Unbelievable -- Broken Promises!

I returned to San Jose, bewildered by the circumstances. I remember thinking that LaPierre and Baker had succeeded in just a few short months to do what Joe McNamara was unable to do in nearly 10 years -- I was out of the police profession and unemployed!

As mentioned, I was on the NRA board for some years, by then, and associated regularly with the officers and many board members. Many expressed surprise, but could offer no remedy. To be fair, I should mention that Baker, who I had looked to for leadership and support, could offer no explanation for my termination. He did offer me a position in ILA as a media representative. I found it difficult, at the time and under the circumstances, to take a position under the leadership of someone who had failed me miserably.

While attending the Board Meeting in Salt Lake City, I was asked in to a room where I was surprised to find just about everyone who I thought to be anyone in the NRA waiting. This included LaPierre and the NRA attorney, President Bob Corbin, Tanya Metaksa, and Neal Knox. LaPierre repeated an offer he had made earlier, and I was now being pressed by the group to accept.

I was offered a contract with NRA to organize, promote, and teach instructor training classes for a female-only audience. It was intended to provide me with income using the talents that I had developed in "my previous life". It was a generous offer, with one exception -- it required that I resign my position on the NRA board of directors.

I again refused with the same explanation to the group that I had given LaPierre previously. I felt a great sense of loss over the termination of my police career and training business in San Jose. I had quit the PD, not retired, with the confidence that I was continuing in the capacity of a genuine representative of law enforcement with my role at LEAA. Once that fell through, I realized that I had nailed shut the door behind me, only to have the one in front slammed shut. The only security I felt was in my position on the board, on the law enforcement committee, and a long-time participant and referee at the National Police Championships. I had spent 10 years with these people who I thought recognized my law enforcement experience, and I did not want to give up anything more!

I could not understand why it was necessary to resign my position as long as I fulfilled my obligation to report the income from the contract as required by the by-laws. There was no similar requirement when I held my board seat and accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars, including my salary, for LEAA operations. I was also privy to the fact that Metaksa and Hammer received a great amount of money from the NRA. 

Did I mention that I considered this group that I met with to be my friends, and THE most influential in the NRA? They pressed for an affirmative answer and asked what it would take to get me to resign my seat and still feel comfortable.

After careful thought, and not really wanting to ignore the advice of those I considered VIPs, I explained that I would resign my seat if I could get the Chairman's position on the Law Enforcement Assistance Committee (the Chair was resigning and it was open), and the Chief Referee position at the National Police Championship (that position was open). Those positions, along with the contract with the NRA, acknowledging (for me) my firearms training skills and law enforcement expertise, would satisfy my needs, I felt.

As a group, they agreed with my requests. LaPierre ordered the attorney to write up the contract and the meeting adjourned.

I immediately began developing the outline and designing materials for the women's training program. It came to be known as The Personal Protection Instructor Development Program. A contract was produced for the agreed upon training, and I soon became very much involved in traveling about the country delivering the seminars. 

When I occasionally asked about the committee and referee assignments, I was told not to worry. I was on the road, busy with what I felt to be another contribution to the firearms community. But I was never again invited back to referee the National Police Championships, and was refused the chairmanship of the Law Enforcement Assistance Committee.

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