Wayne LaPierre, the man who boosted the National Rifle Association in the United States, resigned ahead of his corruption trial. International

To his supporters, Wayne LaPierre was a staunch defender of freedom. To his detractors, he embodied the worst excesses of the firearms industry’s influence on American politics. This Friday, the leader of the National Rifle Association (NRA), Ek lobby The country’s most powerful announced his resignation on the eve of a civil court hearing citing alleged corruption and health reasons.

The resignation of LaPierre, 74, has been accepted by the association’s board of directors and will take effect on the 31st of this month, as announced by the civilian firearms advocacy group. “I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment (right to bear arms) freedoms. “My passion for our cause is brighter than ever,” the outgoing CEO, who will be replaced by current COO Andrew Arulanandam, said in a statement.

The NRA corruption trial is scheduled to begin next Monday in New York. There, and after a three-year investigation concluded in 2020, prosecutor Letitia James accused the resigned leader of siphoning millions of dollars from the pressure group’s account for his personal use, including flights on private planes, haute couture suits and other luxury products.

“The NRA’s influence is so powerful that it went unmonitored for decades, while top officials pocketed millions of dollars,” James claimed when filing the charges. “The NRA is riddled with fraud and abuse, which is why we’re trying to dismantle it, because no organization is above the law.”

LaPierre rose to the top of the organization in 1991, which he turned into an instrument of pressure in favor of gun-friendly laws, with the ability to mobilize millions in defense of the freedom to bear arms. A steady increase in shootings and victims over the past three decades. In 2023 alone, 656 incidents were reported – in about two days – in which at least four people were injured, according to a tally by the NGO Gun Violence Archive. About 19,000 people have lost their lives.

Under his leadership, the group’s support became sought after by candidates for political office, particularly in the Republican Party. Having an “A” or “Excellent” rating from an organization can make the difference between a candidate being selected or failing. But despite his close ties to the political world, his public narrative emphasized a populist message, one in which elites in power sought to disarm and threaten ordinary citizens. “They don’t like that the people who clean their floors, clean their clothes and serve them food get the same protection as their armed bodyguards,” said one of their ads in the 2016 election campaign.

His influence skyrocketed from the beginning of the 21st century. The attacks of September 11, 2001 unleashed the sale of firearms in the United States, particularly firearms that were banned during the Bill Clinton era and whose vetoes are unthinkable in the United States today. A trend that grew during Barack Obama’s tenure (2009-2017): As of 2014, every gun owner owned an average of eight copies. There were more rifles and revolvers in the country than people: 400 million of the former and 330 million of the latter. “The only thing that stops an armed bad guy is an armed good guy,” the association proclaims, although the data contradicts that: an FBI study found that between 2000 and 2013, only one in 160 incidents involving firearms, 2008 In, a “well-armed citizen” managed to stop the shooting.

The organization’s advertising investment in 2016 represented an important boost to the White House arrival of Republican Donald Trump, who as a candidate redoubled his efforts to present himself as a passionate defender of the right to bear arms.

A shooting of the caliber of the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, where twenty children and six adults died, or at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people died and another 17 were injured in February. 2018, the lobby’s reputation suffered a serious blow.

By the end of 2018, states had passed three times as many gun control measures as in 2017. In that year’s midterm elections, gun control groups spent more money on advertising than the NRA and were forced to lose at least eight election candidates whom the association supported with its coveted A rating. In 2022, Republicans and Democrats reached an agreement to advance a bill that imposed certain limitations on access to and possession of firearms.

From its peak, when it had nearly six million members in 2017, the group has continued to lose members and today has 4.2 million members on its list. His income has fallen 44% since 2016, while his legal expenses have skyrocketed.

His loss of prestige in part of American society paralleled internal strife over allegations of corruption and fraudulent management, which attracted James’ attention to begin an investigation of the association. Among other things, leaked tax documents show that LaPierre billed the NRA for $275,000 spent at a luxury boutique in Beverly Hills and about $250,000 on personal flights to the Bahamas and Italy.

“The end of Wayne LaPierre’s era at the head of the NRA is an important victory in our case,” the prosecutor commented on social networks after announcing the resignation of the defendant. “LaPierre’s resignation supports our allegations against him, but it will not protect him from being held accountable. We are waiting for time to present our case in court.

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