NRA Chief Fights Off Efforts to Oust Him

The head of the National Rifle Assn. staved off efforts by dissidents seeking his removal and gave a passionate defense of his five-year tenure, saying he brought the gun lobby back from “almost certain collapse.” The efforts to oust Wayne R. LaPierre Jr., the NRA’s executive vice president, at a meeting of the board of directors in Arlington, Va., stemmed in part from the concerns of his critics that the NRA has been running multimillion-dollar deficits, that membership is sliding and that the group is losing influence and stature. The board tabled a proposal that would have weakened LaPierre’s authority.