Less a Powerhouse Than a Parasite: What happened to the NRA?

• Author: Tuccille, J.D.
• Position: BOOKS - Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA

WAYNE LAPIERRE, HEAD of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and supposed political giant, is actually an indecisive wimp who hides from staff, from public appearances, and from conflict while enjoying the perks of running a well-heeled nonprofit organization. That's one juicy revelation in Tim Mak's Misfire: Inside the Downfall of the NRA, an eye-opening and often gossipy expose of the financial shenanigans and abuses of trust behind the organization's legal woes. The NRA's political enemies are savoring its troubles, but the book leaves the impression that the greatest beneficiaries of the group's implosion could be advocates of self-defense rights, who could gain more honest, competent representation.

"After the shootings in Columbine High School in 1999, NRA higher-ups had a series of tense strategy sessions," Mak, an NPR correspondent, writes. "When NRA executives and consultants arrived at one especially high-stakes meeting, they spotted wingtip dress shoes sticking out from behind the floorto-ceiling drapes. Wayne had gotten so overwhelmed by the situation that he hid behind the curtains, apparently for comfort."

Wayne Anthony Ross, a conservative Alaskan attorney, once said LaPierre has the "backbone of a chocolate eclair." (That must make for interesting interactions, since Ross currently serves on the organization's board of directors.) "His heart was never really that much into gun rights advocacy," Mak writes of LaPierre.

If LaPierre is so timid, how can the organization he has run since 1991 wield such clout? Part of the answer lies in the Oklahoma City-based Ackerman McQueen advertising agency, which represented the NRA for decades before the relationship degenerated into recriminations and litigation. Ackerman CEO Angus McQueen "shaped the public image of Wayne LaPierre as a Second Amendment warrior," Mak reports, to the point that LaPierre called the ad man "Yoda." In the process, McQueen and his well-compensated firm often displaced the NRA's in-house talent on policy and messaging. They also pushed the organization into white-elephant projects, such as NRATV, on which tens of millions of dollars were wasted.

In addition to advice, McQueen apparently passed along a taste for the finer things. From an early rumpled disdain for personal appearance, LaPierre, along with his wife and their cronies, developed an affinity for pricey clothing, private jets, and five-star accommodations. Personal expenses were regularly charged to...