NRA

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NRA Hasn’t Decided Yet To Collect The Money Wayne Owes?

July 16, 2024 by 5 Comments

NRA President Bob Barr was on the stand today in the second day of the remedial phase of the New York trial. According to Erik Uebelacker of Courthouse News, Barr just said moments ago that the NRA has not yet decided if they will actually try to collect the $4.4 million the jury said Wayne owes.

What do you mean you haven’t decided to try and collect the money Wayne looted from the NRA?

WTF, Bob! That’s the members’ hard-earned dues and contributions we are talking about.

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What Goes Around, Comes Around

July 16, 2024 by 1 Comment

The bench phase of the NRA’s trial in New York City opened today. The first witness to take the stand was former NRA President Charles Cotton who now chairs both the Audit and Ethics Committees. Among the things he included in his testimony was the following regarding succession planning according to AP reports.

Charles Cotton, an NRA board member, was the first witness to take the stand. He revealed that the organization did not have a succession plan in place when LaPierre announced his retirement in January, just before the start of the trial’s first phase — suggesting his exit was hasty and not expected.

If only they had listened to one of their members who offered a resolution asking the Board of Directors to draft and adopt a formal succession plan. That resolution was offered at the NRA Meeting of Members held in Tucson, Arizona in October 2020. Mind you that this was in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the most vulnerable population included senior citizens like LaPierre. That meeting was being run by 1st VP Charles Cotton as then-President Carolyn Meadows was absent due to health concerns.

As you can probably guess by now that resolution was soundly defeated. One of the arguments offered against it was that the NRA Bylaws provided a succession plan in that the Executive Director of General Operations would take over as the Interim EVP and CEO. This is exactly what happened when LaPierre resigned. Another argument was that the NRA was not the same as a for-profit corporation where succession planning is a best practice.

Among those testifying against the resolution in favor of succession planning was Joel Friedman who now sits as Vice-Chair of the Ethics Committee. Friedman is also a member along with Charles Cotton on both the Bylaws and Resolutions Committee and the Finance Committee. He is only on the Board now because Carl Rowen, Jr. was convinced to resign in order to allow Friedman to ascend to a directorship.

This truly is a case of what goes around, comes around.

As to the Endowment Life member who offered that serious resolution of succession planning, it was me. Perhaps if the Board had listened to the members instead of kowtowing to the Cabal, the NRA wouldn’t be in the position it is now.

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Hopes For Reform At NRA Dashed

July 11, 2024 by 2 Comments

When the NRA Board of Directors meeting ended on the Monday after the NRA Annual Meeting many, including me, had high hopes that reform was finally coming to the organization. Reformers had won two out of three of the officer positions, the EVP, and a majority on the Nominating Committee. This was on the heels of the resounding victories of the Four for Reform. Doug Hamlin, the new CEO and EVP, started making good changes and signaled a new openness.

However, as I noted at the end of May, how newly elected NRA President Bob Barr handled committee assignments would be the key to showing the court in New York just how much the NRA had changed and embraced reform. I went on to add that Charles Cotton and David Coy must not be allowed to serve on the Audit and Finance Committees respectively.

I began to be more than a little concerned when it came out that Barr had made Cotton the new chair of the Ethics Committee. That was the harbinger of more to come as it became obvious that Barr had ignored his mother’s warning about running with the “wrong crowd”.

Yesterday, Barr’s appointments to the Audit, Finance, Ethics, Bylaws and Resolutions, and Legal Affairs Committees were announced.

NRA President Bob Barr has announced some committee assignments:

Audit

Charles Cotton – Chairman
E. Wilkinson – Vice Chairman
Charles Beers
Curtis Jenkins
Rocky Marshall

Bylaws & Resolutions

Carol Frampton – Chairman
Charles Cotton – Vice Chairman
Scott Bach
Bob Barr
Larry Craig
Joel Friedman
Jim Wallace

Ethics

Charles Cotton – Chairman
Joel Friedman – Vice Chairman
Clel Baudler
Jay Printz
Barbara Rumpel
Mark Vaughan

Finance

David Coy – Chairman
Ron Schmeits – Vice Chairman
Joe Allbaugh
Bill Bachenberg
Isaac Demarest
Patricia Clark
Allan Cors
Charles Cotton
Joel Friedman
Curtis Jenkins
Carolyn Meadows
Bill Miller
Buz Mills
Amanda Suffecool
Mark Vaughan

Legal Affairs

Sandra Froman – Chairman
Scott Bach – Vice Chairman
Bob Barr
Charles Cotton
Carol Frampton
Charles Hiltunen
Curtis Jenkins
John Sigler

The first thing you will notice is that Charles Cotton is on every single one of these important committees and retains his chairmanship of the Audit Committee to go with his newly appointed chairmanship of the Ethics Committee. The next thing you notice is that David Coy has retained his chairmanship of the Finance Committee.

The only one of the Four for Reform members to be appointed to any committee was Rocky Marshall who was appointed to the Audit Committee. I find this disappointing as their election is being used by the NRA in its court filings to assert that things have changed and no special monitor was needed. While Rocky’s appointment is good and proper, why was not Jeff Knox put on Bylaws and Resolutions as he probably knows more about the Bylaws than any member of that committee. Likewise, would not it have been wise to put Judge Phil Journey, the only jurist on the Board, on the Legal Affairs Committee.

With the exception of the Finance Committee which has has four known reformers on it (out of 15 total members), the remaining committees have one and perhaps two known reformers on them. If Barr wanted to signal to the members of the NRA and to Judge Cohen that things had changed at the NRA, this certainly was not the way to do it.

While I don’t have a crystal ball on what will happen in the remedial phase of the New York trial, I think the odds are better than even that a special monitor will now be appointed to oversee the NRA’s finances. It should be noted that this monitor will have nothing to do with functions and programs of the NRA including its political functions. While this will put me at odds with some friends on the Board who are reformers, I think that the special monitor will be a requirement if the NRA is ever to crawl out of the morass it finds itself in.

UPDATE: I can fully understand the frustration that Judge Phil Journey must have felt that caused him to file a motion to intervene in the New York trial. That was on July 3rd and he obviously saw things that are now only coming to light. It has been suggested to me that the appointment of Charles Cotton to head the Ethics Committee was specifically meant to go after Judge Journey for having the temerity to break ranks.

Stephen Gutowski has more on Journey’s motion here along with the NRA’s denials.

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The NRA, LaPierre, And Frazer Appeal

July 8, 2024 by 6 Comments

Attorneys for the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, and John Frazer all filed appeals in People of New York v. National Rifle Association of America et al on Friday. They are appealing Judge Cohen’s decision and “order on motion” in which he denies their motions to set aside the jury’s verdict and enter a judgment for them as a matter of law. Frazer’s motion was to only set aside part of the jury’s verdict but that was also denied. Attorneys for Wilson “Woody” Phillips had filed a similar motion to set aside the verdict but are not appealing. As noted earlier, it appears he has settled with the New York Attorney General’s Office.

The appeals will go to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First
Judicial Department. That same court has denied all previous appeals made by any of the defendants and have upheld all of Judge Cohen’s rulings in this case. The Appellate Division is the intermediate appellate level in New York State with the Court of Appeals being akin to Supreme Courts in other states.

Noah Peters of Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, is arguing on behalf of the NRA. His argument centers around whether there enough evidence to find that the NRA payments for Susan LaPierre’s hair and makeup, to David Keene, and to Woody Phillips were anything other than “de minimis”. He goes on to question whether people like Phil Journey, Craig Spray, Rocky Marshall, Ollie North, and others should really be considered “whistleblowers”. Finally, he questions whether the jury had sufficient cause under New York’s Executive Law to find the NRA submitted false filings.

The attorney for Wayne, Kent Correll, is arguing that the Attorney General lacked the “power, authority, capacity or standing to seek or procure a judgment” under New York law to seek monetary damages against an officer of a not-for-profit, to seek the removal of such officer, and to bar the re-election of a person who is no longer employed by the non-for-profit. He also attacks the sufficiency of the evidence against Wayne.

John Frazer’s appeal argues that since the jury did not find grounds for either monetary damages or removal from office, it erred in finding he failed in his fiduciary responsibilities. Moreover, since no claim of false statements were made against the NRA’s accountants, they should not have found he knowingly signed off on a false filing.

Given the past history of appeals in this trial, I really don’t seeing any of these defendants winning their appeals. Moreover, with the exception of Frazer who is essentially fighting to stay employed, I think the other appeals are going through the motions because a) they will generate more billable hours and b) for the public relations aspect of it. Wayne is fighting to say he really wasn’t a grifter and the NRA is trying to assert that the jury should never have agreed with the Attorney General because, you know, she hates us and wants us gone.

Vendetta or no vendetta, the attorneys for New York had a strong case against the NRA and the individual defendants. Josh Powell and Woody Phillips have realized it and settled. That the NRA has not settled like that did with the Attorney General for the District of Columbia is a shame. I think what they will get now in terms of punishment is going to be worse than if they had settled. The only winners are the attorneys who will rake in even more fees that are being paid out of members’ dues or, at least, that is the case for sure with regard to the NRA. Who is paying the fees for Wayne and Frazer and whether it will ultimately be the NRA is up in the air.

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Unprofessional? Hardly

July 3, 2024 by

I wrote back in March about the promotion that Colleen Sterner received in the NRA’s Office of Advancement. As a refresher, she is the niece of disgraced former NRA CEO and EVP Wayne LaPierre who mere days after he retired was appointed to Director of Events for Advancement with a six-figure salary. That post stirred some angst within the NRA’s PR department.

There have been a number of filings in recent days in the bench phase of the New York Attorney General’s suit against the NRA. These filings include both witness lists and exhibits that the parties want to bring to the attention of Judge Joel Cohen. One that caught my eye was by Noah Peters of Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, on behalf of the NRA. Exhibit 38 was a string of emails involving Sterner, NRA CFO Sonya Rowling, and Bob Mensinger who at the time had not yet been named the NRA’s Chief Compliance Officer.

NRA Exhibit 38 by jpr9954 on Scribd

If you read through the string of emails starting on the last page and going to the top, you see it involves a review of a contract for an event to be held at the 2024 NRA Annual Meeting. Sterner was pushing to get a contract approved quickly by Sonya Rowling. Unfortunately for her, it appears Sterner did an incomplete job that was not in compliance with the NRA’s Procurement Policy for which Rowling called her out.

Like a spoiled child who finally gets disciplined, Sterner threw a fit and complained about the response to both then Interim EVP Andrew Arulanandam and Mensinger as head of compliance.

Andrew and Bob,
See Sonya Rowling’s unprofessional email below. I can’t believe I am being viciously retaliated against based on who my uncle is and Sonya’s disdain for him. Financial Services Division, under the leadership of Rowling, has constantly moved the goal post for NRA’s contract processes.
Colleen Sterner

I would hardly call Rowling’s email “unprofessional”. I see it as the response of someone who knows the loose ways of the past are over and is perhaps a little frustrated over having to continuously correct the errors of those who have not realized this yet. I will say that Mensinger’s response was quite diplomatic as he politely says in so many words “not my problem”.

Of course, Sterner is not satisfied with that. It ends with a huffy statement about how she is working on “12 events”, the contract review is “old and entirely vague”, and they are moving the goal posts on her.

I would say that this is a prime example of the Peter Principle in action except that Sterner’s promotion to Director of Events for Advancement happened long after she had reached her level of incompetence. That may sound harsh but members of the NRA have a right to expect that people are hired and promoted based upon their competency and not their family ties.

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J. Warren Cassidy, RIP

June 19, 2024 by

Former NRA Executive Vice President and CEO J. Warren Cassidy passed away on Wednesday, June 12th at the age of 93. In addition to serving as the EVP from 1986 to 1991, Cassidy headed the NRA-ILA starting in 1982 after Neal Knox was fired by Harlon Carter. Cassidy was Wayne LaPierre’s immediate predecessor as EVP.

Cassidy served as president of the Goal Owners Action League, was elected to the NRA Board of Directors in 1978, and served one term as mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts. He served for 22 years in the US Marine Corps Reserve retiring in 1975 as a Lt. Colonel.

According to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 1991, Cassidy was forced to resign as EVP by the Board of Directors due to mis-management issues related to a new computer system, a drop in NRA membership, and a sexual harassment lawsuit settlement. Another article stated that Cassidy, when he became EVP, wanted to change the NRA’s image to put more emphasis on training and hunter safety as opposed to fierce advocacy for the Second Amendment. From my outsider’s perspective of events almost 40 years ago, it appears that is was a classic battle between the “Fudds” and hardline 2A advocates.

From his obituary:

After retirement, he moved to East Wakefield, NH and later, Mirror Lake, NH where Joan and he enjoyed family visits, golf, home projects, and giving treats to neighborhood dogs.


Cassidy is survived by his wife, Joan Cassidy (Purtell), and five children: Joseph Cassidy III and his wife Anne; Julia Rose (Cassidy) and her husband Ray; Phil Cassidy and his wife Tina; Susan Van Tongeren (Cassidy) and her husband Philip; and Beth Grew (Cassidy) and her husband Steven. He is also survived by his sister Carol Welch (Cassidy); his grandchildren: Michael, Diana, Bart, Cara, and Cassie; and, his great-grandchildren: Aiyla, Shayn, and Alina. Warren was pre-deceased by grandson, Christopher van Tongeren.


In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations be sent to the Tuftonboro (NH) Free Public Library. Cassidy will be interred at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Lynn with military honors.


A Funeral Mass will be 11:00 AM Saturday June 22 at St Katharine Drexel Church in Alton, NH.

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Now On To NRA Committee Assignments

May 29, 2024 by 6 Comments

The real work of the NRA Board of Directors is done in the various committees. These committees range from the Audit, Finance, and Ethics Committee to Outreach, Federal Affairs, and Legislative Affairs. Officially, it will be new NRA President Bob Barr who selects the members for all these committees. More on that later.

There is also the Special Litigation Committee, the Nominating Committee, and the Executive Committee. This last group of committees had its members selected at the Board meeting after the Annual Meeting. The Special Litigation Committee is, by default, composed of the officers. (see correction) The Nominating Committee is a nine-member committee with reformers holding a 5-4 majority. It will now be chaired by Charlie Beers who is Chairman Pro Tem (highest vote getter).

Going back to 2019, you may remember that a number of reformist Board members were purged from their committee assignments for asking the wrong questions and given no committees upon which to serve. This was done by former NRA President Carolyn Meadows presumably with the approval of then-EVP Wayne LaPierre. Among those purged from their committee assignments were Esther Schneider, Tim Knight, Sean Maloney, Duane Liptak, and Allen West. All five ended up resigning from the Board. This retaliation against these Board members became an issue in the New York trial. The jury found that the NRA had retaliated against them in violation of New York’s whistleblower law. The video deposition of Carolyn Meadows on retaliation helped in this finding.

NRA President Bob Barr has a unique opportunity to show Judge Joel Cohen that the NRA has reformed enough that it will not need a special monitor. He can grab this opportunity if and only if he does certain things. First and foremost, he should consult with Bill Bachenberg and Mark Vaughan on the appointment of committee members and make these appointments in a balanced manner such that reformers are fairly represented. For example, I think Rocky Marshall, one of the Four for Reform, has the requisite knowledge and experience to be valued addition to the Finance Committee. Likewise, who better than a judge like Phil Journey to serve on Legal Affairs. Additionally, the appointment of the chair and vice chairs of the committees needs to be even handed.

Second, Barr needs to be transparent in his appointment of committee members. In the past, the composition of committees was rarely, if ever, disclosed. This needs to change. The members of the NRA deserve to know who is serving on each and every committee whether it is a Board member or an outside appointee.

Finally, and this is a critical point, Charles Cotton and David Coy must not be allowed to continue to serve on either the Audit or Finance Committees. Their abdication of their fiduciary duties while heading the Audit and Finance Committees was one of the reasons that the New York Attorney General’s Office was able to a) bring the lawsuit in the first place and b) successfully win their case with the jury. Allowing either of them to continue to serve on these important committees would send a sign to both Judge Cohen and the membership of the NRA that the leadership of the NRA was not serious about cleaning up the organization. Members and potential members will continue to keep their wallets closed if they remain in place. Frankly, I think the greatest service that they could do for the NRA which they profess to love would be to resign from the Board altogether.

CORRECTION: I was wrong in assuming that the Special Litigation Committee members were selected by position. That is that it was to be composed of the President, 1st VP, and 2nd VP.

According to a Board resolution in January 2021, the SLC was to be composed of Carolyn Meadows, Charles Cotton, and Willes Lee. That all three were officers was merely coincidental. After then-1st VP Willes Lee resigned from the SLC, it was later reconstituted by Board resolution to add David Coy and perhaps Bob Barr.

The key thing to remember about the Special Litigation Committee is that it only concerned matters dealing with the New York Attorney General’s case against the NRA. The rationale for even having it was that given the NRA’s then-CEO/EVP Wayne LaPierre and then-General Counsel John Frazer were named defendants in the case their participation in decision making regarding the case would be a conflict of interest.

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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!