NRA Board of Directors

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Reports On January NRA Board Meeting

January 13, 2025 by 5 Comments

As you know from my earlier post, I attended the Dallas Safari Club Convention in Atlanta rather than the NRA Board Meeting in Dallas. I know that sounds backwards but when the DSC Convention was planned the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center was supposed to be in the process of being demolished.

Thanks to reports by Frank Tait and NRA In Danger, we know how the meeting went. The bottom line was that it went even better than hoped for those of us in favor of reform.

Significantly, the Special Litigation Committee was dissolved! But wait, there’s more! Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, have resigned from representing the NRA and their only continued work is transitioning legal matter to General Counsel Michael Blas.

From Frank in part on the bylaw amendments and resolutions:

  • Several By-Law amendments and policies were passed to address compliance with NY Nonprofit law:
    • Enhanced federal 990 (tax return) and CHAR500 (NY return) reporting
    • Updates to the Conflict of Interest Policy, including making the threshold any aggregate amount over 1,000 in any 12 months.
    • Director Nomination policy, including mandatory background checks
    • Officer Eligibility Requirements (minimum age, etc.)
    • The threshold for ethics complaints is “malicious disparagement.” This is important because it appears that attempts were made to constrain directors from voicing issues that some would prefer to keep within the board. This keeps valuable reporting from people like Jeff Knox and John Richardson available to the members.
    • Cleaned up the by-laws regarding Junior members transitioning to regular members at age 18 (Thanks, Bitterb!)
    • While Ron Andring’s resolution regarding adding the Conflict of Interest policy to the by-laws was defeated, the Conflict of Interest policy will be provided online and will be referenced in the By-Laws book
  • A Resolution calling for the clawback of any advanced expenses from former EVP LaPierre passed. Note that LaPierre fully paid the amounts, including interest, from the jury verdict in the NY case.
  • The EVP search committee has been repurposed. Any search is now off the table. The Committee has been renamed the Special Committee of Leadership Criteria and focuses on developing appropriate job descriptions and determining the attributes needed for all officer positions.

Dennis Fusaro and I had multiple discussions regarding indemnification and advanced expenses prior to the meeting. I understand from another director that there was an extensive discussion of the differences between indemnification and advances and whether a signed agreement was required in the clawback of expenses. It is my understanding this resolution is being referred back to the Bylaws and Resolutions Committee to clean up imprecise language.

NRA In Danger reports:

It began with two tests of strength. A motion to change the agenda so that the resolution abolishing the Special Litigation Committee (SLC) and some other key one would come first, before even the committee reports. Dennis Fusaro pointed out that those resolutions were the most important ones, and the board might as well get them out of the way. That carried by an overwhelming voice vote. Then Jeff Knox pointed out the agenda had a mass of deliberations being held in executive session, and he moved to delete that and only go into executive session as necessary on individual items. The tests of strength indicated the reformers had strong support.

New CEO Doug Hamlin reported, and it was a very businesslike report, not at all like the LaPierre presentations, which usually were political rah-rahs. Membership continues to drop, but the rate of drop is greatly reducing (a factual statement that would never have been uttered by LaPierre). Revenues were up a little in 2024. The roof has been fixed and the top floor now fully usable. Looking to lease out offices in the South Tower. Court cases have either been resolved or are transitioning (meaning have been taken away from Brewer). A secure internal portal has been created for directors to communicate with each other and with the entire board (no more sending it to HQ for distribution). It was a report from an effective manager rather than from a lobbyist pushed upstairs. (The report from Treasurer Sonya Rowling was likewise: she just said, you have my written report. Do you have any questions?)

Then came the serious work. Rocky Marshall spoke to the resolution abolishing the SLC. No one opposed it, the fight was over whether responsibility for the four cases it had been handling should go to EVP (as it normally would or to Legal Affairs Committee). Several reformers supported EVP, and several non-reformers supported Legal Affairs. Dennis Fusaro (corrected) pointed out Legal Affairs is legally not a “committee of the board” and cannot make decisions that bind the NRA, it can only recommend that the entire board do so. (This would mean it can’t settle a case or pay an invoice). In the end the “Legal Affairs Committee” option did carry. (A later resolution ordered the SLC to turn over all its records to the General Counsel. Ouch, that’s gonna hurt). The final vote to abolish the SLC was overwhelming. A chorus of “Aye,” and a barely audible peep of “Nay.”

Kudos to both Dennis and Jeff for putting first things first and for keeping the use of executive session limited. I would also like to thank whomever inserted the word “malicious” into the Code of Conduct.

I am also happy to see that the roof has been fixed in the Headquarters Building and that the 7th floor is usable again. I seem to remember someone had a resolution at the 2022 Meeting of Members about fixing the leaking roof that ended up being defeated about being poo-pooed by numerous directors under instruction from the cabal. Gee, I wonder who brought that resolution.

Please read both reports in their entirety. There is important stuff reported there.

It is my hope that there will come a time when in the interest of transparency all board meetings will be livestreamed and official minutes will be post expeditiously. Being open and transparent nullifies the gossip and innuendo that our blood enemies in the anti-rights industry like to spread. You can’t lie about things when it the truth is there for all to see.

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January NRA Board Meeting: Resolutions And Bylaw Amendments

January 6, 2025 by 1 Comment

The NRA Board of Directors will hold their winter meeting on Saturday, January 12th, in Dallas, Texas. Thanks to a nameless director who actually believes in transparency I have a list of the resolutions and bylaw amendments that will be presented at the meeting. Some of these will be for discussion only and some will be for voting.

Resolutions

  • Special Litigation Committee Dissolution (Amanda Suffecool) – review of resolution presented in September
  • Special Litigation Committee Dissolution v. 1 (Amanda Suffecool & Rocky Marshall)
  • Special Litigation Committee Dissolution v. 2 (Buz Mills & Rocky Marshall)
  • Nomination of Charles Brown for Board of Directors ballot (Buz Mills & Rocky Marshall)
  • Nomination of Paul Babaz for Board of Directors ballot (Buz Mills & Rocky Marshall)
  • Creation of a Committee of Reorganization (Buz Mills & Rocky Marshall)
  • Relocation Committee Dissolution (Buz Mills & Rocky Marshall)
  • Executive VP Search Committee Dissolution (Buz Mills & Rocky Marshall)
  • Criminal Background Check of Directors and Officers (Charlie Beers)
  • Resolution regarding Reclamation of Expenses relating to NYAG v NRA (Dennis Fusaro, Jeff Knox, Phil Journey, & Rocky Marshall)

Bylaw Amendments – Q&A Only

  • Committee Assignment Procedures v. 1 (Al Hammond, Amanda Suffecool, & Rick Ector)
  • EVP Advise and Consent by BOD (John Sigler)
  • President BOD Limitations (Jay Printz, Kayne Robinson, David Keene, and Ronnie Barrett)
  • Conflict of Interest (Dennis Fusaro & Jeff Knox)
  • Article VII Dissolution (Buz Mills & Rocky Marshall)
  • Committee Assignment Procedures v. 2 (Al Hammond, Amanda Suffecool, & Rick Ector)

Other than the resolution regarding the reclamation of expenses relating to monies paid out on behalf of Wayne LaPierre, I have not seen nor have been provided with the text of any of the resolutions or bylaw amendments.

And speaking of transparency, I look at the small towns near me such as Waynesville and Fletcher. They have populations of 10,667 and 8,158 respectively. Despite their small size, their governing boards publish their meeting agendas and minutes online. The Town of Waynesville goes a step further and livestreams their Town Council meetings on YouTube. The town’s Board of Adjustment on which I served for 19 years even has their minutes going back to 2005 online.

If small towns – and larger cities – all around the United States can be this transparent and make their agenda and minutes so readily available, why cannot the NRA Board of Directors? I was disappointed that Judge Cohen in his Final Order did not address this. However, it should not take an order from a judge to make the necessary changes needed for transparency. It should be remembered that the Board of Directors serve and represent the members and not the other way around.

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The Vote To Abolish The Special Litigation Committee

September 23, 2024 by 2 Comments

As has been reported elsewhere, the vote to abolish the NRA Board’s Special Litigation Committee failed as it didn’t get a super-majority. The good news was that it was done with a roll call vote which can now be reported. Thanks to Jeff Knox and his obtaining clearance to report the vote which is public information, we know who voted to abolish the SLC, who voted to keep it (and Brewer), and who was either absent or abstained.

The final vote was 34 in favor of rescinding the resolution authorizing the creation of the SLC with 26 opposed. There were 16 abstentions or absences reported. While there was a majority, it did not meet the threshold to rescind the resolution and abolish the SLC.

While those in favor should not all be considered reformers and all those opposed are not necessarily cabal supporters, it does give some indication of each director’s leanings. As such, with preparation for the 2025 election of directors in full swing, here is the roll call vote. I have annotated with whether or not the director could be up for election, if they were re-nominated by the Nominating Committee, or if they having to run by petition. A star next to the name of the director indicates their term will expire in 2025.

In favor of abolishing the SLC:

  • Paul D. Babaz (*, petition)
  • Bill Bachenberg
  • Clel Baudler
  • Ted W. Carter
  • Anthony P. Colandro (*, Nom Comm)
  • Rick Ector
  • Todd R. Ellis (*, Nom Comm)
  • Dennis Fusaro
  • Craig Haggard
  • Al Hammond (*, Nom Comm)
  • Maria Heil
  • Charles T. Hiltunen (*, Nom Comm)
  • Phillip B. Journey
  • Susannah Warner Kipke (resigned)
  • Jeffrey A. Knox
  • Willes K. Lee (*, petition)
  • Robert E. Mansell
  • Rocky Marshall
  • Owen Buz Mills
  • David Norcross (*, not running for reelection)
  • Janet D. Nyce
  • James W. Porter II (*, petition)
  • David A. Raney
  • Ronald L. Schmeits (*, Nom Comm)
  • Steven C. Schreiner
  • Leroy Sisco
  • Amanda Suffecool
  • Craig Swartz
  • Mark E. Vaughan
  • Linda L. Walker
  • James L. Wallace (*, Nom Comm)
  • Bruce Widener
  • Robert Wos
  • Cathy S. Wright (*, Nom Comm)

Those in favor of keeping the SLC:

  • Joe M. Allbaugh
  • Scott L. Bach
  • Charles R. Beers III
  • Donald J. Bradway
  • J. William Carter
  • Patricia A. Clark
  • Charles L. Cotton
  • David G. Coy
  • Larry E. Craig (*, Nom Comm)
  • Isaac Demarest (*, Nom Comm)
  • Steven W. Dulan (*, Nom Comm)
  • Edie P. Fleeman
  • Carol Frampton (*, Nom Comm)
  • Joel Friedman (*, Nom Comm)
  • Sandra S. Froman (*, Nom Comm)
  • Curtis S. Jenkins
  • Amy Heath Lovato
  • Bill Miller
  • Johnny Nugent
  • Jay Printz
  • Kim Rhode (*)
  • Barbara Rumpel
  • Don Saba
  • Danny Stowers (*, Nom Comm)
  • Dwight D. Van Horn (*, Nom Comm)
  • Eb Wilkinson

Abstentions or absences:

  • Thomas Arvas
  • Bob Barr (*, abstained, Nom Comm)
  • Ronnie Barrett
  • Kenneth Blackwell
  • Matt Blunt
  • Dean Cain
  • Marion Hammer (*, absent-health, not re-nominated)
  • Niger Innis
  • Tom King (*, absent-health, Nom Comm)
  • Mitzi McCorvey (*, Nom Comm)
  • Mark Robinson
  • Wayne Anthony Ross
  • Jim Tomes
  • Blaine Wade (*, absent, Nom Comm)
  • Howard Walter
  • Judi White

While the reformers hold the majority for now, three of them – Babaz, Lee, and Porter – can only get on the ballot for 2025 if they gather enough petition signatures. Furthermore, David Norcross will not be running for reelection and Susannah Kipke has resigned to take the position of Deputy Director for Advancement within the NRA. She will be replaced by John Sigler who probably is not a reformer and who is on the ballot thanks to the Nominating Committee. This means potentially a swing of five votes to the cabal.

This reemphasizes the importance of gathering enough petitions to get the reformers running by petition on the ballot. In addition, while I will be on the ballot thanks to the Nominating Committee, being placed on it by petition would give me a leg up on some of the cabal’s nominees. If you are a voting member and you haven’t signed the petitions, do it now! Time is running out.

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Guess Who Is On The Ballot For 2025?

August 28, 2024 by 1 Comment

Prepared to be as shocked as I was when I heard the news. I am on the ballot for the 2025 NRA Board of Directors election thanks to my nomination by Todd Vandermyde and the Nomination Committee making me one of the “official” nominees.

I understand thanks are due to committee member Bob Mansell, a reformer, who pushed my nomination. I wish to thank him for his efforts and will do my best to live up to his confidence in me.

As I am out of town – way out of town to be honest – I am going to link to NRA In Danger for the full list of those nominated.

Without diminishing the efforts of those who put me on the ballot through the Nominating Committee, I will continue to seek to also be on the ballot by petition. Being “double nominated” to me indicates that I am on the ballot, first and foremost, due to the efforts of the rank and file voting members. To me, that is supremely meaningful and I hope it will be to you as well.

There were many good people who did not get on the Nominating Committee’s ballot such as former NRA President Jim Porter among others. If he decides to run by petition, I certainly will post his petition and circulate it. There are other reformers who were not nominated and I’ll do the same for them.

If you are eligible to sign my petition, please do so. It can be found here. You can email me at jpr995 AT gmail DOT com for the mailing address. I must submit at least 398 good signatures on October 8th to be on the ballot by petition.

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Al Hammond Urges Hamlin To Fire Brewer

August 26, 2024 by 1 Comment

NRA Director Al Hammond has sent a letter to the members of the Board of Directors encouraging them to support NRA EVP Doug Hamlin and to encourage Hamlin to fire Bill Brewer and his law firm. From everything I’ve read and everything I’ve heard, Hamlin as EVP has the authority to hire and fire any and all vendors including Brewer. While some are strongly holding to the theory that only the Special Litigation Committee has that power, I think ultimately that they are in error.

From Al Hammond’s letter to the BOD:

Subject: Letter to Support Doug Hamlin to Terminate Bill Brewer

Fellow NRA BOD members,  We have come to a critical time in the history of the NRA.  Myself having worked for the NRA for close to 30 years and then joining the BOD I have never seen this association in such dire straits financially and continuing down a path dooming our beloved NRA. We have to take a stand and turn this organization around.  

The first step is to terminate Bill Brewer and his legal team and allow our elected CEO/EVP to do his job without constraint.  I have sent a letter to Doug Hamlin encouraging him to do so and I would ask you to consider sending one in support of Doug as well. My letter is below. 

Now is the time to stand and be counted and help rewrite history as being part of the patriots who saved not only the NRA but our Country. We owe this to our NRA members, our Country and our children to continue to protect these rights every day.  Now is your chance to be heard. Please send Doug Hamlin a support letter for all the good work he has accomplished and continues to do for our NRA everyday.

Best Regards

Al Hammond

NRA BOD

Hammond then goes on to release the letter he sent to Doug Hamlin in encouragement. You may remember that some of the cabal had referred to Hamlin as the “interim EVP” which he is not. I presume that was because they preferred a more compliant EVP and one not associated with the reformers.

From that letter to Hamlin:

Doug, 

As a member of the National Rifle Association Board of Directors my fiduciary responsibility is to represent our members and promote and protect this great association.

With the continuation and constant legal maneuvering by the Brewer law firm to keep the NYAG law suite and other lawsuits without a resolution it is time to terminate and replace our current legal counsel and replace them with our own internal legal counsel and/or another outside legal counsel firm who can get the job done.

We have paid the Brewer firm in excess of 190 million dollars and we can no longer afford this high priced counsel with dismal positive results.  We are cash strapped and the current legal counsel and our President, Bob Barr, along with the entire Special Litigations Committee seem to have turned a blind eye and insist we continue to use Bill Brewer for not only the NYAG case but other pending cases and any new legal cases we enter into.  Enough is enough.

As the duly elected CEO/EVP you have the full authority to decide on any legal counsel moving forward and termination of any currently being utilized.  I fully support and ask you to dismiss the Brewer Firm from any and all lawsuits currently and any moving forward. Our members have had enough of their hard earned money and the support they have given being squandered on poor legal representation.

Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do to bring back the NRA to what it should be and let’s build a bigger and stronger NRA  working together.

Best Regards

Al Hammond

NRA BOD

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An Open Letter From NRA Staffers To The Board

May 19, 2024 by 2 Comments

I received this open letter to the NRA Board within the last hour. It is reportedly from current and former NRA staffers who are fed up with Charles Cotton, Bill Brewer, and most of the upper management of the NRA. The level of detail in the letter is enough to convince me it is real such as Sonya Rowling being forced to cut a check to Brewer by Andrew Arulanadam. I learned of that just earlier this afternoon.

Here is the letter in its unedited entirety. Given it is an open letter, it is meant for sharing. You might want to share it with each and every Board member that you know. I know they sent it to the NRA email address for the Board but I doubt it will be routed to Board members before their 9am CDT meeting tomorrow in Dallas.

Dear NRA Board of Directors,

We are writing as current and former NRA staff members. We choose to remain anonymous due to the almost certain retaliation from NRA executives and the Brewer firm. Since 2018, our association has been in complete peril, and no one has asked the NRA’s staff for their input. We are the ones who work day in and day out to accomplish the NRA’s mission of promoting the safe and responsible use of firearms and defending the Second Amendment. Meanwhile, it has become clear that NRA’s executives and officers are focused on ensuring a steady revenue stream for the Brewer firm. We pose this question: When will we stop the bleeding, and when is enough, enough?

Over the past six years, the NRA has become unrecognizable. The NRA of 2018 is far different from the NRA of 2024, and this convention hall is proof. This deterioration is due to the NRA’s poor leadership. President Cotton, Andrew Arulanandam, Randy Kozuch, Tyler Schropp, Doug Hamlin, and Sonya Rowling have not, and arguably never have, acted in the best interest of NRA members. The NRA’s recent misfortunes are often blamed on the New York Attorney General. While we are no fans of Letitia James, 90% of the NRA’s issues are now self-inflicted. Yes, AG James has had a gun pointed at the NRA from the start of her campaign, but NRA’s leadership continues to hand her magazines with ammunition.

We will briefly discuss each leader, avoiding rehashing old issues.

President Cotton has overseen many of the NRA’s poor decisions over the years on the Audit Committee, the SLC, and as President. It’s time to change his title from president to king because he is acting as a monarch. King Charles has been positioning himself to become executive vice president and chief executive officer. Anyone familiar with his record at the NRA knows he is not the right fit for EVP. The new NRA EVP needs to be unapologetically pro-gun, innovative, politically connected, and experienced in turning around failing organizations. King Charles is not that person. His primary focus is on maintaining his relationship with the Brewer firm. Recent reports confirmed by the Brewer firm show that King Charles and Bill Brewer even fly on private jets together. The firm claims this saves the NRA money, but this is unlikely. While the firm may not directly bill the NRA for the jet, there is nothing to stop them from increasing their billable hours. This is reminiscent of the MMP yacht situation. King Charles and Bill Brewer are the only ones pushing for the move to Texas because they are both based there. No other staff member, including NRA’s Interim CEO Andrew Arulanandam, plans on moving to Texas. King Charles’s goal is to secure a high salary for a few years as his retirement fund.

Andrew Arulanandam cannot make a good decision to save his life. Since taking his position on February 1, the NRA has continued to decline. Arulanandam exists in his position solely to follow King Charles’s orders and maintain the relationship with the Brewer firm. In fact, Arulanandam reportedly forced Sonya Rowling to pay Brewer millions of dollars today before tomorrow’s board meeting. If King Charles becomes EVP, Arulanandam will be rewarded and return to his high-paying job as executive director of General Operations, with an updated salary and maximized pension at retirement.

Randy Kozuch has been consistently overlooked throughout his career at the NRA. Kozuch is not a leader, and most of the ILA staff don’t respect him. Kozuch is a yes-man. Shortly after becoming executive director of ILA, Wayne asked him for millions from the ILA budget to keep the NRA afloat. Kozuch complied, and his newly hired ILA Finance Director quit after the first week due to discomfort. This wasn’t the first time the NRA asked ILA for millions, and Kozuch complies every time. King Charles, Bill Brewer, and Arulanandam don’t respect Kozuch; he is just the perfect puppet to help pay off Brewer’s excessive bills.

The other executives are equally ineffective. Tyler Schropp, the highest-paid executive at the NRA, can barely raise money without Wayne. Doug Hamlin operates entirely in the red and doesn’t know how to run an organization. Sonya Rowling is only in her position because she is a “whistleblower,” which looked good for the Brewer firm to show a course correction. However, she is inexperienced and would run the organization into the ground without realizing it.

Finally, the Brewer firm is the most ineffective and corrupt part of the NRA. Bill Brewer excels at one thing: losing. He flaunts the money he has taken, pulling up to the hotel this weekend in an Aston Martin while losing consistently. And he is Angus McQueen’s son-in-law. The NRA has funded the McQueen/Brewer family feud for too long, at the expense of our members who faithfully support us.

Board members, when is enough, enough? You are the only ones who can stop this. Charles Cotton is not fit for EVP. Andrew Arulanandam is not fit for EVP. No one at the NRA is currently fit for EVP. The Texas move is a waste of money and unnecessary. The Brewer firm is ripping the NRA off for every dollar we have. The NRA is failing. Revenue is failing, membership numbers are falling, ILA’s power is a fraction of what it used to be, and other training organizations are outpacing us. It is so bad that NRA is liquidating investments to continue paying Brewer. We beg you, as you go into the meeting tomorrow, to stop the bleeding and hold Charles Cotton, Andrew Arulanandam, and the other officers accountable.

Save the National Rifle Association of America.

UPDATE: I was just sent what is purported to be the official portrait of NRA President Charles Cotton which will hang in the NRA headquarters building in Fairfax or Texas if they ever move.

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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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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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It’s War! Plus A Warning

April 30, 2024 by 5 Comments

There is a war for control of the NRA going on within the Board of Directors. While one could say it started when Wayne LaPierre announced his resignation, it probably started as early as last year when Charles Cotton was given a third term as President and Willes Lee forced out as an officer.

It picked up speed in mid-January when Buz Mills and Marion Hammer within a couple of weeks of one another both called out Charles Cotton’s attempt to become the next permanent CEO and Executive VP of the NRA. This forced Cotton’s hand and he appointed a search committee. The committee as we’ve come to expect is filled with the Old Guard. Even Bill Bachenberg who stayed relatively quiet for years on the Board sent out a letter critical of the search committee.

What had been essentially a Cold War suddenly became a “shooting war” little more than a week ago. That was when Marion Hammer had her contract with the NRA terminated by Interim EVP Andrew Arulanandam. I don’t think anybody believes Arulanandam did this on his own initiative. While we will never know for sure, it more than likely was at the behest of Cotton and Bill Brewer. As “Bitter” posted in the comments to that post, this sent a message to the rest of the Board to back off and don’t question us. If they were willing to take down someone presumably as powerful as Marion, lesser Board members don’t stand a chance to oppose them.

Al Hammond, who is presumably Camp Marion, lobbed a bomb into Camp Cotton-Brewer this past Wednesday where he questioned the leadership of the officers and asserted they were not told the real consequences of the New York trial. The next day a new email went out signed by all three officers – Cotton, Bob Barr, and David Coy – which, among other things, accused Hammond on “peddling partial information and NYAG propaganda” and told recipients to go to the NRA’s own “legal facts” website. In my opinion, any Board member who relied solely on that website would have thought the NRA won the case when the reality is that they lost on most issues.

Willes Lee jumped in yesterday with a Facebook post concerning both Hammond’s email and the officers’ response.

The morning calm of the grazing flock was broken by the shrill clarion cry “Circle them wagons.”

Many NRA Board members (incl me) didn’t know of ‘the missive’ until The Three … NRA officers (gaily signed “Charles, Bob, David”) sent an email disparaging the author as ‘misinformation, disinformation, misled, manipulated, troubling, peddling partial information, distorted’ (whew, all in one email). The Three… told us ask THEM for “honest communications”(!) and directed us to our legal-spin blog & scripted legal affairs meetings. #nothingchanged

You can’t make up this stuff.

Marion Hammer was not done either. On Saturday, she sent an email questioning compensation at the NRA. This was followed on Sunday by a brutal article in the Washington Post concerning Brewer’s influence at the NRA. While no more missives have gone out from either Camp Marion or Camp Cotton-Brewer, with the NRA Annual Meeting just a little over two weeks away this is probably the quiet before the storm.

Now to the warnings. First it is becoming evident that Cotton and Brewer are trying to find out who is leaking their emails. At least two different copies of the Cotton-Barr-Coy response were sent out. There were possibly more but I do know of two for sure.

Second, and this goes for all critics of the existing Board, you must have the documentation to back up what you are saying about them. Not having backup documentation will only provide ammo to the Old Guard aka the Cabal. I am aiming this comment at a claim made by Willes Lee yesterday. He asserted a fundraising letter went out in March listing Cotton as EVP. While I have no problem with Lee pointing out the foibles of Charles Cotton and others of his ilk on the Board and am actually somewhat amused by it, you have to be able to prove it. Unfortunately, no one including Lee seems to be able to locate their copy of that letter. It would suck to have to take back such a damaging claim.

I am neither in Camp Marion nor Camp Cotton-Brewer but rather in Camp NRA Member. My hopes for the Board to do what is right faded a long time ago. It sucks to have to rely on a court in New York City to remedy things but it is what it is.

Uncategorized

“We were never told…”

April 25, 2024 by 7 Comments

Al Hammond III has been a member of the NRA Board of Directors since he was elected to it in 2022. Before running for the Board, he had been the Southern Regional Director, Field Operations Division, for the NRA. Hammond has also been affiliated with the Unified Sportsmen of Florida which was headed until 2022 by Marion Hammer.

I received an email from multiple sources that Hammond sent to fellow Board members yesterday. It expressed his concern about the NRA’s future and the information shared with the Board regarding the outcome of the recent jury trial in New York.

From: Al HammondIII <alhammond3@gmail.com> Date: April 24, 2024 at 1:43:14 PM EDT To: Al HammondIII <alhammond3@gmail.com>

Subject: NRA Court Final Documents

I wanted to share excerpts of the summaries from both the bankruptcy trial and the jury trial in NY. I am deeply concerned about our future and the involvement of the lead council in the governance of the day to day operations of the NRA. NRA Secretary John Frazer still could face disciplinary action and or dismissial by the judge based on the findings as well. Please read both these documents. We were never told about all of these conclusions and the subsequent consequences if we don’t make a course correction.

Al Hammond

NRA BOD Member

I have only seen one of the attachments. However, it is my understanding that the first attachment was from the court and the second (see below) concerned the bench trial that begins on July 15th. Neither document says who created them.

While the jury did find cause for removal for both Wayne LaPierre and Wilson (Woody) Phillips, they did not find cause for removal for NRA Secretary and General Counsel. They did however find that he had breached his fiduciary duties and had made false filings on behalf of the NRA. While it is my own opinion that much of Frazer’s actions stemmed from a lack of spine and willingness to say no to Wayne and his grifting cohort, virtually every other well-run organization would have already terminated him by now. Having a general counsel found guilty of a breach of fiduciary duty and making false filings is just beyond the Pale.

Hammond’s email and the attachment lead me to conclude two things. First, all together too many Board members were willing to believe the sugar-coated spin put on the outcome of the jury trial by Bill Brewer, Charles Cotton, and the Cabal. This correlates perfectly with their long-time behavior of willful ignorance and unwavering trust in “well, Wayne told me…” Second, many Board members have not done their own research. They have not read the thousands of pages of court filings nor read the many analyses of the jury’s findings. They should not have to be spoon fed information to understand the good, the bad, and the ugly of what lies ahead for the NRA if changes are not made.

I could go on and on about what changes need to be made and who needs to go starting at the top. However, it is a beautiful Spring afternoon and I wanted to enjoy it.