Why Wayne LaPierre Needs To Resign Or Explain Why He Won't Do So

Lt Col Allen West and others have called
for LaPierre's resignation

I really wish that there were not real, significant problems at the NRA.  Unfortunately, there are VERY real problems.  Demanding that they be addressed is not anti-NRA. - it is what we need to do to save the NRA.  There are at least six good reasons for us, the membership, to expect LaPierre to resign.  No one is saying that Wayne LaPierre has not done many great things in defense of the 2nd Amendment.  He has.  However, as a leader, he has unquestionably failed in at least five ways:

1) Ackerman MacQueen PR firm (AckMac) - no matter whom you believe, it is clear that huge problems exist.  After all, the NRA is suing them.  These problems happened on LaPierre's watch.  They have been going on for years (AckMac has been the NRA public relations firm since 1981).  This alone should have caused him to do the right thing and resign.

2) Running expenses through AckMac to increase his compensation package.  It appears that LaPierre ran $200k+ of clothing expenses through AckMac, who then billed the NRA.  He did this while making a salary well into six figures.  There are also tax questions here.  His job does not qualify him to receive clothing tax free.  If he did not pay taxes on the value of the clothing, AckMac, the NRA and LaPierre could all be charged with tax evasion.

3) La Pierre's huge salary, and salary increases, while the NRA work force was taking compensation cuts and NRA income is down.  If the NRA was thriving, perhaps LaPierre's one million dollar plus compensation package would be justified.  However, it is inexcusable for him to be making this much money while the NRA's employees have lost their retirement plans and NRA income is down.  A real leader -and I have worked under someone who did this  - would slash their own salary and do everything they could to help those working under him, who could ill afford pay cuts.

4) Carry Guard - Stabbing firearms instructors in the back.  The first huge issue with the Carry Guard program is that the NRA decided to go into the firearms training business in competition with existing firearms instructors who were, prior to this, some of the NRA's greatest promoters.  This move, clearly approved by LaPierre, was both underhanded and shortsighted.  Now these instructors are likely to promote the GOA or SAF, or worse yet, no 2A organization at all.

5) Carry Guard - an inferior insurance product.  The NRA came up with a demonstrably inferior insurance plan, on that requires you to pay all your expenses out of pocket and then get reimbursed if and when you are found not guilty.  In contrast, CCW Safe sells plans that cover all of your expenses, including all legal fees and expenses, bail bonds, and one million in liability coverage - all of which require zero out of pocket.  Yet the NRA leadership prostituted the NRA's good name buy tell members and others that the coverage was "the best available", when it clearly was not.

6) Carry Guard - Insurance license disaster.  Sadly, that's not the only problem with Carry Guard.  The NRA was literally so incompetent that they failed to obtain the proper licenses to sell insurance in several anti-gun states.  This resulted in the NRA suing the insurance underwriter in an effort to blame them.  It also resulted in New York (and perhaps other states) opening investigations into the NRA.  This alone is more than enough for the membership to expect LaPierre to resign.

So, there you have it.  Six reasons why we should expect LaPierre to resign.  Too bad he does not appear to have the integrity to do so - or to publicly explain why he should not.  He needs to do one or the other.  The future of the organization depends on it.