New Jersey – -(AmmoLand.com)- I make no apologies for my 2019 AmmoLand News article explaining what has been happening inside NRA, despite new harsh criticism from Jeff Knox and his call to oppose my re-election to the NRA board in the current cycle.
By stating factual details of what was actually going on at NRA, and properly crediting Wayne LaPierre for spearheading corporate actions recently taken, I apparently wandered into a generational blood feud between the Knox family and LaPierre. That seems to have offended Knox, so he has now attacked my NRA board candidacy.
To summarize my 2019 article: When NRA got a head’s up from a former Attorney General that New York State was about to pursue NRA’s annihilation as a corporation, Wayne LaPierre insisted on serious self-examination and resultant course corrections to legally insulate NRA from attack (a New York law provides significant protections for corporations that do so). He hired counsel to lead that process and protect NRA. A comprehensive review of NRA’s finances and controls began.
The process was resisted by some insiders and NRA’s largest contractor, a media company. They tried to convince LaPierre that the examination was unnecessary. When that failed, and as alleged in pending litigation, the company tried to force LaPierre out, dangling a carrot in the form of a golden parachute, and threatening a smear campaign if LaPierre resisted.
At nearly 70 years old, LaPierre could have taken the easy way out, retiring with an attractive package, and abandoning the legal strategy to protect NRA. Instead, he refused, stood on principle, and continued the plan to protect NRA from an impending attack. The threatened smear campaign by the media company against LaPierre was launched, helping fuel New York’s plot to destroy NRA.
These are facts that I personally witnessed. They are not debatable.
My personal opinions about Mr. LaPierre are utterly irrelevant to my factual article explaining the course NRA chose to pursue. Whether you like Mr. LaPierre or not, it is an incontestable fact that he led a carefully planned strategic legal course to prepare NRA for a life-and-death battle with New York State.
I have known Jeff Knox for many years, and as he points out, he has previously endorsed me as a candidate for NRA board. It’s not easy to win his support, and that should tell you something about who I am and what I stand for. I have a two-decade-long track record of advocacy and achievement as the no-compromise leader of a state gun rights group in the most hostile territory imaginable. And I haven’t changed.
But because I have publicly explained an NRA legal strategy that happened to be led by Mr. LaPierre, I have (to Jeff Knox) committed the cardinal sin of “defending” LaPierre. I am therefore now tainted and unworthy of support in board elections. None of the work I have done for Freedom locally or nationally matters. In reality, that posture says more about Knox than it does about me.
Knox attempts to justify his sudden reversal on my NRA board candidacy by criticizing me for not addressing questionable “facts” or unrelated issues in my 2019 article. In Knox’s mind, I should have explained disputes between his father and Mr. LaPierre dating back to 1997, years before I even joined the NRA board. I should have explained issues related to NRA’s former treasurer, a former NRA president, NRA’s legal fees, and statements falsely attributed to LaPierre. But all of that was beyond the scope of my 2019 article, whose sole purpose was to shed light for members on the growing threat to NRA’s right to exist, and how it was being handled.
I respect Jeff Knox and the work his father did. But I do not appreciate it when he suddenly reverses his support for me as a board candidate, simply because I accurately stated current facts about someone for whom he has bitter feelings and severe prejudice.
Scott L. Bach is an NRA board member and Executive Director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs. www.scottbach.com
Wayne La Pierre is the NRA’s “Bernie Madoff”. Every legal defense and financial move Wayne has made is all about protecting Wayne’s personal and financial interests. If Wayne had placed the members and organization’s best interests above his own personal greed the NRA wouldn’t be in this legal quagmire. When an organization is run from the top to bottom in good faith, with honesty, integrity, and transparency, there’s nothing to fear from any outside allegations. We don’t need Wayne’s NRA. Truth is we never did. We’ve just been subjected to decades of clever, flashy, and pricey marketing. Join & Support… Read more »
A board of directors is a group of people who jointly supervise the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organization, or a government agency. Wikipedia.
Since the NRA Board does not perform this function, what do they do ?
I am an endowment member who has stopped all contributions to the NRA until we learn the truth, which I suspect will only be revealed by the courts.
Any time someone claims “These are facts… They are not debatable.”, it’s time to analyze and debate them. Much like dems keep claiming that “the science is settled” every time they want to close down debate.
LaPierre declared bankruptcy without the board. If there was that much consideration that went into the bankruptcy decision then it shows how much LaPierre thinks of the board. And I agree with him, the board is pathetic and below any consideration.
Wayne needs to step down NOW. He has lost the faith and support of everyone but his hand-picked board members. Wayne cannot dig his way out of the hole he has dug.
Wayne alone stepping down achieves NOTHING. In fact, it preserves the grift. The entire board must go with one handful of possible exceptions.
Whether Wayne is innocent as a lamb or guilty as the devil if he had one ounce of feeling for the NRA or any integrity at all he would have stepped down long ago. The NRA members have lost all confidence in him. This CANNOT be restored! And you’re spot on as to the board. We need a mostly clean sweep and a huge reduction in the number of board members.
NRA Benefactor Life Member
Also, as far as a “blood feud” between the Knox family and Wayne and his minions – there’s a DAMN good reason for that!
I have been a member of the Board of Directors for a volunteer fire department and fully understand those responsibilities. There is a saying within the the military that “One awe sh*t wipes out all Atta-boys”. As an endowment member Wayne’s and yours are wiped out. My money has been going to SAF & FPC till Wayne’s gone.
Don’t drag Jeff Knox into this – explain Wayne LaPierre’s out-of-control personal expenses that are directly funded by the remaining NRA members.
Yep. Self-serving doubletalk & ad hominem deflection. Jeff Knox never should’ve endorsed Bach in the 1st place. Neal Knox also endorsed too many swamp creatures who ended up stabbing membership in the back. Gotta love the croc tears about abusive insiders & vendors, when the derelict self-dealing board rubber-stamped the entire vendor-insider feeding frenzy for 25 years since the “Winning Team” coup d’etat (same “Winning Team” that bankrupted the NRA). Gotta love the bit about LaPierre turning down a golden parachute & sacrificing his retirement to fight NY. Bull. If fact, his board did rubber-stamp a poison pill golden parachute.… Read more »
Nice rewriting of history and deflection. Making this about a supposed personal beef has been the NRA leadership’s strategy for years. To this end, we voting NRA members thank you for your clarification that you have not learned anything in the past 2 years and still stand on the wrong side. The irony is, I accused you of rewriting history 2 years ago!
If all the board members think and vote alike, what’s the purpose of having a board? Differing views and experiences and opinions should be brought up at the board meetings, which should lead to consensus and direction for the organization. A strong leader will be wary of the counsel provided by “yes men”, and look instead for actual advice provided by thinking members. A good leader should also know when, and when not, to step down. A good board will also know when a leader should be replaced or retained. Another thing; a healthy board of directors is usually comprised… Read more »
There would have been no need for a “legal strategy to protect the NRA” had LaPew and the BoD long ago actually acted in the NRA members’ best interest by implementing a strategy to flee Enemy Territory of NY and had not mis-managed, mis-used, self-enriched, stolen NRA funds. LaPew and BoD actions are just like politicians’ strategy…..create a fiasco of their own doing, then appear to come riding in on a white stead to save the day they actually jeopardized. LaPew and Company (most, not all, of BoD) must go!!!! THEY HAVE BECOME A DISTRACTION TO THE NRA MISSION, And,… Read more »
How about you refute the actual statements? Did a vendor offer to build a million $ mansion for Wayne? Is this New Yorker article wrong? https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-nras-longtime-cfo-was-caught-embezzling-before-joining-the-organization-former-colleagues-say. If a PR firm is recommending $1,000 suits maybe you got the wrong PR company. I’m a firm believer is if smoke then fire. There’s a lot of smoke being blown here. Until NRA comes clean they’ve lost my support. SAF GOA FPC for me.
The New Yorker is infamous for making things up, but if one wants to follow the money (in any endevour) the WSJ is a better place to start. They’re almost the only legacy media left worth reading… simply because they follow the money!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/leaked-letters-reveal-details-of-nra-chiefs-alleged-spending-11557597601
“Wayne LaPierre billed the group’s ad agency $39,000 for one day of shopping at a Beverly Hills clothing boutique”
39 grand in one day? That is a whole LOT of thousand dollar suits! 39 to be accurate. Probably more like four, TEN THOUSAND dollar suits!
Dismissing everything that appears in the New Yorker is an ad hominem fallacy. Some things are false, therefore everything is false. Same for believing everything in the WSJ, which also tells porkies on occasion.
There’s a reason Phillips has “taken the 5th” about 5000 times in depositions. It’s also a fact, even though noted by anti-gun media, that LaPew’s Personal Assistant was convicted of embezzling – FROM NRA – FROM US – yet he kept her, just as he kept Phillips. See a pattern? Don’t believe it, read the various filings in the NRA’s bankruptcy case that was thrown out.
You mean they made up Weinstein? BH yeah probably 4x$10k. If that’s thaw case why isn’t Wayne in jail.. in what dimension is that considered reasonable.
Only inside the beltway. US politics is so crooked it makes crooked LaPierre look honest. They’re all crooked enough to fit inside of a corkscrew.
As long as WLP is in charge the NRA will remain morally and financially bankrupt! The NRA needs another Cincinnati uprising to kick WLP the hell out along all the succubi sitting on the board!
Houston, Texas, Saturday September 4th. BeThere!!!
After having been a member from NJ for many years and having seen Scott’s work in defense of the Second Amendment, I can’t help being disappointed in his defense of Wayne and his lapdog board members. The only way to save the NRA is to abolish management and the board and reconstitute the organization.
A lot of people seem real worried about Wayne but not a lot of people seem to care about the fact that an organization who claims to support the 2A has spent the vast majority of its existence supporting and advocating for laws that violate the 2A.
The two problems go together hand in hand. Corrupt people are easily blackmailed. I’ll presume “Wayne” is shorthand for LaPew & Co, including all the vampire vendors & nearly the entire board of self-dealing rubber-stamp derelicts.
What a load of propaganda horse s**t. That skunk , lli’l wayne La P u, took steps to try to keep his own grifting, looting butt out of prison. He keeps his grip on the board so he doesnt have to pay his legal fees out of his own pocket. And the bankrupcy move was the most feeble , juvenile ,and fraudulent move he could have made. And then the idiot publicly states the next day the nra is on solid financetial footing ? May as well announce to the judge the whole bankrupcy was a fraud , which is… Read more »
The NRA has gone the way of the DCP, (Dem Communist Party) filling their own bellies, to hell with the membership. The sad part is people like you are so far up his anus you can’t see the truth, or you are in cahoots with him!
Scott Bach you’re completely tone deaf article embodies all that is wrong with our NRA. The “undebatable” fact you refuse to see the glaring problems with your assertions is proof enough you do not belong on the board.
You must resign, do it today, for the good of the organization. I did not vote for you and never will.
Yawn. The NRA is history. Which is a good thing in a time when the very right to keep and bear arms needs to be defended. Despite the ton of pamphlets that that the fund raising arm of the NRA sends out every day claiming to support our rights, the NRA is not and never has been a pro-RKBA organization. The NRA was not founded to support the right to keep and bear arms — and it has never done so other than incidentally as part of pursuing other goals. Most recently the primary goal of the NRA has been… Read more »
It is a shame the way Wayne and his minions are destroying America’s oldest civil rights organization
Nothing says fighting for civil rights like supporting every federal arms law on the books.
LOL true
As a long time NRA member, and a long time NJ gun owner, I have the following comments. I have never met anyone from the Knox family, nor have I ever met Wayne LaPierre. I, like many NRA members, have been unhappy with the recent news coverage about the organization. However, I know Scott Bach casually and can say that he works tirelessly fighting for our 2AS rights in NJ. An almost impossible task, yet he manages to be as effective as anyone possibly can be in NJ’s anti freedom climate. I don’t know what really is happening behind the… Read more »
Scott Bach should resign in shame and make restitution to NRA members for the cost of every NRA meeting & event he attended. This is no “difference of opinion”. What he does in NJ cannot atone for rubber-stamp dereliction or worse that facilitated the looting & likely end of the NRA. Just as whatever McCain did in Vietnam doesn’t atone for 40 yrs of corruption & betrayal in DC.
We shall see. I have been a member of the NRA for longer than most of the people who comment about what is going on. I do not trust the Knox family. Neal Knox and son have tried to destroy the NRA for years. I am an old man living on borrowed time with a fatal lung disease that is going to kill me and very well may not live in see the end result of this. I just hope and pray our second amendment does not end up being done away because of such divided members of a great… Read more »
Boo hoo croc tears. Irrelevant ad hominem deflection & lies to cover the scum whose self-dealing, theft & dereliction DID work to destroy the NRA.
Knox wasn’t perfect. He foolishly nominated, backed & trusted many of the corrupt derelict scumbags who looted NRA for decades. But he never tried to destroy NRA as LaPierre & Co have very likely achieved by looting it.
For those who decide they want to question the character of Mr. Bach just because he chooses to support Mr. LaPierre, I would ask, do you have any facts to back up your charges? I have only seen anecdotal “information” from a prejudiced press and slams by the obviously slanted Jeff Knox. I have yet to see Mr. Knox say anything positive about the NRA. I see and smell sour grapes every time I see a diatribe that he has written. He is a small, bitter “man” who is feuding with the NRA and LaPierre because his daddy tried to… Read more »
Chev, for one who talks about others quesioning people’s character… YOU are the one who said, and I quote: “He is a small, bitter “man” who is feuding with the NRA and LaPierre because his daddy tried to take over”
Sounds to me as if YOU are the “small, bitter” ‘man’! And childish. Can’t forget that part! 🙂
Excellent ad hominem deflection! Please give us the spin on why Lucky LaPierre kept a personal assistant who had been convicted of embezzling from NRA, from members. Don’t forget, NRA’s money & assets are OURS, not yours.
How about the words of Wayne LaPierre and other NRA Officers? They admitted many of the allegations in their recent court filings!
Link 1: https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=3bQRrBpXnPF5ZhPRKVd41w==
…
…
Link 2: https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=NsqYYw47oU6cHh6VFkOjdQ==