Wayne LaPierre

Wayne Robert LaPierre, Jr.{{cite news|last=Zorova|first=Gregg|date=June 25, 1995|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-25-ls-16843-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|title=The Sunday Profile : On the Defensive : Amid both political and public turmoil, NRA chief Wayne LaPierre has stood fast. But the : strains of combat—from within as well as without—are showing.|access-date=August 27, 2013}} was born on November 8, 1949, in Schenectady, New York,{{Cite web|title = LaPierre, Wayne R., 1949–|url = http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n94044458.html|website = id.loc.gov|access-date = January 22, 2016}}{{Cite book|title = The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2016|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=72kMCAAAQBAJ|publisher = Simon and Schuster|year=2015|isbn = 978-1600572005|language = en|first = Sarah|last = Janssen}}{{Cite web|url=https://dailygazette.com/article/2018/02/26/nra-leader-has-schenectady-roots|title=NRA leader has Schenectady roots|website=The Daily Gazette|date=February 26, 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305142733/https://dailygazette.com/article/2018/02/26/nra-leader-has-schenectady-roots|archive-date=March 5, 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Brock-Abraham|first=Cleo|date=April 18, 2013|url=https://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/origin-stories/|newspaper=Time |title=Origin Stories: Mapping the birthplaces of the 2013 Time 100|access-date=September 20, 2013}} the eldest child of Hazel (Gordon) and Wayne Robert LaPierre, Sr. His father was an accountant for the local General Electric plant. The LaPierre family trace their patrilineal heritage to a 17th century French ancestor who emigrated from the Brittany region of France to New France (now Quebec, Canada).{{Cite web|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Pierre-Meunier-dit-Lapierre/6000000005102044270|title=Pierre Meunier dit Lapierre|website=geni_family_tree|date=January 1643 }} His family moved to Roanoke, Virginia, when LaPierre, Jr. was five years old, and he was raised in the Roman Catholic church. LaPierre first received a student deferment, then a medical deferment (the cause of which is still publicly unknown) and therefore was not drafted into military service during the Vietnam War.{{Cite book |last=Mak |first=Tim |title=Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA |publisher=Penguin Random House, LLC |year=2021 |isbn=9781524746452 |location=United States of America}}

After divorcing his first wife, LaPierre married Susan Znidorka in 1998.{{cite book|last=Mak|first=Tim|title=Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA|place=New York|publisher=Dutton|year=2021|pages=7–8, 21|isbn=978-1524746452}}

Wayne LaPierre has been a government activist and lobbyist since receiving his master's degree in government and politics, including positions on the board of directors of the American Association of Political Consultants, the American Conservative Union, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/nras-lapierre-the-force-behind-the-nations-gun-lobby/2012/12/21/599e8b96-4b98-11e2-a6a6-aabac85e8036_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |title= NRA's Wayne LaPierre: The force behind the nation's gun lobby |date=December 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223012131/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/nras-lapierre-the-force-behind-the-nations-gun-lobby/2012/12/21/599e8b96-4b98-11e2-a6a6-aabac85e8036_story.html |archive-date=December 23, 2012 |url-status=live}}

Since 1991, he served as EVP and chief executive of the NRA, the largest gun rights advocacy and firearms safety training/marksmanship organization in the United States.{{cite web|last1=Garrett|first1=Ben|title=Biography: Wayne LaPierre A Look at the Life and Career of the NRA's Executive Director|url=http://civilliberty.about.com/od/guncontrol/a/Wayne-LaPierre-Biography.htm|publisher=About.com|access-date=July 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318044802/http://civilliberty.about.com/od/guncontrol/a/Wayne-LaPierre-Biography.htm|archive-date=2013-03-18}}{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/gun-industry-funds-nra-2013-1 |title=This Is How The Gun Industry Funds The NRA |work=Business Insider |date=January 16, 2013 |access-date=October 2, 2015}} LaPierre joined the NRA in 1977 after working as a legislative aide to Democratic Virginia delegate and gun rights advocate Vic Thomas.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/us/wayne-lapierre-the-gun-man-sticking-to-his-cause.html |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Shy No More, N.R.A.'s Top Gun Sticks to Cause |date=April 13, 2013}} LaPierre announced his forthcoming resignation from the NRA on January 5, 2024, to take effect January 31.{{cite web | title=Wayne LaPierre resigns as NRA leader, days before start of his civil trial | website=NBC News | date=January 5, 2024 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wayne-lapierre-resigns-nra-leader-days-start-civil-trial-rcna132553 | access-date=January 5, 2024}} In early 2024, Doug Hamelin was elected to replace LaPierre as Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer.

In 2014, NRA contributions totaled $103 million and LaPierre's compensation was $985,885. In 2015, NRA contributions totaled $95 million. In that year, LaPierre received a $3.7 million deferred compensation distribution from his "employee funded deferred compensation plan", which was required by federal law, and according to the NRA raised his total annual compensation to $5,110,985.{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/nra-ceo-compensation-jump-4-million-article-1.2968552 |newspaper=New York Daily News |title=National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre saw compensation jump more than $4 million as revenue soared |first=Jason |last=Silverstein|date=February 9, 2017 |access-date=February 22, 2018}}

On August 6, 2020, following 18 months of investigation, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a civil lawsuit against the NRA and LaPierre, as well as treasurer Wilson Phillips, former chief of staff and current executive director of general operations Joshua Powell[https://www.nrablog.com/about-the-nra "About the NRA", Retrieved August 6, 2020.] and general counsel and secretary John Frazer, alleging fraud, financial misconduct, and misuse of charitable funds, and calling for the dissolution of the association due to chronic fraudulent management.{{cite news |title=New York Attorney General Moves To Dissolve The NRA After Fraud Investigation |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/08/06/899712823/new-york-attorney-general-moves-to-dissolve-the-nra-after-fraud-investigation |work=NPR |date=August 6, 2020 |access-date=August 6, 2020 |author=Tim Mak}}{{cite web |last1=Hakim |first1=Danny |title=LaPierre, Longtime N.R.A. Leader, Faces Trial That Could End His Reign |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/02/nyregion/nra-lapierre-trial.html |work=New York Times |date=January 2, 2024 |access-date=5 January 2024}} The NRA attempted to have the case moved to Texas and the dissolution lawsuit dismissed, but federal Judge Harlin Hale of the Northern District of Texas ruled that the effort was made in bad faith.[https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-nra-bankruptcy-decision-20210511-dttowoqlcfgfdkr4xva5sy7cim-story.html Judge Rejects NRA’s Bankruptcy Bid, Sets Stage For Dissolution], New York Daily News, Stephen Rex Brown, May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021. LaPierre's compensation and exorbitant corporate spending on personal items such as expensive suits, home landscaping and mosquito treatment, chartered jet flights, and a traveling "glam squad" for his wife, drew attention in the eleven-day hearing.{{Cite news |last1=McKinley |first1=Jesse |last2=Cruz |first2=Liset |last3=Christobek |first3=Kate |date=2024-02-24 |title=N.R.A. Stung by Corruption Verdict Tied to Millions of Misspent Dollars |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/nyregion/lapierre-nra-verdict.html |access-date=2024-02-24 |work=The New York Times |pages=A1, A11 |language=en-US |volume=173 |issue=60074 |issn=0362-4331}} In March 2022, New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen denied the claim to dissolve the NRA, while allowing the lawsuit against LaPierre and the organization to move forward.{{cite web | title=Judge blocks NY's bid to shutter NRA, but lawsuit continues | website=CNBC | date=March 2, 2022 | url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/02/judge-blocks-nys-bid-to-shutter-nra-but-lawsuit-continues.html | access-date=July 19, 2022}}

On February 23, 2024 a six week-long civil trial concluded with the jury ordering LaPierre to repay the NRA $4,351,231 of the $5.4 million the jury found he had misspent. It also ordered the NRA’s retired finance chief, Wilson Phillips, to repay $2 million, found that the NRA omitted or misrepresented information in its tax filings, and violated New York law by failing to adopt a whistleblower policy.{{cite news |last1=Offenhartz |first1=Jake |title=National Rifle Association and Wayne LaPierre are found liable in lawsuit over lavish spending |url=https://apnews.com/article/nra-wayne-lapierre-trial-ruling-d4d9b950ee2cbd63380826eb2bf210e6 |access-date=23 February 2024 |work=AP News |date=23 February 2024 |language=en}}

File:Slide Fire Solutions Slidefire Stock on a GP WASR-10 AK-47 (no watermark).JPG (pictured here on a WASR-10 rifle).]]

LaPierre has called for the presence of "armed, trained, qualified school security personnel" at schools.{{cite news|title=NRA Calls for Armed Officers in Schools |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324461604578193364201364432|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=December 21, 2012 |author=Fields, Gary |author2=Colleen McCain Nelson}} At a press conference in the wake of the December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, LaPierre announced that Asa Hutchinson, former Arkansas congressman and DEA chief, would lead the NRA's National School Shield Emergency Response Program, saying "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun."

LaPierre blamed the Sandy Hook incident, and others like it, on "lack of mental health reform and the prevalence of violent video games and movies".{{cite news |url=http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/12/21/nra-only-way-to-stop-a-bad-guy-with-a-gun-is-with-a-good-guy-with-a-gun/ |title=NRA: 'Only Way To Stop A Bad Guy With A Gun Is With A Good Guy With A Gun' |date=December 21, 2012 |access-date=February 22, 2018 |work=CBS |location=Washington, DC}}

LaPierre has stated his support for the following:

• Increasing funds for a stricter and more efficient mental health system, and reform of civil commitment laws to facilitate the institutionalization of the mentally ill when necessary.
• Creating a computerized universal mental health registry of those adjudicated to be legally incompetent, to help limit gun sales to the mentally ill.
• Increasing enforcement of federal laws against and incarceration of violent gang members or felons with guns.
• Project Exile and similar programs that mandate severe sentences for all gun crimes, especially illegal possession. LaPierre stated, "By prosecuting them, they prevent the drug dealer, the gang member, and the felon from committing the next crime... Leave the good people alone and lock up the bad people and dramatically cut crime."Fields, Gary (August 5, 2008) [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121789872887012221 "Going After Crimes – and Guns"] The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
• Restriction on "bump-fire"-type rifle stocks, in the aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.
• Bans on fully automatic firearms.{{cite news|title=NRA's Wayne LaPierre says current regulations should be enforced better|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pk2LqqqtDs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/2pk2LqqqtDs| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|work=Face the Nation|publisher=CBS News|date=October 8, 2017|access-date=December 7, 2017}}{{cbignore}}

In 1995 in the aftermath of the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents, LaPierre wrote a fundraising letter describing federal agents as "jack-booted government thugs" who wear "Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms to attack law-abiding citizens."{{cite book |author=Feldman, Richard |title=Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist |url=https://archive.org/details/ricochetconfessi00rich |url-access=registration |year=2008 |publisher=John Wiley |page=[https://archive.org/details/ricochetconfessi00rich/page/236 236]|isbn=9780471679288 }} The term "jack-booted government thugs" had been coined by United States Representative John David Dingell Jr., Democrat of Michigan, in 1981, referring to ATF agents, and came to be frequently repeated by the NRA.{{cite news |last=Butterfield |first=Fox |date=May 8, 1995 |title=Terror in Oklahoma: Echos of the N.R.A.; Rifle Association Has Long Practice In Railing Against Federal Agents |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/08/us/terror-oklahoma-echoes-nra-rifle-association-has-long-practice-railing-against.html?pagewanted=all |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=April 7, 2014 }} Former president George H. W. Bush was so outraged by the letter that he resigned his NRA life membership.{{cite web |work=The New York Times |date=May 11, 1995 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/11/us/letter-of-resignation-sent-by-bush-to-rifle-association.html |title=Letter of Resignation Sent By Bush to Rifle Association |access-date=September 20, 2013}} In response to growing criticism, LaPierre apologized, saying he did not intend to "paint all federal law-enforcement officials with the same broad brush".{{cite news| first=Richard |last=Keil |newspaper=The Seattle Times |date=May 18, 1995 |title= NRA Apologizes for 'Jack Boot' Letter |agency=Associated Press |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19950518/2121718/nra-apologizes-for-jack-boot-letter |access-date=September 20, 2013}}

In 2000, LaPierre said President Bill Clinton tolerated a certain amount of violence and killing to strengthen the case for gun control and to score points for his party.Pear, Robert (March 19, 2000) [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/19/weekinreview/march-12-18-guns-don-t-kill-people-presidents-do.html "Guns Don't Kill People, Presidents Do"] The New York Times. Clinton White House spokesman Joe Lockhart called it "really sick rhetoric, and it should be repudiated by anyone who hears it".Lacey, Mark (March 20, 2000) [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/20/us/nra-stands-by-criticism-of-president.html "NRA Stands by Criticism of President"] The New York Times. In 2004, citing Democratic candidate John Kerry's history of authoring and supporting gun control legislation, LaPierre actively campaigned against the senator in the 2004 presidential elections.{{Cite news |last=Dao |first=James |date=2004-04-16 |title=The 2004 Campaign: The Gun Group N.R.A. Opens an All-Out Drive for Bush and Its Views |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/16/us/2004-campaign-gun-group-nra-opens-all-drive-for-bush-its-views.html |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

In response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, he connected gun violence with "gun-free zones", violent films and video games, the media, weak databases on mental illness and lax security, and called for armed officers at American schools in an effort to protect children from gun violence.Nakamura, David and Tom Hamburger [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/put-armed-police-officers-in-every-school-nra-head-says/2012/12/21/9ac7d4ae-4b8b-11e2-9a42-d1ce6d0ed278_story.html "Put Armed Police in Every School, NRA Urges] The Washington Post, December 21, 2012, p. 1{{cite web |url=http://www.thewrap.com/tv/column-post/nra-news-conference-interrupted-protester-banner-nra-killing-our-kids-70476|title=NRA Blames Films, Media, Video, Unarmed Schools for Massacres |first=Tim |last=Molloy|publisher=The Wrap |date=December 21, 2012 |access-date=December 21, 2012}} Following the event, several in the media criticized LaPierre's statements, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board{{cite news|title=NRA nonsense: LaPierre speaks for gun makers, not gun owners|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/editorials/nra-nonsense-lapierre-speaks-for-gun-makers-not-gun-owners-667834/ |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=January 3, 2013|date=December 26, 2012|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121231210633/http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/editorials/nra-nonsense-lapierre-speaks-for-gun-makers-not-gun-owners-667834/|archivedate=2012-12-31}} and The Atlantic{{'}}s Jeffrey Goldberg.{{cite web|first=Jeffrey|last=Goldberg|title=So Many Myths About Guns and Gun Control|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/so-many-myths-about-guns-and-gun-control/266806/ |work=The Atlantic |access-date=January 3, 2013}} Others also criticized the NRA's remarks, including Republican Party strategist and pollster Frank Luntz.{{cite web |last=Robillard|first=Kevin|title=Frank Luntz: NRA not listening to public |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/luntz-nra-not-listening-to-public-85490.html |work=Politico|date=December 26, 2012 |access-date=January 3, 2013}}

In response to the February 14, 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, LaPierre delivered a speech on February 22 at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in National Harbor, Maryland, in which he criticized the FBI, the media and gun control advocates. "As usual, the opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain. The elites do not care one whit about America's school system and schoolchildren. If they truly cared, what they would do is they would protect them. For them it is not a safety issue, it is a political issue ... [Gun control advocates] don't care if their laws work or not. They just want get more laws to get more control over people. But the NRA, the NRA does care."{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/wayne-lapierres-trumpian-base-strategy/553964/ |title=Wayne LaPierre's Cynical Exploitation of Outrage |quote="The NRA executive vice president's pugnacious speech on Thursday provoked an indignant response—exactly as he'd aimed to do." |magazine=The Atlantic |first=David A. |last=Graham |access-date=2025-02-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302171546/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/wayne-lapierres-trumpian-base-strategy/553964/ |archive-date=2018-03-02|date=2018-02-22}} David Graham of The Atlantic questioned his reference to "elites," since LaPierre earns millions from his work. LaPierre also argued that the constitutional right to keep and bear arms "is not bestowed by man, but granted by God to all Americans as our American birthright."

On April 27, 2021, a video emerged of LaPierre shooting an African bush elephant at point-blank range on a 2013 hunting trip in Botswana, "demonstrating that the nation's foremost gun advocate could barely shoot."{{Cite news |last=Hakim |first=Danny |date=2024-02-25 |title=LaPierre's N.R.A. Legacy: Stressing Guns and Money While Enriching Himself |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/24/nyregion/wayne-lapierre-nra.html |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The New York Times |page=A18 |language=en-US |volume=173 |issue=60075 |issn=0362-4331}} The video drew criticism from conservation groups.{{Cite news|title=Video shows NRA head struggling to kill wounded elephant from feet away: 'I'm not sure where you're shooting'|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/27/nra-wayne-lapierre-elephant-video/|access-date=2021-05-08|issn=0190-8286|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428111812/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/27/nra-wayne-lapierre-elephant-video/|archive-date=April 28, 2021|url-access=subscription|first1=Hannah|last1=Knowles|first2=Alex|last2=Horton|first3=Tom|last3=Hamburger|date=April 28, 2021}}{{Cite news|date=2021-04-28|title=NRA's Wayne LaPierre elephant hunt video sparks outrage|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56923507|access-date=2021-05-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428221000/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56923507|archive-date=April 28, 2021|url-status=live}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikiquote|Wayne LaPierre}}

• [http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/waynelapierrenraschoolshieldpresser.htm Wayne LaPierre's NRA Press Conference Announcing National School Shield Program], as delivered transcript, audio, video, December 21, 2012
• {{C-SPAN|26647}}
• {{IMDb name|2277575}}
• {{NYTtopic|people/l/wayne_lapierre}}

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{{s-bef|before=J. Warren Cassidy}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association of America|years=1991–2024}}

{{s-aft|after=Andrew Arulanandam (Interim)}}

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{{Authority control}}

{{National Rifle Association}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapierre, Wayne}}

Category:1949 births

Category:Living people

Category:American gun rights activists

Category:American political writers

Category:American people of Breton descent

Category:American people of French-Canadian descent

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:American television personalities

Category:Writers from New York (state)

Category:Writers from Roanoke, Virginia

Category:People from Schenectady, New York

Category:Siena College alumni

Category:Executive vice presidents of the National Rifle Association

Category:Catholics from Virginia

Category:Catholics from New York (state)

Category:Activists from New York (state)