What You Need to Know About NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre Ahead of His Testimony Today 

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NEW YORK — Today, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre will take the stand in the Attorney General of The State of New York v. NRA trial, which centers on allegations by New York Attorney General Letitia James that NRA leaders, including LaPierre himself, improperly diverted millions of dollars from the non-profit to benefit NRA executives — including private charter flights and multi-million dollar retirement packages. 

“Wayne LaPierre has singularly come to define the gun lobby, but his legacy will ultimately be one of mismanagement and destruction,” said Nick Suplina, SVP of Law & Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. “Years from now, people won’t remember the private jets, expensive suits and yachts — they’ll remember the lives lost and the irreparable damage the NRA, under LaPierre, has done to our country. As the NRA’s doom spiral deepens, the gun violence prevention movement is only growing stronger, and we’ll continue to fight to hold the gun industry accountable for fueling America’s gun violence crisis.”

Here’s what you need to know about Wayne LaPierre:

• LaPierre served as CEO for over 30 years and has been the public face of the gun lobby ever since. He is also a key figure in the NRA’s embrace of far-right extremist ideology.

• Over the past five years, a series of investigations by journalists and state regulators, along with legal proceedings and sworn testimony, has revealed the NRA under LaPierre’s leadership to be an organization in chaos and financial peril.
  • The allegations and disarray swirling around LaPierre have led many members to abandon the NRA in droves.

• Since 2018, LaPierre’s use of private jets, yacht “security retreats” paid for by an alleged stakeholder in multiple NRA vendors, and a $17 million golden parachute have figuredprominently in several lawsuits and investigations of the NRA.
  • The New York Attorney General has alleged that the NRA spent $10 million on private jet flights for LaPierre. For instance, days after 26 people, including 20 children, were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, LaPierre and his wife reportedly took a private jet on the NRA’s dime to the Bahamas.

• During the NRA’s bankruptcy trial, former employees, confidants, and board members have testified that LaPierre’s management of the NRA was a “trainwreck” and the organization was run as “Wayne’s kingdom” where he employed what he himself allegedly called “management by chaos.”
  • Whistleblowers like former NRA President Oliver North, who testified at trial yesterday (summary here), have alleged that LaPierre had “total dictatorial control over the NRA” and had waged “a retaliatory campaign” against them.

• Testimony from LaPierre across multiple proceedings in recent years has led to a stream of embarrassing revelations. That includes:
  • September 24, 2019
  • March 22, 2021
  • March 23, 2021
  • April 7, 2021 (summary)
  • April 8, 2021 (AM, PM, summary)

To speak with an Everytown expert, please contact [email protected].