Opinion
USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- I’m in the fight, and my choice to lead the NRA is ……
I read with amused interest the recent speculation on who should lead the National Rifle Association of America if longtime stalwart Wayne LaPierre were to leave (he’s not). As a staunch defender of constitutional rights, a longtime member of the NRA and other gun rights organizations, and current board member of the NRA, I’m weighing in.
My choice is Wayne LaPierre.
If you are in a state which now allows some form of concealed carry (yes, it is on the books in all 50), thank Wayne LaPierre. If you own a semi-automatic rifle or handgun, thank Wayne LaPierre. Both issues were and are bitterly opposed by the gun control lobby. If you are a hunter, collector, or sports shooter, thank Wayne LaPierre because the NRA (unlike other gun organizations) does so much more than only advocating for gun rights. Don’t read me wrong here, many organizations helped in our decades of success and to minimize our losses. However, and this is inarguable, it was Wayne LaPierre who led us to this point.
He is capable and energized. He is healthy and younger than many leaders of countries, legislatures, or multinational corporations. President Trump, leading the nation and world, is older. Pelosi and Feinstein are way WAY older. Warren Buffet is knocking on 90. Emphasis on age is foolish.
The socialists are here. Mike Bloomberg and Andrew Cuomo are leading today’s progressive-socialist charge to take down the NRA. We are savvy enough to know that the National Rifle Association isn’t their real target. To be precise, it’s us gun owners and our firearms. Taking down the NRA is just their first step. Were they able to weaken or eliminate the NRA, we know that their true stated end goal is to repeal the Second Amendment.
Legislative Crap In = Crap Out.
NRA doesn’t make the rules or pass the laws. When we elect weak legislators supported by liberal billionaires, celebrities, and a media who want to control you combined a weak Supreme Court, we get bad laws. Yet, you still have civil (gun) rights. Much of it thanks to Wayne LaPierre’s leadership. (thankfully under President Trump who Wayne Lapier and the NRA were instrumental helping to elect, the courts are changing.)
Now is the wrong time for experimental leadership especially now as we head into 2019 and a Democrat-controlled Congress with plans for an incoming flood of anti-gun legislative proposals.
We need experienced and tested leaders and courageous fighters to take on the anti-rights politicians and their sympathetic media. There is no one who has more experience and capability than LaPierre.
One example is the passage of the Firearm Owners Protection Act in 1986. The U.S House was under the control of Democrats – as it again will be in January. Wayne was part of an exclusive club of shrewd political fighters who moved that legislation through the House by discharge petition (do you know what a discharge petition is?) when the Democrat House Judiciary chairman declared this gun rights bill “Dead on Arrival.”
So, as legions of AmmoLand readers thoughtfully discuss this topic and a few keyboard commandos engage in mindless conjecture, Wayne does what he’s always done. Fires up the troops, fights like hell and wins.
Wayne has my support and faith as our continued EVP/CEO.
LtCol (R) Willes K. Lee, Arlington, Virginia
LtCol (ret) Willes Lee is a member of the NRA Board of Directors, assigned six committees: Chairman Outreach, co-Chairman Collegiate Programs, Military & Veterans Affairs, Legislative Policy, Federal Affairs, Grassroots Development. Life member NRA, CCRKBA/SAF (2017 Defender of Liberty recipient), GOA and Co-Chairman of the Trump-Pence Second Amendment Coalition. Lee is President of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, on the ACU Foundation Board (hosts of CPAC), and a former RNC member/State Chairman. Col Lee is a combat veteran graduate of West Point, a 22-year Ranger and Airborne qualified Armor officer, DSSM/BSM/LM. He holds an Engineering Degree from USMA and a Master’s Degree of Public Administration. Follow at www.Facebook.com/WillesLeeNRA and on Instagram and Twitter. His full bio and blog are at www.WillesLee.com, and his email is Willes.Lee@gmail.com