OAN’s Brooke Mallory
4:25 PM – Friday, January 5, 2024
Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), announced his resignation on Friday, ending his turbulent tenure as the head of the group.
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LaPierre, 74, departs as the association gets ready for a trial in New York on Monday regarding claims of financial mismanagement and corruption.
According to the association, LaPierre’s resignation was accepted by NRA President Charles Cotton during the board of directors’ meeting on Friday in Texas.
“I’ve been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom,” LaPierre said in a statement. “My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever.”
Andrew Arulanandam, an NRA official and Head of General Operations, will take over as the organization’s acting CEO and EVP.
LaPierre became the organization’s head in 1991 after joining it in 1977. The NRA went from being a sportsman’s club to a significant political organization throughout LaPierre’s tenure.
As the organization’s public face, LaPierre was well-known for his vehement remarks following mass shootings. Most notably, following the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, he advocated for the installation of armed guards at every school. He had attributed violence to “blood-soaked slasher films.”
The National Rifle Association’s lobbying division battles against attempts at state and federal gun restrictions.
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” LaPierre declared at the time.
In his 2021 NRA book Misfire, author Tim Mak characterizes the former lobbyist as an “awkward egghead type.” An egghead refers to “a person who is highly academic or studious; an intellectual.”
“Wayne would be spotted far more often with his legal pads than with a pistol,” Mak wrote. “He looks at guns through the lens of politics—as a political junkie, not as a lover of firearms.”
In recent years, there have been many challenges to his leadership. 2019 witnessed a battle between Oliver North supporters and LaPierre loyalists during the organization’s annual convention in Indianapolis due to a power struggle at the top.
The upcoming trial and battle with Ackerman McQueen, the NRA’s former advertising partner, will reportedly replay that controversy.
After news of LaPierre’s resignation surfaced, Everytown president John Feinblatt expressed his own critique of the former VP.
“LaPierre’s legacy will be one of corruption, mismanagement, and the untold destruction gun violence has brought to every American community,” Feinblatt said.
Attorney General of New York Letitia James hailed LaPierre’s resignation as a “significant victory,” claiming that LaPierre embezzled millions of dollars for personal gain.
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