Monday, May 13, 2019

The NRA: time to clean house by firing everybody?


The most recent allegations of financial irregularities at the National Rifle Association should be enough to get its members' blood boiling.  How many of them knew that their membership fees and other contributions were being used to finance this sort of thing?

National Rifle Association Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre billed the group’s ad agency $39,000 for one day of shopping at a Beverly Hills clothing boutique, $18,300 for a car and driver in Europe and had the agency cover $13,800 in rent for a summer intern, according to newly revealed NRA internal documents.

The documents, posted anonymously on the internet, provide new details of the clothing, travel and other expenses totaling more than $542,000 that Ackerman McQueen Inc. alleges Mr. LaPierre billed to it.

. . .

The NRA released a statement from Carolyn Meadows, its new president, who said the “entire board is fully aware of these issues. We have full confidence in Wayne LaPierre.” She added that “it is troubling and pathetic that some people would resort to leaking information to advance their agendas.”

Mr. LaPierre didn’t respond to a request for comment sent through the NRA.

. . .

An NRA attorney, William A. Brewer III, previously has said the vast majority of Mr. LaPierre’s travel expenses charged to the ad firm were for “donor outreach, fundraising and stakeholder engagement” and were being reviewed by the board. The NRA also has said Mr. LaPierre’s clothing expenses were justified due to his many public appearances.

. . .

Nonprofits are supposed to be run in the best interests of the organization, not for the benefit of board members or executives, legal experts said. Under New York’s nonprofit law, among the toughest in the U.S., the attorney general could seek to remove directors or officers, and claw back as much as double any improperly obtained benefit.

There's more at the link.

Frankly, when I look at those figures, I'm outraged.  Mr. LaPierre already earns a salary of about a million dollars per year, and has made millions more, directly and indirectly, out of his position at the NRA.  If he's pulling down expenses of at least half a million per annum, over and above his salary, he's not an asset to the NRA - he's a liability, and a hefty one at that!  What's more, the NRA board appears to have been subverted from its main task of guiding and shepherding the organization.  Instead, it's circling the wagons and protecting Mr. LaPierre, as well as taking sides in the dispute between him and Oliver North.

Quite apart from its billing dispute with its advertising agency, there's also the question of multi-million-dollar bills to the NRA from a legal firm - as much as $100,000 per day!  Who authorized them?  Why were members never fully informed about them?  How do we know they're justified, when we have no evidence whatsoever of what work was done to incur them?  Why have Mr. LaPierre and the NRA Board remained silent about this mess?

I have a simple solution.  Let the NRA fire every single person involved in this whole imbroglio, from the highest to the lowest.  That includes any and every board member who's tried to protect or defend such ridiculous, unjustifiable expenditure.  We need new blood at the head of the organization, people who won't protect vested interests or financial shenanigans.  The NRA is supposed to protect and defend Second Amendment rights, and popularize and promote the shooting sports.  Let it get back to its roots, and forget about politics in a wider field, or spending money on anything except its core mission.  Anything less will be a betrayal of the NRA's members . . . and I don't think they'll stand for it.

Right now, the NRA Board stands on the cusp of deciding the organization's future.  If it makes the right choices, the NRA will recover from this mess, and thrive.  If it makes the wrong ones, the organization will destroy itself.  Frankly, we can't afford that . . . but it's not in our hands to save it.

Peter

11 comments:

Jesse in DC said...

How is it anyone connected to the NRA can say out loud that they have confidence in La Pierre? I have been a life member for a long time and have been asking questions about La P for a long time. He is never on the ballot, who chose him, and when is his term over? I guess we have answers now. You are right, they all have to go. It is the NRA, not La Pierres' NRA and cash cow.

JPD said...

Thank the lord I never became a life member. I go year to year. That is now finished. My money and support will go to GOA and my state organization.

Now, If I can find a way to rid my mailbox of the constant barrage of NRA mailers asking for money, I would be home free.

Glen said...

Washington is a corrupt place. Everyone who does business there is eventually infected. If you want honest folks doing politics, limit them to a max of ten years in DC. This may reduce effectiveness of lobbyist, but will be good for the overall system.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

After the 2016 election, we had the GOP in control of both houses and a pro gun President. National Reciprocity, something the NRA was supposedly pushing, didn't get passed. My conclusion they are just another fund raising organization and I won't support them.

Wish there was someway of funding the good work,range safety officers, youth programs, etc. without supporting extravagant lifestyles of a few elites and their fellow travelers.

B said...

I have said many times that the NRA exists for the NRA and it's board members, no for us who support them.

Years ago, WLP came to a gun show here in NW Indiana. I spoke with him. He wasn't doing a speech, just came to talk with people. I asked where he had come from. His answer: He had flown, in a private jet, from home that Saturday morning...and planned on returning to Fairfax later that day. He didn't stop by on his way from another engagement, just flew a $10,000 per hour jet 3 hours each way just to look around at a gunshow. When I expressed outrage, his handlers moved him on and I was effectively silenced.

Having said that, the NRA is still the loudest voice we have, even if it does waste a lot of money and is only marginally effective.
One thing to realize: if we gun owners got everything we asked for, then there would be no reason for the NRA. They don't want to win, really, for if that happened, we'd not need them nor support them any longer....and the graft the board members could soak up would disappear. They do provide services that keep many gun ranges alive, but don't do any more than they have to to keep the fight going and keep the members marginally satisfied enough to keep our support.

Eric Wilner said...

"One thing to realize: if we gun owners got everything we asked for, then there would be no reason for the NRA."
Not really... it could go back to being a sportsmen's club, organizing training and matches and so on. But the whole political side, and most of the fundraising operation, would indeed become unnecessary.
Also, eternal vigilance and all that. The opposition never sleeps. So "getting everything we asked for" would be only a temporary respite.

Will said...

The really bad thing about the NRA? They have been involved in pushing gun control since day one. At some point the officers realized that they could make money by soliciting funds from the public to fight gun control with one hand, while making sure that there would always be laws to fight with the other hand. Nice scam.

There are 70+ directors, so it is near impossible for them to make any changes from the board itself, normally, which is exactly why there is such an extreme number.

Jokes on them, however. They have a legal requirement to oversee the financial business parts. They can all be in serious trouble if NY, and the feds, decide to hold them responsible. Want to bet which way NY is going to go? I suspect that most of them have no idea that was even part of their position.

Quitting doesn't remove them from past liabilities, however. The fact that the BOD hasn't tossed WLaP already would seem to indicate that they don't realize the situation they are in. At the very least, they had better be obtaining outside legal council to figure out how they should handle the situation. I see that Tom Selleck bailed before all this became public.

Dad29 said...

It's easy to get rid of people.

But you damn well better have replacements at the ready. I don't like what I've seen, either, and agree that heads should roll.

Hmmmm.

Ray - SoCal said...

Another case study of:

pournelle iron law of bureaucracy

And this is before NY gets started with their lawsuit, discovery, etc.

LindaG said...

GOA?

All they get is an annual membership from me, too.
Seems like their problems with New York are their own fault.

streamfortyseven said...

They're just like any other DC organization, constantly pimping their members for more, more, more money, while doing little to warrant the expense. I haven't given them a dime for 17 years, despite the never-ending flood of fundraising letters, the latest of which threatens that "if this attack succeeds, the NRA will be forced to shut down forever." If only, then this flood of nonsense would cease.