Wayne LaPierre

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I Disagree With Mr. Pearson

February 10, 2022 by 5 Comments

Richard Pearson is the Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association. He has held that position for many years and I have a lot of respect for what he has done over the years in a difficult state.

In the course of his job, he puts out a weekly email newsletter dealing with gun rights, issues within the Illinois General Assembly, and other issues.

In this week’s issue, he started off regarding problems within the NRA. Specifically it dealt with declining membership, declining revenues, and Wayne LaPierre. He said:

The online publication “The Reload” reported what we already suspected about the NRA and their financial condition. The phalanx of lawsuits launched against the NRA and Executive Vice President, Wayne LaPierre, has hurt them badly.  Of course, the lawsuits were designed to do just that.  Legal fees now make up 20 percent of the NRA’s expenses.  The Reload sort of backhands the NRA for paying Wayne LaPierre’s legal expenses but in the real world, that is what has to be done.  LaPierre was acting on behalf of the NRA and I am glad they are backing him up.

There are those who want Wayne LaPierre fired immediately.  I am not one of those.  First of all, to fire Wayne LaPierre at this time would give the anti-gunners an immediate victory.  Secondly, just who do you have in mind to take that job at this time?  You may have noticed there are no long lines of people applying for the position. Their name plate wouldn’t be on the office door before they were sued.  Third, there is no one who has the corporate knowledge that he has.  Like it or not, that is important.  These are perilous times.  You may not like the captain but it still wouldn’t be a good idea to replace him with the cabin boy.

I would agree that the NY Attorney General’s lawsuit has hurt the NRA. I would also say that given what has been contained in the allegations and what many of us know to be true that it is also a self-inflicted injury. There would have been no grounds to bring a suit to dissolve the NRA if Wayne and company hadn’t treated it like their personal piggybank. Moreover, if the Board of Directors had done their fiduciary duty – which I contend they have not – then the issues would have been identified and remedied long ago.

It is the second paragraph with which I really take issue. Firing Wayne might be seen as a victory for the gun prohibitionists. It would, however, be a win for every one of us who wants to see a reformed NRA where money is spent wisely and judiciously, which has a board doing its fiduciary duty, and, most importantly, a NRA that stops compromising on Second Amendment issues.

As to the second point, Wayne and his coterie of followers have actively prevented any sort of succession plan. In October 2020 I attended the NRA Annual Meeting. I did so at my own expense. I presented a well thought-out resolution calling for a formal succession plan. I watched as directors Joel Friedman, Don Saba, and Kayne Robinson savaged my resolution saying it was not needed. I watched Wayne himself raise his hand to vote against this. Study after study has shown successful organizations have formal succession plans; troubled organizations do not.

Finally, to the third point, there was a person who not only had the corporate knowledge but had the skills to replace Wayne. Thanks to Wayne’s paranoia and what I suspect was the Machiavellian string-pulling by Bill Brewer, Chris Cox was forced out of the NRA after heading the institute for Legislative Action for many years. He was the natural successor and thus a threat to Wayne’s continuing in office. While I can’t speak for Mr. Cox, I get the feeling he would have booted Bill Brewer’s gaudy, pin-striped ass out the door if he had his choice.

I agree with Mr. Pearson that the NRA will continue to struggle for a long time. I am also gratified to see other Second Amendment organizations stepping up on the national scene. However, none of these have the clout, real or perceived, on Capitol Hill of the NRA. Imagine what a growing NRA with the spine of a GOA, the dexterity of a FPC, and the legal prowess of the Second Amendment Foundation could do in battling the Biden Administration and the gun prohibitionists in Congress. Unfortunately, until Wayne is gone, that will only be a pipe dream.

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Just Slipped Wayne’s Mind

December 23, 2021 by 3 Comments

Mike Spies of The Trace is no friend of the NRA. He also does damn good research and always has his facts correct. He pretty much has to or else he’d be sued by the NRA for libel.

He came out with a new report yesterday in The Trace regarding Wayne LaPierre’s yacht trips in the Bahamas and the role played by Colleen Sterner, Wayne’s niece, in the NRA. The yacht trips in the Bahamas were on a yacht owned by David McKenzie whose company is a contractor for the NRA. Sterner was hired to work with the NRA’s Womens Leadership Forum and is still employed by the NRA. Her hiring came at the behest of Susan LaPierre.

Wayne has testified that the yacht trips were for security reasons. This was especially true of the 2013 trip as it happened just a few months after the Newtown school murders. What Wayne failed to mention in his sworn testimony is that this trip just happened to coincide with his niece’s wedding in the Bahamas and that both couples then cruised around the Bahamas afterwards.

From the article:

Under questioning about the yacht trip, LaPierre did not disclose the wedding. Instead, he testified under oath that he used the boat that summer because his life was in imminent danger. He said that trip — the first of six annual summer voyages on the yacht in the Bahamas, from 2013 to 2018 — was a “security retreat” and the only way he could be safe after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. LaPierre explained that he was under “Presidential threat without Presidential security” and that the boat “was offered” as a refuge. When he finally got to the yacht, he recalled thinking, “Thank God I’m safe, nobody can get me here.”

Internal NRA documents, other records, and interviews with former staffers suggest that LaPierre repeatedly made misleading and possibly false statements under oath about the yacht and his niece. LaPierre testified that Sterner, whom he hired at the NRA, was an integral employee in the organization, but former colleagues, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, say she did little work. 

The NRA’s outside counsel Bill Brewer contends that these trips were disclosed and they were for security reasons. Note that supposedly Brewer represents the NRA and not Wayne LaPierre. Right.

As to Mrs. Sterner, numerous staffers involved with the WLF say she really did very little work for the Forum. The work she did do such as ordering flowers was rather menial. No one has mentioned nepotism but it is what it is. One of the events she was supposed to be involved with was a 2017 event held by the WFL in conjunction with the Safari Club International Convention.

From the article:

The former staffers expressed astonishment to me at LaPierre’s claims under oath. “Colleen was not involved in the planning of, or participation in, any event or donor visits,” one said. “If she and her husband were there, neither of them had a hand in helping coordinate donor activities, events, or soliciting items for the annual auction.” The person added: “There were corporate relations individuals who needed to be at events during show season and had children at home. They were never offered any enhanced accommodation, let alone traveling by private jet with their spouse and child.” A second person said that “there was absolutely no indication” Sterner worked at the Las Vegas gathering. She could not be found on the convention floor or at parties, dinners, receptions, or strategy breakfasts hosted by Susan. At one point, the WLF sponsored a private luncheon for about a dozen wealthy female hunters who, based on their accomplishments, were called the Dianas, after the Roman goddess of hunting. The event, in the penthouse of the Four Seasons, was hosted by Susan. Sterner was not there, either, people with knowledge of the gathering told me. 

I’m getting the feeling with Susan out as co-chair of the Women’s Leadership Forum that staffers are feeling less constrained about venting their frustration over her treatment of them over the years.

I do disagree with Spies NYU Law School Professor Stephen Gillers that this will be ammunition that will help James dissolve the NRA. What it will help do is remove Wayne and the existing leadership of the NRA. I believe the judge in the case is less inclined to actually dissolve the organization but probably has no hesitation cleaning house.

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“Beyond The Margin Of Wayne”

November 17, 2021 by 3 Comments

Frank Tait reports that people have come through in signing his petition to be on the NRA Board of Directors ballot. He received approximately 238% of the number needed to be put on the ballot. He had been advised to have at least double what he needed. Certainly some will be invalid. That said, I will flatly say that if he is kept off the ballot for not meeting the requisite number, it will be due to shenanigans. Because I don’t want to be sued by Wayne’s pin-striped legal wizard (sic) who just lost another case, I won’t call it fraud.

I’ll let Frank Tait give more details:

I submitted a total of 334 petition sheets. These sheets averaged 3.4 signatures per page. This is up significantly from the 2020 campaign. What made the difference this year is that people signing petitions got others to sign.

I received petitions from NRA members in 43 states. 41% of the signatures were from my home state PA. Significant numbers of signatures came in from Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Arizona, Georgia, Wyoming, Delaware, North Carolina, Texas, Maryland, California, Florida, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Social media contacts were the next largest contributor bringing in 36% of the signatures. Many NRA instructors and training counselors gathered signatures. 16% were from my home club, LPRGC. 24% came from the Eagle Arms gun shows. A certain group of “Deplorables” that meets semi-annually at the NRA Whittington Center brought in 13% of the signatures.

1,134 signatures would not be possible without the support of many great people and organizations around the country including the participants at the IDPA Liberty Match, Bitter of Shall Not be Questioned Blog, and the members of Falls Township Rifle and Pistol Association, the participants of the Nineteenth Bi-Annual Machinegun Shoot at Eastern Lancaster County Rod & Gun Club, and the Montgomery County Federation of Sportsmens Clubs Trapshooting League.

I am grateful for this tremendous support and am committed to reforming the board and management of the NRA.

To those of my readers who sent in signed petitions on behalf of Frank’s candidacy, I thank you.

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Comment Of The Day

November 10, 2021 by 2 Comments

The comment of the day comes from David Codrea. He, too, took note of the esteemed Marion Hammer’s comments regarding NRA members that I highlighted yesterday.

So they should have pushed ‘shine Club instead of Wine Club? But keep sending money because we know how to be sophisticated with it!

Think of the NRA ‘shine Club. They could have offered sampler packs of ‘shine from renowned moonshiners like Popcorn Sutton, Tim Smith, and Junior Johnson. At least two of those three actually make or made legal ‘shine.

I tend to agree with the rest of David’s post where he speculates that the recording could only have come from an insider and that Wayne and Company are fully aware of who it is. Read the rest of his post and watch the video. It is worth it.

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Why Does Marion Hate Appalachian-Americans?

November 9, 2021 by 3 Comments

You probably have read in the past former NRA President Marion Hammer’s warning about the “enemies within” and how they are going to destroy the NRA.

I always assumed she meant those of us who opposed her gravy train and board candidates or members who would not toe the party line.

Evidently I was wrong.

Thanks to a secret tape recording obtained by NPR of NRA officials talking about a response to the Columbine murders, Marion actually meant Appalachian-Americans. The more colloquial term for us – and I consider myself one – is “hillbilly”.

From the story:

“You know, the other problem is holding a member meeting without an exhibit hall. The people you are most likely to get in that member meeting without an exhibit hall are the nuts,” says LaPierre.

“Made that point earlier. I agree,” says Makris. “The fruitcakes are going to show up.”

Says Hammer: “If you pull down the exhibit hall, that’s not going to leave anything for the media except the members meeting, and you’re going to have the wackos … with all kinds of crazy resolutions, with all kinds of, of dressing like a bunch of hillbillies and idiots. And, and it’s gonna, it’s gonna be the worst thing you can imagine.”

So Wayne thinks those attending the Meeting of Members are “the nuts”, his former-BFF Tony Makris thinks they are “fruitcakes”, and dear old Marion refers to these dedicated members as “wackos”, “hillbillies”, and “idiots”.

Listen for yourself:

It is discouraging to know that the powers that be at the NRA think so little of their own members. If only more voting members would come to this understanding and actually vote, we might be rid of these parasites. In the meantime, it sucks that we have to put our hopes in the Attorney General of New York having some limited success in her lawsuit.

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Marshall Moves To Intervene In NRA Dissolution

September 25, 2021 by 1 Comment

In September, NY Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen ruled that Frank Tait and Mario Aguirre did not have standing to bring a Motion to Intervene in the New York Attorney General’s case asking for dissolution of the NRA. Among the things he mentioned at the time in ruling against them was the timeliness issue and that 5% of the members were not part of the Motion. At the time of the hearing, it was mentioned in court that a director of the NRA would be joining the Motion to Intervene but Judge Cohen said he could only rule on what was in front of him

Today, Rocky Marshall, a NRA Director, filed a Motion to Intervene in the case as a defendant, claimant, and counter claimant. New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 720 b (1) gives a director the statutory right to seek relief against a defendant for neglect, mismanagement, or “other violation of his duties in the management and disposition of corporate assets committed to his charge.” A director can also seek relief against a defendant for the loss or waste of corporate assets due to the defendant’s negligence, failure to perform, or other violations of his duties. New York CPLR § 1012 states that Mr. Marshall has an absolute right to intervene based upon NPCL § 720 b (1)

Remember that not only is the NRA a defendant in this case but so are Wayne LaPierre, Woody Phillips, Josh Powell, and John Frazer.

One of the grounds for seeking the Motion to Intervene is:

The Proposed Intervenor seeks to assure that the NRA as an entity has independent, conflict-free counsel. The law firm presently representing the NRA is irreconcilably conflicted and the NRA is alleged by the Attorney General to be controlled by one or more of the individual defendants. Thus no present party or law firm can adequately protect the NRA’s rights as an entity separate from the individual defendants.

The Memorandum of Law that accompanies the Motion to Intervene is quite interesting. It starts out by saying that Letitia James is wrong when she asserts that the NRA cannot be rehabilitated and dissolution is the only answer. It continues to say that the NRA and its leadership are wrong when they say it is nothing more than a political attack and everything is fine. It goes on to say that James cannot prove that dissolution of the NRA would be “beneficial to the NRA’s members”. It continues:

On the other hand, to rule for the Defendants merely requires that the Court hold its nose and swallow their claims that the NRA Board has investigated the Attorney General’s allegations and found nothing wrong, disregarding abundant evidence of the Individual Defendants’ serious breaches of duty and conflicts of interest, some of which is already before the Court.

Mr. Marshall goes on to say that the Board has failed in its fiduciary duties to the NRA and to its members. Problems have been presented to the Board and they have ignored them while also taking no action against the named individuals (LaPierre, Powell, Phillips, and Frazer).

Thus, the Memorandum states the Board should be dissolved because they are not independent of LaPierre and that a receiver be appointed. Mr. Marshall suggests he would be willing to serve as a temporary receiver to get a proper accounting and to elect a new independent board.

As to the old Board and leadership, it must go:

As his proposed Answer says, Mr. Marshall recognizes and appreciates that without this action no meaningful change in the NRA’s governance will likely occur due to Defendant LaPierre’s total control of the executive leadership and his dominance of the Board. To the extent possible Mr. Marshall will work with the Attorney General to reform the NRA’s
leadership for the benefit of all rank-and-file NRA members. Mr. Marshall will pursue recovery of all NRA funds wrongfully paid to the third parties implicated but not sued by the AG, while vigorously opposing the AG’s dissolution claim.

Accompanying the Motion and the Memorandum are 12 exhibits which consist of a proposed answer, numerous emails, NRA Board minutes, Marshall’s bio and resume (which is very impressive), and a compilation of Form 990 data. Rather than go through each of these, I am just going to put the links to them below.

Proposed Answer

Liptak Email

North-Childress Letter

Brewer legal bills

NRA Board Minutes 1/7/2021

Email to Board, 3/15/2021

Email to Board, 3/17/2021

Compilation of Form 990 data

NRA Board Minutes, 3/28/2021

Email to Board re Brewer, 3/18/2021

Email to Board, 7/1/2021

Email to Board, 8/27/2021

Bio and Resume

I would be remiss to not mention that Attorney General Letitia James released a statement today on Mr. Marshall’s Motion to Intervene. The only really relevant part was this:“While we continue to review this motion, we are glad to hear that Mr. Marshall agrees that Wayne LaPierre and his top lieutenants must be removed from the NRA. Our fight for transparency and accountability from the NRA and its leadership will continue because no organization is above the law.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that Willes Lee issued the official response from the NRA.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Marshall aligns himself with those who continually attempt to intervene in the handling of NRA’s matters by its elected leadership. The NRA is a well-managed, actively engaged membership organization. We will continue on our current course of action—in the interests of our five million members and their Second Amendment freedoms.”

Any one who has read my blog for the last couple of years knows my opinion of Willes Lee. My biggest regret is that I endorsed him for the Board not once but twice. I was taken in by him like so many others. That someone of his ilk is in a leadership position at the NRA says everything you need to know about why Mr. Marshall’s Motion to Intervene must be granted.

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2021 NRA Board Election Results

August 22, 2021 by 5 Comments

The unofficial election results for the NRA Board of Directors has been released. First, off no write-in candidate was elected meaning that neither Frank Tait nor Rocky Marshall gathered enough votes. Second, everyone who was nominated and didn’t drop out was elected to either three year or one year terms.

Three year terms in order of votes received:

Ronnie Barrett

Carrie Lightfoot

Wayne Anthony Ross

Carolyn Dodgen Meadows

Edie P. Fleeman

Owen Buz Mills

Jim Tomes

Don Saba

Bill Miller

Maria Heil

Donald J. Bradway

Robert J. Wos

William Bachenberg

Scott L. Bach

Kim Rhode

Craig Swartz

Joel Friedman

John C. Sigler

Janet D. Nyce

Niger Roy Innis

David G. Coy

John L. Cushman

David A. Keene

James L. Wallace

Dean Cain

For one year terms:

Anthony P. Colandro

Antonio Hernandez

James Chapman

It is my understanding that there will not be an election for the 76th Director at the NRA Annual Meeting. The nominees for 76th Director are traditionally those who were on the ballot that did not get elected in the regular election. With everyone on the ballot being elected, I guess the argument is that there are no nominees for 76th Director. That said, Charlton Heston was elected as the 76th Director based upon being a right-in candidate. Somewhere along the way the bylaws got changed to remove this possibility.

An alternative explanation could be that Wayne’s trick of using expense-paid “volunteers” from the NRA Members’ Councils of California to campaign for his selected candidate has come to light. Not only was it exposed in the Gangster Capitalism podcast last year but it is now part of the New York Attorney General’s amended complaint (see paragraphs 311 and 312.)

It could also be that he has so many loyalists elected that he doesn’t need to waste our member’s dues to elect just one more.

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Don McLean Plays NRA Annual Meeting

August 13, 2021 by 3 Comments

A tweet by Bitter brought up that Don McLean was playing the Saturday musical event at the NRA Annual Meeting. I never pay much attention to that event as I never go. I would agree with her that he should have gotten top billing and I mean no disrespect to Lee Greenwood or any of the other performers.

I still remember how we analyzed the lyrics to American Pie in 9th grade English with Mr. Tutt. From what I understand McLean never every explained them but I think our analysis was pretty close to this story by the BBC.

So with apologies to Mr. McLean and because it is the NRA Annual Meeting, I’ve taken a little license with his first three stanzas.

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how the NRA
Used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those politicians dance
And maybe we’d be happy for a while

But January made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Gun control on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about Biden and his guy
Something touched me deep inside
The day the freedom died

So, bye-bye, Miss NRA
Wayne drove his Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And the good ol’ Board was drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I resign
This’ll be the day that I resign”

A poet or lyricist I’m not. However, I’m still furious about untold amounts of wasted money going to Wayne’s Rasputin when it could have been used to assure that the Senate remained a bulwark against more gun control. How Wayne’s paranoia forced out Chris Cox from ILA who might have prevented one, if not both, of the senators from Georgia going to the Democrats. Most of all, I’m disgusted that the Board has acquiesced to all of this and many still think Brewer is the smartest guy in the room when he clearly is not.

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Is Wayne LaPierre A Peril Or A Hazard?

July 2, 2021 by 5 Comments

While I had heard rumors of Lloyd’s of London refusing to renew the NRA’s Directors and Officers insurance, Stephen Gutowski of The Reload confirmed it yesterday morning. He noted that in this past weekend’s Board of Directors meeting, they voted to create a $5 million fund to cover the board and executives as they search for a new policy.

NRA board member Phillip Journey told The Reload the fund was announced during the closed executive session of the gun group’s Saturday board meeting. He said board members were authorized to talk about it after the session ended, though. He believes the fund was created to alleviate concerns about liability raised by a number of board members.

“It was apparent from the comments that there are several board members that have expressed concerns,” Journey said. “This was their attempt to address the concern, knowing that the policy expires in, golly, less than 40 days.”

Lloyd’s did not respond to a request for comment. The elite business group has a reputation for insuring high-risk clients, and Journey said its decision not to renew the NRA’s policy is bad news.

“I mean, if Lloyd’s won’t insure you, who the hell will?” he said.

Judge Journey is correct. Lloyd’s of London will insure and reinsure risks that traditional insurance companies will refuse to cover. It should be noted that Lloyd’s is not a company but a marketplace that brings together investors, underwriters, brokers, and insurance companies.

I taught insurance and financial planning at Western Carolina University as an adjunct instructor for a decade. One of the topics we covered was risk management and ways to mitigate it. Insurance is the proper tool to use when the severity of the loss is high and the likelihood of an occurrence is low. It is properly termed “risk transfer”.

Without getting too deep into the weeds, there are a few definitions that need to be clarified when speaking of insurance. First, risk is the probability or chance of a loss. In the NRA’s case, I am speculating the underwriters calculated that the probability of a loss or claim against the directors and officers for failing to do their fiduciary duty was rather high.

Going further, peril is the direct cause of a loss while a hazard is something that either causes or increases the likelihood of a loss. If you have a homeowner’s policy you will see these terms on it. Looking at the recent condo collapse in Dade County, the collapse was the peril while the deteriorating concrete was the hazard. In terms of the NRA, you could say that Wayne LaPierre’s grifting behavior is the peril and that the Board of Directors acquiescence in letting Wayne do anything he wants is the hazard.

A couple of the major considerations in underwriting D&O insurance are recent legal actions alleging violation of federal or state law and involvement in bankruptcy proceedings. The NY Attorney General’s lawsuit to dissolve the NRA and hold Wayne and others personally responsible fits that bill as does the abortive attempt to use bankruptcy to evade New York’s enforcement authority. When you add that to the Board’s seeming unwillingness to do its fiduciary duty, it is no wonder that the underwriters at Lloyd’s said nope.

As a result, the NRA will self-insure as noted in the article from The Reload. Frank Tait, who is running for the Board, has an excellent look at what self-insuring or setting up a captive insurance company would mean for the NRA.

A more humorous look at this whole debacle comes from Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned. She notes that Wayne is a bigger risk than fire and brimstone. Lloyd’s is willing to insure the Hawaii neighborhood that sits on top of an active volcano but is not willing to insure the NRA’s directors and officers. At least with the volcano you know the extent of the losses.

So to answer the question posed in the headline, I think you could say that Wayne is the peril and his continuing presence at the top of the NRA is the hazard. Dumping the Gang of Four of Wayne, Carolyn, Charles, and Willes won’t cure the NRA’s problems but it would be a step in the right direction.

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10 Potential Replacements For Wayne LaPierre

May 28, 2021 by 1 Comment

First off, this is satire. That said, some of them would be more likely to do a better job than Wayne LaPierre in running the NRA.

This suggested list comes from the Gun Cranks. They are Tom McHale, editor of American Handgunner, Brent Wheat, editor of Guns Magazine, and Roy Huntington, the retired publisher of both publications. They are gun guys who have had it with Wayne LaPierre’s grifter ways.

I have edited their discussion down to just their 10 potential replacement for Wayne.

Enjoy!