As the National Rifle Association’s recent tax filing revealed, NRA EVP and CEO Wayne LaPierre got a big salary bump last year. This, during a time of unprecedented charges of cronyism, self-dealing and lavish spending on travel and wardrobe.
Not to mention the drain on the association funds as a result of fighting a flurry of lawsuits and counter-suits with the NRA’s former President, its former advertising agency, and the state of New York, among others. Oh, there are also the dual investigations into the NRA’s spending and business practices being conducted by New York’s attorney general and the District of Columbia.
All of this has combined to present a real threat to the viability and possibly the very survival of the NRA.
Still, LaPierre’s pulling in more compensation. As the Seattle Times reported . . .
According to the filings, known as 990s, longtime NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre’s total compensation rose to more than $2 million. His base salary went from $1.17 million to $1.27 million, he received a bonus of about $455,000, and he got about $366,000 from a deferred compensation plan, according to the documents cited in media reports.
As you might expect, the 57% pay increase hasn’t gone over well with rank and file members, some of whom have been waging a battle to make the Association and its board more accountable.
“This is further evidence that, at this point, LaPierre is more of a burden than an asset to American gun owners,” said Rob Pincus, a longtime NRA member and firearms instructor who is a member of Save the Second, a group calling for LaPierre’s resignation and seeking changes to the NRA.
Pincus is part of Save the Second, the organization that’s working to make the NRA more responsive to members. They’ve proposed a number reforms intended to do just that.
With the board largely purged of those who dared to challenge the status quo and the LaPierre faction’s grip on the operation, Save the Second is collecting NRA voting member signatures to get a vote on term limits before the board for the January meeting.
As Save the Second describes the effort . . .
Our first petition initiative was the amendment on director attendance, and we collected more than twice the number of signatures required for a Board vote! Unfortunately the petition was subsequently ignored, and referred to committee to discuss its “merits.”
This next petition will focus on Term Limits. We believe term limits are necessary to bring new ideas and perspective into the board in order to change and evolve with modern gun culture and it’s opponents. A board member who remains on the board for too long can grow complacent and disconnected with their work (which can explain the abysmal attendance rates), and a good level of churn in the directors is necessary to remove that complacency. The term limits amendment will do just that.
The additional bylaw reads as follows:
No Director shall be eligible to serve on the Board of Directors more than twelve (12) years cumulatively, regardless of consecutive or non-consecutive service.
The deadline for the petitions is December 2. If you’re an NRA voting member and would like to help Save the Second reach its goal and force the issue at the next NRA Board meeting, click here for more details.