National Rifle Association sues the ‘Friends of NRA’… what gives?

Jeff Knox posted a lengthy explanation of the legal action taken by the National Rifle Association against the NRA Foundation.

In a nutshell, Knox reports in great detail how the NRA and the NRA Foundation are two different organizations.  The vast majority of Wayne LaPierre’s cronies have either quit or been voted off the NRA Board of Directors.  Many of those big names have now taken over the NRA Foundation.

Of course, while there’s no evidence (yet) of the fraud, mismanagement and outright looting that took place under LaPierre at the NRA, the reformers at the NRA aren’t waiting until the horses are all out of the barn.  They’re taking action now, hence the lawsuit.

Anyway, here’s the highlights of Jeff Knox’s piece.  For the full deep dive, visit it at Ammoland.

Tombstone, Arizona – The National Rifle Association announced yesterday that it has filed suit against the NRA Foundation, claiming that the Foundation has been exploiting the NRA’s trademarks and intellectual property and misleading donors by raising funds under the NRA’s name, while refusing to fund NRA programs…

While many people consider the NRA Foundation a subsidiary or subdivision of the NRA, in reality, the Foundation is an independent entity with its own charter, bylaws, and Board of Trustees. While the Foundation was created by the NRA, and has a clause in its Articles of Incorporation naming the funding of NRA education and charitable programs as a core function of the NRA Foundation, it is not under the control or management of the NRA or the NRA Board of Directors.

The NRA Foundation was designed and intended to serve the needs of the NRA and its donors primarily…

At the NRA Board meeting in Dallas, immediately after the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits, the Board elected a handful of additions to the Foundation’s 15-member Board of Trustees…

Regardless of all that, this turned out to be the last time the NRA Board would have the opportunity to elect the Foundation Board members.

After Tom King, the current President of the Foundation Board of Trustees (and a die-hard Wayne LaPierre supporter) failed to win reelection to the NRA Board in the 2025 election, he used his influence on the Foundation Board of Trustees to amend the Foundation’s bylaws, taking the election of Trustees away from the NRA Board and giving it to the Foundation Board instead. They also amended the Articles of Incorporation, allowing them to expand the number of Trustees, and quickly loaded the Foundation Board with additional LaPierre loyalists.

Currently – unless they’ve slipped another change in while I was writing – the Foundation Board of Trustees consists of Tom King, Charles Cotton, Bob Barr, Joel Friedman, Scott Bach, Blaine Wade, Barbara Rumpel, Bill Carter, Ronnie Barrett, Eb Wilkinson, Regis Synan, Greer Johnson, Stephen Plaster, Anne Draper, and Jay Wallace. Ten of those were long-time NRA Directors, all of whom voted with the “Old Guard” faction, and almost all of whom have resigned from the NRA Board over the past two or three months. Ronnie Barrett resigned his seat on the NRA Board after this article went to press, leaving Scott Bach as the only long-time Director to still have a seat on the NRA Board.  Regis Synan, who ran for the Board last year, but didn’t win election, was appointed to fill one of the vacancies created by the spate of resignations. Greer Johnson who was also an unsuccessful candidate last year, was offered one of those vacated seats, but she declined. Jay Wallace is on the ballot for this year’s election. I don’t know him and honestly have no idea where he stands on any of this or other NRA issues…

The NRA Foundation should not be used as a private bank for NRA executives, but it MUST be used for the purposes for which it was created – Support for NRA Programs!