The Wayne LaPierre End of the NRA Era: The Case Against Gun Control in the Light of James’s Dilemma
The leader of the group that was the most powerful in the country is stepping down a few days before a civil trial over allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
The settlement announcement from the New York state attorney general’s office on Friday came the same day that NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre, 74, announced his resignation from the organization after more than three decades.
“I’ve been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever.”
In response to the news of LaPierre’s imminent departure, New York Attorney General Letitia James called the end of the Wayne LaPierre era “an important victory” but vowed to continue to the legal case against the gun rights lobby.
The trial is scheduled to start on Monday. James’s lawsuit aims to ban LaPierre and the other executives from serving in leadership positions of any not-for-profit or charitable organization conducting business in New York.
In the wake of horrible mass killings at schools and malls, LaPierre has shaped the position of the NRA against any attempts to regulate firearms.
He warned that “jack-booted government thug” were coming after the guns of law-abiding Americans under the pretense of controlling gun violence after taking control of the National Rifle Association in 1991. He later criticized those who support gun control measures in the wake of mass shootings as “opportunists” who “exploit tragedy for gain.”
But in recent years the NRA has been deeply shaken by financial troubles, dwindling membership and ongoing questions about LaPierre’s leadership and spending. The turmoil caused some rank-and-file members to doubt the direction of the organization.
The group’s financial woes forced it to cut back on many popular programs including educational outreach, initiatives with law enforcement and support for shooting sports events.
An NRA effort in 2021 to declare bankruptcy failed. A federal bankruptcy judge dismissed the case, ruling that the gun rights group had not filed it in good faith.
In a statement on Friday, the head of the Brady gun control advocacy organization, Kris Brown, issued a statement saying the “NRA is on the ropes” because of its legal troubles.
The NRA, meanwhile, has portrayed this lawsuit as a political effort by a Democratic state attorney general to weaken the once-powerful gun organization.
Powell was chief of staff to the NRA’s CEO Wayne LaPierre when he broke with the group, but in recent years has become a critic of the pro-gun organization and is planning a tell-all book in 2020.
The suit says that LaPierre and others used the money to fund vacations for friends and allies. The trial against four remaining defendants will go forward as planned, despite Powell being one of them.
A former top executive at the National Rifle Association, Joshua Powell, has admitted wrongdoing and agreed to pay $100,000 on the eve of a civil corruption trial of the organization’s top executives set to begin on Monday.