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The Alternative Slate Of Officers For NRA Leadership

May 19, 2024 by

We currently don’t know who the Nominating Committee plans to put up as their slate of officers. From what I understand, they have and are meeting in Executive Session. I understand Rocky Marshall tried to attend and was refused entry. Regardless, they will present a slate of officers to the Board of Directors at their meeting at 9am CDT tomorrow in Dallas. More than likely, anyone who reads this blog who is not a member of the Cabal will not like the proposed slate.

Since I am one of those evil “gun bloggers” who Charles Cotton said “turned against the NRA” (sic), I take great pleasure in presenting a flyer from the alternative slate of candidates. They include Buz Mills, Bill Bachenberg, and Mark Vaughan. I might have liked to seen one of the Four for Reform included but I do realize that the first job is to have a slate that those in the middle can support.

All I can say is that if they keep their promises that it will be a great improvement over the current leadership.

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Jim Wallace Elected 76th Director

May 19, 2024 by 2 Comments

Jim Wallace was elected as the 76th Director yesterday. His closest competitor was Joel Friedman who was the “official” candidate of leadership. This is further shows that reformers are gaining in strength as they coalesced to support Wallace.

By my count, a total of 740 votes were cast or approximately 1% of the total number who voted in the 2024 Board election.

The results:

The results of the in-person balloting have been received from our election auditing firm.

James L. Wallace has been elected by the members to a one-year term ending in 2025. Please join me in welcoming Mr. Wallace back to the Board.

The final vote tally is as follows:

  • James L. Wallace – 212
  • Joel Friedman – 142
  • Greer Johnson – 96
  • John C. Sigler – 87
  • Kim Rhode – 79
  • David A. Keene – 70
  • Antonio A. Hernandez – 28
  • Regina Roberts – 26

In another interesting development that I learned of this morning, Carl Rowan, Jr. resigned from the Board. His position will be filled by Joel Friedman who was the first runner-up in the 2024 Board election. Since the resignation came after the Meeting of Members, Friedman will only serve until the next Annual Meeting.

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The NRA Meeting Of Members – Part 2

May 19, 2024 by 1 Comment

I have been sent a couple of videos taken from the Meeting of Members yesterday. Both are from the debate over moving NRA headquarters from Fairfax, Virginia to the Dallas, Texas area.

The first video is of Rob Pincus raising questions about the move including who authored the resolution. A friend who was there described Rob as being like a dog with a bone in forcing the admission that the resolution was drafted by 2nd VP David Coy.

The second video is by David Yamane who recorded the full debate on the move to Texas resolution. It runs for about 33 minutes but is well worth a look in order to get the feel for how Cotton and the Cabal lost control and the members plus reform-minded Directors took it.

It will be interesting to see if the reformers can translate this win into success on Monday in the Board meeting. Fingers crossed!

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The NRA Meeting Of Members – Part 1

May 19, 2024 by 2 Comments

The NRA Meeting of Members was one for the history books. For the first time in recent memory, you had sitting Directors speaking out in opposition to the leadership. Though President Charles Cotton tried to control the meeting including putting a hard stop time limit on it in an effort to limit debate, it was evident by the end that control had passed to the members.

I regret somewhat that I could not be there in person to witness it. However, there have been some great reports on it from Twitter as well as a couple of videos that have since been posted.

Stephen Gutowski of The Reload did a great job tweeting from the meeting. Here are some of his reports from X or Twitter.

It was the resolution phase of the meeting where things started to go awry for the Cabal. Bearing in mind there was a hard stop to the meeting, they started with a resolution praising President Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX). While nice, it was an effort to run the clock out and not let any of the resolutions that were critical of the NRA or its leadership to be heard. (I have seen multiple resolutions that were intended to introduced that condemned Charles Cotton and his leadership.) They then moved on to what they assumed was going to be a resolution that in Texas would just sail through. The Cabal asked the members to approve a resolution approving moving NRA Headquarters to Texas.

Here is a blow by blow when Stephen’s tweet are rolled together.

There’s now a resolution to move the NRA’s headquarters to Texas. Leadership really wants to do this even though it would have no impact on the New York case. I honestly don’t know what significant benefit this would have for the NRA. 

A member asks what kind of fiscal impact a move from Virginia to Texas given the severe drop in revenue the NRA has experienced recently. NRA president Cotton claims it would be less expensive to operate in Texas. He says Texas has a lot of big companies, too. 

The member wants more specific details on the actual cost of the move. Cotton refers to Arulanandam for that. Arulanandam says the NRA’s current headquarters is too big for the 60 or so staff that actually go in on a regular basis. 

Arulanandam claims the current NRA building is also expensive to maintain. He also says people in Virginia don’t want to work for the NRA. So, he thinks Texas will be a better job pool. Cotton calls Virginia “DC south.” Sounds like an outright retreat from Virginia. Remarkable. 

Arulanandam claims selling naming rights for the new Texas buildings will cover the costs of moving. However, he’s not giving any concrete numbers. The member who asked about it isn’t satisfied with the responses. He wants hard numbers. 

NRA board member William Bachenberg gets up and claims the board hasn’t been given hard numbers on the cost of the mov either. He claims one estimate is $80 million. He also says they can’t sell naming rights for museum exhibits because they were previously sold. 

Cotton is now attacking Bachenberg directly. He says he is wrong and hasn’t been active on the board for years. 

NRA board member Jay Printz gets up and attacks Bachenberg, too. He has been an attack dog for leadership since the corruption scandal first erupted at the 2019 meeting. He jokes that he’s well known for cursing out the opposition. 

Rob Pincus, who was one of those opposition members back in 2019, gets up to speak against the Texas move. Or, at least, moving right now. 

I’m definitely getting some deja vu from the 2019 NRA members meeting. It’s not as roudy, but it’s very similar. 

NRA board member Maria Heil is now speaking in opposition to th Texas move as well. You’re seeing a lot more board members speak out against what leadership wants that usual. That’s very interesting. 

NRA board member Amanda Suffecool is now also speaking against the Texas move resolution. 

Cotton gets loud boos when he insinuates that Suffecool isn’t in a position to understand what’s going on with the move because she’s only been on the board for a year. The biggest reaction so far. 

The resolution to move to Texas is put to a vote. It fails. There was a big laugh when Cotton initially said who couldn’t tell which side won because it was pretty clear. 

And that is where the meeting essentially ended thanks to the Cotton-imposed hard stop.

Just a few comments with my impressions on the meeting. First, attacking gun blogs is ridiculous. I don’t know any gun blogger who doesn’t want the NRA to be more than it has been in the fight for 2A rights. If we have been critical of the NRA, it is because the corruption has impaired the never-ending fight with the gun prohibitionists. Second, Andrew Arulanadam suggesting “naming rights” for a NRA building in Texas would pay for the move is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. To even suggest it is to insult our intelligence. Third, seeing Directors standing up to the Cabal was wonderful. Finally, Cotton attacking Amanda Suffecool was a big mistake and the members present let him know it with their boos.

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Not Willing To Be The Fall Guy For Barr

May 18, 2024 by 7 Comments

Bruce Widener, an NRA Board member, who was involved when the Bob Barr negligent discharge took place has refused to be the fall guy for him. I wrote about this negligent discharge earlier this week when discussing the two camps heading into the NRA Annual Meeting. He has since written an email about the incident and wishes it to go public.

At the time of the incident, Mr. Widener said he had removed the magazine but hadn’t checked the chamber. This made it seem like he had failed in his duty to make sure the weapon was safe and that Barr was unknowingly handling a loaded firearm. However, that was not the real story as the email that Mr. Widener has asked be made public makes clear.

After reading the email one is left wondering why Bill Brewer has such an interest in making sure that Bob Barr is the next NRA President. Is there a quid pro quo in effect saying I’ll protect you if you guarantee that I am retained as outside counsel to the NRA? Has the Cabal assured Brewer that he will be kept on and he can keep billing at his astronomic rates until such time as the NRA is out of money? I can understand Barr wanting it swept under the rug as he violated multiple rules of gun safety any which way you look at it.

Here is the email Mr. Widener sent out on it on Thursday evening. Read it in its entirety misspellings and all.

From: Bruce Widener <bruce.nra@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2024 20:25

Subject: The facts re: bob barr

The facts:

8th draft. 

Before sending this out please let me know so you have the latest version. 

This is the first time I have written a detailed report of what exactly happened in 2002 with the incident involving Congressman Bob Barr.  I’m telling this now because it has become an issue in his election effort for president of the NRA.  It all started when I became aware of the email that was sent out recently with copies of the articles about the incident. 

I saw Mr Barr in person in Atlanta and said that I had received an email that had been sent to various NRA board members which contained many of the articles about the incident. Mr Barr said that he had not  seen it and asked that I send it to him.  I then hand delivered a note to him marked ‘personal and confidential. For your eyes only’! Instead of talking to me about the note, Mr Barr must have given it to his/NRA’s attorney, Bill Brewer, who called me to talk about it.  He knew about everything in the note. After we talked by phone He called again and wanted to talk to me in Dallas.  Ashley and I then met with Mr Brewer .  Since Mr Barr on obviously doesn’t want to talk to me, he asked his attorney to talk to me about it then I feel I am free to go public and tell the whole story with all of the details to whoever wants to hear it. Here is what actually happened!!

In 2002, my wife, Ashley, and I had a fundraiser at my house for congressman Bob Barr (who was a sitting congressman and on the NRA board at the time) and was showing him my gun collection. 

I would take pistols out of my safe, remove the magazines and pull the slides back to check the chamber to make sure they were unloaded and safe. 

As I turned my back to say something to my son, Congressman Barr took a pistol out of my safe that I kept loaded in the event that it is needed and he pulled the trigger firing a bullet out a glass door which ricocheted under my wife’s new Lexus!

I actually thought he had shot me in the back! I kept feeling my back and looking for blood. When I turned to face Mr barr he said ‘Oh my’. I said ‘oh shit’! He later aid he was sorry and asked if he could pay for the damages to the door.  

The next day I asked my son if he has seen the spent shell casing? He told me the Congressman had picked it up!

This soon hit all the national news outlets!

Congressman Barr’s campaign attorney called me that day and TOLD me ‘this is what we are going to say! That

I had pulled the magazine out but had not checked the chamber to make sure the pistol was unloaded!! When we were handing the pistol ‘someone’ hit the trigger!

I was never asked what really happened and what I might want to say about it!! From this information all the articles in the various papers were written!

I refused to talk to the media !

22 yrs. ago when this happened, I was a young lobbyist and Mr Barr I was a sitting congressman.  My reputation as a gun person kkwas not nearly as important as his as a US Congressman and an NRA Board member.

I agreed to say things that we both knew were not true. 

Now my reputation and my legacy are at risk and being damaged AND it is much more important to me now as a member of the NRA board. The news articles make me look awfully bad.   I ALWAYS check the chamber and remove the magazines to make sure guns are unloaded and safe which is the key point of the articles.

They had said it was a hundred year old .38 caliber Colt. Actually it was a 1908  .380!

These are the facts which can be verified by son Dr. Douglas B. Widener and my sister and her husband, Mr and Mrs Jack Malott!

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Interesting – Tulsi Gabbard To Speak At SIG Event

May 15, 2024 by 1 Comment

Many in the gun rights community are wary of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) due to her past support of gun control. She had supported universal background checks and an assault weapon (sic) ban while in Congress. She has since publicly changed those views. Gabbard even did an interview with Donald Trump Jr. where she made this clear. She has also left the Democrat party as she has moved towards more conservative positions. Indeed, she is rumored to be on President Trump’s short list for VP running mate.

Based upon this, I find it interesting that she will be speaking at the SIG Experience Center this Sunday, May 19th, as part of their SEC Speaker Series.

From the press release put out by SIG on the event:

SIG SAUER to Host Tulsi Gabbard, Author of “For Love of Country,” in New Hampshire at Inaugural SEC Speaker Series EventNEWINGTON, N.H., (May 14, 2024) – SIG SAUER is honored to host Tulsi Gabbard to showcase her New York Times bestseller “For Love of Country, Leave the Democrat Party Behind,” at the SIG Experience Center (SEC) at the inaugural SEC speaker series event in Epping, New Hampshire on Sunday, May 19, 2024.Tulsi Gabbard was a rising star of the Democrat Party but the growing wokeness and liberal policies were more than she could stomach, so she left the party. Join Tulsi at a unique SEC Speaker Series event as she discusses her service, how she answered the call, and the journey she is on. 
Specific event details are as follows:

SEC Speaker Series Event: “Tulsi Gabbard, “For Love of County, Leave the Democrat Party Behind”Time: 1:00pm – 1:45pmThis is a registration-only event and includes a book.  Registration is now open at sigsaueracademy.com.

Meet Tulsi @ SIG Experience Center1:50pm – 2:45pmHave your book signed, take a photo, meet Tulsi and shop at the SIG Experience Center.Registration not required. The line will open at 1:30pm.

While I have some hesitations about Gabbard, she would certainly make a better Vice President than sitting VP Kamala Harris if only for her military experience. She served both as an enlisted medic in the Hawaii National Guard where she was awarded the Combat Medical Badge and now as a Major in the Army Reserve’s 351st Civil Affairs Command. That plus she doesn’t cackle!

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David Codrea On Bob Barr As NRA President

May 14, 2024 by 6 Comments

Journalist David Codrea had an interesting article posted yesterday on Ammoland. It is titled, “Barr for NRA President Would Prove Association Has Learned Nothing.” The article deals with Bob Barr’s support for the Lautenberg Amendment while a member of Congress. For those who are unfamiliar with the Lautenberg Amendment it makes a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence a disqualification of your Second Amendment rights. In other words, if convicted of such a misdemeanor you are not allowed to purchase, possess, transport, or ship both guns and ammunition.

Now I don’t think anyone reading my blog is in favor of domestic violence in any form or fashion. If you are, stop reading now and never come back. However, with some courts now finding that non-violent felons are entitled to having their 2A rights restored, it is hard for me to argue that a misdemeanor conviction should be worthy of a lifetime denial of an enumerated Constitutional right.

Codrea points to GOA’s take on Barr when he authored a competing bill to Rep. Helen Chenoweth’s (R-ID) complete reversal of the Lautenberg Amendment. He noted that Barr endorsed the underlying concept of the Lautenberg Amendment but just not the retroactive part of the ban.

Codrea also links to a number of posts over the years he put up on his old blog The War on Guns. They are worth a look as well. I will say having a negligent discharge is one thing but going wobbly on rights is a more serious matter when it comes to being the next President of the NRA.

I have a t-shirt that I picked up at, of all places, an NRA Annual Meeting. I’m not sure who was giving them out but if Barr is elected President then the message on that shirt still stands. It reads “Negotiating Rights Away.”

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The Two Camps Going Into the NRA Annual Meeting

May 13, 2024 by 4 Comments

As we head into the NRA Annual Meeting this week, the two camps are hard at work. On one side you have the reformers who just won a resounding victory in the 2024 Board of Directors election. They took 3 of the Top Five positions and 4 of the Top Ten if you count Buz Mills. Relative unknown Dennis Fusaro also won as did Rick Ector. Facing them are the Old Guard aka the Cabal who are fighting fiercely to keep control of the NRA and to keep their perks rolling in.

The Cabal is desperately trying to make sure that former Congressman Bob Barr and current 1st VP is elected as the next NRA President. From what I have heard, people like Sandy Froman have been calling current Board members “whipping the vote” for Barr. Indeed Barr himself has been making a number of these calls. They are willing to sacrifice David Coy as an officer if it will get Barr elected or so I’ve heard.

Even Bill Brewer is getting into the act. Many members may be unaware that then- Congressman Bob Barr had a negligent discharge while handling a Colt 1908 at a reception back in 2002. The pistol had been handed to him by now current Board member Bruce Widener who then was a lobbyist in Georgia. It is reported that Widener removed the magazine but failed to clear the chamber. Barr obeyed Cooper’s Rule No. 2 and kept the pistol pointed in a safe direction. However, he failed on Rules No. 1 and 3 and thus put a round through a glass door. Brewer, from what I understand, has contacted Widener about this probably to put the best possible spin on it for Barr.

The Cabal has organized a Board members only dinner on Thursday. While it is nice for them all to get together on our dime, you know who isn’t invited to that meeting? That’s right, most of the reformers. Jeff Knox, Phil Journey, Rocky Marshall, and Dennis Fusaro don’t become members of the Board until the adjournment of the Annual Meeting of Members on Saturday. Now I am not saying the purpose of this dinner is to put the arm on those attending to vote for Bill Barr but I’m sure many wavering members will be cornered.

Going into this weekend the reform camp is as organized as I’ve seen it in all the NRA meetings I’ve attended since 2010. They have coalesced to support Jim Wallace as the 76th Director which might surprise some people including me. I had perceived Jim as a go along, get along member under the thumb of Wayne. In 2020, he was the “official candidate” vying for the 76th Director spot against Frank Tait. However, Wayne is gone and I am told Jim has been working with Buz Mills on building support for reform.

Reformers are going into the Annual Meeting of Members loaded for bear. I have seen some of the proposed resolutions and they take no prisoners. One of the targets is Charles Cotton as well it should be given his abdication of doing his proper fiduciary duty while serving as Chair of the Audit Committee. Even now he is flying on Bill Brewer’s private jet which Stephen Gutowski got confirmed by Brewer’s firm. One might say this is somewhat equivalent to Wayne and Susan cruising the Caribbean on a vendor’s yacht. I will admit that I was pitched this story and avoided reporting on it as I felt I was being set up. That was an error on my part for which I have no regret.

While I have no official confirmation on a slate of officers offered up by the reformers or if there is even such a thing, I’d be surprised if there wasn’t one. I can’t imagine that they would willingly step aside and let the Cabal’s slate sail into office. If you look at the current NRA officers, all three are members of the failed Audit Committee. If that doesn’t scream change is needed, what does? Does anyone think Judge Cohen is just going sit back and do nothing if the NRA doesn’t make serious and substantive changes? Even more importantly, do you think the membership decline is going to be reversed without clear and convincing evidence that the NRA has righted the ship, booted the old leadership, puts members first, and is doing its fiduciary duty?

While I have discussed the two opposing camps, there is a third camp that needs to be addressed. The third camp is composed of those Board members that are neither part of the Old Guard nor are recognized as reformers. In the past they have kept quiet mostly out of fear of being ostracized as well as a fear of retribution. They saw the punishment dealt out to people like Tim Knight, Sean Maloney, and Esther Schneider in the form of being removed from committee assignments. More recently, Willes Lee was forced out of the leadership for reasons that have never been made public though it probably had to do with disagreeing with Bill Brewer over legal strategy.

The members of this third camp are going to have to decide where they stand as the time for keeping quiet and doing nothing is over. They can go along with the Cabal in the false hope that “steady as she goes” will be what is needed to right the sinking ship. Marion Hammer called this out as a false hope and has paid the price. She was right. This third camp has the chance to do the right thing supporting true fiduciary responsibility and accountability to members by backing the reformers. Taking this chance will not be easy for many of them but it is the only way forward if the NRA is to survive as both a viable entity and as a strong advocate for our Second Amendment rights. If a Jim Wallace can move from the third camp into the reform camp then so can they.

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Liberty Doll On Dorr Brothers’ Scamming

May 12, 2024 by 2 Comments

YouTuber Liberty Doll has a good fisking up on the scams run by the Dorr Brothers. While much of it deals with the so-called gun rights group Indiana Firearms Coalition, it just as well could apply here in North Carolina. That is because the Dorr Brothers have another scam running here in the Tarheel State called the North Carolina Firearms Coalition.

As with their Indiana operation, they call themselves the “only no compromise gun rights organization.” For a mere $35 you can get a “Liberty Level Membership” but if you want to be a real “patriot” it will cost you $125 per year. If you want to run down to their office in Raleigh and sign up, there is just one little problem. That “office” is a mailbox at an UPS Store. Moreover, according to the North Carolina Secretary of State’s Charities Division, their license to solicit expired in 2022.

So regardless of your state, when you get a solicitation from some one of these groups just trash it. Nothing is being done for your rights and the only ones benefiting are the Dorr Brothers.

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Axios – Kristi Noem Wanted To Be Next NRA EVP

May 7, 2024 by 7 Comments

Axios, the online political news site, is reporting this evening that South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R-SD) approached Wayne LaPierre last fall pitching herself as his successor as CEO and Executive VP of the National Rifle Association. Noem, who has been an ally of the NRA and a very pro-gun governor, also came up in discussions as his successor after Wayne resigned in January according to Axios’ sources.

Official picture of Gov. Kristi Noem

Noem, of course, has also been in the news most recently for a story in her new book No Going Back (#commision earned) about shooting her German Wirehaired Pointer “Cricket” after he killed a chicken and bit her. Frankly, I agree with her agents, editors, and consultants who urged her not to include the story in the book. It seems to have been a very foolish way to show you can make tough decisions.

The story has not gone over too well with many people. People might have understood if she said that Cricket was taken to the vet to be euthanized for being dangerous. However by shooting Cricket, as my friend Dave said, she “euthanized her career” and probably ended her chances of being Trump’s VP pick.

Axios reports the dog killing incident and then continues:

The other side: A spokesperson for Noem “unequivocally” denied that the governor had a conversation with LaPierre.

  • “She loves her job as Governor of South Dakota,” Ian Fury told Axios.
  • LaPierre, through his lawyer Kent Correll, declined to comment.

Whether or not Noem actually held talks with Wayne and others of the Cabal I can see why she might want the position of EVP. Her current salary is $139,000 which probably would at least quadruple if named EVP, South Dakota is rural backwater compared to either Fairfax or Dallas, and she apparently has even greater political ambitions. Whether she was ever right for the job is another story.