Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Neal Knox keeps the NRA board under his thumb by stifling dissent, ousting independent thinkers, and conducting NRA business in secret meetings.The following excerpts from a leaked memo suggests how tightly he controls the board.

Notes:

Col. Wayne Anthony Ross, a current NRA board member and former first vice president who describes himself as “very conservative,” was nonetheless targeted by the leadership as a “moderate.”

Will P. Steg’Kemper, a board member from 1991 to 1995, was not renominated because, according to Ross, he was an “independent thinker.” In the memo, Steg’Kemper complains about secret Knox meetings directing board members how to vote — including one on the issue of whether Knox and Hammer should receive salaries, breaking a 125-year tradition of unpaid NRA leadership.

According to Steg’Kemper, Knox was not fond of board members who asked questions at meetings. “When you ask too many questions,” Ross told Mother Jones, “and you don’t vote the way you’re told, you don’t get renominated.”

Steg’Kemper describes how he went to a scheduled board meeting only to find an empty hall. Elsewhere, Knox had convened a secret meeting of the board without inviting Steg’Kemper.

In the official meeting, it became clear to Steg’Kemper that everyone else had been secretly briefed on how to vote. Motions were swiftly passed without discussion, even on radical changes in the bylaws.

Back to “Good Morning, Gun Lobby!”

LET’S TALK ABOUT OPTIMISM FOR A CHANGE

Democracy and journalism are in crisis mode—and have been for a while. So how about doing something different?

Mother Jones did. We just merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting, bringing the radio show Reveal, the documentary film team CIR Studios, and Mother Jones together as one bigger, bolder investigative journalism nonprofit.

And this is the first time we’re asking you to support the new organization we’re building. In “Less Dreading, More Doing,” we lay it all out for you: why we merged, how we’re stronger together, why we’re optimistic about the work ahead, and why we need to raise the First $500,000 in online donations by June 22.

It won’t be easy. There are many exciting new things to share with you, but spoiler: Wiggle room in our budget is not among them. We can’t afford missing these goals. We need this to be a big one. Falling flat would be utterly devastating right now.

A First $500,000 donation of $500, $50, or $5 would mean the world to us—a signal that you believe in the power of independent investigative reporting like we do. And whether you can pitch in or not, we have a free Strengthen Journalism sticker for you so you can help us spread the word and make the most of this huge moment.

payment methods

LET’S TALK ABOUT OPTIMISM FOR A CHANGE

Democracy and journalism are in crisis mode—and have been for a while. So how about doing something different?

Mother Jones did. We just merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting, bringing the radio show Reveal, the documentary film team CIR Studios, and Mother Jones together as one bigger, bolder investigative journalism nonprofit.

And this is the first time we’re asking you to support the new organization we’re building. In “Less Dreading, More Doing,” we lay it all out for you: why we merged, how we’re stronger together, why we’re optimistic about the work ahead, and why we need to raise the First $500,000 in online donations by June 22.

It won’t be easy. There are many exciting new things to share with you, but spoiler: Wiggle room in our budget is not among them. We can’t afford missing these goals. We need this to be a big one. Falling flat would be utterly devastating right now.

A First $500,000 donation of $500, $50, or $5 would mean the world to us—a signal that you believe in the power of independent investigative reporting like we do. And whether you can pitch in or not, we have a free Strengthen Journalism sticker for you so you can help us spread the word and make the most of this huge moment.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate