Washington, DC — The hits just keep on coming for NRA top echelon leadership — specifically NRA President Wayne LaPierre.
Instead of being out front fighting Red Flag Gun Confiscation, gun registration, new government databases, and elimination of private sales, Wayne LaPierre is now dealing with the public embarrassment of information being slowly released detailing lavish spending he and his wife participated in over the last number of decades.
A few months back, it was revealed LaPierre spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions from NRA members on fine suits bought in Hollywood, and on high end Italian loafers.
Then last week, we wrote a story about a more than $5 million Dallas, TX golf course mansion that LaPeirre and his wife almost received using the NRA member contributions.
News today is out indicating LaPierre’s wife, Susan, took a liking to Nashville, TN based hair and makeup artists, who traveled around the country (paid for by NRA members) to do her hair and makeup.
To be fair to Mrs. LaPierre she was (and maybe still is) a spokeswoman for NRA women’s leadership forums.
The Daily Wire described her role this way:
“Susan LaPierre, the wife of longtime NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, is one of the gun organization’s many public faces, and co-chairs its Women’s Leadership Forum. She often speaks at that group’s annual gatherings for female NRA supporters. And for years now, the NRA has paid for a makeup artist and a hair stylist, both based in Nashville and plugged in to the country music scene, to do LaPierre’s hair and make-up at events around the country, according to two sources familiar with the arrangements.”
If asked to give an honest opinion, most NRA members likely wouldn’t object to the leaders of their organization looking presentable when in public — put together, clean, nice hair, nice suit.
They probably wouldn’t even object to Wayne and other top leaders going out to a nice dinner with high dollar donors who pump considerable financial resources into the organization.
However, the line is crossed when people start hearing about private planes, expensive Italian loafers, Hollywood suits, hair and makeup artists flown from all over the country.
These are wasteful spending practices that most NRA members never would approve of. They want their money going to fight for the Second Amendment or shooting sports.
Which brings us to where we are now . . .
The NRA has been severely weakened in recent months in light of the infighting on their board, at top leadership levels and wasteful spending practices.
And not only that, just in the last 2.5 years, they’ve supported “FIX NICS” expansions of the federal government no gun database, provided political cover in support of President Trump’s “Bump Stock Ban”, and produced a video still available today on YouTube expressing support for “Red Flag” gun laws (extreme risk protection orders).
With DC banging the drums (President Trump included) for gun control after El Paso and Dayton, gun owners have to wonder what exactly it is that the NRA is doing.
Are they telling the President what gun controls they will support? Are the fighting with everything they have behind the scenes to kill gun control?
Have they sent out an email urging their members to oppose gun control on Capitol Hill? (NO)
This Hair and Makeup spending scandal is unnecessary and whether they admit it or not, continues to weaken their image in the eyes of gun owners who are flocking to state-level gun organizations and even national ones like the American Firearms Coalition.