I was out of town visiting the granddaughters from Thursday night on so didn't get a chance to put this up until tonight. On Friday, Buz Mills, owner of Gunsite and a NRA Director, released an open letter to NRA members and directors. In the letter, Mills says that much of the NRA's money issues are of its own making and that the only way to clear things up is through a thorough, independent audit. He goes further saying that he and fellow Board of Directors members have failed to provide the proper oversight and direction to staff and hired executives.
Mills' letter makes him the fifth director to openly call for an outside audit of the NRA. Tim Knight, Sean Maloney, Esther Schneider, and Robert Brown issued a call for it on July 22nd.
Mills' letter is below:
Owen Buz Mills
Gunsite Ranch, Arizona
26 July 2019
NRA Members / NRA Directors
I address this first to our NRA members; you are the reason for our existence. It is your money we are spending. Believe me; I know this. It is NOT our money; it is yours. Next, I address this to the Board of Directors; this is a call to action. You have a duty to act.
I have spent more than five decades as a supporting member of our organization as a life member. I have invested ten years serving as a member of your Board of Directors. I love Our NRA as I love my country. To me, Our NRA is synonymous with America, and I firmly believe that only Our NRA stands between America and the doom presented by the socialist progressives.
I can no longer bite my tongue and pray for the best to be done for me. I must now as I have done before for my country, take up the sword and the shield to ensure the continuance of our country, for if there is no NRA, there is no America.
As I testified on the floor of the Board of Directors in Indianapolis: Our current situation is the result of our own irresponsibility in not providing our staff and employees with adequate oversight and direction. While we have committees responsible for providing oversight, the reality is, they have not. I presented evidence of this abdication as demonstrated in previous Board of Directors meetings. There can be no doubt, the truth of the matter is spelled out in the minutes of these board and committee meetings.
Now we are the target of adventurous political opponents. All intent on securing their place in history as the one who took down Our NRA. The long knives are out, and we are the target. Our tender underbelly is exposed. How long can we last?
The quickest way to clear up all this superfluous innuendo, venom and invective clouding our lives is a professional, thorough and independent audit.
Surely one of the major firms involved daily in this science can accomplish this task and present to your Board the results in a timely fashion. Cost should always be a consideration, and since I am aware of costs we are currently incurring for legal work, this would be a pittance. President Oliver North recommended a similar course of action. I wholeheartedly agreed then and still believe this to be our only course to survival.
The results of this audit will be trusted and relied upon and set the standards for all not for profit membership organizations as Our NRA again leads the nation in setting the example all others only wish they could emulate.
Many board members have business dealings with our organization. I have been doing business with Our NRA for decades, my books are open, and I am proud of all the interactions Gunsite has had with Our NRA. I can not imagine any board member doing business with Our NRA not being willing to set the record straight. Why are we fighting this? It makes no sense.
It is incomprehensible to me that any member of our organization, from Mrs. Meadows, to past presidents, current officers, and board members cannot join me in demanding this action be taken immediately.
Yours for God, America and Our NRA
Audits seldom find problems. Most non-financial people think they are a kind of magic wand that ensures that an organization is clean. In fact, most cases of malfeasance or incompetence are discovered via whistle-blowers of one kind or another (ex-spouses are a rich source). That is, if they are found at all.
ReplyDeleteThis is especially true when you have the sort of Reign of Terror that you have documented below. People won't take a risk unless they think they are going down anyway.
What needs to happen is that WLP needs to go, even if it is found that he did nothing unethical in this mess. He was CEO when the wheels came off and needs to be replaced to restore confidence. Without this first step, the structural reforms and audit will accomplish nothing useful.
Right you are, unless it's a forensic audit. Normal audits assume the people running an organization are honest, and only spot check that by looking at a sample of available data, like "does this bank account really have the money the accounting system says it does?"
DeleteUnless our enemies are completely incompetent, or none of them believe they can afford or justify the cost, one or more forensic audits are going to happen, they're not cheap or fast.