by Sometimes you just have to shake your head at the level of tone deafness of the powers that be at the NRA. Despite being under the microscope by the Attorney General of New York and despite the exposure of Wayne LaPierre’s strategy to stack the vote for the 76th Director, they still persist in pushing an establishment candidate.
When I went to vote this afternoon for the 76th Director, there had to at 10 plus “volunteers” campaigning for Jim Wallace as the 76th Director. They all had Jim Wallace stickers (see pictures) and they were passing out 4-color printed cards with his accomplishments.
I have nothing against Jim Wallace. I think he has done a great job in fighting the good fight in anti-gun Massachusetts. I appreciate that he has appeared and spoken at a number of Gun Rights Policy Conferences. It is just that I don’t think he will do anything to rock the boat at the NRA.
And that boat desperately needs rocking if it is to grow, to remain effective, and to solve its money woes.
The NRA establishment could have picked a far worse candidate to push. The problem is that they shouldn’t be pushing any candidate. It should be a decision of the members and not the leadership who serves as the 76th Director. If any of those who didn’t make it on the board really wanted to serve as the 76th Director, they should have done like Frank Tait and campaigned on their own.
Given the revelations in the Gangster Capitalism expose’, the question needs to be asked if any NRA money is being spent this year on pushing the establishment candidate. If it is all funded with private donations, that is how it should be. If it isn’t, the Board of Directors needs to be asking some hard questions and demanding answers.
UPDATE: It was announced at the Board of Directors meeting yesterday that Jim Wallace had been elected as the 76th Director. I don’t know whether that is a blessing or a curse for Jim given he had just assumed fiduciary duties. The vote totals were not announced. As it was, he was absent from the meeting and the announced reasons were due to health.
With regard to the establishment campaigning, I was told that the man in the gray suit with his back to the camera is Paul Payne who, if you listened to the Gangster Capitalism episode know, reports directly to Wayne LaPierre. Further, I had confirmation from another person that many of the people seen campaigning for Jim Wallace on Friday and Saturday were from the NRA Members Councils of California.
I don’t know who is advising the NRA these days on matters of public relations now that Ack-Mac has been kicked to the curb. Whoever it is should be cringing but I imagine he or she is as tone deaf as the powers that be.
I’m a Patron level member….and the NRA is not getting another dime from me as long as the LaPierre crew is in charge.
At the very least, it’s a matter of optics: Both sides probably have compelling arguments to make. It doesn’t matter at this point. Wayne has to go.
The ‘EGO’ of WLP is going to be his and possibly the NRA’s downfall… dammit…
John,
Thanks for your reporting on the meeting for those of us who couldn’t make the trip to AZ. I am a Benefactor level member and attended the Indy convention and many others through the years.
Sometimes I think we lose perspective on the 2A’s enemies and tactics. The NY AG has a stated goal of taking down the NRA. As far as I can see, it doesn’t really matter who the Exec Director is, she’s coming, and members need to fight with every ounce of our being.
When taking down WLP becomes more important than the fight against NY, we will all lose. Our enemies love strife among our members.
We should keep up the battle for transparency and accountability, but the war with the NY AG is an existential threat that will continue as long as 2A stands or until she is voted out of office.
The battle isn’t to get rid of Wayne, the battle is to clean up the NRA and solidify it so to make Tish James’ moves irrelevant. A cleaned up NRA will survive the war with the AG of NY. Wayne and company need to stop playing into her hands with their heavy handed moves.
Tish Jones and her type will never be irrelevant until we get New York out of America. So as Buckshot says we need to keep perspective while we support cleaning up the NRA internally.
I do appreciate your reports, however. There are plenty of places that do larger gun politics and your niche is NRA reform.
My niche is not necessarily NRA reform. It has always been 2A legal issues and the business of guns.
I used to be a Wayne supporter and then I wised up. I supported Adam Kraut for the board and became friends with him. I saw how he was treated and it disgusted me. I started listening and becoming friends with the more grassroots oriented board members. Then I started getting information from insiders and it grew from there.
Agree.. endowment member here… i just cant give them another cent… this is a sleezy, sleezy tragedy at the very worst of times.. Waynes name will be the Benedict Arnold of the 21st century. This should be a no-brainer for resignation and retirement.
And of course, the basic question of WHY the NRA is still a NYC corporation (as opposed to Delaware, Nevada, Wyoming or some other friendlier state) needs to be answered.
Seems that Wayne should answer for that as well
That is a question I can actually answer. Back about 1990 or 1991, Prof Joe Olson, a professor law at Hamline School of Law, was a board member. He questioned then why the NRA was still chartered in New York given their non-profit corporation laws as opposed to a state like South Dakota. The NRA’s attorney said there was no problem being chartered in New York and it would be a hassle to switch. The reason he actually said it was because that lawyer was licensed in New York and didn’t want to have to deal with another state.
30 years later the NRA is paying dearly for that advice.
Jeez, it’s even dumber than I thought. The writing was on the wall about NY well before 1990. People need to remember that legal advice is just that. Advice not holy writ. The lawyer didn’t even have to switch, just get a local front man.
A question though….I’m an NRA member, I live in Connecticut. We have a small 2A community: CCDL. However, the NRA is the only national organization that is paying any attention to fighting for 2A rights in the blue states. Or, at least the only one I am aware of.
Now, you might say, ‘Just move’. That is the song I have heard from the red state people for thirty years (usually with an inordinate amount of verbal posturing regarding the size of their imagined testicles vs mine, which I don’t have). Great, you looked at Colorado or Texas lately? Those states are going purple these days and may come dangerously close to a vote for Biden in a week’s time. Arguing ‘just move’ is a losing proposition. What I would like to see is a dedicated movement to teach gun safety, marksmanship, and associated sports such as hunting, in urban areas. The NRA isn’t doing that, but no one else is either; the NRA at least, sometimes, recognizes that the entire country exists and there are passionate gun owners living in the blue states.
So my question, the NRA sucks (granted) but is there any other organization out there that is actually fighting for 2A rights in all states? If not, why not? If yes, can I join?
The best way to fight for your rights in any state is through your local state organizations. NRA-ILA reps cover upwards of 4 states while state organizations are focused 100% on their own state. Here in “purple” North Carolina, Grass Roots North Carolina has done much more than the NRA or its state affiliate NCRPA. By contrast, in a state like Illinois, the Illinois State Rifle Association is the NRA affiliate and does great work.
CCDL in Connecticut is a great organization and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Holly Sullivan.
If you are looking for national organizations, I’d suggest looking at either the Second Amendment Foundation or the Firearms Policy Coalition. Both are more legally oriented than lobbying oriented. Firearms Policy Coalition is an offshoot of the California Gun Rights Foundation so they know a little bit about life in blue states. If you are just looking for something that teaches firearms safety and marksmanship, look at the 4-H Program. They do great work as does the Issak Walton League.