Search Results for: succession

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Another AG Weighs In On NRA EVP Succession

January 17, 2024 by

As I posted last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) endorsed former NRA-ILA General Counsel Wade Callender to succeed Wayne LaPierre as the permanent Executive VP and CEO of the NRA. He was joined in endorsing Callender by Texas St. Sen. Drew Springer (R-30th).

Now Callender has been endorsed for the position by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes (R-UT).

Obviously, two of the state attorney generals who worked with Callender in submitting amicus briefs in support of the NY State Rifle and Pistol Association in the Bruen case think very highly of him. I would not be surprised if more of these state attorney generals weigh in with support of Callender.

This must cause a bit of dismay in Fairfax where those still in denial that there is anything wrong within the NRA seem to be backing Charles Cotton to be the successor to Wayne.

Too bad!

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Will Texas Politics Impact NRA EVP Succession?

January 11, 2024 by 1 Comment

With so much attention focussed on the trial involving the NRA in New York City, scant attention has been paid to who succeeds Wayne LaPierre as CEO and Executive Vice President of the NRA. I think most observers would agree that Andrew Arulanandam, who will serve as the interim EVP upon Wayne’s January 31st resignation, is a place holder and not a serious contender for the permanent position.

An article by Stephen Gutowski in The Reload posted today may give some clue as to a potential successor. After discussing what I called “the dueling letters” regarding post-employment compensation and health issues of Wayne, Gutowski provides this potential clue.

Prominent NRA supporters have already begun publicly circulating at least one alternative. Former NRA Institute of Legislative Action deputy executive director and general counsel Wade Callender, who helped coordinate with the group’s state affiliate in the successful 2022 Supreme Court Bruen case, has already received the backing of several elected officials. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R.) and State Senator Drew Springer (R.) posted a call for Callender to take over the NRA’s top perch on social media this week.

Callender left the position as General Counsel and Deputy Executive Director of NRA-ILA due, in large part, to the growing interference from the NRA’s outside counsel William Brewer III. Callender confirmed this to me in a face-to-face conversation we held at the 2022 Gun Rights Policy Conference held in Irving, Texas. He has since returned to private practice in Dallas area.

Texas AG Ken Paxton has been a stalwart supporter of the Second Amendment and has signed on to a number of amicus briefs in support of it. Paxton, who was last year impeached by the Texas House of Representatives, was acquitted on all charges in the trial in the Texas Senate. The move to impeach Paxton was led by Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan who is his arch political enemy. Phelan, who is considered a RINO by Texas conservatives, and has been asked to resign by the leaders of the Texas Republican Party.

After the murders of school children in Uvalde, Phelan formed a House Select Committee on Community Safety to review all firearms-related legislation. This included red flag laws and raising the age to purchase a modern sporting rifle. While the committee composition was officially seven Republicans and six Democrats, the Republican chair had been a Democrat until just recently.

With this as a background, Randy Kozuch, Executive Director of NRA-ILA and Chairman of the NRA-PVF, endorsed Dade Phelan and rated him A+.

This brought pushback from a number of conservatives including Dana Loesch who served as a special assistant to Wayne at one time. She said of Phelan that he “was an obstacle while fighting red flag laws, and dragged out our fight to win Constitutional carry.” Others are saying they are dropping their NRA membership or looking for alternatives.

One must wonder who pushed Randy Kozuch to give an A+ rating to Phelan who by most accounts is a RINO and who is marginal on gun rights. Was it the Old Guard on the NRA led by NRA President Charles Cotton who is a Texan? Was it Bill Brewer who saw an ally in a RINO politician who was barely so-so on gun rights? If Brewer, was it with knowledge that it would anger true Second Amendment supporters in Texas?

Giving Phelan the A+ rating and endorsement obviously angered his arch-enemies Ken Paxton and Sen. Drew Springer as the next day they endorsed Wade Callender for EVP. This move by Paxton and Springer is definitely a call for new blood to lead the NRA and a repudiation of the Old Guard.

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My NRA Succession Planning Resolution Was Shot Down

October 25, 2020 by 2 Comments

Perhaps I was naive but I thought with the COVID-19 pandemic that my resolution asking for a formal succession plan for NRA leadership would pass. It didn’t.

Having a formal succession plan is a key to a healthy organization. This is critical for both for-profit and non-profit organization. The current NRA “succession plan” is a bylaw that states the Executive Director of General Operations will act as the Executive VP in a temporary capacity if the EVP is removed or incapacitated. This person will only serve until the next Board of Directors meeting. That’s it.

My proposal was, as follows:

Resolution submitted to the Annual Meeting of the National Rifle Association, 24 October 2020, by John P. Richardson of Arden, North Carolina, Endowment Life Member No. xxxxx

WHEREAS, the National Rifle Association exists for the benefit of its members and has a long, illustrious history as the nation’s premier provider of firearms safety, training, and competition, as well as our country’s oldest and most effective civil rights organization; and

WHEREAS, strong, effective, and consistent leadership is required for the organizational health and efficacy of the National Rifle Association; and the COVID-19 pandemic has caused great disruption to the normal activities of the National Rifle Association; and

WHEREAS, National Rifle Association President Carolyn Meadows has called COVID-19 “a wakeup-call to the importance of the NRA”; and the most vulnerable age cohort to COVID-19 are those over the age of 65 and is the age group with the highest mortality; and

WHEREAS, the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Rifle Association Wayne LaPierre is over the age of 65; and the premature death or disability of Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre would create an executive management and leadership vacuum greatly disrupting the effectiveness of the National Rifle Association in promoting our civil rights; and

WHEREAS, succession planning is a critical component of all effective organizations; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that, on this 24th day of October, 2020, the members of the National Rifle Association of America here gathered at the Annual Meeting of Members in Tucson, Arizona do hereby request the NRA Board of Directors to create a formal succession plan for the Chief Executive Officer and for the Executive Directors; and

RESOLVED, that we, the members here gathered, further request the NRA Board of Directors to have a draft of this formal succession plan ready for presentation and comment at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board in 2021; and

RESOLVED, that we, the members here gathered, further request the NRA Board of Directors to present this formal succession plan to the Meeting of Members in Houston, Texas on the 15th of May, 2021.

Because I thought the matter was important, I even couched in it terms of “what happens if we lose the irreplaceable Wayne!” Of course, that was BS.

After I rose to speak for the resolution and even used Charles Cotton’s mention of “best practices”, I was followed to the podium by three Board of Director members to speak against it. They were Don Saba, Joel Friedman, and Kayne Robinson. Their arguments were it wasn’t needed, that filling the position wasn’t the same as with a corporation, and that the Director of General Operations works closely with Wayne. They, of course, missed the whole point.

Frank Tait did rise to speak in favor of it which was much appreciated.

Resolutions at this Meeting of Members were pretty much doomed to failure in their original form. They best they could hope for was a referral to committee. A reasonable guesstimate of the number of voting members attending the meeting was in the 150-200 maximum range. That included 50 Board members, a number of their spouses, a number of older members from the area, and just a handful of us who want to see the NRA become a healthier organization. I really felt like I was one of the younger members in attendance and I’m 63!

I realize that change takes time and I need to play the long game. It is still frustrating but it is what it is. Just another great thing brought to you by 2020.

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The NRA’s Lack Of A Succession Plan

May 7, 2020 by 6 Comments

Healthy organizations have succession plans. Good leaders make it a priority. Development of future leaders is such an organizational imperative that it is usually under the purview of the CEO. Having a succession plan is both forward looking and a measure of risk management.

Think how many corporations and non-profits have lost their chief executives to heart attacks, cancer, and accidents. The list goes on and on.

This has been at the back of my mind regarding the NRA for a long time now. What brought it to the forefront was a post by Jeff Knox on the lack of new leadership options for the NRA and its cloudy future.

For almost a decade I’ve been asking people in the firearms and Second Amendment community to seriously consider who might take over as Executive Vice President of the NRA if Wayne LaPierre were to retire or be hit by a bus.

About 6 years ago I got really serious about that question and was raising the issue in my regular columns, then 3 and a half years ago, after the election of Donald Trump, there was talk that Wayne might be offered some sort of position within the Trump administration, and I was very actively asking people for suggestions of possible successors, or at least the qualities a successor would need in order to be successful and keep the NRA strong. Finally, last year all sorts of accusations of financial improprieties and self-dealing among LaPierre and other NRA executives, broke in major media, and a lot of people began asking the same questions I’d been asking for years, but the same answer kept coming back… Crickets.

Let’s look at the people that Jeff notes have been seriously mentioned as potential successors as Executive VP and CEO of the NRA.

Chris Cox.

Out. Through the machinations of either Wayne LaPierre or his erstwhile Rasputin, William Brewer III, Chris was labeled as having been a part of a “coup attempt”. This was always strongly denied by Chris and he eventually resigned.

Ollie North.

Out. Again, was accused of plotting to overthrow Wayne and again the fine hand of William Brewer III seems to have been involved. This happened after Ollie started asking too many questions especially with regard to Brewer. Wayne portrayed this as “extortion“.

Kyle Weaver.

Out. Weaver was the Executive Director of General Operations who got replaced by Josh Powell. He is now the President and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Weaver had spent 18 years with the NRA in positions of ever increasing responsibility. The RMEF gets a 4 star rating from the Charity Navigator which is the highest possible. By contrast, the NRA is under a “concern advisory” from them.

If you need an example of a corporation that had good succession planning, look at General Electric. It has been the focus of many case studies on how to do succession planning. Jack Welch who served as CEO of GE for 20 years was known for grooming potential successors. He did such a good job that those who lost out on succeeding him at GE where snapped up by other companies.

It isn’t just the CEO who should be responsible for succession planning. Professor Ram Charan who taught at both Harvard Business School and Northwestern University, had this to say on succession planning.

A CEO or board that has been in place for six or seven years and has not yet provided a pool of qualified candidates, and a robust process for selecting the next leader, is a failure. Everyone talks about emulating such best practitioners as General Electric, but few work very hard at it.

By all objective measures, the NRA Board of Directors has failed. They have no succession plan for Wayne. The majority of the board has kow-towed to Wayne and jumped when he said jump.

Part of the reason the board fails is structural and part is due to the composition. The structural issue is that the Board of Directors is too damn large to be effective. The other issue is that many on the board are there due to either celebrity status or allegiance to Wayne. It is the latter that is the greater problem. The board owes a duty of loyalty to the organization and not to any one individual.

In the short run, nothing can be done about the size of the board. However, the board can still start to work on a succession plan to Wayne. Based upon Wayne’s age of 70 alone, this needs to be done. My fear is that the board will do as it has always done. That is do nothing and the organization will continue to suffer while our blood enemies grow stronger.

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NYSRPA Recommendations? Fuhgettaboutit!

March 1, 2024 by 2 Comments

The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association has made their recommendations for the 2024 NRA Board election.

Beyond appalling, these recommendations show they were not paying attention during the recent trial in New York.

The NRA was found liable for failing to properly administer charitable assets under the Estates, Powers, and Trusts Law (EPTL). Despite this they recommend David Coy who was Chair of the Finance Committee and Vice-Chair of the Audit Committee. They were also found liable for a related party transaction in payments to David Keene that was not properly approved even after the fact.

Moving on, Charlie Beers was the person who submitted the “Wayne is the greatest, past, present, and future” resolution at the 2022 NRA Meeting of the Members. Janet Nyce is now the de facto leader of the “Friends of Susan” contingent on the Board. Meanwhile, Joel Friedman and Don Saba didn’t think having a succession policy more substantial than the bylaw that has made Andrew Arulanandam the Interim EVP was needed.

Here is what they expect you to do with these recommendations.

My suggestion?

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Buz Mills’ Letter To The NRA Board

January 18, 2024 by 4 Comments

Owen “Buz” Mills is the owner of the renowned training facility Gunsite Academy and has been a member of the NRA Board of Directors for many years. He has called for change in the past and continues that with his letter to the NRA Board of Directors below. This letter was sent out yesterday and I do have permission to publish it. To put it bluntly, Mills pulls no punches in calling out the shenanigans of the Old Guard in pushing Charles Cotton as the next Executive VP and CEP of the NRA.

TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

So, now we are all looking towards New York and Justice Cohen’s courtroom. Our attention is diverted here while chicanery continues in Fairfax.

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is at a watershed moment in its 153rd year. Our leadership has admitted in courts and depositions to misappropriation of donor’s funds and unauthorized use of assets. They have admitted condoning the misuse of donor funds by others employed by the NRA. The leadership has for years abused their position and trust placed in them by our members and benefactors. The Board of Directors (BOD) is solely responsible for this victimization of the members.

Thanks to the New York Attorney General, we are halfway to fixing our organization, bringing the NRA  up to par with other non-profit special interest groups.

The judge will hold the victimizers responsible, and they will have to account for their deeds.

Meanwhile, in Fairfax the selected leadership is scheming to continue the abuse suffered over the last few decades instead of following the bylaws for the succession of the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer (EVP). The selected leadership wants a special election to install the enabler and facilitator of all the previous chicanery. None other than our duly selected President, he is the man more responsible than any other for permitting our selected leadership to rampantly run roughshod over our membership and benefactors.

As the chair of the Audit Committee for many years, Charles Cotton was responsible for holding our employees accountable and ensuring their conduct beyond reproach. Our chair and “moral compass” approved every single act of malfeasance brought to the committee for decades, multiple acts approved retroactively, months and years after the fact.

When restitution was mandated, a bonus was awarded the miscreants including enough money to pay the restitution. This bonus also included enough for the miscreant to have the cash to pay the taxes on his misappropriation. Talk about rewarding bad behavior!! 

Again, I emphasize, it was not miscreant’s money, and it was not the facilitator’s money! It was the MONEY OF OUR MEMBERS and the MONEY provided by the BENEVOLENCE OF OUR DONORS. There is something deeply wrong when you continually permit and encourage this serial abuse.

Also do not forget spearheading the deceit and lying to us about filing bankruptcy that the judge called “a fraud.”  The BOD was never advised we needed to file for bankruptcy, nor was it ever justified to the board. We read it in the papers.

As we violate the bylaws again – accepting, justifying, and participating in some kind of sham election to make the selected president our EVP.

Is the principal facilitator of the misappropriation of tens of millions of dollars (members and donors’ money) causing the hundreds of millions of dollars of legal fees (again members and donors’ money) really have any business with access to the treasury?

Does he have any right to represent any moral, honest person or organization?

NO!

The normal, conventional way this type of business is conducted:

  1. Select a search committee of business professionals from the BOD, selected from the floor by the BOD,
  2. Retain professional employment agencies to recruit, screen and interview potential candidates,
  3. Committee shall interview candidates,
  4. BOD meet and greet,
  5. BOD votes to select a candidate,
  6. Committee sets forth terms and conditions of employment contract.

Now we have a professional to run the business of a world-class organization, in accordance with applicable laws, customs and traditions. Oversight will be provided by a professional BOD congruent with the by-laws in effect prior to ceding all monetary responsibility to the EVP. (circa 2015)

Next we hire a celebrity “FACE” of the NRA as a spokesperson with no access to funds. Using a similar process as finding an EVP.

This is how a professional Board of Directors of a world class not-for-profit begins to heal itself.

We have an opportunity to carefully choose to correct the path we are on. We have the opportunity to recover all of the membership that has abandoned us over these issues (2 million members +/-). We have the opportunity to recover the trust of our most benevolent donors. We have an opportunity to recover the respect of our industry and of the American people. There is no downside to doing this correctly.

Let’s not squander this opportunity, we must move forward smartly and with all the courage of the champions of freedom.

Owen Buz Mills

Director

National Rifle Association of America

January 17, 2024

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Dueling Letters On LaPierre Resignation

January 8, 2024 by 1 Comment

The resignation of Wayne LaPierre on the eve of the trial in New York has generated letters to Judge Joel Cohen from both sides. In addition, the pre-trial memorandum containing the NRA’s trial brief seems to throw Wayne under the bus after three plus years of defending him.

First, the letter from Assistant Attorney General Monica Connell asserts that Wayne’s resignation has no impact on the viability of the complaint against the NRA and Wayne. She goes on to argue that the NRA should not be allowed to use Wayne’s resignation as evidence that the NRA is cleaning up its act. As to whether his resignation has any relevance, she asserts it should only come up at the remedial part of the case after the jury has decided.

In response, Noah Peters of Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, asserts, “As the NRA stated in its trial brief, Mr. LaPierre’s resignation undermines the NYAG’s request for forward-looking injunctive relief.” He goes on to imply that the NYAG must now show that the transgressions of the LaPierre era will continue with him gone which is unlikely.

Connell states, in fairness, that the NRA must give answers to some questions regarding Wayne’s resignation before the trial begins. The NRA through Peters does answer those questions. I have put the questions and answers in a point-counterpoint format below with the question in bold and the answer in italics.

What arrangements or agreements Mr. LaPierre has with the NRA or its affiliates regarding his resignation, severance, licensing, consulting or payments directly or indirectly to LaPierre and amounts of such payments;

Mr. LaPierre has no arrangements or agreements with the NRA or its affiliates regarding his resignation, severance, licensing, or consulting;

Any other position Mr. LaPierre holds or will hold within the NRA;

Mr. LaPierre holds no other position with the NRA, nor will he hold a position after his final day;

The NRA’s succession plan following Mr. LaPierre’s resignation;

The NRA’s Head of General Operations Andrew Arulanandam will become the interim CEO & EVP of the NRA until the NRA hires permanent successor;

Confirmation as to whether Mr. LaPierre’s January 2021 employment agreement is still in effect, is being honored by the NRA and whether and what payments Mr. LaPierre will receive thereunder;

After January 31, 2024, payments under the 2021 Employment Agreement will cease. There are no superseding employment or post-employment agreements with Mr. LaPierre;

Any employment, independent contracting, consulting or other work Mr. LaPierre will undertake following his resignation for the NRA or any affiliate, vendor or contractor of the NRA;

Mr. LaPierre will not undertake any other employment, independent contracting, consulting or other work for the NRA or any affiliate, vendor or contractor;

To the extent Mr. LaPierre intends to testify at trial that his resignation was due to a health problem, the nature of the health problem.

The NRA is informed that Mr. LaPierre has chronic lyme disease. The NYAG’s suggestion that Mr. LaPierre’s health condition is not the cause of his departure is false.

I would note that the NYAG never suggested Wayne’s health condition was not the cause of his departure. They merely questioned the timing of his resignation on the eve of the trial. As to chronic lyme disease, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has this on it. They note that many health experts do not like to even use the term. Another NIH article states, ““Chronic Lyme disease,” however, has no clinical definition and is not characterized by any objective clinical findings.”

According to Wayne’s 2021 Employment Agreement that was introduced into evidence back in December 2021, Sec. 4 (e) seems to preclude Wayne from contracting with current NRA vendors or contractors for his services.

Sec. 5 of the 2021 Employment Agreement gives the NRA the option of licensing Wayne’s name, likeness, and signature for up to two years after departure for fundraising, PR, or membership purposes at the rate of $500,000 per year. This option is the NRA’s alone and does not compel them to exercise the option. This section also says they will pay Wayne for in-person public appearances at the rate of $750 per hour.

There has been much speculation about a $17 million “golden parachute” for Wayne. From what I can tell, this came up during a deposition in the bankruptcy trial regarding his 2018 Employment Agreement. Sec. 8 (c) of the 2021 Employment Agreement says it supersedes any prior agreements or contracts. Thus, it would seem to me that there is no $17 million “golden parachute”. Any post-employment monies due Wayne probably would be coming from a 457(f) non-qualified deferred compensation plan which was funded by salary deferrals by Wayne himself and for which he is now eligible to collect.

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Adam Kraut Joins SAF As Executive Director

October 26, 2022 by

I have known Adam Kraut for a few years now. I supported him in his runs for the NRA Board of Directors even though Marion Hammer considered him “the enemy within”. I think one of the smartest moves he made in the past was opting not to fill out a term on the NRA Board of Directors in lieu of becoming the FPC’s Director of Legal Strategy which later became the VP for Programs. He left the Firearms Policy Coalition in August to be a sole practitioner.

On Monday, it was announced that Adam would be the new Executive Director of the Second Amendment Foundation. He will be doing that full time.

From the announcement:

Kraut brings almost a decade of experience in the Second Amendment realm as a litigator and educator. Throughout his career, Kraut has represented individuals, companies, and institutional plaintiffs in state and federal litigation and regulatory matters.

In addition to his legal background, Kraut draws management experience from his time in the non-profit world, where he was responsible for overseeing the programmatic functions of a liberty-based non-profit, which concentrated on Second Amendment issues. He also managed a federal firearms licensee. Kraut comes with a variety of media experience, having written for publications such as Recoil magazine, Recoil Web, and other online publications, writing and hosting a YouTube series, hosting and appearing as guest on multiple podcasts, and appearing on television.

Alan Gottlieb, SAF’s founder and Executive VP, had this to say on the appointment:

“We’re delighted to have Adam coming aboard at a time when our legal activities are greatly expanding,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “He brings a wealth of experience to the position, at a critical time when we are challenging an array of restrictive gun control laws that clearly have restrained peaceable, law-abiding citizens while accomplishing nothing in the effort to reduce violent crime.

“Adam has been a SAF Life Member since 2013,” Gottlieb added. “He has a keen understanding of our mission, our history and our effort to win firearms freedom, one lawsuit at a time. We are proud to bring him aboard to fill an important role as we ramp up our fight to restore and expand the Second Amendment as the cornerstone of our Constitution.”

In accepting the position, Adam acknowledged the legacy of the Second Amendment Foundation and said he looked forward to continuing developing more cases to bring to the Supreme Court “to ensure the right to keep and bear arms is restored to its original meaning.”

I think this is a great selection. While not said out loud, I think Alan Gottlieb is looking to build a succession plan for SAF. Contrast that with Wayne LaPierre and the NRA where any thoughts of a succession plan are quickly stomped out. Healthy organizations look to succession; unhealthy organizations actively resist it.

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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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Off To Tucson For NRA Meeting

October 23, 2020 by

I leave in a few minutes for the airport to head to Tucson, Arizona. I will be attending the NRA Meeting of Members and plan to attend the NRA Board of Directors meeting while it is in open session. I fully expect that it will go to executive session fairly quickly in a replay of Indianapolis.

My friends at Save the Second put together this nice time table.

I will be introducing a resolution dealing with succession planning. I am pitching it as necessary with Wayne’s age and the impact of COVID-19 on the elderly. Wish me luck on that.

I’ll have my report on how the meeting goes up by Sunday morning. (I hope!)

Remember, if you are a NRA member, life or annual, and are in Tucson area, you are eligible to vote for the 76th Director. I am 100% behind Frank Tait. I get the feeling from reading Facebook posts by some NRA Directors that the establishment candidate is Jim Wallace, executive director of Massachusetts’ GOAL. Jim is an OK guy but we need Frank Tait to start the process of change.