only map just out of the storm…
“Give me substantive proof of failure to twist arms and get an agenda passed. Then we’ll talk.”
Have you seen the comments about Washington and New Jersey and the NRA.
It isn’t lost on me that many think you’re a troll.
Nevertheless- I will try to engage.
I’m not sure what the specific accusations against NRA are- not funding the campaign to fight anti-gun initiatives- letting UBC pass in WA? No idea about Jersey.
I’m from California, where everyone BITTERLY complains about payment without representation.
Most of it is bullshit, and there are funding disclosure acts in CA that make it not worth funding. Regardless-
NRA won the big game. Nationally. I’ll be mad if they DON’T pass national measures that neuter intransigent states. That’s where my energy is.
Worrying about those kinds of things is exactly the wrong way to think. Penny-wise, pound foolish. If we can cement national wins, SCOTUS wins, and utterly change the 9th circuit, NJ faces a tough uphill climb if not outright loss of ability to infringe, and taking out the 9th destroys CA and WA’s abilities to screw with things anymore. I’m more about being pound wise. Refill the warchest, and spend spend spend, armtwist, and destroy the antis for a generation.
NJ, NY, HI, CA, MA, MD are all too corrupt to turn things around without federal intervention. Outlying battlegrounds like WA, OR, DE, and other NE states I can’t recall might not need such tough measures. But major bellwethers are too far gone to settle for half measures.
I’m all for full measures. And that’s what I would happily see WLP get paid $100 million if he can accomplish
I guess I don’t believe any state is expendable. That attacks all along the line prevent the opposition from building barriers too many and difficult to dislodge. We fight where the likelihood is pretty positive, we end up with a few gun-friendly tribes surrounded by an inexhaustible supply of infiltrators. Smash the antis in their home ground. Disheartens the enemy.
“Troll” seems to be the favorite defense against serious discussion. Thank you for taking the time to present the information in your reply.
Sam- a marriage isn’t about agreeing all the time, getting along, having the same vision- or never screwing up. In a marriage, ALL of those things happen. And you do a cost/benefit measure- am I still better off? And if so, you stay married. Many people don’t weigh the “better off” correctly because they’re being emotional, take a hurt and refuse to let it go, and force bad things.
Is NRA perfect? NO! I wish they would have fought I-594? more vigorously, and not left it all up to Gottlieb. That’s sad, and that’s anger inducing, to be sure.
But as I said- now that we’re at the precipice of winning YUGELY, with an executive who knows nothing about the sausage process of Washington, and no really influential insiders-
Do we really want to drop OUR insider at this juncture?? That sounds absolutely insane. Trump’s EA on immigration was a mess from lack of competent review. WE HAVE COMPETENT, IF IMPERFECT PEOPLE. They know where the bodies are buried. They know about lobbing congress. NRA certainly isn’t my favorite org, and they’ve committed their sins- trying to kill Heller in the crib, selling out local states, maybe even Illinois as Demo man refuses to let us forget.
But seriously- who would take over, who would do a better job- and does that person stand a chance of getting in before we lose this opportunity forever? We took the biggest gamble EVER on Trump. NRA took the biggest gamble EVER on him. Frankly- our interests should be aligned!! They WERE facing essential destruction at the hands of Hillary and (*crosses self*) a democratic majority in either chamber. But now that we’ve taken the most nerve-wracking gamble ever…
you want me to take a gamble with no professed upside like Trump was?? And I was an early Trump supporter! It went Rand>Trump- and even before Rand dropped out, I realized the non-viability and switched.
One doesn’t make a bet without either good odds or MASSIVE upside. I see neither. WLP can definitely be replaced during a Trump administration, as it’s a time that DOESN’T seem like weakness. But NOT before WLP’s experience is used to maximum benefit.
And again- NJ and CA are DEAD dude. Dead. Drake v. Filko failed. Peruta was decapitated. It takes carpet bombing and absolute annihilation on a federal level to bring back the dead rights.
The better analogy is evaluating the hired help. If you lover were being paid for specific things, and not meeting performance requirements, you would “fire” that person.
Speaking of hired help (like plumbers, mechanics, doctors, lawyers…), let us consider a housekeeper. You layout expectations, and the housekeeper agrees to accomplish for a set fee. You become unhappy that the housekeeper only manages to achieve 85% of the requirements (the reasons you hired the help). When confronted, the housekeeper tell you, “I work really hard, but cleaning the bathrooms and the kitchen is so difficult. I save my energy for the things I find easier, and more likely to finish. You understand, right? You keep paying me, OK?”
Sam: re: hired help-
Yes, NRA IS hired help. But the situation is-
You have a massive party that’s a day away. You have a complex house, with ornate fixtures that can be broken while cleaned and polished, with antique wood that needs moisturizing and polish, silver that is tarnished, proprietary plumbing for bidets, exotic gas system for the stove, etc.
Now, we can throw out the hired help who knows all of this, and has failed to clean everything 100%- some bidets ended up backed up, there may be some deeper tarnish on some silver that won’t come out, but those minor details are almost unnoticeable if you don’t look, and guests have frequently complimented you on the quality of cleaning by the hired help-
But where are you going to find someone one day before the party you are confident either knows through some strange osmosis, or can learn the intricacies as quickly as our housekeeper who looks cute in a french maid outfit WLP?
As for the lover analogy- we’re talking a lover, not just a common whore. The things NRA and lobbying are responsible for aren’t a simple quickie, but flicking the tongue at exactly that time when we make that groan, knowing we like #4 sheer pantyhose as #3 is too coarse and #5 is too fragile and we hate runs in the pantyhose… The fact is, this is skilled work, whether housekeeper or whore, and Trumping it (bullshitting your way in and then going from there) won’t get what we need. Even if our housekeeper is failing to get the windowsills of our skylights, he’s better than anyone we can get on short notice that can do as good a job. As for our kinks, well, the American legal/lobbying/legislature system is kinkier than San Francisco during Folsom Street Fair.
“…he’s better than anyone we can get on short notice that can do as good a job.”
Which drops you into my note about the indispensable person. scalia was just such a person. now what have we got? If WPL is all we have, NRA is failing its membership in a big way.
Re: Indispensable person. Had to search for that post.
I’ve seen that firsthand, and have been intimately involved with a business that lends itself towards that. The same problem has evolved independently at least 5 times that I can recall- over the course of years/decades.
The playbook is the same. An ANNOUNCEMENT that power must be distributed in the future- tasks are divvied up on a chronological basis, not a habit/client/difficulty basis. This forces everyone to act as a team, with everyone interchangeable, and no “indispensable person”.
When it comes to public faces, things get far far more complicated. PR and public spokespeople is an entire course of study and thesis that I won’t get into.
Regardless- in BOTH cases, you NEVER try to fix the problem in the middle of a CRISIS or MAJOR opportunity- which is a crisis, just a good one. Unless the indispensable has made it non-viable, it’s cutting off your nose to spite your face. You don’t cut your star player in the middle of a game when you realize that he’s a ball hog, but the strategy is working, the team is still cohesive, and you have momentum.
Britain waited until they won WWII before throwing Churchill on his ass. I modestly propose we do the same.
Disposing of the indispensable person, “let me count the ways”:
– buyout
– retirement
– recruitment
– scandal
– car
– train
– airplane
– bus
– long-tern illness
– croak
And that is why the indispensable person is dangerous to the life of the organization. There generally is no plan B.
Haven’t endorsed dropping WLP for no reason. Just putting forth the danger of “no one else has….”
Look, Sam I am, the reason man think you’re an anti/troll is because you impose an asymmetric challenge- defend WLP vs. some hazy asks on your part.
I don’t know of most organizations involved in lobbying that lay out plans like that in intimate detail for the entire public to see. Not SEIU, not NEA, nor NRA, nor AARP- none. It would be nice to have an idea, but you’re asking for something no other organization gives- especially given the embattled status that NRA has with a thousand opponents willing to drop mega bucks to destroy NRA if they had a clue (HuffPo’s “Join NRA change them to commonsense gun reforms).
The way lobbies are set up is… pay your $$, vote for boards, let them do their work/call on behalf of your concerns periodically, and call/email legislators. That’s it. It’s like being a shareholder without ownership stakes in a company. That’s the breaks, and I know of no counter-example, so it sounds like trolling because you’re asking for something no other lobby does.
“…so it sounds like trolling because you’re asking for something no other lobby does.”
I guess you are right. Certainly do not want the best-known gun lobby organization to be different from any other lobbying organization. NRA should be held to the same mediocre standard as all the others. Low expectations are the hallmark of America these days.
Yeah, I get something could happen. But as I said, my only quibble is TIMING.
I mean goddamn, what are we democrats? Eating our own can wait til after we’ve gotten what we paid for. This was a very successful cycle. WLP sat next to Trump already. Trump likes loyalty and facetime. Given these factors, we can wait until we’ve won the war.
Then, if WLP proposes operation unthinkable, we can throw him out. Hopefully not for the socialists UK elected after him. But throwing out our leader after winning the Battle of Britain isn’t just disloyalty, it’s sheer stupidity. He’s got credibility and favors to cash in. And apparently Trump liked him enough to have him over- no small feat with Trump. Again- GUN COMMUNITY- DON’T ACT LIKE DEMOCRATS!!!
Asking questions about:
– performance to plan (if a plan actually exists)
– measurement of performance
– growth
– service to entire 2A community
– competent succession plans
is not the same as “eating our own”.
Looking good, smelling good does not advance the ball. I am just pointing out that members of NRA have a right to hold the payees accountable. Not interested in an echo chamber or cheering section. Only one question matters, “What are you doing for me now?”
My position is that no executive of any not-for-profit organization should get more annual compensation than the President of the U.S.
But they could have an option on every member’s dues to contribute $1 of those dues to one of the officers to say, “You’re doing a good job”.
I suspect that if the NRA did that, La Pierre would get a slight dip in compensation, but not a lot.
“LaPierre made $985,885 in 2014. The vast majority of the salary jump, according to the NRA, was due to the payout of a $3.7 million retirement plan.”
The story isn’t quite so sensational when we realize that he’s paid about a million per year. His retirement plan payout was a one-time deal from 36-years of work.
John
Looks like ANOTHER Trump promise is coming true!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmnOJSUkjrA
A) yes it is worth it – 8 years of Obama and gun rights gained ground. That didn’t happen by itself. The NRA was out front through all those advances. As I’ve always said, they’re not a perfect organization, but the are the big gun-rights gorilla in the room. Show me any other organization that wields their weight – there isn’t one.
B) $4M of that was a mandatory retirement payout required under federal law. Pretty standard for someone of Mr. LaPierre’s executive status, so it wasn’t compensation resulting from salary, it was a retirement payout that was required to be paid out.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/02/09/nra-chief-executive-received-nearly-4-million-retirement-payout-in-2015/?utm_term=.10cccfd8ea09
Gimme a break. The NRA went all in for Trump and he won. Had he lost, Heller and the 2nd Amendment would have been rendered meaningless within two years. We’ve got the victory we’ve always wanted. Once we’ve reaped the benefits and put everything on a solid footing for our grandchildren, then we can go ahead and call in the cost accountants.
“Once we’ve reaped the benefits and put everything on a solid footing for our grandchildren, then we can go ahead and call in the cost accountants.”
Don’t hold your breath expecting NRA to deliver “victory.” I doubt that word is in the dictionary at NRA HQ. Here in Illinois NRA and ISRA (IL state rifle association, the state tumor of NRA) fumbled the ball and managed to steal defeat from the jaws of victory, and that’s with the entire U.S. Government behind them with the Moore v. Madigan case from the 7th Circuit Federal Appeals Court in Chicago.
Along the way NRA state lobbyist for Illinois Todd Vandermyde managed to use and betray Otis McDonald in the 2013 concealed carry bill. NRA is infested with traitors. They are not on your side.
Sounds reasonable to me.
Unlike many here, I believe that the more someone accomplishes, the more they should be compensated.
He is not exactly charismatic but he apparently knows how to put the right people in the right situations to make the NRA successful.
The NRA already helped prevent Hillary from getting elected so there’s already been a huge benefit, but $5m would buy a lot more Congressional goodwill, TV ads, education, hunter safety and Eddy Eagle.
So… let’s make a deal. If the NRA keeps working hard, gets the NFA repealed, Hughes Act gone, Hearing Protection Act passed (may be moot if NFA is gone), “sporting purposes” junked, allows CMP imports, gets Russian imports allowed again (and stops blocking HK), and generally gets the whole wish list of gun rights restored, then I’ll turn a blind eye to the compensation issue. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
The rest of the time… well, you take your money back. Politicians don’t deliver, they get voted out. NRA doesn’t deliver, their revenue stream should dry up. Vote with your wallets!
As a firm believer in the free market, I’m not criticizing anyone for their salary. As has been said here, you’re worth what someone will pay you. To me, this is the same as asking if you’re okay with pro athlete X making millions. I hear people all the time say they’re overpaid, but the market says otherwise.
Yay, more click bait.
The freaking WASHINGTON POST as a source?
How about using the NY TIMES, democraticunderground.com, The Daily Beast, a bathroom stall at Berkley.
I would like to see some new faces in the leadership. I believe the message needs to move beyond fear, though the last round of ads were solid! I would like to see him stay on as a paid adviser.
Wayne has led the NRA to victory after victory.Our gun rights are at a maximum due to him. We Top Five million paid members and are growing.
At every turn,at every conflict,year after year Wayne has led us thru the fight.Always has our backs.
He is worth every penny we pay him.
The board of directors(We choose them not Wayne) stands by Wayne.
Wayne also has done much to work with the other Gun rights Organisations
If you don’t like it vote for other directors.
I’m sticking with Wayne.
St. Louis- “Wayne has led the NRA to victory after victory.”
What victory is that? Barely maintaining the status quo? I don’t know what NRA has done in Missouri, but here in Illinois NRA is our worst enemy.
NRA didn’t fund McDonald v. Chicago, Alan Gottlieb & SAF did. When Alan Gura got Otis to the Supreme Court, NRA hired former Solicitor General Paul Clement to barge into the case at the last minute. Later NRA collected $1.3 MILLION in legal fees from the city of Chicago.
NRA state lobbyist for Illinois Todd Vandermyde placed Duty to Inform in Illinois’ 2013 concealed carry bill, not Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. If all that is “victory” then what do losses look like?
“Our gun rights are at a maximum due to him.”
Not really. See above.
“We Top Five million paid members and are growing.”
So being part of a group makes you feel good? What’s the group accomplishing?
“At every turn,at every conflict,year after year Wayne has led us thru the fight.Always has our backs.”
LaPierre is not your personal friend because you saw him on stage from 500 feet.
“The board of directors(We choose them not Wayne) stands by Wayne.”
Are you sure about that?
“Wayne also has done much to work with the other Gun rights Organisations”
In Illinois, NRA works against the grassroots gun owners, and betrayed Otis McDonald.
Short answer, NO !
NOT OK.
NRA Has become the wolf in the sheep pen. NRA NOT RESPONSIBLE for shall carry states, they are just the only org that people know. They only come into a fight after it has been mostly won.
It’s nor LAp’s and Cox’s club. They should retire and go away.
Time for new, more aggresive blood.
Mr La Pierre has earned that and much more, the results are there, how many of you complain about the salaries of movie stars, yet your watching their movies or what about super bowl quarterbacks, or pick your sport, or do you complain and bitch of not buying McDonnalds, because the CEO makes too much. NRA is a strong advocate of th 2nd amendment, and its fighting an uphill battle against people who would love to disarm us all. So let’s not bitch and complain, and instead promote the NRA. Maybe you can’t or don’t want to contribute, which is fine but let’s stand together as one
“…but let’s stand together as one”
Why would you “stand together” with the org that used and betrayed Otis McDonald?
Being “part of a group” makes you feel good about yourself? NRA is the worst enemy that gun owners have in America.
How did they “use and betray” Otis McDonald?
Prove it. I want to see some substance behind this empty assertion.
Well, in a world without cronyism, maybe:
As my father taught me, something is worth exactly what someone’s willing to pay for it. So there’s no question that NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre was worth $5,110,985 in 2015.
But in the real world, not so much. Explain how Roger Goodell can earn $44 million in one year. That is a job you could list as $44k per year, free travel and football tickets and you would have a line around the block consisting of retired Fortune 500 CEOs and maybe an ex-President or two.
There are very few if any employees of any organization worth $5 million or more a year. Now if you own the company like Bill Gates, you can pay yourself whatever you please. Everyone likes to believe for their own sanity that these people are some sort of super gods, well if they were, they wouldn’t be someone else’s employee.
I know a lot of gun owners that will not have anything to do with the NRA, mostly due to their fundraising and membership renewal tactics. I joined the best gun club in my area 17 years ago. At that time NRA membership was required for membership to the club. 17 years later, NRA membership is not required and I just attended a board meeting where it was debated whether or not to pay for board members and officers to attend the annual Friends of the NRA banquet like they had done for the past 30+ years. There seems to be the issues of relevancy and return on investment. IMO, it’s fine what WLP is going to pay taxes on come April 15th. He’s earned it but it’s time for a new face. He’s not nearly as quick on his feet as he used to be. Who is after 35 years? The NRA needs new leadership, new blood and a new advertising firm to come up with a new look marketing campaign.
The NRA played the 2016 election very, very shrewdly. A bad outcome would have meant Hillary, Hillary’s judicial picks, Hillary’s agenda, Hillary’s DOJ, FBI, and ATF picks. The consequences of losing 2016 would have been yuge. Given that, NRA leadership looks like a bargain.
Bunch of whinebags here on TTAG.
Hundreds of CEOs are paid vastly more than this. 5 million is a paltry sum – especially after 36 years of his efforts. 36 years ago the NRA was a big bag of FUDD ready to agree on any gun control proposed. Lapierre greatly helped in turning it into something vastly better. He should be paid more in my opinion.
It is not so much the amount, as the purpose. Looks like the actual amount for salary is agreed to be ~$900,000 – $1,000,000. Question becomes, “What is the membership getting?” Is THAT worth the amount WLP receives?
Many here believe the NRA is single-handedly responsible for every and all pro-gun victories in court, and the legislatures. Others (most?) have a different opinion. If other groups or organizations are achieving the vast majority of victories, and their leadership receives very little compensation, is WLP being paid according to the value of what he achieves?
Now, NRA was never designed to be a pro-gun lobbyist, nor a second amendment advocacy group. All that developed over a couple of decades. Maybe NRA is too far afield from their original charter, maybe it is too unwieldy, maybe it doesn’t have the right people for the current (externally driven) demand to “protect our rights”. Maybe it is exactly perfect. Discussion of the effectiveness and utility of a large, embedded, bureaucracy is not out of line. Membership may not control the direction and mission, but without paid members, NRA staff, all of it, will be looking for new employment…no matter how well-heeled the bigshots running the thing.
The notion that because of alleged history as the premier champion of gun rights one cannot question the NRA is bordering on religion. Is that what we want? NRA as vatican?
Totally fine with a quality executive director of the NRA making 5 mil.
Not convinced La Pierre is that guy.
When Clinton says the first thing she wanted to do if she got into office was get rid of the NRA, that says to me that LaPierre was doing his job. As far as I am concerned, nobody does as effective a job fighting for gun rights as the NRA.
OMG A CEO MADE A LOT OF MONEY OMG THATS NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear TTAG when your headlines make you sound like the huffing and puffington post your doing something very wrong.
As Astra, I don’t think that was the point at all — the point would be whether we as PotG think money given to an organization (supposedly) defending the Second Amendment could be better spent.
If he really had gotten $5mn as a salary, then four of the five could definitely have been better used — like for a program to help law-abiding citizens in high-crime areas get armed ~ that much money could have been used to get guns for defense of self and home into the hands of ten or twenty thousand citizens.
Roymond- “I don’t think that was the point at all…”
It’s about the cult of personality. Small town people with little education look up to “authority figures” like LaPierre. They can’t understand the world around them, and LaPierre represents a mythical “father figure” who will take car of them and look out for their interests. So they think. The NRA rubes see LaPierre on stage from 500 feet away with their binoculars, and they think he is their personal friend.
“…like for a program to help law-abiding citizens in high-crime areas get armed…”
If you’re hoping for NRA to arm poor blacks in Chicago, for instance, don’t hold your breath. NRA interfered with the McDonald v. Chicago case and tried to undermine it at first, then later collected $1.3 MILLION in legal fees. NRA uses blacks like Otis McDonald as fronts for their lawsuits, then flushes them down the toilet in their bills, as they did in Illinois’ 2013 concealed carry bill.
NRA is a white suburban country club stuck in 1962. They should hire Don Draper to replace LaPierre and just sit around and get drunk with your membership dues. At least that way they wouldn’t be making things any worse for the members.
“Others (most?) have a different opinion.”
And by “(most?)” you mean demo man’s one note ongoing whine fest about the NRA? The guy is so repetitive I’m convinced he’s really just a web bot running on a bloomburg server.
Well not being a communists I don’t get worked up about who makes money.
Show me a good enough example that he’s somehow ripping us off if you get and I’ll listen. But it better be something of substance instead of an emotional argument.
He didn’t get it from me. So good for him! I hope he uses it well.
He has relationships and contacts that no one else has – so yes, his value is far beyond what can be measured with economic metrics.
“He has relationships and contacts that no one else has…”
Is this really a plus?
I learned long ago that the truly indispensable person is a serious threat to the organization. Indispensable means means the unit cannot function, cannot be a success without that one person. Is this a good thing? When the “hero”, the one who must be available at all times, departs, who/where is the next “hero”, indispensable person? If WLP truly has contacts, information, relationships that cannot be replicated seamlessly, what does that say about the future of NRA?
Blacks in Chicago?
Actually I’d start with smaller cities in already safer states, to make the contrast between 2nd Amendment loving states and the others even greater.
Hey folks backup NFL Qb’s earn more to carry a clipboard all day. Stop whining….. Wayne has earned his check.
I do not think that fuckhead has ever in his life earned a honest $.
Tar and feather the SOB and ride his silly ass out of town on a rail. He is nothing more than a insider sack of shit.
Sarah Brady, or Wayne La Pierre they are both dishonest blood sucking vermin. I would send them both to the ovens in a New York minute.Right after The NFL.
Comments are closed.