Controversial Actions and Statements:
Ron Schmeits
Ron Schmeits (Board Member)
Former NRA President, CEO of International Bank Trinidad (Colorado) and International Bank Raton (New Mexico)
Schmeits, who was born and raised in Nebraska, began his career as a banker and later served as mayor of Jordan, Minnesota from 1976 to 1980. He joined the NRA Board of Directors in 2000 and served as president of the organization from 2009 to 2011. Schmeits has called the National Rifle Association “the only and the largest, I think, you know, freedom organization that there is in the world.”
Ron Schmeits (Board Member)
After promoting the conspiracy theory that the United Nations is attempting to ban private firearm ownership in the United States in a February 2011 column for America’s 1st Freedom, Schmeits wrote, “Thomas Paine once said, ‘It is the responsibility of the patriot to protect his country from its government.’ NRA will heed his warning even if no one else will … If foreign powers insist upon pushing their idea of ‘global norms’ across our borders, NRA will be the first to alert and mobilize the American people to stop them.” The Paine quote used by Schmeits is bogus—it has no legitimate source.
Ron Schmeits (Board Member)
During a speech at the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Schmeits said, “You look at a national level, we had 90-some changes [during the November 2010 elections] when you look at both houses [of the U.S. Congress], and you look at the state levels, it’s between 600 and 800 [in state legislatures]. When you look at the numbers out there that have changed for, you know, kind of the freedom rights of the citizens of the United States. You look at CPAC … you know, CPAC I think has gained more national news as we go along. We’ve got some of the greatest individuals making presentations here. You know, we have [Mitt] Romney who will be later on today. Donald Trump will be here. You know, so we got some people and then we look out at the crowd. That’s the future of our political system is those young people sitting out there listening and being a part of this great function that we’re at here today.”
Ron Schmeits (Board Member)
Schmeits wrote a “President’s Column” for the November 2010 issue of America’s 1st Freedom, in which he proclaimed: “The political class in Washington today wants to make you dependent upon them. They want to be the sole source, or controlling authority, over every aspect of your life. They want you to be beholden to them—so that you’ll vote them back into office for fear of losing their supposed ‘benevolence.’ And everything a firearm represents—independence, self-sufficiency, personal security, even the notion of a free and armed society—goes against everything they want to impose on this country.”
Follow @meetthenra
Drupal theme by Kiwi Themes.