Sadly, the NRA has become a political organization instead of an educational organization. They used to teach marksmanship, and they taught it well.
1
One can only hope that the legal process will allow Wayne Lapierre to reap what he has sown. Maybe some jail time with a few other folks who like to use guns will give him a new perspective on the second amendment.
2
I’m a big fan of dark humor and I think this is one of the funniest things I have read in a while:
“It was just after the massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that LaPierre decided the N.R.A. needed a new lawyer.”
Worthy of TC Boyle.
And talk about a desperate need for out of the box thinking!
2
“I know I’m just filibustering,” he said. “Do you want me to stop?”
Actually, Wayne? Yes, please, now!!
1
It is interesting that after the Mosque massacre here in NZ that the N.R.A were told to get out and mind their own business by a conservative member of Parliament(Judith Collins) such is their rancor and the odor that they leave wherever they go
Why one wonders would they have any interest in our matters if not for money raking and attempting to destabilize our political landscape?
LaPierre said, “I feel sad.”
Ask parents, how they feel after every school shooting?
How many kids would still be alive had the NRA remained a century-long bi-partisan organization teaching gun safety?
Instead of defending the right to own military-style automatic weapons?
NRA & LaPierre have decades of blood on their hands all in the name of power & greed - hiding behind our US constitution.
3
The hypocrisy is mind-boggling. As-written, the 2nd Amendment actually prohibits the government from barring access of private citizens to nuclear weapons. Does that mean everyone should get a tactical warhead? Should everyone be able to own a brand-new fighter plane? A brand new main battle tank?
No, there are reasonable limits to what the general public should have access to. Even people in the age of the Founders knew it. cannons were not something people should just keep on their farm. Gatling guns weren't something to be placed in every wagon. Dynamite shouldn't be carried in everyone's pockets.
If you could go back and get all of the Founders and bring them to today, show them the enormous killing potential of some of the weapons the NRA purports to be essential to our rights, there would be some dissenters. But nearly all of them would agree, nobody NEEDS, nor should even have, the power to kill or wound dozens of people in a matter of minutes. Period.
Defending yourself is one thing...hunting is one thing...but assault rifles and the like serve only one purpose, preemptive murder. Period.
21
Odd how these organizations over time acquire a self-titled role of saviors of democracy but in truth are no more than crime syndicates stuffed full of mob bosses protected by the, you guessed it, GOP...like the protection rackets of the mafia, remember?
5
In my lifetime I've seen shooting sports change from a wholesome outdoor activity that was good for kids to one dominated by the concealed carry, self defense, paranoid anti government crowd. The NRA did that! Now the general public is repelled by guns, and the casual sportsman is being sidelined. This has been fueled by the manufacturers, who in a time of declining interest in hunting see a whole new market with assault rifles and auto pistols for self defense. And it's changed the sport I loved forever.
2
I was an NRA member starting in the days when one had to be recommended for membership by an elected official or a police chief. I stopped participating when the NRA leaders lost their souls. I will rejoin when they dedicate themselves to civilian marksmanship and marksmanship alone.
1
Astounding! Pathetic. In his brewing, cesspool of vipers, what benefit did LaPierre think we could gain granting this interview other than to show its a true reflection of the NRA membership and gun-crazed voter.
1
Thoughts and prayers. Also, how bad can things be for him if he’s still in charge and being paid an obscene amount of money each year to help fight legislation that could help stop mass shootings and other forms of gun violence?
2
During my Boy Scout years the National Rifle Association stood for proper maintenance and use of guns, and marksmanship. Now the NRA stands for unlimited purchase of any type of gun and ammunition. What could possibly be sea wrong with the transformation?
5
Rhetorical question here: Do bad guys ever think of themselves as anything other than one good guy with a gun?
4
Poor me. I did nothing to deserve scorn except promote guns. Everyone knows guns don't kill, people do. Wayne LaPierre is another horrible man who defends the "2nd Amendment." It is not about everyone owning a gun. It is about people defending the country. Because of him and his band of indefensibles, we have more guns than any other country. We need to protect ourselves by passing gun control laws. There is no reason for anyone other than the military to have multiple shot guns. It is way past time to have a national gun registry. Finally, stop selling bullets for those multiple bullet guns. Poor Wayne, living like a king and taking money from foreign groups. This is not what America is about.
5
AG Letitia James has been conducting an investigation for over 7 months and no information on any progress that her dept has made.
I would find that information more interesting than another rehash of the NRA's problems which have already received sufficient press coverage in the NYT, WaPo, ...
2
"In our three-hour on-the-record conversation in late October, he was... always acutely, sometimes painfully self-aware."
—LOL, yeah, not likely.
3
I am a gun owner!
I am a life member of the NRA!
I am a police officer!
The National Rifle Association holds its annual meeting & show in various cities every year. Firearm manufactures set up with the newest products for visitors to see. To get into the show you have to be a member. So people wanting to see the newest firearms but not necessarily be a member of the NRA are counted as being a member to falsely elevate their member numbers. They do have some shady tactics!
The NRA will NEVER see another dime from me until they stop compromising with democrats. Gun owners have been compromising with the right to keep and bear arms for nearly 100 years. The 2nd amendment is non negotiable! The first few words of the 1st amendment reads "CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAWS......."! Had the founding fathers included this at the beginning of the 2nd amendment would lawmakers be still trying to interpret what the founders intentions were?
Laws the restrict access to firearms, & firearm accessories from people who are neither inclined nor determined to use them unlawfully accomplishes absolutely nothing! Laws will never predict what someone might do with a firearm, and society will never be able to legislate away homicidal intentions.
None of this evokes any sympathy from me. The NRA used to be about gun safety, not a lobbying group advocating the right to own assault weapons and defend mass murderers. La Pierre is a first class ghoul.
6
This person is payed 2,2m$/year and he is worth every single cent .
American children are risking their lives just by attending school,
You are statistically having more than one mass shooting every single day ... but Mr La Pierre has effectively killed all efforts to even discuss it .
He sure is worth every cent..
2
Prior articles noted LaPierre's lifestyle, that he has lived like a king financially from his leadership of the NRA.
What he should be sad about now, is not for himself, but to be contrite for the deaths caused to those innocents who have died over the last couple of decades, and especially for the children, who have been killed by the weapons he and the NRA protect, many of which were obtained illegally, without any pity.
1
Pleased to report that all my registered voter family members have now signed and mailed in our petitions to place an “assault weapons ban” measure on Florida‘s statewide ballots come November 2020.
Meanwhile, the NRA’s Florida lobbyist, Marion Hammer, has the GOP-led state legislature wrapped around her pinky.
Still, all she really has to offer is the NRA’s typical “assault weapons are protected by the second amendment“ hogwash rhetoric.
That ultra-thin veneer of deceit has now worn out it’s welcome.
LaPierre, Hammer, and their NRA ilk are nothing more than harbingers of death.
They deserve no quarter or sympathy.
2
All while the American bloodbath continues. Day after day after day after day... rivers of blood.
4
No sympathy whatsoever. Pure evil.
4
I will note in passing to New York Times readers, "Siena College in upstate New York" - This institution seems adept at breeding and promoting evil people with a corrupting sense of public government as their mission and a sect like focus upon destroying our society. Beware of them, and the institution. It is fully worthy of a journalistic expose.
1
Even from the first few paragraphs you can see Lapierre is acting like the martyr. Give us a break!
2
The NRA has lost its way...
1
Wayne LaPierre complaining about not having a "fair shot" is grotesque.
3
We’ll just have to wait a while longer to exhume him from decent people’s graveyard as recently occurred with Francisco Franco. Same amount of blood on both their hands.
1
A den of unrepentant self-absorbed vipers; with guns. Thank you NY Times for the deep look into the heart of their bastion of hate.
"I said I feel sad."
Really? I care less.
John~
American Net'Zen
1
Just what would this “fair shot” look like? Does he want an hour of free broadcast time to espouse his innocence? If he makes his case clearly and succinctly, the media will air it. The claim of unfair bias is a dodge.
No surprise here. Corruption in the transactions of an organization is inevitable when the organization itself is intrinsically corrupt and fraudulent. The NRA purports to support gun rights, hunting, commerce in firearms, and all that. But despite the appeal of these causes to its membership, these concerns are secondary and mainly a recruitment device. Since its hijacking in the 1970s, the NRA has been mainly a right wing electoral seine net, trolling in voters made fearful of imaginary threats to their way of life. Fraud begets corruption.
2
This business remind me of an old album of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, We're Only In It For The Money.
1
Wayne LaPierre, as well as his moll Dana Loesch, grew up in poverty. They had never seen the kind of money that they now have since they knelt before the gun manufacturers.
Note that these are not the gun owners: the gun manufacturers have seized control of the NRA and pay their minions well. Responsible gun owners support responsible gun ownership.
Seems to have escaped LaPierre, Loesch, et al.
But who cares? They are cashing their checks, and "The Bachelor" is on tonight.
2
Wayne LaPierre has built a pro-gun rights edifice upon the notion that, if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will own them. LaPierre's power arises out of this sole, simple notion. Gun control people point to countless Americans killed by guns. Yet they make little headway. The appeal of the NRA is based on the the fact that their one simple notion makes sense.
1
This article made my day! I don't care who did what, who said what, or who goes to jail. What matters is that we now know what we know and maybe the NRA's days are finally ended. LaPierre's sadness cannot ever compare to the unending, grief stricken sorrows of people who lost family, friends, and colleagues because of the guns LaPierre hawked and protected. Now, let's have that rating list of politicians who have supported the NRA all these years, especially those with A ratings. Actually, I'm going to Goggle that list right now, just to say hi, and good morning, to every last one of the NRA's enablers.
1
The article mentioned that Mr. Lapierre received deferments from the draft. Odd that someone who wished to decline from taking up arms wants to ensure that the rest of us are fully armed.
3
The NRA has become the paramilitary arm of the Republican Party. In other countries with paramilitaries, they perform extra-judicial killings, disappearances, and enforcement actions outside the supervision of the government. All at the behest of the Party.
Today’s NRA is an extremist organization - one short step away from a paramilitary. Their rhetoric sounds like they are ready, willing, and able to perform extra-judicial acts at the behest of Party.
Trump has called for “Second Amendment solutions” - to problems like him losing the 2020 election. Some of our armed brethren are ready to act at the President’s call.
This means that should Trump lose the election, we might see an armed rebellion - spearheaded by this paramilitary, right wing militia.
Of course not all members are as extreme as NRA leadership. But all members need to ask whether this organization still represents their values and priorities.
If it does, they have committed themselves to a group that today looks like the early stages of a paramilitary - acting outside the government and doing the bidding of the Party.
If the 2020 election ends in bloodshed, count on the NRA to be urging on its members to armed rebellion.
14
I always thought he looked like death. In this picture he looks tortured and bewildered but still like death. He could have stepped out of an Ingmar Bergman film. How can the money be worth all those people needlessly dying? He is death.
20
The notorious law-breaker Ollie North: 'North himself noted, “If you’re not going to do things right, don’t hire a Marine.”'
5
"the N.R.A. donated $20 million to six Republican Senate candidates in the 2016 election cycle..." Jaw-dropping. $20 million to just 6 candidates.
14
Wow. Big money. That money would be well spent on the victims of mass shootings. And shootings that are not mass shootings. In fact once the NRA treasure chests are spent on the victims of shootings (the dead and the maimed) the Federal government should pry open its treasure vaults and continue to compensate the victims of shootings (dead and maimed). There is no amount too great to what they owe for they have caused this cataclysm thru their actions on the part of the former and their inactions on the part of the latter. And somewhere in all these payments due the manufacturers of these weapons must be held financially and morally responsible. We are coming for you. It may take more time but we are coming. And you will pay.
10
No one deserves or is entitled to running an organization for almost 30 years. So much entitlement thinking that he hasn’t run his course as a leader. Even NRA members agree with that. Read a management book for god sakes.
7
He is a disgusting man (or some version thereof), justice will be served.
14
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
22
LaPierre, the NRA and every one of its members have blood on their hands.
22
Looking into the face of Wayne LaPierre is similar to looking into our President’s face. Both look worn and haggard. Both remind me of evil.
31
Wayne LaPierre may be reeling but mass shootings continue unabated, and reasonable gun control legislation remains on McConnell’s desk. so who is really left reeling? I would say it is the unarmed citizens of this country who are at the mercy of a so-called weakened N.R.A. and laws that put weapons of war in the hands of lunatics who are more than willing to use them.
19
Though a gun owner, I never joined the NRA. The organization lost its way quite some time ago, first becoming more an advocate for gun manufacturers than for gun owners, then pursuing ill-conceived revenue generating schemes. As it crumbles around them, the organization and its principals, and quite possibly some of its outside contractors, seem to be getting exactly what their greed and duplicity deserve.
Gun violence must be reduced. We must find some means of conducting a sober national conversation about this public crisis, a conversation in which all voices are heard and heeded. Over the last few decades the NRA has been the key barrier to such a conversation, ratcheting up the shrillness that now pervades all sides of the discussion. I doubt the NRA can restructure itself to play a useful role anymore. I for one won't miss it when it's gone.
21
I continue to assess which political candidates have an F rating by the NRA. They get my vote unconditionally.
34
I’ve researched the National FireArm Act of 1934, passed by FDR after an attempted assassination of him during alcohol prohibition. No registry of weapons required.
I researched the National Gun Control Act of 1968; No registry of weapons required. The Controlled Substances Act was signed by Nixon in 1970 and the DEA created in ‘73... so people like Oliver North could create civil wars in LATAM and sell weapons to warring governments and cartels. And I even researched the case of the ATF under the Department of the Treasury vs. The City of Chicago which upheld that citizens have no right to know “what the government is up to” concerning the sale of guns in the U.S.
Still no requirement for the ATF to register weapons... even though their Tracer program got busted during the Fast & Furious program and serial numbers were later identified by US gun manufacturers from guns the ATF sold to El Chapo.
Tell us Pierre didn’t know about all this? Tell us he just wants to advocate gun rights while non violent Americans in possession of marijuana continue to accumulate felonies for owning a fire arm while the ATF turns their backs?
Blood money. The one thing the NRA doesn’t want us to know more than anything is how they help the ATF and gun manufacturers sell weapons to dictators and cartels that murder innocent people while they make it impossible to create a simple public registry to identify gun owners with violent criminal history.
Focus on the registry. The rest is noise.
17
Another wholly owned subsidiary of Vladimir Putin’s anarchosyndacalist commune.
28
@Deutschmann I always thought it odd that that young woman who was in the news supposedly representing a gun rights organization in Russia and getting in close with the NRA and Republican congressmen actually represented a gun rights group in Russia. Think about it: would a group promoting the rights of Russian citizens to have their own guns ever be allowed to exist by Putin? The only reasons Trump supports the NRA are 1) Their members will vote for him, and 2) He sees them as his own personal militia when he loses in 2020 and declares the election null and void due to it being "fixed". Donald Trump will never give up the Presidency, even if a dozen Republican senators flipped and voted to convict him in the Senate. We are in deep trouble.
2
I first joined the NRA in 1962 when I was 11 years old. For decades it supplied people interested in hunting, shooting sports and gun collecting with excellent information and assistance.
In my opinion, Wayne LaPierre is the worst thing that has ever happened to the organization in my lifetime. He has turned it into a hate and fear-mongering, Right Wing tool for his personal gain.
They would be very well served by getting rid of him, and returning to their original purpose; supporting people engaged in shooting-related activities, and leave the politics behind.
24
I’m 70. I recall nra gun safety talks to kids
1
Olive North..who lied under oath in uniform to Congress, A man that attends few, if any, Marine Corp re-unions.
It goes to show all the power to support a singular man in power..and what they will do to support his longevity.
No doubt, North thinks about his mis-deeds every day of his life...his legacy is blackened forever.
10
That Wayne and his $1-million salary are the face of the NRA speaks volumes about the organization. Getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar has consequences, Wayne. Even kids know that.
18
Forget the NRA.
The NRA happily offers politicians "crisis management" when shootings make the news (404 mass shootings so far this year - in 356 days).
What the NRA desperately wants is for our attention to be focused on them - because they sell politicians cover.
Focusing on the NRA is a blunder.
And it is exactly what the NRA wants.
They take the heat because there is nothing we can do about them.
Forget the NRA.
We have no influence over the NRA.
They are a private organization.
Concentrating on them is a waste of our energies.
We don't have a constitutional right to oust their board or to even picket their offices.
They are just the lightning rod to protect the people we CAN oust and the people we CAN picket: elected officials.
We DO have the power of voting.
Go where the power is.
Every two years who do we vote for?
The whole House of Representatives and 1/3 of the Senate.
We do NOT vote for NRA leaders.
So forget the NRA.
They are not accountable to the People.
The more people focus on the NRA the less they pay attention to the real power: congress.
Do not fall for the distraction.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
19
404 mass shootings? I'm a fake news expert. Please share your definition of "mass shooting" along with links to your source(s) of statistics. Hurry before the comments are closed.
2
@Ancient: I will do more than that, dear expert. Here's the source - fully documented.
https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting
Read it and, as they say, weep.
Thanks for reminding me. I should have put this in the comment.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
12
@Rev. E. M. Camarena, PhD Thank you. Our definition obviously differs. When the police tell us that victims and shooters were "known to each other" and/or "this was not a random incident", I don't consider those incidents to be "mass shootings".
Please, Mr. LaPierre, go away. Go somewhere on this vast earth where we don't have to hear about you anymore.
Take your untold millions with you and your nightmares, too, with the floating faces of the children who have died from unchecked gun violence promoted by the NRA.
Take the weeping parents with you and the traumatized students who had to hold their hands above their heads as they marched single file out of another bloody school.
Find a sunny beach and stay there. Check your stock prices with only your wife and family caring if you draw another breath. But you, too, will meet the reaper sooner rather than later because you aren't the young, trigger happy, gun toting whipper snapper anymore.
Like Dickens' Scrooge, the Ghost of many Christmasses may visit you in the night and ask you to visit the past, the present and the future but there will be no redemption for you unless you repent. Will you?
You still could. You could tell millions of gun crazed people that you have been wrong. That gun violence is out of control and the NRA has made it much worse. You could do that.
There is a reason you feel terrible. Examine your conscience, sir.
23
Wow. This reads like a surreal story about a bunch of wealthy white men in their golden penthouses deceiving each other and having temper tantrums while thousands of people are being murdered in the streets.
34
One thing is certain in the gun controversy plaguing us; If those who want guns so feverishly fight to own ever more of them, shouldn't that call for less guns, not more?
5
So after two paragraphs, I learn that Wayne has been in power 29 years, does not use computers, refers to himself in the third person, and thinks the NRA doesn't get a fair shake. The rest of this article should be a doosy.
18
Thank you, New York Tomes gor shining a bright light into a very deep swamp.
15
I am reading an article about 13 people getting shot in Chicago in a single night and I begin to laugh, not a grin or a chuckle, but a soulfully-felt belly laugh.
So I ask myself, “What’s so funny?’
And the answer comes to me in a flash.
I am living in a country where this happens every day because a President, a Supreme Court, a Republican Party, gun manufacturers and gun lobbies allow it to happen, profit from it, hide behind bogus Constitutional arguments to justify it and say it is normal and nothing to be concerned about.
All of which is crazy, ridiculous, stupid, suicidal, grossly immoral and funny.
So -- lacking any decent alternatives -- I continue to laugh at it, unapologetically.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/22/us/chicago-shooting.html
20
Late news update:
I see that seven more people just got shot overnight in Baltimore.
I just wrote here that people here are getting shot "every day."
But actually it's more like every few hours.
https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/12/22/baltimore-seven-people-shot-park-avenue/
2
Make that:
I just wrote here that people are getting shot "every day."
But actually it's more like every few hours.
1
Wayne LaPierre and the NRA under the gun!
Good. No, belay that; excellent!
14
When he started insulting president Obama, that's when the NRA lost me, probably forever.
22
Guns are people too my friend.
4
Blood of so many on their hands. Millions in Russian money, republican coup, NRA complicity in the conspiracy. Remember Butina? Sick of the lies. NRA and the GOP are working w/ Russia to overthrow our Democracy and TrumPutin is only the beginning. Wake up, patriots! Fascism is happening here!
21
Oh, poor Wayne LaPierre - I feel so bad for him. Boo-hoo...
15
I look forward to seeing unemployed Spokeswoman Dana Loesch resuming her career on late night infomercials hawking the imagined benefits of beet juice. Who the devil raised these people? Like our President Asterisk they fail to know or have forgotten the differences of right and wrong.
24
I was a member of the NRA 30+ years ago. The focus was on gun safety, hunting, and competitive shooting. Even then, I fully supported gun safety legislation. The idea that I needed a 40 round magazine for my hunting rifle was so absurd as to raise concerns of mental instability in any who would suggest such. When the organization went full bore on 2nd amendment supremacy to life and safety, I quit. That every citizen has an unfettered right to high capacity, rapid fire firearms is patently ludicrous. Now, gun sales spike after every mass shooting; elect a Democrat to the Presidency and stocks in gun companies rebound - the mental instability is apparently viral.
The corruption at the top of the organization is no surprise; fear mongering raises money. More money than needed must be spent somewhere. Of course it finds its way in to questionably legal and potentially criminal expenditures.
19
I think he’s a monster
30
The NRA has long been corrupted - the organization lost its way 60+ years ago. The NRA should focus on gun safety for all, not ensuring the NRA members can terrorize fellow citizens.
15
I expect that 3-D printers will make the N.R.A. irrelevant.
As Silicon Valley's mantra states: disruption = progress.
That concept gave us Trump as President.
And every facet of our lives up for internet sale and blackmail.
Next, we get home-made guns of every style and caliber.
Yep, nobody will need the N.R.A.
Except gun manufacturers futiley trying to regulate 3-D guns.
8
Cry me a river, Wayne. Lapierre & the NRA need to be destroyed. They are a cancer.
37
Why for goodness sake does the NRA still enjoy tax exempt status? They forfeited any pretext of "public education" decades ago.
38
YES! Our country needs a good massive one year tax revolt. The more don’t pay, the less the IRS will be able to enforce the issue. I’m for eventually paying them mind you, but when the NRA is tax exempt and the president gets rich off of his public position it’s time to fight where the people have the most power, with the purse.
2
The corruption and fraudulent practices of the NRA are beyond the pale. Gun owners (which I am not one of them) need to find a new advocacy organization that protects their rights while also being a responsible corporate citizen related to the safety of our children and the general public. This means universal background checks no matter where guns are bought or traded, red flag laws for unstable individuals and going forward the outlawing of weapons that we were designed for the military.
15
Were it not for the shadow-of-its-former-self Republican Party, there would be no NRA with a Wayne LaPierre at the helm nor a president named Trump.
Think about it: the three things that terrify the majority of Americans most - being caught in the midst of a random shooting, a catastrophic medical emergency we can't pay for, or four more years of Trump - have all been brought to you by the Republicans.
33
It is inexplicable that Mr. LaPierre still has his job. You bill outrageous personal expenses to one of your vendors, and the vendor then bills your organization for those expenses. Hello? Any other CEO would have been sacked long ago.
20
@Mark Siegel
It in inexplicable. However, i have to disagree with you about any other CEO being dismissed, unfortunately. Looking at Boeing's CEO and his incompetent handling of the 2 737 Max crashes (and the mess preceding and then following those), as well as other cases like BP Texas City and more, one has to wonder what it takes to get a board to do anything.
Maybe it is time to reevaluate how for profit and non-profit organizations and their boards are structured.
4
@msprkiner - Agreed. Hint: these corporations and their boards are structured, for the most part, by old, entitled, white guys, who set things up to keep themselves in power.
1
The Republican Party is the real NRA. LaPierre conveniently serves as scapegoat for what has been decades of mass shooting, and a party recalcitrant to make even small progress to protect the public. Republicans want guns, they want people armed and they want to make sure money is made on it all.
6
I am not an anti-gun person but guns have changed. It took a skilled soldier at least 15 seconds to reload a firearm when the 2nd amendment was passed. Defending the right of people to buy guns that can be modified to create the destruction that occurred in Las Vegas is ridiculous.
Your gun toy rights end well ahead where my children's rights to live start. For those that are concerned with a police state I'm pretty sure your full-auto AR-15 is not going to defend you from a USS Gerald R. Ford.
Maybe you should ask where is the NRA and their membership on owning personal nuclear weapons? Man up Wayne. If you could fire a nuke from a gun would you stand up for that? I think not, because that would be crazy talk right? Right? So where do guns become too dangerous for you?
The survival of the humanity is a race between intelligence and wisdom. Intelligence it knowing how to answer the question. Wisdom is knowing what question to ask.
Tragically we are long on intelligence and short on wisdom and clearly the vast majority of world leaders including the "Frankin-GOP" lack both!
14
Whew! Talk about "The Swamp"!
9
The streets of many cities are the scenes are carnage each day. Our schools train for active shooter events and are visited by mass shootings.
Wayne LaPierre and the NRA are the single largest obstacle to a mature and reasoned discussion in this nation about fire arms--who should own these weapons and under what conditions. No, this is not about coming for the hunter's shotgun, but maybe just disarming that part of society that is bent on taking human life.
16
I consider the NRA a terrorist organization, and we should treat leaders of the NRA the same way we treat ISIS leaders. They are making war on us, and we should fight them in self-defense, to protect our children. They are the greatest danger to peace and safety in this country, and they should be treated as a dangerous enemy.
25
It's not about your second amendment rights. It's always been about money. (Sell more product.) Many folks have been sold a bill of goods, and not saving for kids education or retirement. We need a new agenda.
9
Endless greed.
With North, attorneys and NRA management wallowing bin the trough.
No Constitutional bar to this kind of greed.
5
I expect that 3-D printers will make the N.R.A. irrelevant.
As Silicon Valley's mantra states: disruption = progress.
That concept gave us Trump as President.
And every facet of our lives up for internet sale and blackmail.
Next, we get home-made guns of every style and caliber.
Yep, nobody will need the N.R.A.
Except gun manufacturers futiley trying to regulate 3-D guns.
7
The NRA reminds me and more of the Church of Scientology. All it’s about is money and power for those at the tops while the rank-and-file are seen as dupes and are milked for every dollar possible through constant warnings about how outsiders are conspiring to destroy their way of life.
Still, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for the members themselves. As financially exploited as they may be, thy are complicit in their own exploitation. Information about these organizations is readily available but they choose not to seek it out and educate themselves because they are blinded by a smug yet aggressive and angry ideology and a self-fulfilling prophecy of persecution.
12
LaPierre is Evil and Corruption personified.
13
Hey! Hey! NRA!
What did you build with your guns today?
What did you build with your guns?
9
@William L. Valenti
Hey, Hey, NRA.
How many kids died today?
11
It may not be in the spirit of Christmas, but I rejoice at every bit of misery that comes home to Mr. LaPierre. There are many people responsible for the horrible ease with which to get guns in the US, but he must be one of the main culprits. The number of suicides that might never have happend without this evil man and his evil organization must be horrendous, not to mention other uses of the guns he so lovingly defends.
16
Never mind suicides, this monster has helped to arm mass murderers, and many of the victims have been children. In any civilized country, he would be in jail, permanently. In some countries, he might be executed. I personally would not object to the latter.
10
Thank you NYTimes and thank you Danny Hakim.
Great work.
8
"LaPierre’s compensation rose from less than $200,000 a year in the mid-1990s to more than $2.2 million in 2018. Oversight has been complicated by paydays to the 76-member board: $270,000 to one for consulting; $40,000 to another for speeches; $64,000 to the guitarist Ted Nugent, mostly for advertising on a reality-TV show; and $476,000 to buy vintage firearms from the actor Tom Selleck, adding to the N.R.A.’s considerable collection."
Says it all.
10
At first I was going to label him “The Devil Incarnate.” But then I sadly realized he is only one of many in Washington today.
This article is telling.
1) People who can’t look at you when they are speaking to you are often lying.
2) “ In person, LaPierre can seem like an absent-minded academic, his hands in motion, his thoughts wandering.” Is he also on the verge of dementia?
3) He is dishonest as investigations are revealing.
4) He seems impermeable to alternative opinion “willing to lose” all his friends I’m the fight.
5) He shakes his head in wonder how some “things worked out” including an organized trip to Russia. Sounds like Trump who doesn’t have a clear strategic plan (to say nothing of his ties to Russia).
6) Money matters. Look at the payroll.
13
How is it that Greenpeace lost its nonprofit status because it committed the crime of “piracy” in its mission to save whales, but the NRA is still a nonprofit even though it is overtly political and responsible for countless murders and suicides?
31
Two terrible people don't make a good outcome
7
I can’t think of a less sympathetic group than America’s merchants of death. The sooner they are gone, the better.
22
So poor Wayne LaPierre is "being waterboarded." Right. We are to feel sympathy for these people? What a crybaby. This isn't karma, it is the wheel of justice.
19
Oh yes, The NRA. The National Rascals Association.
7
Couldn't happen to nicer bunch of people with massive blood on their hands.
12
This article and Wayne’s excuses remind me of the lack of accountability today - Wayne, please own up to your sins.
7
The more I think about this story the more aggravated I am as a long term member and supporter of the NRA. I do not believe for a moment that an over $200,000 luxury men’s clothes shopping spree by Wayne was appropriate. I don’t believe for a moment he didn’t know it was wrong. Telling this long term supporter he thought it was OK on his sleazy/overpriced/ineffective lawyer’s advice doesn’t come close to justifying a decision both bad and stupid. Taking it further, as Wayne reads this story today he will also likely realize participating in this interview is not helpful to him or the NRA nor my respect for it. Members receive regular correspondence from the NRA to extend their membership. The apparent broad mismanagement of our contributions is hard to swallow.
5
@Charlie
I notice you don't have the fortitude to quit, and deprive them of your money?
12
I’ve been a N.R.A. member for many years. It’s remarkable reading this that they’ve had a complete lack of the kind of corporate structure to make certain they operated in a way that would keep them completely above reproach. The regulators in NY have the unlimited resources to drive the NRA into the ground.
6
Just finished reading Gun Fight by Adam Winkler. NRA is a LOOOOONG way from what they first started out as. Very scary organization.
9
Sadly WLP does more harm than good as the head of the NRA. The organization would be best to fire him. His sputtering speeches remind me of Mussolini. Except Il Duce wouldn’t spend $200,000 on suits.
5
I hope LaPierre's ineptitude leads to the permanent destruction of the NRA, a terrorist group which should be banned, just as I hope Trump's incompetence destroys the GOP, a party which has long ceased to support the people.
8
How about the NRA go back to what they were before Wayne joined in the 70s? They used to believe in regulation, safety, and responsibility? They used to benefit the good and welfare of these united states. Now we have over three times as many guns per person in private hands and are on the brink of civil war. Wayne's world needs to go away with his exit. We want our USA back.
8
Money is--always has been, and always will be--the root of all evil.
9
@Mike S. .... actually, no, you are wrong. It is the "love" of money... Too many people worship at the altar of money.
"He does not use computers"?!? More like "he doesn't want you to find his computer"
EVERYONE uses a computer!
(Or a case of management malpractice), hmmm..
11
Wayne and co-criminal friends should wind up in jail. But it won't happen. Money talks and they'll walk.
8
Can't wait for the miniseries! My dream team includes Matthew Weiner showrunner, Aaron Sorkin scripting, Jon Hamm as Wayne LaPierre, John Slattery as Bill Brewer. Gotta fit Vincent Kartheiser and Christina Hendricks in there somewhere.
3
“We’re advertising people, we’re optimists,” McQueen once said in a speech. “Our work fills the spaces that distract the eye from tragedy.”
No truer words could sum up the real message of the NRA. And just as Mr McQueen came to this conclusion at the end of his life, as did George Wallace at the end of his with segregation, perhaps Wayne LaPierre will come to the conclusion that the organization that he exploited and milked for so many years was simply, wrong. That his deranged and twisted mind held his soul hostage to the infamy and huge compensation that he got in the final years of his brief, yet impactful life. That perhaps in the life after this one on earth he will get to meet and explain to those destroyed by gun violence, while having some power to do so, why he did nothing.
8
I wonder sometimes if the NRA allow people with assault rifles to enter the premises of their NRA offices or do they have security?
22
If the NRA is reeling why are school shootings still acceptable collateral for the right to bear arms?
12
I have no pity.
As to Wayne-lock him up.
23
This article shows LaPierre in a sympathetic light. He does not immediately appear to be the monster we imagine when we think of the NRA.
However, the portrayal of LaPierre as a victim of betrayals, attempted coups, and shady lawyers does nothing to lessen the evil carried out under his direction. We have a gun violence problem in this country that does not exist in any other advanced country in the world. If we were in a war zone we might expect this level of gun ownership and violence. But, we are not in a war zone. LaPierre and the NRA stand opposed to all efforts to solve the problems and they offer no alternatives except to sell more guns and arm all citizens. There is no sign that he feels any sympathy at all for the children, parents, and friends we lose every day because of the guns he loves so much. His sadness is misdirected.
14
How do members of the NRA live with themselves?
20
I can only compare them to other fanatical monsters, like members of ISIS.
5
My thoughts and prayers to the NRA.
11
What a dipstick, just what I expected.
8
Considering how much harm they've done the country, it's wonderful to see the NRA and LaPierre in chaos. Though I'm a former Republican, one reason I hope for a Democratic sweep in 2020 if to finally bring the NRA to heel and institute the kind of real gun control that every other advanced nation enjoys.
I do have one fear. Due to Republican complicity and Democratic cowardice, the gun problem has been allowed to fester for decades. Finally solving it could involve fighting pockets of armed resistance.
12
Gosh. I’m almost sympathetic until I remember that he’s largely responsible for the insane gun culture in this country.
16
NRA problems aside, the United States' entire system of non-profit organizations is rotten and should be abolished. I don't think anyone has any idea how many skeezy businesses are making their leaders rich under the protection of nonprofit rules, but the amount of money involved appears to be enormous.
17
So much talk about the NRA.
What about the nut-cases on the Supreme Court who came up with a Constitutional right to carry guns for people who are not members of a well-regulated militia?
17
>
> I was the guy out there in the media
>
Has he ever said he's sorry?
2
I was a member 30 years ago but I quit, I was sick of being asked to donate money beside my membership dues. I was also tired of all of the insane propaganda and paranoid ranting of the organization RE; the Government is coming to kick in your door and take your guns. Now the truth is coming out about the scam organization the NRA really is. I never wanted to own a assault rifle and I don't want them on the street in the hands of the assorted nut cases who are buying them.
29
The NRA has been running a scam for years, seeking profits for its leaders and corporate sponsors under the guise of protecting 2nd amendment rights. What offends it’s membership more, that their donations and membership fees enabled the murder of innocent children, or that its corrupt leaders wasted the organizations money on fancy clothes, expensive vacations and lousy movies?
16
Under LaPierre's leadership. the NRA shied from teaching rifle safety and marksmanship to instead lobby for unregulated gun sales. The NRA-ILA, a lobbying arm established in 1975, seeks deregulation for increased profit-taking, disregarding associated homicide and mass shooting outcomes.
The NRA carries a 501(c)3 nonprofit classification, the IRS granting that status to corporations working for the public good. Nonprofits pay no taxes on income or assets. If a nonprofit enrichs its officers to the neglect of its social mission, it essentially steals tax revenue from the public. If the IRS decides a nonprofit has betrayed the public good, it's tax exempt status can be revoked. The NRA faces that possibility because LaPierre has enjoyed lavish spending benefiting himself instead of the public good.
The NRA demands citizens be allowed to carry guns of all types with little to no interference from government. The original gun rights advocates taking that stance were the Black Panthers. In 1967, 30 Black Panthers protested at the California statehouse while openly armed announcing, “The time has come for black people to arm themselves.” That display frightened politicians, including then governor Ronald Reagan, leading to the Mulford Act prohibiting open carry of loaded firearms. California's strict gun laws began a surge of national gun control restrictions to improve public safety. Shamefully LaPierre favors personal enrichment over public safety.
9
@Question Everything
The NRA is a 501 C (4). Contributions are not deductible from income taxes.
They should just give up the political part of the org and concentrate on gun safety, range certification, and shooting classes. For most people that's mostly what they know about the NRA. Maybe some assistance when 2A comes before the courts as it often does. The Supremes are secure, and will be even more secure, no reason to get involved in controversy.
Wayne’s World, and NOT in a good way.
Sad.
8
LaPierre perverted the original intent of responsible gun ownership for the NRA into an interest group that fosters the interests of gun manufacturers at any and all costs that include serving malcontents, the mentally unhinged and dangerous inverted notions of what freedom means. All the while, he used the NRA funds as his personal piggy bank enriching himself along the way. Make no mistake: This man has blood on his hands — the blood of innocents, suicide sufferers and — yes — even mass murderers who ultimately turned their guns on themselves. All for money. This nation would be a far better — and safer one — were it not for Wayne LaPierre.
25
Thanks, Butina!
8
There will be a special place for Mr. LaPierre and it isn’t the Times Magazine.
14
Wayne LaPierre is the frontman for the NRA which has become a lobbyist for the arms manufacturers. Selling arms, especially handguns is important for the manufacturers since handguns are easy to carry and conceal in a environment where personal protection has become a serious concern in America. Absent any action by Congress to enact serious gun control, the pitch by the NRA is owning a gun is essential to protecting yourself and your family. The data for those killed and injured by handguns is a very serious serious matter which is overlooked in the effort to restrict military like long guns.
10
Re THE SECOND AMENDMENT:
I smack my head and think: "It's almost 2020 and this 18th-century concept and wording is still among the most seriously-debated topics today?"
Has no one noticed that it's the SECOND, not the FIRST, Amendment?
8
@BldrHouse
and therefore...?
I'm thoroughly relieved that the secret plan by one of Australia's fringe political groups to work with the NRA to influence our elections and weaken our gun laws was exposed and those involved (further) disgraced.
4
Used to the NRA was all about the common interests and themes of gun owners.
Then charlatans like LaPierre hijacked the NRA and made it into a gun manufacturers lobbying arm.
I know a good number of long time NRA members that have cancelled their memberships over this very hikjacking of a long standing organization.
As long as LaPierre and his cronies are in power at the NRA... the organization will continue to bleed membership. I'm no fan of Oliver North.. but I think Oliver understood this, and understood the need to purge the NRA of LaPierre and get back to organizational focus and basics.. and unfortunately Oliver and his allies lost the internal war.
3
The old saying "follow the money" is never wrong.
3
I don't understand why undocumented immigrant workers can't legally own firearms while residing in the United States? Why is everyone so afraid? In California, undocumented immigrant workers can obtain a drivers license and free health insurance. The next logical step is to provide them with a gun for home defense.
Our undocumented immigrant workers .. the people who do the jobs WE refuse to do- are subject to abuse and discrimination far beyond American citizens' comprehension.
We need to provide free firearms to undocumented immigrants and their families- so they will be able to defend themselves against racism and hate mongers.
1
@Aaron
They can't possibly be any more dangerous than the angry white men doing mass murders.
7
It is uncanny how William Brewer can justify (or any liberal attorney) representing the N.R.A. I know I could not sleep at night thinking that I am representing a murderous right wing organization. The same goes for LaPierre. It sounds like he is not even interested in fire arms and is just a job. At his age, I would just retire. But then again if he is controlling the organization because he is profiting and has to look out for legal problems, then it makes sense that he is staying. He sounds more like a bureaucrat than a thief. I hope the the NYS AG can disarm the N.R.A. It sounds like they have done a lot of stuff that is not legal including campaign contributions.
19
If Wayne LaPierre feels sad, I wonder if he or the present Board of Directors wonders how sad a lot of gun owners are now that we realize that the NRA has exposed itself to deadly litigation. Maybe we need a new national gun owner's organization if the NRA can't figure out how to clean up its mess.
77
@Khal Spencer
Gun owners have been poorly served by the NRA for at least 30 years. They have been since the days of calling ATF "jack-booted thugs", and the de-emphasis of safety training and RESPONSIBLE gun ownership.
I don't own guns, but my father did. He was a lifetime member of the NRA. I suspect that, if he had been alive when George H. W. Bush resigned lifetime membership, he would have done so as well.
Gun owners (the responsible ones -- not the gun hoarders eagerly and joyfully awaiting the apocalypse) should absolutely found a new group that will serve their interests. The current NRA bears absolutely no resemblance to the organization at its foundation.
Make it right. Get a new organization that isn't run by people who are corrupt.
39
@Khal Spencer The new organization should be titled "Repeal the 2nd Amendment".
21
@Andy Jo Owning a bunch of guns does not make one less responsible. It is completely arbitrary to say a certain number of guns is responsible while another number is not.
8
“All these horrible tragedies — after every one, Wayne would be the guy going out there in the media,” he said, referring to himself in the third person. “From Columbine to — you name it — to the Navy Yard to Aurora to Sandy Hook. Every one of them, I was the guy — Parkland — I was the guy out there in the media.” The N.R.A. was “so miscast by the media,” he insisted, he saw little reason to engage reporters. “You just didn’t get a fair shot anymore.”
Rather poor choice of words there, Mr. La Pierre. Unlike the students killed at Parkland and Sandy Hook (for starters), who got fairly shot.
43
He makes Ollie North look honorable.
22
Very few people actually end up getting what they deserve. Mr. LaPierre has gotten off too lightly.
17
Wayne LaPierre has earned this suffering.
And for all the pain and horror his policies have caused, its not enough.
32
What suffering? compared to the mass murders that his organization has unleashed?
3
@Stephanie Wood The suffering he believes he is enduring. Deny everything, admit nothing and never back down. Sound familiar?
3
Not enough is being said about the Russian money being laundered through the NRA to Trump and the Republicans. Also, what is pathetic is how this guy sees himself as some kind of a victim. A huge part of being a right wing Republican these days is a feeling of victimization. Kind of pathetic.
66
While the NRA may not survive its legal troubles and Lapierre may end up in jail for fraud the damage has already been done. Because of the NRA’s political power, the Heller decision opened the the way to easy access to high capacity pistols and assault rifles by the many deranged people who have used them in mass shootings. I was astounded at the ridiculous comments by some Republicans who claimed they were shocked that that the Pensacola naval base shooter was able to legally buy a weapon even though he was a foreign citizen. The NRA fought to prevent laws that would limit the rights foreigners to buy guns. With the addition of Kavanaugh we now have a gun rights extremist majority on the Supreme Court waiting for the chance to gut gun control laws in blue states. If they succeed many more people will die of gun violence.
40
There’s plenty to be revolted by in this article. One thing that particularly struck me, though, was Angus McQueen’s disingenuous justification of the work his company performed in the service of the NRA: “We’re advertising people, we’re optimists”, “Our work fills the spaces that distract the eye from tragedy.” What he was really saying, the underlying truth, was more along the lines of “We persuade people not to take action to prevent the next mass shooting.”
34
Wow.
He actually knows the names of all the mass shootings. And his whining response is "I was the guy out there", ie the guy "so miscast by the media".
A man this hollow is pathetic. His absolutist nonsense has endangered the citizens of his country. Or does he have a country?
53
Unsurprisingly, one of the things to be learned here is that Wayne doesn’t have any friends.
43
I submit that no better measure of a person is found than in LaPierre's own words about his (and the NRA's) legal travails being '. . . the most painful period of my life'. Oh, good to know that the slaughter of thousands of his fellow white citizens (sorry, 'furriners' don't matter), owing in part to the polices and laws they champion, doesn't cause sleepless nights . . .
27
Wayne LaPierre and the NRA should be able to amicably sort this out under the direction of the Mr. Putin and the GRU.
32
Wayne,
Thoughts and prayers.
109
Brilliant.
11
@Donna
My thoughts can't be written down. I have to censor them within my own mind.
So, I will simply pray for this man to experience remorse and repentance of the most profound and humanising sort.
We look upon the demise of the NRA with glee and fury. These misenthropes have stood in the way of sensible gun laws for decades. So, good riddance to bad rubbish. Let's bury them in November 2020 along with every single Republican who kowtows to them. They are all despicable. Remember the kids killed by the weapons the NRA and Republicans defend.
60
Positioning himself as "useful idiot."
Where else have we seen this?
16
So the lesson is: If you're an advocate for the open carry of assault-type firearms, it's best not to participate in a circular firing squad.
21
The NRA is typical of any Right-Wing Nationalist organization. Its leadership does not believe in following laws and denies evidence. Is there any shock that it only supports Republicans?
26
There is some type of latent self-loathing conflict underlying when a group of adult men are obsessed with guns. Showing each other their gun, cleaning their guns together, playing with their guns together! Watching each other shoot their guns!
17
"He does not use computers."
Perfect.
18
@asg21 i have a bridge for you...
2
“It’s the most painful period of my life.”
Tell that to the thousands of parents who’ve lost their children in school shootings because of you.
89
I always enjoy these articles. One consistent theme; the leaders are always well compensated. Haven't seen one yet where the leader has taken a vow of poverty or modest salary. And often they cast themselves as a non-profit when they're really just a cash machine for the head of their organization.
The members think they're supporting a noble cause when what they're really doing is funding an outlandish lifestyle for the head of the organization. Palatial homes, expensive trips and clothing. I especially liked Mr. LaPierre insisting he had to have expensive suits because he was the "face of the brand". Not exactly sure how an expensive suit translates to the right to bear arms, but so be it.
People continue to be led astray by these pied pipers
331
@Ann
Well said!
These leaders take advantage of the donors, the members, and the volunteers...
And I note especially that nothing is ever Wayne LaPierre's fault. It's always someone else's fault.
27
@Ann
Palatial homes, expensive trips, etc. LaPierre insisting he had to have expensive suits and a lavish lifestyle because he was the "face of the brand". And how many people have been shot to death to fund his "lifestyle"?
26
@Ann
In the marshlands of your typical do-gooders-gone-wrong, the fact that these NRA crocodiles feast on blood money -- quite literally -- earns them a mucky spot at swamp bottom. And the more rabid "crusaders" of gun-toting rights have themselves become swamp suckers -- blindly supporting the group over the lives of the students, U.S. soldiers, religious worshipers and just the out-and-about public who are common targets to people armed with weapons not intended for any use other than mass assault.
And yet the group has the highest politicians in the land cozying up to them -- all for a bite at their muddiest constituents.
NRA leaders, proponents and political hangers-on all try to justify their cause by hinging it to a twisted reading of a Constitutional amendment, making them holy and also holier-than-thou, 'cuz who would mess with the U.S. Constitution? At the same time, they despise everything to do with the First Amendment -- and we can be sure that Danny Hakim -- this great expose's writer -- is sure to get one of the many big fat NRA gifts in their social media stockings this holiday season. To those of us still-sane and humane Americans, though, the journalists who allow us to see what's lying at the bottom of the swamp -- without having to actually sink to that depth -- are our heroes.
23
The spoken word, the written word has instigated violence throughout all of history. Perhaps the First Amendment needs tweaking?
This country is run by humans addicted to power. What could possibly go wrong when addicts run the store?
This article is representative of the century old question: what do you call fifty well dressed lawyers on the bottom of the ocean?
5
@Lee
I believe the joke goes "what do you call 500 lawyers at the bottom of the sea?" The answer is : a good start.
1
There's 5 million NRA members because they receive discounts on ammunition purchases. Take the discounts away- the NRA would lose over 90% of its' membership.
14
How much of the millions the NRA spent on politics came from Russia?
The Decent Folk want to know.
18
Poor Wayne and the NRA. So many are unfairly picking on them these days! According to him they “...just didn’t get a fair shot anymore.” That is a great turn of phrase. Those who died after being shot or those wounded by assassins using semi-automatic weapons firing cartridges designed to cause maximum damage to human tissue from hi-capacity magazines were the ones who suffered, not Wayne and the NRA. The NRA's unrelenting support of the arms industry under the guise of protecting 2nd amendment rights is responsible for the lack of meaningful gun control in our country. I welcome the news that the NRA's sand castle is in the process of crumbling and wish it a speedy demise!
456
@Ralph The NRA could never have been successful without the greedy and spineless congressmen who put their jobs over human lives. I burned my N.R.A. membership card over 25 years ago.
79
When discussing or arguing about the what the Second Amendment means, we should be mindful of several realities about the United States in 1789.
First, the first clause of the Amendment refers to the need for a "well regulated militia." Thomas Jefferson in particular opposed the maintaining of a standing army, and promptly disbanded most of it after his election in 1800. Militias under local control constituted the backbone of defense for the nation, and hence the need that they exist and be well regulated.
Second, while people might argue about the right to keep and bear arms as written in the second clause of the Amendment, Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution guarantees the power of the Congress to "make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof." One thing seems clear from reading the document directly: Congress can legislate and regulate firearms ownership, as it has done in many other instances, such as interstate commerce, the safety of pharmaceuticals, etc.
Arguing that the right to bear arms is absolute--as the NRA and some Supreme Court Justices do--exhibits a fundamental misunderstanding of early American history and culture, and a willful misreading of the Constitution for political and crass financial ends.
31
@Harvey Green
Also the slave owning states needed militias for control of slaves and to recapture escaping slaves so the Second Amendment was worded.
After the Civil War the KKK "well regulated" militias with unregulated militias.
6
@Harvey Green Moreover, the Founders were referring to MUSKETS! I support the right of every American to own as many muskets as they like.
10
Well said! At that period in American history, a rifle was also a necessary tool - to protect family and property (no 911 out on the prairie), to protect crops and livestock from predators, and for hunting to provide food. A gun was viewed as a tool like a shovel or a plow - it wasn’t a hobby or a status symbol. It was a very different world back then, and as you correctly point out those “well regulated militias” were the backbone of defense for a new nation. I have no doubt the founders would never condone what is going on today. In fact, they would probably be horrified.
12
Wayne's battle is for Wayne.
12
Thoughts and prayers for poor Wayne.
38
Good riddance - its implosion would be another welcome Christmas present.
54
I am a former competitive shooter who still owns firearms. As a such a shooter, membership is compulsory, yet the NRA magazine I get has zero factual information about the inner workings of the NRA, only the give more money and we are saving your guns diatribes. never a word about the Oliver North nor any other aspect of whats supposed to be a member driven group.
I remain fixed on the right to private ownership of firearms, but with realistic background checks at all points of firearm acquisition. The current mania for "black rifles" is beyond my interest and seems unrealistic to my thoughts, however t virtually 100% of people who own them and the other more hunting or target built firearms owners are actually not the problem with the horrible mass shootings nor majority of other shootings as seen in urban settings.
Idiot that LaPierre might be, he's not the problem in our society but he does need to go away and sooner not later with some sort of fantastical severance package that I can see coming?
Thanks for this piece of journalism! Nice to read anything other than never trumper stuff...
8
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
21
This once respected organization has become a pariah to most of the American people because it obstructs the most decent and the most common sense proposals to protect our citizens and their children so it can pursue power and profit. It, and other extremist gun lobbyists, threaten and bully the American public while turning a blind eye to slaughter.
350
A good example of what happens with power - it corrupts absolutely and that’s what happened to the NRA.
20
As the saying goes, "It's not to bemoan a bad moment ... it's what you do after something bad happens to you." Well ... Mr. Wayne LaPierre ... we add the corollary, "Get in line." And we don't mean "join the crowd" ... we mean that "it's time to straighten up and fly right." And that goes for Mr. Trump.
2
Wayne LaPierre “feels sad.” “We understand his pain”, says not a single family member who lost loved ones at Columbine,Sandy Hook and Parkland.
92
@Leslie
. . . and family members who lost loved ones in all the other shootings.
His woe is me lament is sickening.
21
I’d love to know where the $30 million the NRA poured into Republican coffers in the 2016 election originated. Russia, anyone?
98
LaPierre is withering away, looking more and more like Charlton Heston, May 20, 2000, where at the NRA's 129th convention Heston held up a Revolutionary War-era flintlock rifle and announced that if the government (and "especially you, Mr. Gore") wanted to confiscate the gun, they'd have to take it from his "cold, dead hands."
Good riddance, LaPierre. Let's hope the door hits you on your way out.
24
“Everybody knows we were singled out,” LaPierre said."
Classic right-wing cry of persecution and victimhood.
88
My late great law partner Hal Glassen was the last president of the NRA to believe that the mission of the organization was to promote gun safety, hunting and the shooting sports, not to protect wing nuts who wanted to own grenade launchers. He was appalled by the all or nothing attitude displayed by the then young staff member Wayne LaPierre (who he thought was a loud mouthed braggart). When the NRA opposed a ban on selling teflon coated bullets to the general public Hal completely was disgusted. LaPierre has turned the NRA into a private wealth management vehicle. I believe it is time to rethink the 2nd amendment. I call for a national plebiscite to either amend or fully revoke it. Maybe 100 years from now, LaPierre's name will be nothing more than a bad memory.
68
Guns (vis a vis the NRA) are all about big business and $$$ as this article clearly spells out.
End of story.
18
I can't even get through the first paragraph without shouting at my computer: "Try loosing a child to gun violence and say you've had a 'horrible year...you're at least alive...not battling the lifelong pain and medical costs of surviving a bullet...." I'm struggling to even get to the information of the article.
29
You know what is the most painful period in my life is--watching Wayne La Pierre talk about gun rights.
10
Shucks, I don’t know how I even got here. Next thing I know somebody in the organization put out a letter talkin bout jackboots. And then they’re meeting with oli....olicart? Oligarchs? I said gee-wiz, fellas, don’t ya think that’s a little hinky?
21
Not unlike like a saga about rats in a barrel chewing off each other's tails. Whether by the continued efforts of the New York Attorney General, or the rats themselves, this despicable organization needs to go away.
26
“You just don’t get a fair shot anymore.”
Thanks to you, Wayne, a lot of unhinged and evil people have gotten all the shots they wanted.
88
My mother was shot to death by a man who bought a gun specifically to murder her and then himself.
The gun seller made a profit. The bullet maker made a profit. The murderer got a bargain.
May Wayne LaPierre wake up one morning to see the face of a miserable, desperate, pathetic man staring back at him in the mirror.
61
@ABG i'm so sorry for your loss.
1
One of the symptoms of sociopathy is the sociopath's attempt to solicit sympathy when all else fails. LaPierre claims the media doesn't give him a 'fair shot' (wow) and he feels sad. Boohoo and shame on you, Wayne. And while they are being investigated, let's see how Russian money got to the NRA and then to Trump's campaign and inauguration ....
69
@lulu roche Check with Lev and Igor.
3
Resign. Dissolve. Period.
15
Trial. Life in Prison. Period.
2
A podcast called Reply All just did a great piece on the Alabama Democratic Party and its internal leadership struggles that had a story similar to this NRA tale. Once a leadership group becomes entrenched for decades it can be extremely hard to let go of that power. Suddenly everyone is your enemy and those seeking to keep their piece of the pie are seduced into taking a bigger slice for themselves. It's amazing how often this story line is coming up in America today. Be it the NRA, the Alabama Democratic Party, or even the National Republican Party. I know this may sound ageist, but maybe it's time for for those that have been running the show for the last 30 years to step aside, as much for their own good as for the good of the country. They've been battling for so hard and so long, the are turning on the very principles that set their course in the first place.
4
@Aaron
Yes, yes.
Young(er) people are always needed. They are unafraid, daring and look at things in a different way.
Any organization, church, company needs that.
Without that young(er) perspective, organizations stop growing.
1
@Aaron ,
Please see the comment from jb (Michigan) about when Wayne La Pierre was 'young'. He wasn't any better.
4
So LaPierre presents as a naive figurehead “amazed” at the events that have occurred to him or without his approval? How ridiculous! He has led this organization for years and I for one will watch with pleasure as he runs it into the ground. Had they stuck with gun education, gun safety, and, yes, even protecting the 2nd Amendment without trying to make it an Absolute All Guns Anytime Anywhere we all would have been better off.
329
Good to know that the NRA will fully support impeachment:
“Government investigators should not target political enemies. “People were not only crossing the lines that are appropriately drawn by our Constitution,” he said, “they were aggressively determined to blur, cross, obliterate those lines. And you know what? If they could do it to those guys, they could do it to me. They could do it to all of us.” “
5
The NRA is a manufacturers lobby, their mission is to sell more product, nothing more.
72
We all feel his pain as he spends his life telling lies as a matter of course both for perverse personal pleasure and to increase his riches and influence.
18
ALL right wing "ideologues" are criminals, because their actions are so odious, Their lust for money so overwhelming, that they can't achieve their goals without committing crimes. Accordingly, all ultra rich people have committed crimes to hoard and hide their riches. We have a criminal class, in this country, and this guy is just one example. This is all a result of regular people not paying enough attention.
15
Yes, but the NRA is deliberately arming mass murderers to kill us. Bad as the billionaire class is, they want us alive to work for a pittance, subsidize them with our taxes, or buy their products.
2
“I mean,” LaPierre said, looking up, “it’s the most painful period of my life.”
Not as painful as the experience of the hundreds of thousands of families who have lost a loved one to gun violence or suicide during his tenure. For shame.
185
NRA needs to be stripped from it's nonprofit status. It is a corporation and lobbying group. Plain and simple.
Please print the statistics of how many mass shootings by high student and college students, as well as the mentally ill, since LePierre's leadership.
101
Are we supposed to feel pity for the guy who ensures ongoing gun violence on American streets, in schools, supermarkets, anywhere? Maybe he should just come straight on assault riffles and he will be able look up from the floor again.
25
@Me
He would not have succeeded without
the help of SCOTUS.
They notoriously misconstrued the part about
"well regulated militia."
10
SCOTUS ignoring that “well regulated militia” part may well end up going down in history as the worst mistake the Court ever made.
4
"'I mean,' LaPierre said, looking up, 'it’s the most painful period of my life.'" Cry me a river. Peanuts compared to grief that his 2nd Amendment absolutism has wrought.
90
Wayne needs to retire and pass the reigns onto someone more attuned to today. He had deeply damaged the NRA. Now absolutely anything that comes from them is viewed as bogus and not trustworthy. Have you ever read their magazine! If tey went back and focused on hunters rights they would be OK, ands left alone. But it seems they like being a funnel for russian money.
12
How about animal rights? If hunting was a sport, we would arm bears.
1
There are no legitimate reasons for the average citizen to own firearms that outgun the local police. I support the right to bear arms. I do not think we all need bazookas and flame-throwers, AR15s, AK-47s.
The NRA is an unreasonable entity that aids and abets every mass shooter. They must address their enabling behavior.
46
The NRA needs to be fully exposed for the foreign money taking fraud it is and permanently disbanded.
29
“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” —Eric Hoffer
This quote perfectly encapsulates the National Rifle Association.
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@Aaron VanAlstine Sadly, many right wingers will believe the author of the quote was Pres. Obama's A.G., Eric Holder.
1
A Man's Character is His Destiny...
Who said that?
4
Here is a copy of a letter I sent to the NRA in 2017, terminating my membership:
"The NRA no longer represents my values. I supported the NRA as a single issue lobbyist for my 2nd Amendment rights. But to wade so heavily and angrily into partisan politics, in blind support of the current president, is not acceptable. There are many rational and valid reasons for Americans to be concerned about the President's actions in office. But the NRA seeks to delegitimize those who feel such concerns.
So finally, in response to your ad, "The Violence of Lies," I request the immediate termination of my membership which still has 3 years left on it. Cancel my membership, and remove my personal information from your records."
17
Wayne La Pierre is a 'criminal', with blood on his hands, however much he has distorted the 'ever-more-demanding rights' of a runaway N.R.A., by allowing weapons of mass destruction, guns of war, to circulate 'freely' in this American civil society, clearly a 'Second amendment' trampling on the 'First'. Insofar the license to kill, by the indiscriminate availability of arms, America remains a violent nation where disputes are still resolved by shooting first...and asking questions later. Can't we get away from a 'wild west' mentality, by ousting the corrupting money to buy republican politicians into this status quo? So much mayhem in times of peace, a corruption of freedom...while the rest of us look the other way?
7
Evil does not appear overnight. It grows quietly, consuming its prey. Where the NRA and its leadership is concerned, the hunters became the prey.
22
20 first graders killed with a weapon of war that he personally profits from and THIS is the most painful period of his life.
184
Long ago the NRA was a respectable apolitical organization promoting gun safety, marksmanship and hunting. Today's NRA is as "non-profit" as Exxon-Mobil. It is a lobbyist for the gun industry, campaign financier for the Republican Party and lately has allowed itself to become a Russian asset, infiltrated by the FSB and bought with Kremlin cash.
37
As a former NRA member and someone who has enjoyed shooting for over 50 years, I am disgusted with the NRA and it’s refusal to act ; first, to prevent non-US citizens from buying guns, second to leave huge loopholes in the law for anyone to buy a gun without a background check, and third for its profligate spending on various gifts for its officers. The organization is a disgrace.
459
@CA The reason the NRA exists is to promote the sale of firearms. They don't really care what they are used for, as long as sales keep going up. They would promote sales to extraterrestrials if it would increase the bottom line of gun makers. Anything that will restrict gun sales, they are against. This includes background checks, restricting sales at gun shows, registering, you name it, they are against it.
45
@CA
I can understand your enjoyment of shooting, but really, how could you and others be such myopic fools?
You know, all of this gop, nra, Russia confluence is so obvious, what does it take to see it?
16
@Stephen
I would assume CA and I grew up then the NRA wasn't a shill for the gun industry. You did notice he said "former NRA member." I am a former member as well, fully aware of the decline of the NRA of our youth.
16
I grew up in a gun-toting, small-town hunting culture. I learned to handle guns when I was a young man. I understand the danger and the benefits of firearms, as did almost every other member of my small community. Wayne La Pierre has blood on his hands and will be remembered as the man who distorted and destroyed the proper, respectful, safe place for firearms in American life.
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As an NRA Life Member for more than thirty years, it has been my impression that most NRA members do not particularly like Mr. LaPierre, but, as with a surgeon with an unpleasant personality, they accept him because he gets the job done. If the choice is between a fairly abrasive "leader" and losing our Constitutionally-protected rights, we will accept the unpleasant person while rolling our eyes and holding our noses.
Though I am not a Trump voter myself, I posit the same explanation for the President's popularity, and his impending second term - If they believed that their rights were assured, many more Americans would oppose Mr. Trump, but because of the Democrats' positions, they believe they have no choice, and those votes have created his margin of victory.
4
Thanks for the NRA piece Mr. Hakim, it provides a great example of how white-collar criminals thrive in our country.
Mr. LaPierre states he is not worried about criminal exposure from any aspect of this sorted tale because of the "safe-harbor provision." A get out of jail free provision for wealthy individuals and non-profit executives. The sad truth is our nation is run by white-collar criminals who ensure that there are laws in place to protect wealth and power. Just look at Trump University and the Trump Foundation, fines for fraud, but no one goes to jail.
Similar white-collar criminal protection provisions can be found in state and federal laws. For example, a person can defraud Medicare of tens of millions dollars, claim they did not intend to defraud Medicare, and then, become a governor and a senator.
That said, if there is no clear loophole for a politician caught up in an illegal scheme, then play the "plausible deniability" card, say like Reagan and H. Bush with Iran-contra, or the popular I'm a victim of a political smear, card — Trump and company.
After years of watching presidents, politicians, and guys like Epstein, I have concluded that the time tested saying, "Laws are like a spider's web, the small flies are entangled and the big flies pass right through." is spot-on. Anyone who doubts that should watch McConnell and Graham thumb their nose at the Constitutional concept "that no one is above the law. This won't end well.
23
Danny, Mark, great reporting. Thank you!
9
Where does the NRA really get it’s money? The bulk of it is not member donations.
is it foreign donations? If so from whom and what do they get for their or money and how does this tie to the republican platform and how long has this been going on?
There is so much more there - there.
5
@Deirdre actually it is from members, through regular fundraising and bequests. Sad but true.
2
In defending the Second Amendment, the NRA supported a court ruling that stripped almost 50% (13 out of 27) of the words of that Amendment from the meaning of the Amendment. Try doing that with any other Amendment in the Bill of Rights and you gut the intent of the meaning and value of the Amendment. Shall we strip the double jeopardy clause or the prevention from self-incrimination from the Fifth Amendment? Which two of the five rights in the First Amendment should we strip out? Shall we give up the need for a warrant to search our property without consent that is in the Fourth Amendment? Which should we give up in the Sixth Amendment, the right to a jury trial, the right to confront witnesses, or the ability to have counsel?
James Madison knew what he was doing when he wrote those Amendments in the Bill of Rights, yet, the NRA has the gall to tell us that what he wrote was of no consequence. They may not be a terrorist group, but they have certainly undermined the safety of the citizens of these United States.
13
Forget all the intrigue and political maneuvering, when I read the statement below my impression was what a tragic waste of human life, both victims of gun violence and his own:
" no matter how much time he had left, he said, he would spend it doing what he always did: fighting for the N.R.A. — not just against Democratic regulators looking to destroy his organization from without, but also now against the treacherous former allies seeking to do the same from within". “If I lose every friend,” he said, “I’m prepared to do it.” - You could pay me triple what he makes and I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
4
So it seems LaPierre has had little to do with the NRA’s branding, finances, political activity, and messaging. Is he sure he’s been showing up at the right office for the past 18 years?
55
'Everybody knows that it's politics.' It's obvious to the rest of the world too, but to us it's -
Gun manufacturers take control of the NRA, who buy politicians to ensure American gun control legislation is appallingly weak. 400 million guns in citizens' hands without meaningful control results in a gun death rate so high that it's amongst the worst on the planet.
10
Paying for my dogs' licenses yesterday meant getting through a throng of gun supporters outside the Franklin County offices. They were waiting to get into the Supervisors' meeting for the vote on establishing a "gun sanctuary" in the face of perceived threats to gun ownership. To a person, they were wearing "Guns Save Lives" stickers. This claim may come as news to the families and friends of the more than 100,000 Americans who have used a gun in the past 5 years to commit suicide...a majority of whom were veterans. Think about that: if you join the military, you're substantially more likely to shoot yourself than be shot by an enemy. The NRA hardline stances - more than anything else - get in the way of addressing severe and significant societal problems. We are all guns' victims when they are allowed to hijack our attempts to better society.
45
The NRA is one of the most corrupt, and corrupting factors in American life. It started as an organization promoting gun safety, and even supported gun control. Then it became corrupted, and corrosive. And despite the deep bloodletting on our streets with gun violence today, and despite some 90% of Americans of all political affiliations supporting sensible gun laws such as universal background checks, the NRA is working diligently at every level to undermine even our insanely weak gun laws. They do so by corrupting our elected officials especially nearly all Republicans (by both funds and threats). The price we pay for their actions is a constant sense of danger in our society, and a level of violence not seen or tolerated in any other advanced democracy. And amazingly, it passes itself off as a charity. They need to be thoroughly scrutinized, and held to account.
17
....in which all the players turn on each other.
I think of all the loyal NRA members, dutifully sending in their membership dues. Reading this.
Beginning with the very common-sense position on assault weapons, quoted from the past NRA president, through the 1980’s metamorphosis into a money machine, with an ad agency evidently co-opting (or being co-opted, depending on which version you believe) the organization, an attempted full audit, an AG with an inside informant (who still thought he was in charge)- with everyone raking in tidy sums.
Something critical happened to this country in the 1980s. This is just one more vulture, feeding on the entrails of what we have become. Tell me again how we need...moderation. Slow, change.
3
I suppose it is interesting to know that Mr. LaPierre favors expensive suits and that his organization (which has burrowed in on the Second Amendment and not moved since he has been its leader) seems to engage in dodgy tax strategies and financial shenanigans.
Perhaps Mr. LaPierre ought to reconsider whether advocating tirelessly for civilians rights to own assault weapons and other articles of war is the proper thing to do. Especially in light of the carnage his advocacy of these powerful weapons has unleashed on schools, houses of worship and the American spirit.
In this way, he might find his conscience. And turn his organization in a different and more reputable direction.
9
In September I was horrified (appalled!) to see an N.R.A. $45 annual membership fee on a credit card I rarely use. I’ve never felt the need to even touch a gun in my 67 years on the planet. The bank removed the charge, but it made me wonder how much of the organization’s membership numbers were reached in this fraudulent manner. Shame on the N.R.A.
47
Brewer decided to take the case. “People were not only crossing the lines that are appropriately drawn by our Constitution,” he said, “they were aggressively determined to blur, cross, obliterate those lines. And you know what? If they could do it to those guys, they could do it to me. They could do it to all of us.”
In case you don't speak lawyer, I will translate for you: "They wrote me a really huge check, and I like money."
Being a good attorney means being able to spin literally anything as an attack on the Constitution.
The founding fathers and their muzzle-loading muskets never envisioned a day when a mentally unstable, abusive, violent sociopath - well known to law enforcement - could easily amass an arsenal of high powered rifles and ammunition, enabling him to mow down dozens of innocent bystanders.
But in the alternative universe of lawyers, that is exactly what they envisioned. If the money is good enough.
25
The NRA and Mr. LaPierre have been captured by the weapons industry. The NRA, whatever its past merits, now operates as a marketing front to promote (especially) sales of automatic and semi-automatic military grade rifles and handguns.
They effectively use dystopian images and scare tactics to increase sales to the very people who are most likely to use (and abuse) the right to own weapons. Mr. LaPierre's existential hand-wringing will never absolve him of complicity in the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans.
Education, safety etc. are distant afterthoughts. Hardly worth mentioning. While responsible gun owners deserve a responsible membership organization, the NRA is not that. The NYAG office should do everything in its power to bury the NRA.
7
LaPierre is another right-wing operative using any means necessary to ensure continuing profits for his patrons in the gun industry. Paying himself and cronies large sums, billing the NRA for luxurious travel and other expenses, and accepting money from Russian interests that was funneled into efforts supporting Trump and other Republicans.
A real patriot.
113
You know this second amendment rights is a smokescreen for I want my guns. It does not consider the rights of citizens who do not want guns.:Maybe we need a new amendment for that.
26
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The whole concept of gun rights is infringed. Any reasonable person could read that the gun rights belong to " a well regulated Militia (individual state National Guards).
The NRA is even against regulating guns for individuals.
21
@Roy: The 'well regulated' militia refers to 'order of battle'. An armed militia needs to be regulated to battlefield tactics, squads, fire teams, leadership positions and duties. You can't have an armed group running willy-nilly across the battle plain. It needs regulation to effectively engage the enemy.
Combat Green Beret
5
@Roy
The Bill of Rights was written to guarantee the rights of individuals, not the government. Those ten amendments are a guarantee (not a grant) of individual rights.
1
The 2nd amendment was not for individuals to have guns, but for a militia to have guns.
1
'Brewer decided to take the case. Whatever he felt about the N.R.A., he said, he saw a principle at stake. Government investigators should not target political enemies. “People were not only crossing the lines that are appropriately drawn by our Constitution,” he said, “they were aggressively determined to blur, cross, obliterate those lines. And you know what? If they could do it to those guys, they could do it to me. They could do it to all of us.”'
All this is true - but the NRA is a non-profit collaborating n the financing of political donations and nailing its flag to the G.O.P. mast. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.
14
I speak to my college buddies in Oklahoma, the ones who still go out on Fall weekends and feel compelled to reduce the bird and deer populations. Most of them who are businessmen by day see the NRA as a corrupt and poorly managed operation and have stopped paying dues, or turned in their memberships. These guys are stalwart 2nd amendment guys who used to appreciate the job the organization performed for them, but will no longer contribute to what looks like a money grab by LaPierre and a few chosen cronies to enrich their lifestyles.
56
The N.R.A. does a great job taking the heat for our nation’s gun violence. But perhaps we are barking up the wrong tree here.The problem is not so much the N.R.A. as it is our electoral college, and the path it creates for the G.O.P. as default winner of our elections by suppressing voter turnout and gerrymandering.
Ninety percent of Americans favor restrictive gun legislation yet nothing can be done, even after a half century of gun violence.The issue is not the Second Amendment. It’s the minority rule sustained by the electoral college, the prenuptial agreement that twists our democratic process, often with disastrous results.
Even our current crisis over impeachment seems to involve the question of majority rule. The president, having lost the majority, gained the election by leading in smaller states where second amendment rights are paramount. Critics of the process denounce it as an attempt to overturn the 2016 election.
Our rights under the constitution have diminished under the Patriot Act and changes in technology. Both freedom and privacy are thus under assault. It is now time to make the constitutional changes necessary to restore our freedom and our safety by amending it to meet the demands of this new century. The electoral college has to go.
32
My dad was a hunter and a proud member of the NRA. He had licenses for his guns-a rifle and a shotgun-and went to NRA classes about gun safety etc. I don’t think he ever mentioned or worried about the Second Amendment and I really don’t believe anyone did back then. It clearly started when they became more of a lobbying organization rather than a teaching one. And even Justice Scalia, in the Heller decision, said that states had the right to regulate certain types of guns etc. Since the NRA has become an advocate for ownership of any and all guns, I’m quite frankly surprised they haven’t gone after the laws restricting ownership of machine guns-seriously. When they support the sale and ownership of AK 47’s, whose firepower is incredible and as proven at Sandy Hook elementary and other mass shootings as destructive as a machine gun, it is no longer my father’s NRA. And that makes me sad...
83
MANY years ago as a young Marine, belonging to the NRA seemed natural. But almost as quickly you could see forces inside the organization that wanted far more than a voice for hunters, sportsman and admirers of the 2nd Amendment.
A take-no-prisoner, more guns, all the time, everyplace advocacy pushed any reasoned discussion on regulation or safety into the realm of heresy. It also appeared to be driven by a small group inside the leadership, if not solely by Mr. LaPierre. The fact it turned out to also be a drive built around personal ambition and enrichment? Hardly surprising.
As a veteran Marine, walking away from the NRA seemed unavoidable.
272
@trudds
Exactly correct. Especially when you realize that the NRA is really just a lobbying group for the gun industry and recently a conduit for Russian money to influence our elections.
52
@trudds
As a kid growing up in Tennessee, the NRA helped teach gun safety and markmanship at cub and boy scout troops. Before our early teens, most kids could safely and expertly hunt squirrels and rabbits with a .410/.22 over-under. Hunting was a way of life and no one would brazenly brandish loaded guns in the town square.
Today's NRA seeks to recreate the Wild West but conveniently forgets law enforcement ended that wild time because outlaws were endangering the public. LaPierre and his ilk espouse the "good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun" nonsense. They support unregulated gun sales where more profits benefits a select few, ignoring increasingly deadly cost to society as a whole.
Today's NRA does not work for the public good and looks nothing like the NRA of my younger days. The IRS should revoke their nonprofit status. The NRA may have laundered Russian money, funneling it to American politicians who ignore America's need for common sense gun regulations. LaPierre and the NRA are greedy scoundrels, plain and simple.
25
Guns don’t have rights. People have rights. People may be properly identified, licensed, taxed, and their risks insured in the process of exercising theirs rights to legitimate gun ownership.
136
@PMD
Taxing and requisite insurance seem a lot like infringement.
1
I received an invite from the NRA a few years ago, It was around Christmas, where we in CT now have Sandy Hook as a reminder of the NRA and its' power. Christmas, Sandy Hook and an invite from the NRA. Christmas cheer indeed. That is when I learn that they were a non-profit organization. I was apoplectic. How could they be a non-profit? I threw up my hands in resignation. The game was rigged in their favor. This article is a reminder, not to give up hope. I smiled when I saw the article. I beamed as I read it. Sometimes, fighting the good fight, is not a losing battle. Thanks for the reminder.
190
Thank you for this report, Mr. Hakim. In future iterations, please consider including a chart showing the NRA's political donations and recipients. A past NYT profile included this data and it gives readers a fuller picture of the extent of the NRA's influence over politicians. Flesh out the influx of Russian money into the NRA's coffers too.
416
@Sophistia
Exactly correct. The NRA as conduit for Russian money to right-wing politicians including Trump has not received the scrutiny and attention it deserves, especially since the organization markets itself as a patriotic defender of American values.
262
@Pat @Sophistia Several Supreme Court Justices now believe Congress should have no access to the President's taxes (that will likely show Russian money) until they debate the question. This gives me no faith in our Courts. Justice Roberts take note! The NRA is the tip of the Russian Iceberg. GOP take note! What exactly were members of Congress doing there on July 4? And, what exactly are the contents of Trumps private conversation with Putin? Americans ought to know!!!
14
Why drag Russia into this, when it's American politicians who are accepting bribes from the NRA?
He was still powerful enough to get rid of Ollie North, something the federal government could not do.
94