by Randy Luth was the founder of DPMS/Panther Arms and is the president of Luth-AR. I have a Luth MBA-1 buttstock on my “Charlie Foxtrot” DMR AR-15. He has been in the AR end of the firearms industry a long time. He is also no fan of Wayne LaPierre and wants him gone for the benefit of the NRA.
He sent an open letter that has been published in The Outdoor Wires series of online publications. He says something needs to be done to capture the attention of the go-along, get-along NRA Board of Directors as it is obvious that Wayne LaPierre is not going to step down on his own. His suggestion is an industry and member boycott of the NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibition in Houston over Labor Day weekend. The Annual Meeting is a big money generator for the NRA from booth rentals and the fundraising events.
Here is Mr. Luth’s open letter:
Dear Friends and 2nd Amendment Supporters:
Wayne LaPierre- Go Away!
After watching this train wreck over the last 2 years, it is time for the firearms industry to assist in removing Wayne LaPierre from our beloved NRA.
As the bankruptcy proceedings have confirmed, there is a direct lack of leadership at the Executive level as well as the lackluster Board of Directors.
The members of the NRA donate hard-earned money to support the strongest amendment in the Bill of Rights, that would be the 2nd Amendment, not the 1st. When the NRA executives are living like Kings and Queens at the expense of working members, it is long past the time for removal or retirement of the Royalty.
Just think to the lobbying efforts and Pro-gun efforts that could have been initiated if LaPierre and his sidekicks had not caused the many lawsuits and distress within the NRA. It appears the NRA has paid attorneys close to $100,000,000 on the many lawsuits in the last few years. How can any nonprofit organization be involved in that many lawsuits?
It has become obvious the LaPierre will not step down, so it is time to help him make that decision. I propose that the firearms industry and the members boycott the upcoming annual convention/meeting in Houston over the Labor Day weekend. Exhibitors can boycott by either not attending or not setting up a booth. Members can boycott simply by not attending at all.
This proactive protest will send a strong message and may help LaPierre and his followers to pack their bags and depart. This is the only way to save the NRA, we need new Leadership and new ideas. How can there be 100,000,000-gun owners in America and less than 5 million members? I believe the reason is lack of leadership and marketing.
As a Lifetime member of the NRA and a member of the Hunters Leadership Forum, I have suspended all gifting legacy donations as well as HLF donations, in the meantime, I have donated similar dollars to other pro-gun organizations to help fight the fight.
Once new leadership is installed, I will reinstate my donations and support for the NRA, as I have done for 4 decades.
We need the NRA, but we need new Executive leadership and Board of Directors.
I ask that you stand with me. We CAN and WILL be heard loud and clear. We can right this sinking ship. Begin the Boycott!
-Randy E. Luth
I have heard many people express doubt that the NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibition will actually happen. I don’t know but I’d for sure get a room and flight with free cancellation! I probably will go if only to be there if it does come off to be a thorn in the side to the powers that be.
I do wonder how many Texas politicians will find scheduling conflicts when it comes to the NRA’s Leadership Forum. If I were Ted Cruz or John Cornyn or Greg Abbott, I think I might have other pressing matters that called for my attention.
I strongly disagree with Randy.
Yes, I support the idea of boycotting the Exhibition Hall, but the Annual Meeting is the only time NRA members have a voice.
Rather than boycott the meeting, I want every NRA member to show up with torches and pitchforks, to demand that the Board do their job and replace Wayne LaPierre. Meadows, Cotton, and Lee need to go as well, along with Marion Hammer.
They going to let you bring a motion to remove Wayne LaPuke from EVP job? Are they going to ignore members demand BoD resignations or are they going to take it into Executive Session as quickly as they can
Boy, your list is shorter than mine! And I’m hardly known as the radical.
That said, I don’t know that there’s any good response in regards to the meeting. One of the data points that Wayne & Co. love is setting record attendance at the event. Encouraging more to show up only endorses “success” in their mind while not likely having any actual impact given the limitations of the meeting and the likelihood that they’ll out maneuver enough members to ultimately get their way. But low numbers and hurting pocketbooks are felt. Then again, point in your corner is that they also lie to themselves and say all of that is caused by the mean and nasty media, not real members.
Ultimately, I don’t know the best answer here.
If you can not ditch Wayne LaPuke none of the rest matters. In reality all the Officers, Senior Staffers, and 90% of the BoD need to go. But the fish rots at the head and LaPuke has to go first or the rot spread.
I get what you are saying here, and in a perfect world it might be an effective approach.
But it seems pretty obvious that the current BoD is totally detached from reality. The membership has been disgusted with their actions for quite a while with plenty of calls for their removal. What has that accomplished to this point? How is having a bunch of NRA members walking around in a full building going to convince them of anything?
These people are deluded, living in their own echo chamber. They clearly color their view of anything and everything around them to see themselves as the saviors, infallible, and the victims of outside forces. Having a large attendance is only going to give themselves self-justification that what they are doing is right.
Instead, they have to be hit in the only place they seem to care about, and that is financially. I have been donating money nearly monthly for a long time, but no more. Now whenever one of the members calls me looking for a handout, offering to trade a few of my dollars for some Chinese-made junk trinket, I tell them to call me back when LaPierre is gone. I tell them I will set up a repeating donation for $100 a month, for life. The day LaPierre is gone.
We are in a desperate situation, close to losing the strongest force we have for protection of the 2nd Amendment. I am not sure many people really understand the technicalities and intricacies of these court cases, but they are in fact bad. Really bad. Most gun owners are so hung up in finding ammo right now, they are not seeing the big picture. They don’t see just how close we are to losing the NRA and its influence. We won’t recover from the woke-mafia if we lose the NRA.
Desperate times call for desperate responses.
I have been wondering for some time whether the industry is already distancing itself. Recall that a staple of ILA fund raising was their sweepstakes promotions where they would give away all the guns and accessories in the world. I assume these were donated by the industry, but I haven’t seen one in several years. The NSSF also seems more active on gun policy than it has been in the past. And their have been several high profile resignations from the board by industry figures.