Chris Cox is out.
The New York Times reported today that the National Rifle Association has suspended Chris Cox for his role in the Oliver North-led “coup” to oust Wayne LaPierre.
The move follows a lawsuit filed yesterday against Oliver North, the former NRA president who reportedly asked Wayne LaPierre to step down.
LaPierre, of course, has installed enough of his friends in high places on the NRA Board to block any effort to force his departure. So in the end, it was Oliver North who was forced from his presidency early.
Plenty of us know there has been some bad blood between LaPierre and Cox for some time. However, this move by LaPierre and his cronies will surely deepen the conflict within the organization’s headquarters and with its members. After all, Cox didn’t buy ten $20,000 suits and bill them to the NRA. Nor did he put up sorority girl interns in $4500 condos for their summer internships and bill it to the NRA.
Here is the announcement from The New York Times.
The palace intrigue at the National Rifle Association deepened on Thursday as the gun group suspended its second-in-command and top lobbyist, accusing him of complicity in the recent failed coup against its chief executive, Wayne LaPierre.
The accusation came in a lawsuit filed Wednesday night in New York State Supreme Court against Oliver North, the N.R.A.’s former president, who led the attempt to oust Mr. LaPierre shortly before the group’s annual convention in April. The complaint provides fresh detail about the effort against Mr. LaPierre, but it is the involvement of the organization’s No. 2 official, Christopher, W. Cox, that will reverberate.
In the suit, the N.R.A. said that text messages and emails demonstrated that “another errant N.R.A. fiduciary, Chris Cox — once thought by some to be a likely successor for Mr. LaPierre — participated” in what was described as a conspiracy.
The court filing includes text exchanges in which Mr. Cox and a board member appear to be discussing an effort to oust Mr. LaPierre, though the full context is unclear. The N.R.A. is conducting an internal review of the matter, and a spokesman, Andrew Arulanandam, said on Thursday that Mr. Cox had “been placed on administrative leave.”
Mr. Cox, in a statement, said: “The allegations against me are offensive and patently false. For over 24 years I have been a loyal and effective leader in this organization. My efforts have always been focused on serving the members of the National Rifle Association, and I will continue to focus all of my energy on carrying out our core mission of defending the Second Amendment.”
The suit — the latest in a series of legal actions stemming from the gun group’s internal turmoil — is likely to send new shock waves through the N.R.A. While Mr. North served as president for just one year, Mr. Cox has worked for the N.R.A. since 1995 and led its lobbying arm since 2002. He has been a leading presence at the organization’s gatherings, reliably serving up red meat for the N.R.A.’s base.
It seems that instead of trying to let this matter calm down and leave the public eye, the leadership of the NRA doesn’t mind continuing to pour gasoline on this internal conflict.
Thank you Chris Cox for the “Bump Stock” Ban, Magazine Bans, “Red Flag” Laws, and zero momentum on National Reciprocity, Constitutional Carry,… everything else the membership pays “dues” to accomplish for 2A!
I do not know whats going on with the NRA but it has gotten out of hand.
The NRA foolishly told Trump Bump stocks were garbage, so he banned them and made 500,000 people potential felons over-night.
The NRA has been playing games for some time and we gun owners need this to stop NOW!!!
i still have bad taste in my mouth over the NICS that the NRA supported and the 1968 GCA the NRA supported, and the 1986 ban the NRA supported, and the 1938 Gun Act the NRA supported and the 1934 NFA the NRA supported and last but not least the Illinois FOID card BS the NRA supported.
Did I miss any ????
I want to hear more about the $20,000 suits in the alpha chi I’ll-do-you condos!
As a life member of the NRA, I’ll just say two things, assuming you’re already a member of GSL.
Join Gun Owners of America: https://gunowners.org/ $20 per year
Join the 2nd Amendment Foundation: https://www.saf.org/ $15 per year
Do it right now while you’re thinking about it!
Moderator: Please change my name on the previouspost to “JM”. I didn’t realize this was the posted name.
Thanks.
I sure would like someone to give a complete breakdown on what is going on at the NRA. I hate to give them more money when they are not fighting for us against the Gun Grabbers.
Is it better to give to the 2nd Amendment Foundation. If we don’t fight our rights will be lost.
What is the NRA’s game plan to right this sinking ship?….is Wayne LaPierre now the dictator of the NRA who plans to put only”his” people in positions of authority while the Board of Directors sits by and does nothing….without a game plan how can the NRA expect their large donors like Larry Potterfield and others to be counted on to donate large sums of money each and every year, not to mention rank and file members like myself to renew our memberships each year…..not knowing who to really trust to take over the fight at the Federal level I may just keep my money closer to home and help out organizations like The Illinois State Rifle association and Guns Save Life to take on the fight at the state level…if you try to fight a war on multiple fronts, you are bound to lose……history bears this out….stay safe out there.
The best way for the very vital NRA to right the ship is for Wayne LaPierre to resign. I don’t know how many emails him or the NRA has got calling for just such an action but I know they have gotten at least one. That would be the one that I sent. I urge others to follow suit. “Well Suited” Wayne might be able to ignore a few scattered requests for his resignation but he can’t ignore a vast onslaught of them.
Remembering Ollie North past history, and the daily emails asking for more money is what cancelled my membership with the NRA. The NRA needs a re-organization that’s for sure.
NRA Life Member here. I was a fool.
I HATE these stupid so called “protectors of our 2nd amendment rights.”
They have proven to me that they are just another group of “anti gun rights activists.” Only interested in the MONEY! I contacted them after I was arrested for a firearms crime. They NEVER contacted me( a life member)I was left to my own resources with NO advice from our “Protectors” which is all I desired. Needless to say I dropped ALL support for the NRA.