Wayne LaPierre has been re-elected executive vice president of the embattled National Rifle Association. (Dave Workman)
By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
In the midst of political and legal turmoil, Wayne LaPierre was re-elected unanimously Monday to another term as Executive Vice President of the NRA, according to The American Rifleman, the NRA’s official publication.
The announcement came two days after former President Oliver North revealed he was not seeking a second term, apparently the result of a falling out involving current controversies surrounding NRA finances and public relations. North left Indianapolis on the first night of the convention, after having greeted President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at the 148th annual convention.
Also retaining their offices are Chris W. Cox as executive director of the Institute for Legislative Action, John Frazer as NRA Secretary and general counsel, and Craig Spray as NRA Treasurer.
The NRA Board of Directors elected Carolyn Meadows to the office of president, and named Charles L. Cotton as first vice president and Willes Lee as second vice president.
Perhaps the best perspective to be put on the NRA turmoil came unintentionally from John Feinblatt, president of the Michael Bloomberg-supported Everytown for Gun Safety. He was quoted by CNBC noting, “The bottom line is this: As the NRA plummets, the gun safety movement just keeps growing.”
Translation: If the nation’s leading Second Amendment lobbying group gets weaker, anti-gun organizations will grow stronger. For American gun owners who may be unhappy about NRA, that ultimately cannot be good news. Various people attending the NRA convention privately expressed concerns about anti-gunners coming after smaller organizations as well, such as the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
NRAs Chris Cox stopped to visit with Alan Gottlieb, Second Amendment Foundation, during the NRA convention in Indianapolis. Dave Workman)
The annual members’ meeting was at times contentious, and with North’s empty seat marked by his name plate, it created an awkward scene with more than a thousand NRA voting members looking on. Some members described the meeting as an “airing of dirty laundry.”
The controversy swirls around NRA finances and its lawsuit against longtime vendor Ackerman-McQueen. That group has reportedly been paid tens of millions of dollars by NRA for public relations work over the years, including television and advertising campaigns.
During the meeting, support for the embattled LaPierre came from several NRA Directors including former President Marion Hammer, the first woman to ever lead the organization, during the 1990s.
But it is Feinblatt’s observation to which Second Amendment activists probably should pay the most attention.
Hammer noted during her remarks from the floor Saturday that NRA faces attacks from its enemies, and should not face destruction “from within.” Translation: The NRA doesn’t need a circular firing squad. But that’s how several people described the goings-on, which may continue for the foreseeable future.
New York Attorney General Letitia James—no friend of the organization—announced she was launching an investigation of NRA and issuing subpoenas.
James has called the NRA a “terrorist organization,” as noted by the Huffington Post and others.
Much attention is focused on internal strife, especially as it related to what was variously described as a failed attempt to oust LaPierre in the midst of a management “crisis.”
Even President Donald Trump interjected himself into the situation by tweeting, “The NRA is under siege by (Gov. Andrew) Cuomo and the New York State A.G., who are illegally using the State’s legal apparatus to take down and destroy this very important organization, & others…It must get its act together quickly, stop the internal fighting, & get back to GREATNESS – FAST!”
What does seem clear is that the 148-year-old organization, which has become the premier Second Amendment lobbying group in the nation, could be in the fight of its life. According to the
The NRA is under siege by Cuomo and the New York State A.G., who are illegally using the State’s legal apparatus to take down and destroy this very important organization, & others. It must get its act together quickly, stop the internal fighting, & get back to GREATNESS – FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 29, 2019
National Review, there are allegations of financial mismanagement, simultaneous legal actions—one involving James’ investigation of NRA and the other NRA’s lawsuit against longtime public relations provider Ackerman-McQueen—and what appeared to be a revolt by several NRA members during the members’ meeting.
Several people had suggested that LaPierre step down or be removed, while others including several board members stood behind him and obviously prevailed. He has been at the association’s helm for more than a quarter-century, and he is the most recognizable public face of the gun rights movement.
Internal strife is not a new thing for NRA. There was the famous “Revolt in Cincinnati” in 1977. During the 1990s there was bitter infighting between factions, and now the NRA is embroiled in another internal fight while anti-gun officials in New York state, where the organization is incorporated, seem determined to hammer the NRA into oblivion.
That is especially important with a national election looming in 18 months, and a slate of Democrats trying to out-race each other to the political left, making no secret that they hope to step over the corpse of not only the NRA, but other pro-Second Amendment groups as well.
Feinblatt’s “bottom line” reference to a plummeting NRA might be somewhat overconfident. There does not appear to be any sign that the NRA is about to fold its tent.
While all of the Democrats so far entered in the race has mentioned gun control, and two Californians—Rep. Eric Swalwell and Sen. Kamala Harris—have made it a centerpiece of their stump speeches lately, gun owners are not running from the fight.
