Alas! There’s a new communiqué from none other than the President of the National Rifle Association herself, Ms. Carolyn D. Meadows! And she’s flanked by several sympathizers. You can download the letter here or read it below. To be clear, this was NOT a response to our letter. It’s just a general message, sent via the Secretary to the Board of Directors with authorization to share publicly as they saw fit.
Spoiler alert: According to Meadows, all is well in Camelot. Nothing to see here. Move along. It’s all good. Hunky-Dory. No worries. Never better. Carry on. 🙂 In fact, hold on, wait…. is that… is that Carolyn Meadows on one of those violins?
Enjoy.
NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
11250 WAPLES MILL ROAD
FAIR FAX, VIRGINIA 22030
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
PresidentCharles L. Cotton
First Vice PresidentLt. Col. Willes K. Lee USA (Ret)
Second Vice PresidentAllan D. Cors
Past PresidentJames W. Porter
Past PresidentDavid A. Keene
Past PresidentRonald L. Schmeits
Past PresidentJohn C. Sigler
Past PresidentSandra S. Froman
Past PresidentKayne B. Robinson
Past PresidentMarion P. Hammer
Past PresidentRobert K. Corbin
Past President
Bruce – Check out NRA Members of Accountability on Facebook. It is an open group.
Anyone seen any Facebook groups for people unhappy with the current NRA management? Maybe people are talking on the gun forums but I don’t see many of them. There seems to be a group of unhappy people out there without much of a voice. This blog is an exception.
Fact: The old guard is closing ranks and trying to paint anyone asking questions as being against the NRA. Freaking political tripe! ?
When authority is challenged, circling the wagons is a classic defensive tactic. Facing the music, usually not so much — since transparency requires rather more humility and integrity than the powerful are frequently blessed to possess.
I perceive that those of you who have tried to peek behind the curtain, at the Members Meeting and since, have indeed been heard by the Great and Powerful Oz — who has willfully chosen to not listen to voices of concern. We should all continue looking for ways to make the Association great again, as long as the heart beats. Remember the Alamo, or whatever.
If they said there were any problems the Trace reporters would have a field day with it. They have gotten themselves into a corner. For a long time I have thought hubris could describe NRA leadership. Nemesis may have finally shown up.
I can tell you that this is tripe:
“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. ”
The Old Guard was seething with contempt when we managed to keep them from adjourning the Members Meeting… and we were just getting started when they took the microphones (“they” including many signers of this letter) to fear monger the crowd and try to bully us into silence. Go look at the videos of their arguments against hearing from the Members. Let me know how privileged you think they felt.