I was “cc’d” on an email to NRA Executive VP Hamlin and a couple dozen other 2A community names. I’ve received permission to post it. [More]
A lot of thought went into it and it merits being seen by more. Feel free to forward that link if you think this is a discussion that more should be having. Since I don’t have comments on my WOG Placeholder blog, enter any you may have under this post.
UPDATE
It appears some won’t allow this discussion in their chatrooms because they say it’s “actionable libel.”
Excellent post and extremely well written with verifiable links!!!
Thank you!
Given the decades of perfidy, collusion, conspiracy in pursuit of stealing the treasury dry, inside dealing, feckless and/or accomplice directors and whatever else has gone on I expect one or more suits to deliver the coup de grace and end NRA’s existence. This life member stopped donating years back. At this time NRA has been damaged beyond repair.
You might be right. I for one haven’t donated to NRA in 6 years or so. All my 2A donations go to GOA.
But, I’m stubborn. The first glimmer of hope I’ve had in a long time was reading about David Dell’Aquila’s lawsuit’s being granted RICO status, and NRA’s motion to dismiss was denied.
Maybe the NRA is past caring. But as long as it exists, and is not working for membership, I intend to keep poking and prodding them with facts and questions.
I thank you for taking the time to read.
Mr. Olson, time will tell, but time is short. B/R
It’s worth noting, that it’s now 6:15pm at NRA HQ. And only Mr. Codrea, has replied so far. No one from NRA, not an officer, not a director, not an employee, no one, has replied.
They say, “Look for the dog that isn’t barking.” In this case however, no dogs are barking.
Mr. Olson is very good at asking questions, but he is never satisfied with any answers to those questions, and I have spent literally hours trying to provide answers for him.
The NRA slid down a slippery slope of corruption over almost 30 years. In the grand scheme of things, the corruption represented only a small percentage of NRA funds, but it was corruption and it was wrong. Things got worse when the corruption was uncovered and the NRA Board failed to take proper corrective action.
Readers should know that I have been one of the NRA’s loudest critics for a very long time, and was elected to the NRA Board of Directors last year, just after Wayne LaPierre resigned and the New York jury came back with their findings of liability against all involved.
At times, over the last several years, I lost all hope of the NRA ever recovering, but I kept working and trying to save it.
Now, I believe the NRA is on a good path, with good leadership.
We’ve just concluded our latest Director election. In that election, vocal advocates of reform won 19 of 29 seats on the Board, with 11 of those being new to the Board, and 6 of the incumbents having only served a short time on the Board. What this means is that “Reformers” now hold a pretty solid majority of the Board seats, so we can accelerate our efforts to streamline and restore the Association.
I believe the Board, with 76 members total, is too large and needs to be restructured and reduced, but getting to that goal is going to take some time, and voting by NRA members. Right now, we must focus on the most critical issues first, leaving much of the housekeeping for later.
I’d love to wave a magic wand and fix everything to everyone’s satisfaction, but my magic wand doesn’t seem to be working these days.
As I say, I’ve spent hours trying to answer Mr. Olson’s questions and explain what we have been trying to get done on the Board over the past year. He’s never satisfied with my answers and explanations, always demanding more, faster, farther, and while he has compiled a lot of facts, a whole lot of his information is severely lacking in context. It’s been quite frustrating.
One of the most important things to understand is that the NRA Board of Directors meets only 3 times per year, typically only for one day. I plan to try to change that at our meeting in Atlanta next week.
We’ll see.
Here’s the bottom line: The NRA’s books are clean. Both our books and our financial policies and procedures have been thoroughly audited to the satisfaction of the NY Charities Bureau, the NY AG’s Office, and a judge of the NY Supreme Court. The NRA remains under heightened scrutiny from the Charities Bureau, and under the watchful eye of Judge Cohen. The NRA Audit Committee has been completely turned over with all new members who are dedicated to making sure every T is crossed and every i is dotted. We’ve also instituted much stricter conflict of interest policies for Board members. Our house is very much in order where finance and compliance are concerned.
Along with our new Executive Vice President and CEO Doug Hamlin — who’s doing a fantastic job — We have a new Executive Director of NRA-ILA, a new Executive Director of General Operations, and a new Director of Advancement, along with a number of other new or repositioned folks.
While we’re making progress, it’s still a difficult road. There are still messes left behind by the previous administration that we’re trying to get cleaned up, and of course, the biggest challenge is restoring the faith and trust of our members and the public. To do that, we’re focusing on our core mission of providing value to our members, training up a new generation of safe and knowledgeable gun owners, and standing firm on the principles of liberty and the Second Amendment.
Some people will never be satisfied, no matter what we do. All I ask is that folks give us a chance to prove that we’re on the right track and gaining steam.
I’ll be at the convention in Atlanta and would be happy to meet as many NRA members as possible. I plan to spend a lot of time around the NRA booth and up on Media Row, trying to answer questions and hear from our members.
Jeff Knox
Director, The Firearms Coalition — http://www.FirearmsCoalition.org
Member, NRA Board of Directors since May, 2024
Columnist for Ammoland.com and Firearms News magazine
Mr. Knox,
Though we never agree, thank you for taking the time to read.
I’d like to ask one simple question. In the nearly one year you’ve been a director, how many members emails were forwarded to you, via the official procedure, lined out in NRA magazines, from nrabod@nrahq.org?
My comment mentioned that is awaiting moderation.
Yes, see “Comment House Rules” in right sidebar.
When I read Jeff’s comments the first thing that comes to mind is expression is the glass “half-full or half-empty?”
First, the NRA will never get back its trust unless there is transparency and it is incredulous there is insufficient transparency and the NRA leadership refuses to provide transparency.
Once again, your statement “The NRA’s books are clean. Both our books and our financial policies and procedures have been thoroughly audited to the satisfaction of the NY Charities Bureau, the NY AG’s Office, and a judge of the NY Supreme Court,” is a misrepresentation without the other the financials of the Whittington Center and the Foundation!
Monies coming out of the NRA and going to the Whittington Center and the Foundation cannot be audited by just looking solely at the NRA finances and vice versa.
And it is getting ridiculous for the NRA to claim the email account to reach board members is either working or not! We have verified with a board member that it is definitely not working and cannot be addressed without Fraser’s approval.
Where is the leadership in addressing this instead of ignoring it. Once again, the NRA is driving force behind this mistrust.
I can go on and on, why is Ken Blackwell allowed to resign months after giving notice when if the allegations are true, he should have been immediately removed following the Bylaws, and not have the CEO state he knows nothing about that. Is that how leadership expects to bring back trust?
You are an honorable board member but you and the NRA are behind the “eight ball” with lack of transparency and your statements as well as the other board members require vetting via transparency.
Why are not the financials of the NRA displayed on the website? Why are the “reform” policies not revealed on the website? Why are the audit polices not revealed on the website?
That’s because Mr.Olson is an idiot.
John, you are new here so I am going to point out one of the “Comment House Rules” in the right sidebar:
If you have rebuttal information disproving anything he has said, share it, otherwise this is just an ad hominem attack, which is a logical fallacy, insulting, and unwelcome. I will not allow one guest in my home to insult another guest, and if he persists, I will make him leave.
Please remember that you are a guest here.
Dear Admin- please accept my apology for not reading “Comment House Rules.”
I read your sidebar and like it, especially against “trolls.”
If the “new” NRA is truly committed to a new policy of transparency, it could start by answering Mr. Olson’s questions in as public a forum as possible so the answers can be cross checked by as many NRA members as possible.
Want Mr. Olson to go away and stop pestering you? Try answering his questions, in detail, and in public, instead of trying to deflect him like some pesky fly.
Here’s a start. Have exhibits, donated to the NRA museum by the public, been diverted for other purposes or not? Has the museum’s collection been audited or not, and if so, my whom? If so, publish the results of the audit for the membership to see!
How about publishing a total of membership to BOD members received vs email responses sent in return by each BOD member. That would either shut up the critics or prove them right.
Shoji Tabuchi, the famous Japanese country/western fiddle player and “Grand Ole Opry” star, often told of his friendship with Mel Tillis. He once joked that Tillis stopped taking him fishing “because he said I eat the bait (sushi). It’s not true! I used to but I stopped.”
That might fly as a joke told on “Hee Haw” or on stage at the Opry, but it doesn’t fly in real life. The NRA needs to come up with a better defense than one akin to the punch line of a joke.
Sign me as
dds
NRA Endowment Member
Excellent commentary and the necessity of transparency in which the “Old Guard,” “Cabal,” “Strong NRA,” “NRA 2.0,” etc.,have no concept of understanding what it means and understanding no transparency leads to no trust which leads to lower memberships which ends up leading to no funds!
You’re right, on every point.