In 2014, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne La Pierre wrote: “For any American who is worried about this country, who feels our core values slipping away, who believes something has to be done to change the direction of our nation before all is lost—the NRA is your refuge. It is your place to stand and fight with Americans just like you, for all that is good and right.”
The NRA held itself out as a non-profit dedicated to idealistic efforts to educate Americans on gun safety and protect Second Amendment rights. It was a politically powerful and feared entity with millions of dedicated and vocal members.
But in January 2021, facing investigations at the state and federal level, the NRA filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy trial was ugly. Former NRA board member Phillip Journey testified that he viewed the NRA “essentially operated as a kingdom, rather than a corporation . . . Wayne’s kingdom.” The trial revealed a complex web of dubious financial dealings unrelated to any of the issues the NRA was supposed to stand for.
So how did the NRA become Wayne’s world? What were some of the financial abuses that have emerged? How did this fundamentally American institution become entangled with Russia?
We are lucky to be joined this morning by Tim Mak, who not only covered the NRA story for NPR but wrote about it in his recent book Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA.
