The NRA’s corruption trial carried on last week with Wayne LaPierre taking the stand for the first time. So, I invited one of the best gunwriters in the country on the show to talk about it.
Cam Edwards is not only the editor of Bearing Arms, but he’s a former NRA News and NRATV host. That means he worked for Ackerman McQueen, which is the contractor at the center of the NRA corruption allegations. That gave him some special insight into how the relationship between the two sides.
Cam was willing to be very candid about what he saw during his years at the organization. He said sometimes there were signs of outrageous spending, but he said those in the lower levels of each side didn’t know about the kind of mismanagement LaPierre and others had admitted to in court.
He decried the way high-level executives wasted NRA money on their own personal expenses. He pointed to former NRA Treasurer Woody Philips using the group’s funds to commute from Texas to Virginia. He said he would often forgo reimbursement for legitimate business expenses when working on behalf of the NRA and never dreamed of using NRA funds for his commute after he moved several hours from the office he broadcast from.
Cam said he knew many Ackerman and NRA employees who were as reserved in their expense accounting as he was because they believed in the group’s mission. He said they also understood that the bulk of the NRA’s money came from regular members giving money that was often a not insignificant part of their family budgets.
He argued the corruption that ran rampant at the NRA was unacceptable and things need to change. But he also said the NRA is one of the most important institutions in the gun-rights movement and needs to be saved.
Plus, I talk about my time at SHOT Show with Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and the effect of the Biden Administration’s pause on gun exports.
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3 Responses
Like Cam had said, there were many expenses he did not take for the benefit of us members. I am a Life Member and was a volunteer of the Friends of the NRA where we personally worked hard to raise around $25J each year for youth training grants that we would issue to local and regional organizations. The raffles and auctions we organized was based on our sweat equity, while the NRA wanted 50 percent back on every dollar we raised. Okay, I can understand that but what really frost us was the anger we received from fellow gun owners at Gun Shows from the volunteer efforts we did to raise funds. Literally, we had to emphasize we were VOLUNTEERS, not NRA employees helping youth training programs. At the height of the NRA mismanagement our FNRA disbanded after 2 decades of our efforts. What a damn shame.
That is very unfortunate. And I think it’s not an uncommon occurrence. I’ve heard of other FNRAs that have disbanded as well.
The NRA is an organization that must cease to exist under the current mode of operation. The Board of Directors has long been delinquent in its oversight role. I know some of them who are holding on in hopes of being able to outlast the LaPierre cabal and steer the organization back on course, others who have resigned in frustration. I respect both of those approaches. This legal battle has been blatantly political, but it may have been the earthquake needed to expose the inherent problems and, hopefully, right the ship. As the longest serving civil rights organization in the country, it really needs to return to its roots.