NRA Board of Directors

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Another AG Gets Into The Act (Against The NRA)

July 12, 2019 by 2 Comments

First it was NY Attorney General Letitia James who issued subpoenas to the National Rifle Association as part of an investigation to see whether they are violating New York’s non-profit organization laws. Now it seems that Karl Racine, Attorney General for the District of Columbia, wants to get into the action.

From the Washington Post which first reported it:

The office of Attorney General Karl A. Racine is seeking financial documents from the NRA and its foundation. The NRA Foundation is chartered in the District and the NRA is registered as a nonprofit and does business there.

“The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia has issued subpoenas to the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and the NRA Foundation, Inc., as part of an investigation into whether these entities violated the District’s Nonprofit Act,” Racine said in a statement.

He continued: “We are seeking documents from these two nonprofits detailing, among other things, their financial records, payments to vendors, and payments to officers and directors.”

The Code of the District of Columbia gives the Attorney General significant powers when it comes to non-profit corporations. The Attorney General can seek the dissolution of a non-profit, can impose “a constructive trust” on compensation for directors, officers, and managers, and can seek other equitable or injunctive relief as the courts deem necessary. The language of the code gives him great leeway in bringing such actions. For example, if he deems that the corporation has “continued to act contrary to its nonprofit purposes”, this give his office grounds to bring actions in court. That language is so wide open that virtually any non-profit could be taken to court if the Attorney General has an axe to grind. Racine has used these laws against the Trump inaugural committee and the Catholic Church.

How many more of these type actions will it take for the Wayne LaPierre loyalists on the NRA Board of Directors to realize that they have a serious problem on their hands? I fear that unfortunately all we will get is another “ignore the man behind the curtain, all is OK” statement from the Meadows-Cotton-Lee cabal as opposed to the concrete actions needed to shore up the NRA.

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The Purge Continues, Part II (Updated)

July 10, 2019 by 2 Comments

More NRA Board of Directors are announcing that they’ve received notification of being removed from their prior committees. The latest is Duane Liptak. In addition to being a board member, he is the Executive VP of Magpul Industries as well as a veteran of the US Marine Corps where he served as both an infantryman and as a F/A-18 pilot.

From his Facebook post:

I’ve been out of the office, but I’m back now. Last year, I was chairman of the education and training committee, I was on military and veterans affairs, and I was on sport shooting and action shooting. I’ve repeatedly requested finance and legislative policy since I started my involvement with the NRA, and I have attended those meetings whenever I could. I guess I’ll have less schedule conflicts to worry about when attending other meetings since I’ve been stripped of all my formal committee assignments except action shooting. I guess at least Julie A. Golob still likes me. 😁 Despite a lot of effort on my part to promote the importance of the organization and remind folks of the capabilities of the NRA that we must preserve as we move forward, I have landed on the “naughty list”. This needs to get sorted out, now.

Duane is correct about his role in promoting the importance of the NRA. A quick Google search shows open letters from him as well as an op-ed stressing the role of the NRA in promoting and preserving gun rights.

You can see his committee assignment below.

I guess since Duane is assigned to at least one committee, he is only on the slightly naughty list unlike Tim, Allen, and Esther who are on the really naughty list. I’m not sure what he said to run afoul of Wayne and his toadies but he must have said something.

UPDATE: It was confirmed to me today that Tiffany Johnson was removed from the Outreach Committee. Given she is an attorney, a trainer with Rangemaster, a woman, and not the least a person of color, removing her from that committee in retribution for her open letter to the Board of Directors was both stupid and vindictive. As she says in her blog post about her service on the committee, her suggestions and comments were well received until “the letter”.  Just when the NRA needs to be broadening its base and have the ideal person to help in Tiffany, they do something like this. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

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The Purges Continue

July 8, 2019 by 2 Comments

When you ran afoul of Josef Stalin, if you were lucky you got sent to the gulag. If you were not so lucky, you got the proverbial ounce of lead and burial in an unmarked grave. You were also airbrushed out of any picture in which you appeared with the General Secretary.

The picture above illustrates what I mean.

Mao and the Chinese Communists engaged in similar erasures. Qin Bangxian aka Bo Gu was the 3rd General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party who ran afoul of Mao. He died in a mysterious plane crash along with other senior Party officials after attending a conference as a delegate of the CCP. You can see him in the far left of the first photo with Mao on the far right.

Committees are where much of the work of the National Rifle Association’s board gets done. You usually are assigned to a board where you have a history. For example, a long time competitor might be assigned to a committee dealing with competitions while someone who has a history in the grass roots is assigned to the grass roots committee.

Just like with Stalin’s purges, members of the NRA Board of Directors who have spoken out are now being erased. In this case, they are being removed from their committee assignments. While the letters are signed by NRA President Carolyn Meadows, I think the assumption is that these purges are at the instigation of Wayne LaPierre.

The first to report this was Tim Knight in a Facebook post on June 30th.

And now the retribution: Because I publicly expressed concern over current NRA management’s leadership and spurious spending, I am being punished. It has come down from the Officers of the NRA, as I publicly predicted, I will not be given any committee assignments. 

Tim does remain a member of the Board of Directors. For now.

Next to report being purged was Lt.Col. Allen West. A copy of his letter is below.

 Finally, Esther Quisenberry Schneider disclosed that she has been purged from all committee assignments. As her comments on her letter make clear, it comes after she has spoken out and has called for Wayne LaPierre to resign.

I have a feeling that these three are merely the tip of the iceberg.

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I Can’t Disagree With This Comment

June 26, 2019 by

A comment was made on Facebook which I think epitomizes what some of us see as the issue at the NRA.

Chris Meissen wrote in reference to a story in a non-profit journal covering the issues at the NRA:

LaPierre is behaving like a mini-Maduro, dragging the organization down around him while trying to hold on to power.

I think he has hit the nail on the head. Wayne LaPierre’s scorched earth approach to maintaining power may be good for Wayne but is horrible for the NRA as an organization. I acknowledge there are many good people on the Board of Directors. Some want Wayne gone and some still support him.

As to why those who still support him do so, I can think of three reasons. You have those who are in thrall of him like NRA President Carolyn Meadows based upon what he did years ago. Then you have those afraid of him for whatever reason. Finally, you have those who fear that with Wayne gone the golden goose will be gone with him. Thus you have the delusional, the fearful, and the greedy keeping Wayne in his position of power at least for the time being.

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The Empire Circles The Wagons

May 23, 2019 by 4 Comments

An email from the officers of the NRA along with a number of former presidents was sent out to certain members this evening. It was also posted on Facebook by certain members of the Board of Directors. I saw it on Todd Rathner’s page. While the Complementary Spouse received the email, I did not. Perhaps it was only sent to Annual Members and not to Endowment Life Members like me.

Here is the letter as copied from Todd Rathner’s Facebook page. I would also read the comments as well.

A message from the NRA’s current Officers and Past Presidents.


May 22, 2019


My Fellow NRA Member:


Since the NRA was founded almost 150 years ago, our adversaries have repeatedly tried to take us down. Today is no different. A recent burst of media claims the NRA is vulnerable, financially unstable, and weakened in its fight to defend the Second Amendment. Obviously intent on not letting the facts get in the way of a good story, most reports offer a distorted and inaccurate view of the NRA. As officers and past presidents of the NRA, we write today to set the record straight.


As you may know, we recently convened in Indianapolis for one of the largest NRA conventions in our history. More than 80,000 of our members showed up to gather as one NRA family – to support our Association and celebrate our nation’s constitutional freedoms. During our annual Members Meeting on April 27, some asked for greater insight into three issues: the NRA’s financial affairs, our direction and strategy, and the supervisory role being played by our board of directors. We had an open forum and spirited discussion.


Of course, our discussions were portrayed as a sort of family feud. (Infighting at the NRA – Chaos and Controversy!). At the NRA, we take pride in the fact that our Association is inclusive and invites the active participation of every member. Every member has an opportunity to voice any concern they may have at the Members Meeting. In fact, our greatest privilege is hearing from our members. Like many of you, that’s why we were at the Members Meeting in the first place and spent countless hours on the convention floor.


FACT: During a board of directors meeting on April 29, Wayne LaPierre was elected by acclamation to continue serving as our CEO and Executive Vice President. The board also unanimously elected Carolyn D. Meadows to serve as our new president.


Perhaps looking for a way to counter the narrative about a stronger, more unified NRA, questions have now conveniently surfaced about our financial situation and our standing in the regulatory arena. There also have been frequent attacks on Wayne’s personal character.


FACT: According to the NRA’s chief financial officer, we are on budget in 2019. The NRA is meeting all banking and supplier financial obligations and we continue to aggressively manage our cost structure to offset the orchestrated and calculated attacks against NRA’s finances in 2018. Put another way, our financial house is in order – we aren’t going away.


We have full confidence in the NRA’s accounting practices and commitment to good governance.


FACT: The Association’s financials are audited and its tax filings are verified by one of the most reputable firms in the world. Internally, the Association has a conflict of interest policy and, where appropriate, related-party transactions are reviewed and approved by the board’s Audit Committee.


Simply put, we are well-positioned on the regulatory front and poised to handle all challenges that confront us.


Personal attacks against the NRA’s leaders are nothing new. Recent ones have focused on wardrobe purchases and travel expenses incurred by Wayne. If members hear of an allegation, they can be assured that it has been or will be addressed by the appropriate committees within our board of directors.


FACT: We have committees in place to oversee issues relating to Accounting, Legal Affairs, and Ethics, among others – and every board member is invited to attend these meetings. Please remember that all of us are elected by you – our members. We are not elected by Wayne or anyone on the NRA executive team. We serve as your elected representatives.


FACT: Over the years, Wayne had been advised by the NRA’s advertising professionals to invest in his professional wardrobe due to his numerous public and media appearances. We understand that this was the same agency that facilitated the clothing purchases. What wasn’t as evident in this “disclosure” is that the clothing expenses referenced in media reports dated back to expenses from 15 years ago! To put it in perspective, over this time period, Wayne has participated in thousands of events and hundreds of TV appearances, and personally directed fundraising efforts that total in the hundreds of millions of dollars. In any event, this practice was discontinued some time ago.


FACT: The vast majority of the travel in question involved donor outreach, fundraising, and stakeholder engagement. As an example, The Wall Street Journal reported that a trip to Italy was “tied to a 2015 documentary feature on the Italian gun maker posted on NRATV.” Beretta, as you may know, is a major supporter of the NRA and our Second Amendment.


We are not inclined to further discuss unfounded attacks on our organization, political infighting, or a “weakened” NRA.


However, we will say this: Our adversaries will not divide us and any further discussion about the so-called “demise of the NRA” is only meant to distract us from our mission. This is how it goes when you stand on the bedrock of constitutional freedom – and represent the last line of defense against a campaign to take down the Second Amendment.


While board members may argue, and perhaps even disagree as to tactics, the support Wayne and the current leadership enjoys reflects our assessment of his past and future value to the association as well as our realization that our opponents know they have to take him down if they want to weaken the NRA.


As one NRA member recently said, the true story of the NRA won’t be found in today’s press clippings. It will be written in the history books.


Wayne has been standing shoulder-to-shoulder with all of us for most of his professional life. He has our support. A campaign to oust him failed – as the facts emerged, true motivations became apparent, and we agreed as to who should lead our fight for freedom. We are now moving forward.


FACT: We will confront our opponents, defend our values, and proudly continue our tradition as the greatest civil rights organization in the world.


Just like you, we care about the Second Amendment and our NRA. Just as you do, we know that our fights today are less for us and more for our children and our grandchildren. Just like you, we are all courageous foot soldiers in our fight for freedom. Every single one of us in this fight matters. The Second Amendment is where it is today because of all of OUR efforts. That’s why you matter to our cause and our Association.


We are the NRA. United we stand. And together, we’ll win.


Signed,


Carolyn D. Meadows President
Charles L. Cotton First Vice President
Lt. Col. Willes K. Lee USA (Ret) Second Vice President


Allan D. Cors Past President
James W. Porter Past President
David A. Keene Past President
Ronald L. Schmeits Past President
John C. Sigler Past President
Sandra S. Froman Past President
Kayne B. Robinson Past President
Marion P. Hammer Past President
Robert K. Corbin Past President

As with Meeting of Members, Lt. Col. Oliver North USMC (Ret) is absent from this list though he is a former president. Also missing from this list of past presidents was Pete Brownell. Thus, you have the last two past presidents not as signatories to this letter.

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Allen West Dissents (Updated)

May 14, 2019 by 2 Comments

Allen West is in his second term on the Board of Directors of the NRA. He is a retired Army Lt. Colonel and a former Congressman representing Florida. He also is refusing to hew to the party line that all is hunky dory in the NRA and won’t be shut up. His statement released today on his The Old School Patriot website makes that abundantly clear.

I am liking Allen West more and more as the days go on. He is calling for term limits and a smaller board in addition to the departure of Wayne LaPierre. He wants the NRA to return to its roots of promoting marksmanship, encouraging the shooting sports, and protecting the Second Amendment.

His statement is below. I have taken the liberty of highlighting parts of his statement.

It has become very apparent that I need to speak out about what is happening at the National Rifle Association.


I am in my second term as a Board member, and I am deeply concerned about the actions and statements being made. The recent statements by Charles Cotton and Carolyn Meadows that are appearing in the Wall Street Journal, and now other news outlets, are outright lies. I have never been told, advised, informed or consulted about any of these details mentioned in the WSJ, and who knows how much more despicable spending of members’ money.


These statements have maliciously, recklessly and purposefully put me, and uninformed Board members, in legal jeopardy.


Prior to the NRAAM in Indianapolis I sent an email to Wayne LaPierre’s managing director, Millie Hallow, expressing my sentiment that Wayne LaPierre resign immediately.


I also drafted a memo entitled “Resolution of Concerns,” both of these statements are known to the NRA Board. It is imperative that the NRA cleans its own house. If we had done so in Indianapolis, much of this could have been rectified.


I do not support Wayne LaPierre continuing as the EVP/CEO of the NRA. The vote in Indianapolis was by acclamation, not roll call vote. There is a cabal of cronyism operating within the NRA and that exists within the Board of Directors. It must cease, and I do not care if I draw their angst. My duty and responsibility is to the Members of the National Rifle Association, and my oath, since July 31, 1982, has been to the Constitution of the United States, not to any political party, person, or cabal.


The NRA Board of 76 is too large and needs to be reduced to 30 or less. We need term limits of four (4) terms on the Board. We need to focus the NRA, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization on its original charter, mission, training and education in marksmanship, shooting sports, and the defense of the Second Amendment.


I will dedicate all my efforts to the reformation of the National Rifle Association and its members, of whom I am proud to serve.


It sickens me to publicly make this statement, but I will not allow anyone to damage my honor, integrity, character, and reputation. Needless to say, there are those who have willingly done so to their own.


Steadfast and Loyal,
Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West (US Army, Retired)
Member, 112th US Congress
Patriot Life Benefactor, Board Member, National Rifle Association

Wayne must be fuming and his loyalist backers pissed off by Col. West’s statement.

Good.

It appears to me that Col. West understands the meaning of “fiduciary duty” and the peril that the NRA faces for the lack thereof by many of those involved.

UPDATE: Stephen Gutowski just published the expected blowback to Col. West’s statement from Carolyn Meadows, Charles Cotton, and Willes Lee.

In a joint statement to the Washington Free Beacon from NRA president Carolyn Meadows, first vice president Charles Cotton, and second vice president Lt. Col. Willes Lee (ret.), the three defended LaPierre and accused West of making false statements about the way the board has operated.

“It is unfortunate that certain board members have resorted to making false and misleading public statements about proceedings of the NRA board of directors,” the joint statement said. “As those board members know, we are not at liberty to discuss the particulars of the board of directors meeting that occurred in executive session on April 29. However, every board member was afforded the opportunity to speak openly about any issues of concern to them. To suggest otherwise is dishonorable.”

I find it interesting that the rest of their joint statement tried to make it look like Col. West was not fulfilling his fiduciary duty of care.

“Beyond that, every board member was invited to attend committee meetings where legal, financial, regulatory, and business issues are thoroughly addressed. The NRA has an office of the general counsel, and separate independent outside counsel to represent the board of directors. In sum, there is no excuse for any board member to claim they are unaware of legal and business concerns being addressed by this Association.”…


“It shocks the conscience to read that certain board members have apparently not kept themselves updated, informed and active on matters that are of interest to our 5 million members,” the three officials said. “They have an open invitation to get more actively involved—and to join the conversation in an appropriate way, as is provided for in our Bylaws.”

That last paragraph is rich. I’m just going to leave it at that.

UPDATE II: Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned has the full statement from Meadows, Cotton, and Lee. You can read it here.

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Joint North-Childress Letter On Payments To NRA Outside Counsel

May 12, 2019 by 2 Comments

Below is the joint letter from then-NRA President Oliver North and then-First VP Richard Childress to John Fraser, NRA General Counsel, and Charles Cotton, Chair of the NRA Board’s Audit Committee (and now First VP), regarding the payments to the NRA’s outside counsel William Brewer III.

Another board member who shall remain unnamed told me that Brewer could become the NRA’s biggest vendor – more than Ack-Mac – if things keep going this way. He also was very dismissive of his legal abilities, he had concerns about his ethical issues, even more concerns about his sway with Wayne LaPierre, and characterized him as a hustler. A friend who is an attorney in Dallas where Mr. Brewer is located said Brewer was “an asshole”. I will make no judgment on his legal competency as I’m not a lawyer but would say you could get some of the best lawyers in DC like Paul Clement and the firm of Cooper and Kirk for probably less.

The nine page letter is below:

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Ollie North’s Letter Read At NRA Meeting Of Members

May 12, 2019 by

By now, everyone should know that Ollie North is out as president of the National Rifle Association. I think it came down to a power struggle between Col. North and Wayne LaPierre over the direction of the NRA. Given the glaringly obvious support that LaPierre holds on the Board, North lost this struggle.

The most obvious indication of this was at the Meeting of Members on Saturday morning, April 27th, when the meeting convened and there was no Ollie. After the people on the stage were introduced, then-First VP Richard Childress addressed the meeting and read the following letter from Col. North.

If I remember correctly, LaPierre just sat in his seat on the stage and shook his head a couple of times like he was disgusted. Later, after being glowingly introduced by now-President Carolyn Meadows, he went on to give his typical stump speech which ignored all the financial improprieties and the role of the outside counsel. Since it was apparent that most of the people attending the meeting get 100% of their knowledge of LaPierre from reading his columns in the NRA magazines, he got a standing ovation.

There are a number of other letters that have been posted to the Internet in the last couple of days regarding the NRA’s issues. They are now the basis for yesterday’s article in the Wall Street Journal and other places and I will be posting them. They are all photos of the actual letters. I will post them with little commentary and let you make up your own mind what to make of them.

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A Tale Of Two Letters – Part 2

April 30, 2019 by

The second open letter addressed to the member of the NRA and to Board of Directors comes from Steve Hoback. Like Andy Lander, Mr. Hoback also worked in the Training and Education Division.

Here is his letter:

April 29, 2019

An Open letter to the NRA MEMBERSHIP and their elected SERVANTS, the NRA Board of Directors.

I hope these words don’t fall on deaf ears, as I am just another Bozo on the bus, a small fish in a big – and currently fetid pond: a mere NRA Member. I have, however, an insight on the current situation at the NRA that has developed from both my time as a PROUD NRA staff member, shunned heretic after my departure, and current disgusted yet DEVOTED Member.

I was blessed to have served as the Training Department’s Senior Training Program Coordinator, a position that I was incredibly humbled to be created to bring me on board. I served as part of a Team that was passionate, relentless, vigilant, and tireless in our continuing improvement and protection of the training programs, which are the HEART of the NRA’s mission statement. We had a Director who had our backs, a Manager who bled the NRA, and a Team that wasn’t afraid – even supported in – telling the Emperor when he was naked. I was naive at the time about Ackerman-McQueen. I heard “Ack-Mac” mentioned occasionally with a shrug, but that was it.

What I did notice and was uncomfortable with was the cult of personality that some of the Executive Staff had. The Director of General Operations, a stuffed shirt, self-interested bully in my eyes (whose, I must admit, basically being told to shut up and sit down at the 2019 Meeting of Members seemed like karma at its best), and the Executive Director both always seemed to be placed FAR above their roles and NOT at the helm of a not for profit Association. In fact, the ONLY member of the Executive Staff at the time, Secretary Major James Land, was the MOST deserving of admiration: he worked FOR the Association, not the Association working for him.

I began to sense something was rotten in Denmark shortly after I was tasked with creating the Instructor Sales Program, a program through which Trainers would have access to reduced pricing on items which they could use in their training courses: a “win-win-win” for students and trainers, manufacturers, and the Training Programs. The “win” for the programs was that all of the revenue generated to the NRA had to go into the Education and Training Endowment to help the Training Programs be remain self-perpetuating. My guidelines were pretty clear: quality products, ZERO exclusivity, and no “buy in” on the part of manufacturers. The “contracts” were basically handshake agreements, reviewed by General Counsel, which were welcomed by manufacturers as a pleasant change from the Office of Advancement’s hard- sell licensing agreements, which I have NO doubt were blueprinted by Ack-Mac. The program was a moderate success.

However, shortly after, i approached a major optics manufacturer who was more than happy to become involved. Details were worked out, General Counsel approved of the details, but just before launching, I was pulled into the Office of the GO Director and told to stand down temporarily because another optics manufacturer who had NOT responded to my offer to be included, “may not be comfortable with their competition being in the program”. This was my first hint that “perks” to senior staff could be driving decisions, later substantiated when a senior staff member went on to a position for the protected manufacturer.

Closer to home for me was the idea of web based training. The Training Department staff had been tasked with vigilantly ensuring that NRA credentials were in no way associated with online training. This determination was made based on three of the keystones could not exist in a web-based course: TPI, Total Participant Involvement; evaluation of the Knowledge, Skills, and ATTITUDE of the student by the trainer; and – most importantly- safety, as the students’ safe gun handling could NOT be observed and unsafe acts not be identified, remediated, and corrected, or – failing that course of action – the student being identified as not passing because of Attitude.

Just prior to my leaving Staff, there began to be inklings of the development of web based NRA Basic Firearms Courses, specifically, the Basics of Pistol Marksmanship Course. My peers were adamantly against this, and we were amazed that it was even being considered. After I left, the whole debacle of “blended learning” went ahead full steam, without the consideration of the input from trainers in the trenches being asked for input. This was, in NO doubt, a result of the ever growing Ackerman-McQueen power within the NRA. We all know the farce that the launching of Blended Learning was, and the offshoot of this rape of the integrity of the Programs was the introduction of Carry Guard, an Ack-Mac inspired program that, it must be noted, is the HEART of the New York lawsuit that the “Old Guard” on the Board who voiced the need for secrecy at the Meeting of Members referenced.

This blatant ramrodding of a non-NRA developed course also resulted in the appointment of a new Education and Training Director who was, unbelievable, a major player in the CarryGuard program and who, for all intents and purposes, was given the equivalent of a “no show union job” that organized crime would be proud of.

I have left many names out. A little research can fill in blanks.

Again, I am PROUD to be a MEMBER of the National Rifle Association of America. I am PROUD to have worked with Bill Poole, the late Charles Mitchell, Andy Lander, Mark Richardson, Sean Thornton, Samantha Olsen, and the many other, under payed, overworked, and dedicated staff members in the trenches during my time there. I am saddened and – at times – angered by the few who have apparently turned to “the dark side” and sold out in the name of job security or – often worse, personal gain or power, after preaching “you gotta be here for the passion not the paycheck”.

In closing, MY Association is at a crossroads. It has become the swamp that many have lashed out against in our Federal government. The “not for profit” status of the Association, if kept to its charter, bylaws, and mission statement is NOT in jeopardy. The FOR PERSONAL PROFIT actions of the “Old Guard” Board Members, certain of the Executive Staff and Directors and Deputy Directors, and Ackerman-McQueen influence have not only endangered the not for profit status but the INTEGRITY of the Association. In addition, the heedless, unbridled hero worship of many Members and their antipathy toward holding the Old Guard accountable has helped to create the monster that is destroying rhe Association from within. This PROUD member of the “unwashed masses” that the Old Guard looks down on and feels deserve secrecy from the inner workings has had enough and will no longer tolerate the foxes keeping watch over the hen house.

Respectfully,

Steve Hoback
NRA Life Member
NRA Training Counselor
Former NRA Training Department Staff Member

I asked Mr. Hoback if the GO (General Operations) Director was Josh Powell and he confirmed it.

It is obvious that both Lander and Hoback want the NRA to be reformed and both want the influence of Ack-Mac removed. I agree with both of them.