NRA leadership is following through on promises of transparency and integrity, Doug Hamlin who replaced former head Wayne LaPierre tells annual meeting.
ATLANTA—Doug Hamlin, executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association (NRA), said the 154-year-old organization has implemented reforms to enable it to rise above its legal troubles.
“We’re making the changes we need to make the NRA stronger right where we are,” Hamlin told a gathering at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta on April 26.
The NRA’s new chief compliance officer, Robert Mensinger, told the gathering that the NRA now has the “gold standard” of accountability.
He was hired as one of 12 conditions handed down by New York Judge Joel Cohen in December 2024.
Mensinger works directly for the board of directors, not NRA management, which gives him the independence to report his findings without fear of retaliation.
Mensinger said board members and management have received training and adopted a mission statement that focuses on core values of integrity, accountability, and transparency. He said that so far this year, his office has received 36 reports of possible issues from NRA employees, volunteers, and members.
“That’s not a bad thing, that’s a good thing,” Mensinger said.
In his first compliance report, Mensinger listed travel expenses, including private jet travel, the costs of external contracts, and business arrangements involving an NRA officer, director, key employee, or their family members.
These are all issues that came up at trial in a lawsuit brought against the NRA by the state of New York.
As part of a court settlement, NRA directors, officers, and key employees completed financial disclosures, according to Mensinger’s report. In one case, a possibly excessive 2024 contract with a former board member was terminated, and a report on the matter will be made to the IRS, the report states.
“We’re trying to change the culture, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job. We have an effective compliance program now,” Mensinger told The Epoch Times.
According to his LinkedIn page, Mensinger spent 24 years in law enforcement with the Treasury Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Small Business Administration. He has spent the past 12 years as a corporate compliance officer, including the past 20 months with NRA.
