Fairfax, Virginia – -(AmmoLand.com)- Wayne LaPierre has devoted a long time to the defense of the Second Amendment. While loyal Ammoland readers can disagree with his tactics, one cannot dispute the fact that the Second Amendment is on much firmer footing than it was 35 years ago. That said, while LaPierre’s overall track record is good, some mistakes warrant him stepping down.
Missing Clear Warning Signs Of Abuse
The Cuomo-James jihad that turned the power of New York against the country’s oldest pro-Second Amendment organization and which threatens EVERY pro-Second Amendment group or media outlet (including Ammoland) came with a lot of warning signs that were not heeded. Two big ones were the IRS scandal involving the Tea Party and Andrew Cuomo’s listing of Second Amendment supporters among those who had “no place in New York.”
The NRA should have acted then to prevent abuses and to shield themselves. They didn’t, and that is on LaPierre as Executive Vice President of the NRA. It could and should have been a straight fight over Cuomo’s infamous letter about “gun promotion organizations.”
Cultural Engagement
The fact of the matter is that for decades, anti-Second Amendment extremists have been far more active when it comes to engaging with pop culture. I’m not saying that the NRA faced an easy path when it came to engaging with Hollywood, but LaPierre apparently didn’t even bother with much effort at all. Even CMT, which should be our home turf, signed on to bull from Bloomberg.
The NRA should have been working decades ago to connect those who had been established in Hollywood with younger Second Amendment supporters who had talents, goals, and aspirations in pop culture and creative fields. They can still do that, but it will be much harder than it should have been. That LaPierre and NRA leadership didn’t do so is a stunning failure.
Failures In Outreach
This is a bit more nuanced. On some fronts, LaPierre was successful in growing the NRA, but a fair bit of that was preaching to the choir. Where LaPierre’s outreach failed was where Glenn Youngkin succeeded in the 2021 election. Translating the NRA-ILA’s fact sheets and legislative alerts isn’t the only failure, LaPierre should have pushed to translate the NRA’s safety materials and firearms training literature.
On a similar front, the NRA was also derelict in preventing the suburbs from becoming bastions for Bloomberg’s stooges. We are getting lucky with some serious dereliction on the part of left-wing officials, but it never should have come down to luck.
These failures are why Wayne LaPierre’s time with the NRA needs to come to an end. As much as he provided valuable service to the cause of the Second Amendment, the times have changed, and they call for new strategies and tactics that LaPierre has not shown he can implement. In order to defeat anti-Second Amendment extremists at the federal, state, and local levels via the ballot box, it’s time for some new blood at the NRA.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.