The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) today made a significant announcement regarding its leadership.
Wayne LaPierre, the long-serving Executive Vice President, has decided to step down from his role as the chief executive, effective January 31. In his stead, Andrew Arulanandam, a veteran executive at the NRA, will take over as the interim CEO & EVP.
LaPierre, in his statement, expressed his unwavering support for the NRA and its objectives, despite his resignation.
“With pride in all that we have accomplished, I am announcing my resignation from the NRA,” he said. LaPierre, who has been with the NRA for most of his adult life, emphasized his ongoing commitment to the Second Amendment and the organization’s mission.
During a recent NRA Board of Directors meeting in Irving, Texas, NRA President Charles Cotton officially accepted LaPierre’s resignation.
Citing health reasons, LaPierre’s decision comes at a time when the NRA is actively defending itself in a lawsuit initiated by the New York Attorney General (NYAG).
SEE ALSO: ‘NRA is Slowly Dying,’ Says Newsweek
LaPierre remains an individual defendant in this ongoing legal battle. The lawsuit, filed in August 2020, aimed to dissolve the NRA but faced a setback in March 2022 when a New York court dismissed the NYAG’s claims, citing violations of New York law and the First Amendment.
In light of these events, the NRA has been focusing on internal governance and accountability. The Board of Directors has reportedly taken significant steps to address allegations, including the termination of certain members and vendors accused of misusing the Association’s resources.
Furthermore, LaPierre has made reimbursements for certain transactions, as disclosed in public tax filings.
LaPierre praised the NRA’s resilience and advocacy, especially in New York, and expressed confidence in the organization’s mission and leadership.
“I have enormous confidence in our board of directors, executive leadership team, and my long-time colleague Andrew Arulanandam,” he stated.
Arulanandam, known for his deep understanding of the NRA and its strategies, is poised to lead the organization into its next chapter.
Charles Cotton, speaking on behalf of the NRA Board of Directors, acknowledged LaPierre’s significant contributions to the Second Amendment cause and expressed optimism about the NRA’s future under Arulanandam’s leadership.
“Our future is bright and secure,” Cotton affirmed, signaling a new era of leadership and advocacy for the NRA.
What do you think of this major announcement?
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so long wayne
Since he was LaPierre’s right hand man and the 75 member board was, for the most part, hand picked by LaPierre nothing will change. My guess LaPierre will still rule from the sidelines just like Obama does in the government.
Was a member, stopped paying when all the allegations against Wayne and his group started, Him and Biden should share a cell. Charleston Heston is rolling in his grave.
This should have happened many years ago.
I told the useful idiots 15 yrs ago about how wayne & his wife were fleecing the members. Please send me my moneys back & lock them up. I guess the leaders didn’t hear me so lock those gas bags up or are they better than us. I noticed.how uncle Ted & other greats backed off the NRA & I think we all know why.
Jeff Knox reports in Ammoland article http://www.ammoland.com/2024/01/wayne-lapierre-resigning-national-rifle-association-now-what/#ixzz8OcDdqhWR
“LaPierre’s resignation has been in the works for at least a month, as that’s when LaPierre fired Joe DeBergalis as Executive Director of General Operations and replaced him with Andrew Arulanandam. That move makes it clear that Arulanandam was hand-picked by LaPierre and Brewer to take over as EVP and CEO, which is a very good reason for NRA members to be very skeptical about him.”
About time. While I admire his tenacity, there is too much “dirty laundry “.
This is great news, but the entire board needs to resign and be replaced. The NRA needs to get back to its roots and be a strong and effective advocate for 2nd Amendment rights. They can do this by being transparent with their members. Too much money is being spent on administrative costs instead of fighting for our rights.
Too bad this didn’t happen 15 years ago. It’s nearly impossible for Life Members to replace “go along to get along” Board Members who allowed LaPierre to run the show unimpeded and in the process, drive away good Board members and hundreds of thousands of members. The entire Board needs to resign and the Life plus members need to restructure the Board governance process and make it more responsive to the membership. I’m a 48 + year Life Member of the NRA and have watched this rolling debacle play out.
As others have thought and said “It’s about damn time”! Clean out the entire board of directors. NRA needs to concentrate on firearms safety, the Second Amendment, and all levels of legislation. Not lavish lifestyles for
the rich and famous!
Just my 2¢ worth.
The NRA should have FIRED Mr. LaPierre as soon as the SCANDEL became evident! Why Didn’t they? Keeping him on was UNFORGIVABLE and the NRA has lost our trust and will need a whole lot more to get our support back! The NRA has been a BIG disappointment to most all of my shooting sports friends. There is NOTHING that Mr. LaPierre can EVER do to correct his wrong Doings and Shame on the NRA for keeping him even one day after his crimes!
If the man is recommended by / friends with / associated with the OLD GUARD and LaPierre
I vote NO !!
Time to clean out this organization with a firehose not a wiskbroom !!
The NRA , under LaPierre, was willing to negotiate on the 2nd Ammendment. That wasn’t acceptable 35 years ago, when I first joined, and it’s not acceptable now. If the NRA wants to increase membership instead of losing members they would be wise to change their tune.
That’s only a small step in the right direction – the EVP needs to be someone who is not of their own choosing and the Board of Directors needs to be purged – there are WAY too many board members, and a large number of them were hand selected by Lapierre and his co-conspirators, with many of them protecting LaPierre and crew from being removed earlier, when it should have been done. Some even had unethical arrangements where they made money off of NRA, and collectively, they bear the responsibility of the current state of the association – it was their JOB to do audits, and keep tabs on the financial state of the organization, which clearly wasn’t done. The by-laws need to be re-written to change the make-up of the board, and put in place strong rules that will prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again. Even then, they may never regain the trust of the membership…
Wayne’s departure won’t change a thing unless the NRA cuts back on their administrative costs. Too much money has been wasted on big perks for it’s executives. It’s time to get back to putting the money towards accomplishing the mission of the NRA to fight for our 2nd Amendment rights.
It’s about time for a change although I don’t know if change is in the works with the appointment of a longtime executive. For too long the NRA has been a money seeking organization while neglecting membership action.
I have been an NRA Life Member for longer than I can remember. It seems like Wayne did a good job over most of his time and like every long term politician took advantage of his position more than he should have. I have been of the opinion that it was time for him to go for the last 5 years or so as he had become somewhat of a target. I believe his stepping down will be a good thing for the organization and I look forward to the changes that the new leadership will bring.
So, now that he’s out, are all the NRA naysayers that were former pro NRA people gonna ante up? Hmm.
When I see real change in the NRA, until then I’ll stick with SAF. Getting rid of that loser alone doesn’t fix what is wrong with the NRA.