Category: Business

For your consideration.
I too, ‘sorta’ agree with Ms. Hammer.
And I totally agree with Mr. Richarson.

I Actually Agree With Marion On This

As weird as it may seem I find myself somewhat in agreement with Marion Hammer. I was forwarded an email from her to the NRA-EVP Search Committee.

She made the point that the committee needs to look outside the current NRA operations for the person that can be a success as the next CEO and EVP of the NRA.

Here is her email and the members of the committee:

TO: The Members of the NRA-EVP Search Committee:

Congressman Bob Barr – Chairman
Professor David Coy
Carol Frampton, Esq.
Curtis Jenkins, Esq.
Sheriff Jay Printz
Barbara Rumpel
Chief Blaine Wade

Friends,

At the risk of being redundant, I must say that these are tough times for the NRA.  The right leader or leaders is essential for NRA’s future.  I say leaders because I’m not sure that you can find one person who can do the job.

You might need someone to be the public face of NRA. To do the TV and all media coverage and essentially be the person out front representing NRA and the work we do.

You also might need to find someone to be the workhorse.  Someone to make the tough decisions about running the day to day operations who won’t be afraid to “break some eggs to make an omelet”  and who isn’t afraid to terminate people who are only interested in themselves and not the NRA and our cause.

I seriously doubt that anyone currently involved with NRA operations meets either need.  Don’t be afraid to look outside of NRA for fresh new leaders who care about NRA.  Our members are depending on you to find the right person or persons.

When I look at you, I see 2 current NRA Officers, 2 lawyers, 2 law enforcement representatives and one average person.  None of you is what I would consider a high end business person, yet we must look at the business perspective.

Whatever you decide, Is up to you.  I wouldn’t want to be in your position with the world watching me and expecting perfection.  Nonetheless, you must live in a “fishbowl” until the job is done, and then you must live with your decisions.

Please take your time and be thorough. Please be transparent with the NRA Board and don’t be afraid to reach out to Board members for information and advice. Always remember that there are good business people with incredible business knowledge on the Board who are there to serve.  Use them.

I wish you all the very best of luck as you embark on a mission that is essential for the future of NRA and our members.

Marion Hammer

Now as to what bothers me in all of this.

The committee is composed of the same old Board members who allowed Wayne to get away with his grifting, who didn’t object to Brewer’s billing, and who allowed a whole host of things that has led the NRA to be reduced to a shadow of its former self. Unless I am greatly mistaken and we the members get really lucky, anyone chosen by this bunch will not renovate nor reinvigorate the NRA. The organization will continue to muddle along with same old mindset appealing to an ever aging membership.

Interesting that Buz Mills was left off the list. Likewise, it is interesting Charles Cotton is off the list. Could this be so that Cotton could be their pick for the next EVP? God forbid!

NRA Board Elections: Support the Four for Reform Candidates

Four candidates dedicated to reforming the troubled NRA will be on the ballot for election to the NRA Board of Directors this year. Judge Phil Journey, Rocky Marshall, Dennis Fusaro, and me, Jeff Knox, all qualified for the ballot by petition of the members.

Ballots are supposed to be in the March issue of NRA magazines for those members eligible to vote.

Winning a Board seat without the support of the current regime at the NRA is historically close to impossible.

Since only NRA Life Members, and those Annual Members who have been members for at least 5 consecutive years, without interruption, are eligible to vote, and since those eligible voters are only known to the NRA itself, and that information is not available to us, we have no choice but to use a shotgun approach in our attempts to get our message out. If we had access to the voter list, we’d reach out directly to those voters. If we had tens of thousands of dollars in our campaign coffers, we’d have placed ads in the various NRA magazines. But we don’t have access to the list, and we don’t have unlimited resources, so the best we can do is try to reach as many potential voters as we can through broad channels like AmmoLand News, email blasts, and asking others to help spread the word.

Each year, the NRA sends out around 2.5 million ballots to Voting Members, but only about 5% of those are ever returned, meaning that almost 2 million ballots are left on the shelf, taken to local libraries, relegated to the magazine rack next to the toilet, and eventually thrown away. Finding and activating those un-voted ballots this year could be the key to getting the reform candidates elected, so we need your help and the help of gun media nationwide.

• He could order them to clean up their act and go forth to sin no more – which would leave the same people in charge who allowed this mess in the first place.
• Or he could go so far as to dissolve the current board, throw out the current election, and order a new election, taking additional months.
• He could also appoint a Special Master or overseer to take charge of reorganizing the NRA.

He has a lot of leeway and options, and we can only guess at what he might do, so we’re trying to position ourselves in the best position to participate in the resurrection of the Association, whatever the judge decides.

There’s also a good chance that the NRA will appeal any decision that goes against them, resulting in more delays and more NRA member money being poured into the pockets of lawyers. For the time being, our focus must be on getting our four reform candidates elected.

Continue reading “”

NRA Board Member Slams Leadership in Letter Calling for Immediate Change Amid Corruption Suit

A prominent member of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Board of Directors shamed Wayne LaPierre and the group’s current President in a letter sent this week.

Owen “Buz” Mills, owner of the Gunsite Academy in Arizona and longtime NRA board member, wrote to his colleagues on Wednesday decrying the state of the organization and plans to keep people he views as responsible for its decline in place. In the letter obtained by The Reload, he told the Board it needed to change how it governs the group because of the numerous admissions of wrongdoing by its top officials in the New York corruption case that began last week.

“The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is at a watershed moment in its 153rd year,” Mills wrote. “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.”

The letter comes as the American institution faces potentially severe legal repercussions over decades of alleged financial maleficence by current and former officials, including Executive Vice President (EVP) Wayne LaPierre. He and others have been accused of diverting tens of millions of dollars in NRA money toward lavish personal expenses and cushy business deals with friends and families. LaPierre and the other named defendants could be forced to pay the NRA back any money they diverted to themselves. However, the NRA could also be forced to operate under a court-appointed overseer if the judge determines it still lacks the internal control necessary to avoid future mismanagement.

To that end, LaPierre’s recently announced resignation and the Board’s plan to replace him could significantly impact the judge’s decision-making. LaPierre’s leading confidants have been placed in positions to maintain control of the organization after he leaves. Former NRA spokesman and longtime LaPierre confidant Andrew Arulanandam was appointed head of General Operations last month, putting him in line to become the interim EVP. Additionally, the group’s bylaws were amended to give Charles Cotton, who chaired the audit committee that approved–even sometimes retroactively–many of LaPierre’s expenses at issue in the case, an extra term as NRA President.

Now, some insiders are raising concerns about where things are headed. A second NRA Board Member, who asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the internal fight over the group’s direction, told The Reload there was some concern about how the process for picking LaPierre’s replacement is unfolding. They said it was odd that no action had been taken at the group’s January board meeting in planning for a new EVP.

“Cotton didn’t call back the Executive Session,” the board member said. “He did not put together a committee. He didn’t put together a committee to put together a committee. Nothing.”

The board member also noted a recent change to the bylaws to allow for virtual board meetings. They said Cotton had made a comment during the most recent board meeting alluding to the potential of appointing a

“There’s speculation that there is going to be a virtual meeting to call for Cotton to be the EVP for two years,” they said. “Then Bob Barr would head up a committee to find a long-term replacement. I believe Cotton is going to call for a virtual meeting before the end of the trial. I believe we’re saving SHOT show next week, we get a call.”

Mills has heard similar rumors.

“There appears to be an effort to anoint Cotton EVP,” he told The Reload.

In his letter, Mills slammed the idea. He said Cotton should not be EVP, and the NRA should use a more formal hiring process before deciding on its next leader.

“The selected leadership wants a special election to install the enabler and facilitator of all the previous chicanery,” he wrote. “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.”

He accused Cotton, who he labeled “the facilitator,” of providing LaPierre, who he labeled “the miscreant,” with a special bonus to cover the nearly million dollars that LaPierre was forced to refund to the NRA for private flights and other expenses the organization classified as “excess benefits.”

“When restitution was mandated, a bonus was awarded the miscreants including enough money to pay the restitution,” Mills wrote. “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,” he said.

The NRA disputed some of the accusations included in the Mills letter.

“In many sections of the letter, it is not even clear to whom Mr. Mills is referring,” Billy McLaughlin, an NRA spokesman, told The Reload. “If he’s referring to Mr. LaPierre, the allegation is unfounded. Indeed, his compensation is reported every year in federal tax filings and is a matter of public record. In any event, the NRA strictly complies with its Bylaws and other internal policies and procedures. Any suggestion to the contrary is completely false.”

The NRA’s tax reports show that LaPierre’s total compensation rose by nearly $800,000 between 2017 and 2018, peaking at nearly $2.25 million. It dropped back down to just under $1.9 million in 2019, the year the NRA reported LaPierre had paid them back for nearly $300,000 in excess benefits. His compensation has continued to decline since that time and stood at under $1.2 million in the group’s 2022 tax filing.

Charles Cotton did not respond to a request for comment.

Mills further attacked any effort to make Cotton the EVP without a formal vetting process. He said appointing Cotton using other means would be akin to the NRA’s failed bankruptcy filing, which was undertaken before informing the Board or getting their approval (though, they did retroactively approve the move).

“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?” he asked in reference to Cotton. “NO!”

Instead, he advocated for a search process that would include a recruiting and interview process involving the entire NRA Board. He said the same should be done to “hire a celebrity ‘FACE’ of the NRA as a spokesperson with no access to funds.”

“This is how a professional Board of Directors of a world class not-for-profit begins to heal itself,” he wrote.

He argued this was the Board’s chance to reform and renew the organization in hopes of convincing the millions of members who’ve abandoned the group since the corruption allegations surfaced to come back. He wrote the EVP pick and the process used to make it is ultimately an “opportunity to recover the trust” and “respect” of “our most benevolent donors,” “our industry,” and the “American people.”

“The main point is the NRA is presented herewith the opportunity to rectify our sins of the past, to redeem ourselves,” he told The Reload. “Don’t mess it up.”

Buz Mills’ Open Letter To The Board

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 153^rd 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