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Posted on 07/18/2019 3:59:14 PM PDT by Yo-Yo
It’s time for Wayne LaPierre to retire.
I have put this off for a while as I waited to see how events would develop. The leaders at the NRA and I’m talking about YOU, the board of directors, as well as the hired help, have spent years … decades … setting up a system which gives key people massive financial rewards. In my view, it’s at least malfeasance, and it might even be corruption. Monster salaries, private jets, slush funds, insane budgets spent on TV shows, as well as PR and advertising campaigns designed to do nothing more than generate more funds which can be siphoned off for dubious programs, putting millions into the pockets of vendors (and maybe staffers and directors and even family members of key staffers), have eroded the confidence of members and gun owners to the point where we now see a campaign of “no money until Wayne is gone.”
Whether he directed it, was part of it, or just didn’t see what was happening, this all metastasized under the watch of Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. The buck stops there.
It has greatly jeopardized what most members believe should be the NRA’s core mission – protecting the Second Amendment and our gun rights. In fact, it looks as though the leadership has subverted the core mission into just making themselves rich.
In the world of corporate leadership, when the CEO has failed at this level it’s time for a new leader.
We need a strong NRA as we enter the 2020 election season. Yes, the NY AG office will continue its investigation, but we can’t realistically expect those who led this organization into the sorry state we now see to be the ones to fix it.
LaPierre now is a symbol of this financial meltdown. In short, no matter what is done, if he remains in this post (or has any role at the NRA), it is utterly impossible to restore the trust of the membership.
Wayne, if you care about the movement … if you care about the fight for gun rights -- recognize that you now constitute an impediment. Take your millions and retire. Staying on to fight the good fight won’t do.
Do the right thing. ~ Tom
Click here to listen to the podcast where Tom discusses this topic. CLICK HERE.
Tom Gresham
Author, outdoorsman, gun rights activist, and firearms enthusiast for more than five decades, Tom Gresham hosts Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, the first nationally-syndicated radio show about guns and the shooting sports, and is also the producer and co-host of the Guns & Gear, GunVenture and First Person Defender television series.
It was Akerman McQueen that started the concept of "NRA TV" with daily live video podcasts from Dan Bongino, Dana Loesch, Colion Noir, and Cam Edwards.
On the one hand, those celebrities did advocate not only for Second Amendment rights, but for Conservative political values in general.
However, just think how much the Second Amendment cause could have been advanced in the legislature if that $40 million were spent on lobbying instead of podcasts.
We might have gotten National Reciprocity and the Hearing Protection Act passed.
I agree with Tom. Wayne must go, and not one dollar to the NRA from me until he is gone.
Life member here. I agree: no more $$ for the NRA until Wayne is gone and they focus more on the member’s needs and desires.
Wayne thinks the NRA won’t survive or even thrive without him. Wrong. No one is indispensable, not for a worthy cause like the 2nd Amendment.
That said, Ollie (and his political consultant, Dan Boren) really screwed the pooch when he lit the fuse to the whole blowup when he was in a sweetheart, double dipping deal deal with the board his own self.
He should have resigned from his 7-figure job first. As it was, Wayne had him right where he needed him to be and simply called in favors owed for all the favors he had been doing for his favored people all along.
Disappointing that Ollie and Dan didn't see that coming, like Wayne would just roll over for them.
When I was a teenager, the NRA was very active in firearms safety training and marksmanship training. I felt that was great. They also served as a conduit between scouting, the Civilian Marksmanship Program, State Hunter Education Programs, etc.
The role as protector of the 2nd Amendment came much later. It is one that the NRA has had both success and utter failure in.
What really soured me with the NRA’s role on protecting the 2nd Amendment was the lousy job they did in Washington State in the two state wide initiatives, which both passed overwhelmingly.
I remember trying to suggest some coordination between the NRA, the local NRA affiliate rife ranges, and the local NRA affiliate Washington Gun Collectors Association. The NRA did virtually nothing to bring everyone together to oppose the initiatives. Also the money given to the anti-gun campaign by billionaires dwarfed the money the NRA donated.
In my view, the NRA is a paper tiger in protecting the 2nd Amendment. Once upon a time they were not a paper tiger, but today they are.
The NRA needs to reinvent itself and I for one, want them to pass the torch on protecting the 2nd Amendment to someone else, someone who will really get out in front. Not someone who will use every excuse to do fund raising from the membership.
I would like to see the NRA go back to its roots of firearm safety training, scouting support, marksmanship training, AND PUBLIC EDUCATION. The old adage of lead, follow or get out of the way, comes to mind. I think it is time for the NRA to get out of the way and hand the baton over to someone who will do a better job.
The NRA is more of a defender of all constitutional rights than it is for just the 2nd Amendment. At least this will be its roll in the coming years.
Endowment Member here who was a part of the old Neil Knox faction way back when. The entire leadership needs to go and I personally have a problem with so many directors coming from liberal gun-control states. Sometimes I wonder if those people are more worried about what their neighbors think of them than the Constitution.
“....and not one dollar to the NRA from me until he is gone.”
Money now goes to 2nd Amendment Foundation, GOA, and CCRKBA..not NRA until they get their act together.
La Pierre has caved, Tom, the SAF and GOA wont.
Charlton Heston was great. “Come and take it!”
Trump saddens me as well. We don’t want capitulation and fiddling with funds.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It looks like this is what happened with Wayne. Wayne was for Wayne, and that is sad.
I resigned the NRA, after 18 years of membership, in 2007. I was sick of their support of police-only exceptions to gun laws (they are not, despite their oft-times heroic actions, super-citizens; when off duty or retired, they are just plain citizens like the rest of us). That, and their refusal to support court cases that would overturn gun control (or at least certain key parts of it) until someone else had brought such a case to a level where success looked much more likely. Finally, I couldn’t (and still can’t) stand their high rankings for so-so or outright scummy (from the RKBA P.O.V.) candidates. They seemed more interested in maintaining ties to pols than in changing them in our best interest. IOW, keep the status quo, which brought in millions upon millions of revenue each year.
Wayne needs to go - and I will NOT return to the NRA fold unless and until that happens and he is replaced by an actual 2nd Amendment warrior.
I think I agree.
Good points about a focused role for NRA.
Let the other rabble rouser Org.s focus on 2A and the legal fights.
This Ping List is for all things pertaining to infringes upon or victories for the 2nd Amendment.
FReepmail me if you want to be added to or deleted from the list.
More 2nd Amendment related articles on FR's Bang List.
Wayne is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The NO Rifles Anymore is done. WLP needs to go
Time for heads to roll before (B-E-R-O-R-E) any more money goes to the NRA.
As a NRA Life member I say Wayne must go.
No more podcasts, just full support of the Second Amendment and National Reciprocity.
And furthermore, any gun-rights organization that has a wine club is just confused and messed up.
I’ll go get my wife a bottle of wine at the store, on my way home from buying ammo.
If the public is educated, trained and actively shooting, threats to the second amendment would be impossible.
Agreed.
Get back to the core of it.
Training, education, marksmanship, local ranges etc...
When everyone is behind “keep and bear” because they keep and bear, it will be simple.
Moderator: Thanks for adding (NRA) to the title.
Definitely not a Wayne fan, but it’s not going to be easy to get rid of him. Of course, no guarantee that whoever replaces him will be any better. I’m not even sure who would be the best person for the job. Is Chris Cox still on the outs with NRA?
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