NRA first vice president Charles Cotton opened the members' meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina by praising Wayne LaPierre and decrying the accusations against him and the NRA. He says opponents are lying about the group. Says the best lies are built on a smidgen of truth.
CEO Wayne LaPierre is now speaking. Says seeing someone wearing an NRA hat is like seeing the American flag. He says the group has accomplished extraordinary things and the NRA is under attack like the country is under attack.
"Our rock-solid defense of the Second Amendment is what gives every other amendment a fighting chance." - LaPierre.
LaPierre says he's never seen a more "sick, twisted" time in America. Says violence is sweeping the country and is fueled by politicians who despise mainstream American values.
This is a pretty typical LaPierre stump speech.
There are around 200 people here at the NRA members' meeting. That includes board members and their family. Lots of empty seats.
The crowd seems fairly supportive of Wayne thus far. There are dissenters, including Frank Tait, in attendance too.
Tait, who is trying to intervene in the New York case against the NRA in order to get rid of LaPierre, is planning to introduce a resolution calling on LaPierre resign. docs.google.com/document/d/1mX…
LaPierre is now attacking New York AG Letitia James (D.) for her corruption suit against the group. He calls it politically motivated. He (accurately) points out that James called the NRA a "criminal enterprise" and a "terrorist organization" while running for AG.
He calls the case against the NRA "outright political tyranny."
"There's a difference, as I've said many times before, between a bad guy with a gun and a good guy with a gun" - Wayne LaPierre.
LaPierre gets a short standing ovation as he finishes his speech. Though, not everyone stood. Of the millions of NRA members, there are maybe 150 or 200 here.
NRA Institute for Legislative Action head Jason Ouimet is speaking now. He says te NRA's political power comes from its large membership.
Ouimet says NRA members' activism stopped President Joe Biden from confirming his ATF director nominee David Chipman. He says the defeat is "devastating" to the president's gun agenda.
Ouimet gets a standing ovation as he leaves the stage.
The NRA mailed out 2.5 million ballots in its board of directors elections. About a hundred thousand valid ballots were actually cast.
Frank Tait asks if write-in candidates have a right of succession if current board members resign. Secretary John Frazer says no, only those on the ballot can succeed members who resign. This matters because the board decides who makes it on to the ballot in the first place.
You can also get on by petition but that isn't very common.
Tait's resolution is being read for consideration now. Here's the full copy: docs.google.com/document/d/1mX…
A board member has risen to object to the resolution. They're voting on whether to consider the resolution.
The resolution got voted down. About 10 members voted to debate the motion. More than 2/3rds voted against debating it. So, no discussion at all of the call for Wayne to resign. Meeting is adjourned.
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