Opinion

The second phase of the NRA’s New York trial is almost over.

The prosecution closed its case on Monday, July 22, with my testimony, and the defense immediately started its case with NRA Treasurer and CFO Sonya Rowling.

The whole thing is supposed to be concluded by Monday, July 29. At that point, the NRA’s future lies in the hands of Judge Joel Cohen.

He could come back with his ruling within a few days of the close of the trial, or he could take months. If Judge Cohen recognizes that “personnel is policy,” and the personnel “leading” the NRA are the same people who for decades failed in their fiduciary duties, allowed the old policies and procedures to be side-stepped, and who have refused to take any responsibility for, or even admit to, their failures, then NRA members win.

He’ll remove those people from positions of power and install a monitor to ensure that the new leadership stays on the straight and narrow, following the new policies and procedures and acting in the best interests of NRA members.

From there, it’s all up to the “reformers” on the Board and the members to elect more new Directors early next year. The Board needs to dissolve the Special Litigation Committee (SLC), putting all legal issues back in the hands of EVP Doug Hamlin, our new General Counsel Mike Blaz, and the entire Board of Directors rather than the insular group that has given us the current mess.

NRA-Cabal Lawyer William Brewer Will Bankrupt the NRA

The first order of business for the Board after dissolving the SLC should be the dismissal of Brewer Attorneys and Counselors (if the judge doesn’t do that for us) before he bankrupts the organization. That firm has cost NRA members close to $200 million over the past six years, and all we’ve gotten for all of that money is a string of legal losses and near-insolvency.

In my perfect scenario, Judge Cohen will remove President Barr, Mr. Cotton, Mr. David Coy, Joel Friedman, Jay Printz, Ron Smietz, and Sandy Froman from any of the key management committees, including the Nominating Committee and the Executive Committee.

I had hoped Mr. Barr would act on the desires of the members and work with reformers to change the culture within the NRA Board truly, but his actions make it clear that he is still working from the old playbook. His letter to the Board claiming that my last article for AmmoLand News was full of “falsehoods and, sadly, outright lies,” without noting any specific inaccuracy on my part, demonstrated his willingness to engage in character assassination and his unwillingness to tolerate any question of his and the ruling regime’s diktat.

Mr. Cotton serves on all of the key committees and has effectively been the President for the past five years, filling in for President Meadows due to her health issues and then serving three terms himself. He was Chair of the Audit Committee for some twenty years, failing miserably in his duties on that committee. He serves on the Special Litigation Committee, as well as all five of the key management committees and the Executive Committee. Most recently, he was named chair of the Ethics Committee! [No, that is not a joke.]

Mr. Coy has been right alongside of Mr. Cotton as Vice Chair of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Finance Committee, excusing his failures by simply declaring his trust in Wayne.

Mr. Friedman failed in his reelection effort this year but was able to move onto the Board when another Director chose to resign. He served on three of the five key committees and was the person who suggested that the Board should use Executive Sessions—barring observers and not keeping minutes—to keep information away from the membership. He is the establishment’s parliamentary procedure specialist, using Roberts’ Rules as a weapon for control rather than a mechanism for fairness.

Mr. Printz referred to a dissenting NRA member as “that son of a bitch,” and referred to our efforts to draw attention to the ongoing corruption within the organization as “mental masturbation,” both on a microphone from the floor of a Members’ Meeting. He has become the “attack dog” enforcer for the establishment and is on both the Ethics Committee and the Nominating Committee. I have no faith in his ability to impartially consider candidates for the Board or his ability to fairly judge ethics complaints against his fellow Directors. I suspect Mr. Printz and Mr. Cotton have plans to use the Ethics Committee for a retaliation campaign against those of us who have dared to speak out.

I’ve always liked and respected former President Smiets, but he’s been a consistent ally to those working to protect LaPierre and there have been some serious allegations regarding his involvement with the Whittington Center. I have no knowledge about the validity of those allegations, but I think they need to be answered and cleared before he’s placed in any position of power.

Sandy Froman is an old family friend. She is one of the last remaining Directors initially recruited to the Board by my father, and it pains me to see her again on the opposite side of the table from me and other reformers. She was one of Wayne’s most ardent defenders, even when it was clear that he had crossed the line. She accepted “consulting” fees from Wayne’s EVP slush fund for years. Her loyalty to Wayne has compromised her credibility and her trustworthiness.

Whether these folks acted out of their deep friendship and trust in Wayne LaPierre, their own personal gain, or some sort of misplaced team loyalty, all have been in the vanguard of defending Wayne LaPierre, forcing our Association into court and crippling legal bills, and opposing any efforts toward reform. I personally like – even love – some of these people, but I can’t condone their behavior over the past six years and beyond. They should not be in any of the key committees. Nonetheless, all are on some of those committees, and Mr. Cotton is on all of them.

The judge should remove all of these individuals, and several others, from any offices or key committees, if not from the Board entirely.

I tried to make all of these points in my testimony last Monday. I’m not sure how well I did, as I was recovering from a nasty flu complicated by a grueling travel schedule. Finally home, I’m still recovering, but will try to write more about the particulars of the testimony next week. For now, I’ll just say that I was disappointed in some and heartened by others.

I think this judge is fair and seriously concerned about doing what’s best for the NRA and its members. I hope he sees that the people who allowed the corruption to flourish and who have spent the past five years denying the problems and their own culpability can’t be left in charge of cleaning up the mess.

Whatever Judge Cohen decides, the hard work of restoring trust in the NRA has barely gotten started. We need our members to keep pressure on the existing Directors to stop following the old establishment that caused this mess, get nomination applications for new Directors into the Nominating Committee before the August 4 deadline, and help us elect new Directors committed to true reform in the 2025 elections.

Much progress has been made. We’re moving in the right direction. The judge – and you – can help lock in and accelerate that progress, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Please don’t give up on us now, and do your part to help us restore your NRA.

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About Jeff Knox:

Jeff Knox is a second-generation political activist and director of The Firearms Coalition. His father Neal Knox led many of the early gun rights battles for your right to keep and bear arms. Read Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War.

The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs, and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition has offices in Buckeye, Arizona, and Manassas, VA. Visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org.