National Rifle Association Fires 3 High-Ranking Officials Political Infighting, Finances Played Role In Firings, Aide Says

Three high-ranking National Rifle Association officials, including Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre’s top aide, were fired this week amid growing tensions and financial pressures at the organization, NRA officials said Thursday.

Donald Rakestraw, who ran the NRA’s day-to-day operations, was let go Tuesday, along with his top aide, deputy executive director Denny McGuirk. J.O. McFalls, the NRA’s chief of staff, was also dismissed.

“To some extent, these guys were the victims of political infighting,” said one official familiar with the personnel moves. “But the financial picture is part of it, too.”

One NRA official, noting that all three either directly or indirectly owed their jobs to LaPierre, suggested that the embattled official has now lost key staff support upon which he relied for much of the organization’s daily responsibilities.

The gun lobby has also suffered mounting losses in recent years, with a membership drive and the purchase of a new headquarters building combining to drain the NRA’s cash reserves.

Officially, the NRA dismissed any suggestion that political in-fighting or the group’s finances had anything to do with the trio’s ouster.

“This is just part of ongoing efforts to shape the NRA to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future,” NRA spokesman Bill Powers said.

He declined further comment, and none of the three former workers could be reached Thursday.

NRA employees were briefed Wednesday on the firings, and a letter was mailed to the group’s board of directors, said the NRA officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rakestraw, a retired Air Force General, was brought on board by LaPierre soon after he assumed the NRA’s top staff position in 1991.

Rakestraw’s responsibilities were far-ranging, and included managing the operations of nearly every aspect of the NRA except its separate political lobbying wing.