The Great White Hunter

[JHC]

https://www.mediaite.com/weird/watch-nra-chief-wayne-lapierre-repeatedly-failing-to-kill-an-elephant-caught-on-video/

Wayne struggles with mechanical offset.

[Caballoflaco]

It didn’t help that the jackass in the blue bandanna was telling him to aim low (which is the exact opposite of how to compensate for offset). I’m no wlp apologist.

Also, despite being a meat hunter myself and killing more than a few deer and plenty of small game I don’t like watching elephants get shot. I get that there are overpopulation problems in the parks and culling is necessary and paid hunts provide a lot of revenue for said game parks. It just doesn’t appeal to me, it’s the type of killing I could do out of necessity if I had a farm in Africa or something, but not the type of thing that strikes me personally as some sort of grand adventure that I would seek out.

[shootist26]

didn't think the NRA fiasco/PR disaster could get any worse, but once again, I am proven wrong.

[Mark D]

Wayne LePeirre is a gigantic douche bag.

[Bergeron]

It didn’t help that the jackass in the blue bandanna was telling him to aim low (which is the exact opposite of how to compensate for offset). I’m no wlp apologist.

Also, despite being a meat hunter myself and killing more than a few deer and plenty of small game I don’t like watching elephants get shot.

Does anyone know how elephant tastes, or what good ways of serving it might be?

WLP sucks, and should go, regardless of this particular hunting escapade- but I am amazed at the lack of self-awareness required to actually be that dude, in his situation, and still think that filming the hunt would be a good idea. How can you be WLP and possibly think that filiming yourself hunting African game goes well for you?

[Joe in PNG]

Hey Bungalow Bill! What did you kill?

[Lester Polfus]

It didn’t help that the jackass in the blue bandanna was telling him to aim low (which is the exact opposite of how to compensate for offset). I’m no wlp apologist.

Also, despite being a meat hunter myself and killing more than a few deer and plenty of small game I don’t like watching elephants get shot. I get that there are overpopulation problems in the parks and culling is necessary and paid hunts provide a lot of revenue for said game parks. It just doesn’t appeal to me, it’s the type of killing I could do out of necessity if I had a farm in Africa or something, but not the type of thing that strikes me personally as some sort of grand adventure that I would seek out.

It's like we were sharing a brain there for a moment.

There is a difference between hunting and shooting animals.

[Paul D]

It's like we were sharing a brain there for a moment.

There is a difference between hunting and shooting animals.

I've only hunted in Africa twice, but I've noticed nothing goes to waste. Everything is eaten. One story: I took a hippo and used some of its meat as bait to get a crocodile. We cut a chunk of it an chained it to a spike by the river. I guess the crocs were on break because we saw no activity. We decided to break for lunch and my PH (professional hunter) went towards the spike to get the bait. I asked why and he said if we left it there, the locals would come and take it off the spike to eat themselves. No kidding! That hippo was delicious and probably the best meat I tasted on that hunt. I cannot afford to hunt an ele but I suspect it would feed the local community for weeks.

[okie john]

Several things struck me about this from a hunting perspective:

Mr. and Mrs. WLP don't know much about African game and their guides didn't teach them much before they went out. A bit of explanation at the lodge the night before would have eliminated the whispered conversations with a herd of elephants a stone's throw away.
The senior guide spoke to WLP like he was a child, and one of the other guides took Mrs. WLP's rifle out of her hands immediately after she fired her second shot. I think the guides had realized that these two were a hazard to everyone around them. The word was probably, "Let them kill stuff but disarm them immediately afterward so they don't shoot anyone."
WLP crumbled under stress. Marksmanship aside, he had no idea how to handle his rifle. With a wounded elephant just feet away, he had to be reminded to run the bolt after firing, and he fumbled at everything he did. His wife did a better job but was still pretty weak.
Everything said to WLP after the elephant died was a lie--the congratulations, inflating the deed, the prowess involved--it was all to soothe his ego.
The guides looked deeply relaxed once the shooting stopped. The senior guide unloaded his double rifle and put the cartridges in his pocket as soon as the second elephant was done, almost as if he knew there was no other risk from any other animal. I'm not sure, but I'd bet a round of drinks that WLP was on a canned hunt.

There's also the fact that this hunt probably cost rank-and-file NRA members something like $200k, but that's another thread.


Okie John

[Borderland]

This is common for people disconnected with sports hunting and fishing but feel they need to participate for the prestige.

I know of an attorney that paid big bucks to fly fish in MT using a guide. He actually did that because his wife told me he did. I ask him what river he fished, because I've fished a few of them, and he couldn't remember the name.

End of conversation.

[RancidSumo]

What a sad video. How does a guy like that end up in charge of anything firearms-related?

[Joe in PNG]

What a sad video. How does a guy like that end up in charge of anything firearms-related?

Sadly, people with absolutely no knowledge of the business they're in all too often tend to wind up as heads of companies and other large organizations- or governments.

[JHC]

I've only hunted in Africa twice, but I've noticed nothing goes to waste. Everything is eaten. One story: I took a hippo and used some of its meat as bait to get a crocodile. We cut a chunk of it an chained it to a spike by the river. I guess the crocs were on break because we saw no activity. We decided to break for lunch and my PH (professional hunter) went towards the spike to get the bait. I asked why and he said if we left it there, the locals would come and take it off the spike to eat themselves. No kidding! That hippo was delicious and probably the best meat I tasted on that hunt. I cannot afford to hunt an ele but I suspect it would feed the local community for weeks.

Wow that’s neat! Colombia has a growing herd of feral hippos that Pablo Escobar bought as novelty pets or something

[LittleLebowski]

This was so, so horrific and we paid for it.

[Hambo]

Several things struck me about this from a hunting perspective:

Mr. and Mrs. WLP don't know much about African game and their guides didn't teach them much before they went out. A bit of explanation at the lodge the night before would have eliminated the whispered conversations with a herd of elephants a stone's throw away.
The senior guide spoke to WLP like he was a child, and one of the other guides took Mrs. WLP's rifle out of her hands immediately after she fired her second shot. I think the guides had realized that these two were a hazard to everyone around them. The word was probably, "Let them kill stuff but disarm them immediately afterward so they don't shoot anyone."
WLP crumbled under stress. Marksmanship aside, he had no idea how to handle his rifle. With a wounded elephant just feet away, he had to be reminded to run the bolt after firing, and he fumbled at everything he did. His wife did a better job but was still pretty weak.
Everything said to WLP after the elephant died was a lie--the congratulations, inflating the deed, the prowess involved--it was all to soothe his ego.
The guides looked deeply relaxed once the shooting stopped. The senior guide unloaded his double rifle and put the cartridges in his pocket as soon as the second elephant was done, almost as if he knew there was no other risk from any other animal. I'm not sure, but I'd bet a round of drinks that WLP was on a canned hunt.

There's also the fact that this hunt probably cost rank-and-file NRA members something like $200k, but that's another thread.


Okie John

I'll go with canned hunt and PH provided rifles for $200K, Alex.

[BigT]

I've only hunted in Africa twice, but I've noticed nothing goes to waste. Everything is eaten. One story: I took a hippo and used some of its meat as bait to get a crocodile. We cut a chunk of it an chained it to a spike by the river. I guess the crocs were on break because we saw no activity. We decided to break for lunch and my PH (professional hunter) went towards the spike to get the bait. I asked why and he said if we left it there, the locals would come and take it off the spike to eat themselves. No kidding! That hippo was delicious and probably the best meat I tasted on that hunt. I cannot afford to hunt an ele but I suspect it would feed the local community for weeks.


Hippo is bloody tasty


And yeah whatever you shoot will get eaten, in its entirety, a lot of people get a big chunk of their protein from these hunts.

[LittleLebowski]

We need LTC Allen West to replace WLP so badly.

[Hot Sauce]

We need practically anyone who isn't a corrupt walking-talking blunder to replace WLP so badly.
FIFY

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Saw the story in my news feed from https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-secret-footage-of-nra-chief-wayne-lapierres-botched-elephant-hunt

Just what the RKBA needs.

[Zincwarrior]

Wow that’s neat! Colombia has a growing herd of feral hippos that Pablo Escobar bought as novelty pets or something

Yes he had a private herd of them. They were abandoned when Escobar was hunted down, and turns out they love it there.
Evidently they are becoming a major nuisance and have expanded into major rivers there.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56011594

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Pigs are out of control in Israel and Israel, they are in Ontario, radioactive pigs from Fukushima and Chernobyl spread across Japan and Europe. Now hippos - when will they hit the Amazon basin and terrorize Brazil! Invasive carp plague our waterways. Camels abound in Australia.

Hey, when civilization falls, they are good eats!

They need Dr. Pol and Dr. Oakley to do those castrations!

[ccmdfd]

Done plenty of deer, duck, dove hunting around here. Never really had a desire to go to Africa. I've got a few family members who have however and they really love it. Not sure if it's the actual hunt versus just marveling at the skill of everyone involved from the professional Hunters, to The Trackers, to the people who manage the camps.

Seems like if you ever see "Africa hunt" and "video" in the same sentence either on CNN, or a Firearms forum, it's going to be something bad. Can be a career-ending move, or at least make your personal life miserable for several years.

[Poconnor]

I agree the video is not a flattering display of hunting but once you remove the identity of WL and watch it in the context of watching an anonymous old rich guy on a bucket list hunt I bet this incident is very common. I have dreamed of hunting Africa since I was a child. Alas I don’t think it is ever going to happen. I should have gone in the 90’s when I was young. I was very lucky growing up. My father was friends with a taxidermist that was a part time hunt broker. We visited his shop often. A few times a year he would host a hunting guide at his house for a sales pitch. I went to a memorable night to hear about hunting in Zimbabwe. The PH was a native of
Zimbabwe. After he was done with his pitch and spoke to all the guys with the money to actually go our host mentioned to the PH that I was just home from active duty army infantry hitch. The PH said he had been a Selous Scout in the Rhodesian War. Lots of stories followed. I wondered what happened to that guy

[JRB]

I agree the video is not a flattering display of hunting but once you remove the identity of WL and watch it in the context of watching an anonymous old rich guy on a bucket list hunt I bet this incident is very common. I have dreamed of hunting Africa since I was a child. Alas I don’t think it is ever going to happen. I should have gone in the 90’s when I was young. I was very lucky growing up. My father was friends with a taxidermist that was a part time hunt broker. We visited his shop often. A few times a year he would host a hunting guide at his house for a sales pitch. I went to a memorable night to hear about hunting in Zimbabwe. The PH was a native of
Zimbabwe. After he was done with his pitch and spoke to all the guys with the money to actually go our host mentioned to the PH that I was just home from active duty army infantry hitch. The PH said he had been a Selous Scout in the Rhodesian War.

Good point about 'rich old guy' scenario.

But WLP isn't just some B-list public figure or celebrity, he's the face and leader of what's ostensibly the largest organization on the planet dedicated to the right to keep and bear arms.

Yet as the face of this organization, his weapon handling and performance under stress was astonishingly poor, akin to what I'd expect from a freaked-out guy who'd never held or fired a rifle before.

If we can't get rid of that oxygen-wasting stuffed $50,000 suit, can someone at least take him to a NRA instructor to learn how to fucking handle a gun?

[LittleLebowski]

Watching him fumble with the rifle was especially painful.

[Poconnor]

My take was not a rich guy that never handled a rifle before but a rich guy that never hunted dangerous game before. How many guys in the USA can shoot a .375 H&H like they can shot a .308? Talk to hunting guides in the US. Out of shape rich guys that can’t shoot are common. My biggest take away from the video was that was a really nice Blaser rifle that I wish was mine. Remember that much of the hunting in Africa happens on farms and ranches. Not all species are common or available on a PH’s concession. Lion and leopard are often gone from farming areas. Plains game is common and is not considered extremely dangerous in most circumstances. Crowd them or wound them is another story

[Poconnor]

This makes me imagine what the original safaris were light. 30 days plus, on foot, hunting whatever spoor the tracker found that looked promising.

[Kyle Reese]

Watching him fumble with the rifle was especially painful.

He’d have been fitted for a $30,000 suit like a champ, though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OlongJohnson]

Watching him fumble with the rifle was especially painful.

Every video I've seen of him handling a rifle has looked like he really wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

[LittleLebowski]

My take was not a rich guy that never handled a rifle before but a rich guy that never hunted dangerous game before. How many guys in the USA can shoot a .375 H&H like they can shot a .308? Talk to hunting guides in the US. Out of shape rich guys that can’t shoot are common. My biggest take away from the video was that was a really nice Blaser rifle that I wish was mine. Remember that much of the hunting in Africa happens on farms and ranches. Not all species are common or available on a PH’s concession. Lion and leopard are often gone from farming areas. Plains game is common and is not considered extremely dangerous in most circumstances. Crowd them or wound them is another story

I’d damn sure familiarize myself with that rifle inside and out before hunting elephant.

[Mark D]

Maybe we should raise funds to send him on a Cape Buffalo hunt. With a bit of luck, it might solve the "Wayne LePierre problem" for good.

[JRB]

My take was not a rich guy that never handled a rifle before but a rich guy that never hunted dangerous game before. How many guys in the USA can shoot a .375 H&H like they can shot a .308? Talk to hunting guides in the US. Out of shape rich guys that can’t shoot are common. My biggest take away from the video was that was a really nice Blaser rifle that I wish was mine. Remember that much of the hunting in Africa happens on farms and ranches. Not all species are common or available on a PH’s concession. Lion and leopard are often gone from farming areas. Plains game is common and is not considered extremely dangerous in most circumstances. Crowd them or wound them is another story

Oh definitely, there's a lot of waddling-fat rich dudes that talk a big game and totally fold under 'buck fever' - but at least most of them have fondled their preferred hunting rifle enough to look like they know how to operate it, or fucking hold it at least. Good ol' Wayne is holding that Blaser like it's an elongated, radioactive fucking potato that just beat him in an IQ test.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Maybe we should raise funds to send him on a Cape Buffalo hunt. With a bit of luck, it might solve the "Wayne LePierre problem" for good.

I was in a doc's waiting room and reading some old outdoor magazines (before the era of phone). It described a buffalo hunt. The great hunter guide and client were looking for a buffalo. There was one hiding in some foliage. The guide said he will flush it. Well, all of a sudden, the buffalo breaks cover with the guide impaled on it horns. One in his chest and the other pushing his scrotum inside his body (as later determined). The buffalo runs away. The hunt's staff just disappear. To the client's credit, he goes after the buffalo and finds the hunter. He manages to get him to village for an evacuation chopper.

I don't think that would make a good video.

[wvincent]

I was in a doc's waiting room and reading some old outdoor magazines (before the era of phone). It described a buffalo hunt. The great hunter guide and client were looking for a buffalo. There was one hiding in some foliage. The guide said he will flush it. Well, all of a sudden, the buffalo breaks cover with the guide impaled on it horns. One in his chest and the other pushing his scrotum inside his body (as later determined). The buffalo runs away. The hunt's staff just disappear. To the client's credit, he goes after the buffalo and finds the hunter. He manages to get him to village for an evacuation chopper.

I don't think that would make a good video.

Kind of depends on who's impaled.

[Eric_L]

Maybe we should raise funds to send him on a Cape Buffalo hunt. With a bit of luck, it might solve the "Wayne LePierre problem" for good.


Mark D. For NRA executive vacation/hunt coordinator!

[Eric_L]

I was in a doc's waiting room and reading some old outdoor magazines (before the era of phone). It described a buffalo hunt. The great hunter guide and client were looking for a buffalo. There was one hiding in some foliage. The guide said he will flush it. Well, all of a sudden, the buffalo breaks cover with the guide impaled on it horns. One in his chest and the other pushing his scrotum inside his body (as later determined). The buffalo runs away. The hunt's staff just disappear. To the client's credit, he goes after the buffalo and finds the hunter. He manages to get him to village for an evacuation chopper.

I don't think that would make a good video.

I like your posts Glen but you are missing the point on this……🤔

[Casual Friday]

Look at every single photo of Loppy holding a gun. He looks like you handed him a bag of HIV dicks. The guy is a clown. All hat, no cattle.

[JHC]

Yes he had a private herd of them. They were abandoned when Escobar was hunted down, and turns out they love it there.
Evidently they are becoming a major nuisance and have expanded into major rivers there.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56011594

Any ideas on what would be the natural predator of a hippo? Say in Africa?

[Poconnor]

My plan was a plains game & Cape buffalo hunt before I was 35. Getting married and 9/11 changed that. Urging Winchester model 70’s in 30-06 and 375 H&H was as far as I got. I vividly remember being told by my friends that went several times- plan on going back because it gets in your blood. Then he stressed - always carry your big rifle yourself. Never let the the Gun bearer carry it. If it goes bad the gun bearer will haul ass with your rifle. He suggested using a .375 H&H for every thing. Carry a solid load and a nosler partition load and use as needed

[Borderland]

Any ideas on what would be the natural predator of a hippo? Say in Africa?

IDK, I think crocodile's live in the same rivers but my guess is they don't kill many hippos. Probably a suicide mission.

[JHC]

IDK, I think crocodile's live in the same rivers but my guess is they don't kill many hippos. Probably a suicide mission.

That’s what I was thinking. Maybe pick off a calf here and there but . . .

[Joe in PNG]

If I remember correctly, the biggest natural killer of hippos is other hippos, especially males killing potential rival males.

[Clusterfrack]

I watched as much of the video as I could stomach. That's really grim, and not what the president of the NRA should be doing. I would expect any NRA president to be highly proficient with firearms. WLP looks like a clueless Fudd, surrounded by a bunch of other clueless Fudds. "Aim low" What the actual fuck?

I feel very sorry for the elephant, and for the future of the NRA.

[Joe in PNG]

WLP is not really a gun guy. He's an ambitious guy who is just using guns as a means to money, power, and influence.

[OfficeCat]

Too bad they edited out the part where WLP's wife puts a 6.5 Mannlicher round through the back of his head after boinking the pro with the .505 Gibbs.

[Joe in PNG]

Too bad they edited out the part where WLP's wife puts a 6.5 Mannlicher round through the back of his head after boinking the pro with the .505 Gibbs.

The Short, Happy Life of Wayne LePierre.

[Borderland]

WLP is not really a gun guy. He's an ambitious guy who is just using guns as a means to money, power, and influence.

The NRA operates in secrecy and has bylaws in place to make sure that WLP stays at the helm. It's a little bit like a dictatorships where the generals (directors) keep the president in power for monetary gain. Some are lobbyist payed by the NRA.





The NRA, though, has carefully consolidated its power, using bylaws to restrict the franchise to a small, insular, and carefully-curated group of this country's gun owners. The organization is an oligarchy, not a democracy, which is why it is able to take positions that its own members don't even support. It's also the reason that, as neat as Congressman Skinner’s bumper-sticker proposal might sound, real-life Americans who want to make their country safer are better off marching, donating, voting, knocking on doors, and making a few well-placed phone calls to the NRA's more lucrative business partners. All of which are meaningful actions, and none of which involve giving a giant pile of money to the NRA to spend as it pleases.

https://www.gq.com/story/nra-takeover-bylaws-leadership

None of this in anyway should be interpreted as me being anti NRA. I just renewed my membership. I'm just not a supporter of WLP. He's a total F'in dickhead.

[joshs]

The NRA operates in secrecy and has bylaws in place to make sure that WLP stays at the helm. It's a little bit like a dictatorships where the generals (directors) keep the president in power for monetary gain. Some are lobbyist payed by the NRA.






https://www.gq.com/story/nra-takeover-bylaws-leadership

None of this in anyway should be interpreted as me being anti NRA. I just renewed my membership. I'm just not a supporter of WLP. He's a total F'in dickhead.

That GQ article is lamenting safeguards that prevent someone like Mike Bloomberg from just buying enough life memberships to essentially have a hostile takeover of the Association. I'd say those are prudent measures. Our board meetings are open to all members, and any member can request a copy of the bylaws. The board meetings do tend to go into executive session when discussing planning, but that's pretty normal for any association or company. We can't reveal legal, legislative, or political strategy to our opponents.

I'm only aware of one paid lobbyist who is also a board member, that leaves 75 others who are not. The remainder of our lobbyists are all staff (including me) or contractors.

[Borderland]

That GQ article is lamenting safeguards that prevent someone like Mike Bloomberg from just buying enough life memberships to essentially have a hostile takeover of the Association. I'd say those are prudent measures. Our board meetings are open to all members, and any member can request a copy of the bylaws. The board meetings do tend to go into executive session when discussing planning, but that's pretty normal for any association or company. We can't reveal legal, legislative, or political strategy to our opponents.

I'm only aware of one paid lobbyist who is also a board member, that leaves 75 others who are not. The remainder of our lobbyists are all staff (including me) or contractors.

So with all the calls for WLP to step down for the good of the org, why has the board not seen fit to elect a new exec. VP? That would seem like a no brainer to me.

Maybe you don't know the answer not being a board member and I respect that, but the NRA is losing support because of WLP, as evidenced by the comments on a gun forum. Is the NRA tone deaf?

[Joe S]

Any ideas on what would be the natural predator of a hippo? Say in Africa?

Fully grown hippos? Mostly other hippos, either aggressive males or ornery moms. Occasionally, if one has been wounded/weakened through injury or sickness, an adventurous price of lions or group of crocs will take their chances.

Calves are hunted by crocodiles, lions, and hyenas if they get too far from mom.

In a hypothetical situation in South America, I think jaguars going for calves the most plausible scenario, although there is not generally the density of jaguars to really dent an established population, I would guess.

[Zincwarrior]

Any ideas on what would be the natural predator of a hippo? Say in Africa?

I honestly don't know. Crocodiles? People? The article said African dry periods hold them back whereas Columbian dry periods are only some rain per day...

[olstyn]

In a hypothetical situation in South America, I think jaguars going for calves the most plausible scenario, although there is not generally the density of jaguars to really dent an established population, I would guess.

Googling says that at birth, hippos are roughly comparable in size to adult capybaras, so I could see where in your hypothetical South American scenario, a big anaconda might go after a young hippo calf. Mostly I imagine the other animals all see hippos and think "nope, way too big and way too ornery; I'm not interested in being bitten in half while also being drowned today."

[OlongJohnson]

WLP has been the worst thing about the organization since I've been paying attention, and it's not even close.

Initially, he was a creepy, slimy-seeming guy who was absolutely tone-deaf on how to communicate outside his bubble. His public messages seemed to provide support to the Left's narrative that gun people were racist and Not Good People. He managed to project pure hatred of certain citizens of this country in a way I have not seen any other public figure do. I have been around a lot of freaks in my life and am pretty tolerant of people who are a little different on the inside, but he set off my disgusting-creep-o-meter like few other live humans ever have.

In recent years, the public information has come out that is far worse. It's not clear to me as a member (probably expired by now) what he actually does in the organization other than fight internal battles that wouldn't happen if he wasn't there and work to arrange things so the organization can't have a functional immune system that would normally eject someone like him, thereby ensuring his ongoing parasitization of the Association. His misconduct has brought dishonor upon the organization and its members and set back the cause substantially. It's unclear whether or not it crossed the line into criminal, but there's no question it has been extensively and severely unethical.

I cannot recall seeing any defense in the past five years of any positive value WLP brings to the organization, only justifications for his compensation along the lines of, "That's what executives get paid."

He needs to go, and every day that doesn't happen makes the NRA a weaker, worse, less effective organization.

What will it take to get him gone?

[Paul D]

Any ideas on what would be the natural predator of a hippo? Say in Africa?

Poachers and hunters. Maybe a croc or a lion if the hippo is a baby.

[okie john]

IDK, I think crocodile's live in the same rivers but my guess is they don't kill many hippos. Probably a suicide mission.

Jeff Cooper hunted quite a bit in Africa, and based on his writing he seemed to know all of the right people there. He tried several times to organize a dry-land hippo hunt. Plenty of guides would help him hunt hippos in the water but nobody would go for it on dry land--they all said it was too dangerous.


Okie John

[okie john]

It's unclear whether or not it crossed the line into criminal, but there's no question it has been extensively and severely unethical.

This.

I'd bet that someone at Ackerman McQueen had a hand in releasing that footage to settle scores.


Okie John

[RevolverRob]

This was so, so horrific and we paid for it.

Well, in the literal sense maybe some of y'all did. I haven't given money to the NRA in the better part of a decade.


Any ideas on what would be the natural predator of a hippo? Say in Africa?


Poachers and hunters. Maybe a croc or a lion if the hippo is a baby.

My response to JHC's question was going to be, "humans". Because pretty much nothing else in Africa is dumb enough to try to fight a full grown hippo. Undoubtedly there was something in the past that could have made a hippo into snack. But whatever it was has been dead longer than hippos have been alive.

---

Wayne LaPierre, more tone deaf than a band full of bassists.

Sorry bass players.

[Joe in PNG]

Wayne LaPierre, more tone deaf than a band full of bassists.

Sorry bass players.

I laughed. He's also got the massive ego of a lead singer.

[DDTSGM]

WLP has been the worst thing about the organization since I've been paying attention, and it's not even close.

Initially, he was a creepy, slimy-seeming guy who was absolutely tone-deaf on how to communicate outside his bubble. His public messages seemed to provide support to the Left's narrative that gun people were racist and Not Good People. He managed to project pure hatred of certain citizens of this country in a way I have not seen any other public figure do. I have been around a lot of freaks in my life and am pretty tolerant of people who are a little different on the inside, but he set off my disgusting-creep-o-meter like few other live humans ever have.

In recent years, the public information has come out that is far worse. It's not clear to me as a member (probably expired by now) what he actually does in the organization other than fight internal battles that wouldn't happen if he wasn't there and work to arrange things so the organization can't have a functional immune system that would normally eject someone like him, thereby ensuring his ongoing parasitization of the Association. His misconduct has brought dishonor upon the organization and its members and set back the cause substantially. It's unclear whether or not it crossed the line into criminal, but there's no question it has been extensively and severely unethical.

I cannot recall seeing any defense in the past five years of any positive value WLP brings to the organization, only justifications for his compensation along the lines of, "That's what executives get paid."

He needs to go, and every day that doesn't happen makes the NRA a weaker, worse, less effective organization.

What will it take to get him gone?

I don't know it will take, but it is apparent, to me at least, that he is an opportunist.

His wiki article offers scant background, as does this program by PBS: https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-gunned-down/

Seems to me he was a lobbyist who found a good gig and went for it.

According to several sources, he's not very personable or charismatic, prior to 1978 he wasn't a firearms enthusiast, unknown if he had any feelings regarding the 2nd Amendment before beginning work for the NRA.

Additionally, one former board member commented how WLP was adapt at seeing which way the wind was blowing and aligning himself with the prevailing wind. So it seems, had Harlon Carter not come along, WLP would today be passionately arguing for your hunting rights.

This, combined with what has been recently disclosed about other shenanigans, brings the term amoral to my mind.

[Poconnor]

WLP has been the worst thing about the organization since I've been paying attention, and it's not even close.

Initially, he was a creepy, slimy-seeming guy who was absolutely tone-deaf on how to communicate outside his bubble. His public messages seemed to provide support to the Left's narrative that gun people were racist and Not Good People. He managed to project pure hatred of certain citizens of this country in a way I have not seen any other public figure do. I have been around a lot of freaks in my life and am pretty tolerant of people who are a little different on the inside, but he set off my disgusting-creep-o-meter like few other live humans ever have.

In recent years, the public information has come out that is far worse. It's not clear to me as a member (probably expired by now) what he actually does in the organization other than fight internal battles that wouldn't happen if he wasn't there and work to arrange things so the organization can't have a functional immune system that would normally eject someone like him, thereby ensuring his ongoing parasitization of the Association. His misconduct has brought dishonor upon the organization and its members and set back the cause substantially. It's unclear whether or not it crossed the line into criminal, but there's no question it has been extensively and severely unethical.

I cannot recall seeing any defense in the past five years of any positive value WLP brings to the organization, only justifications for his compensation along the lines of, "That's what executives get paid."

He needs to go, and every day that doesn't happen makes the NRA a weaker, worse, less effective organization.

What will it take to get him gone?

How can I “like” this a million plus times?

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Olong nailed it for me.