08/21/2017

An open letter to the board of directors and the general membership of the national muzzle loading rifle Association.

I expected at this time to be writing my resignation as the head line officer of the chunk table youth and running boar line. However, that opportunity was not afforded to me as I found out that I had been replaced by a telephone call from my replacement. With the preceding in mind I have decided to write an open letter to all of you to expose what I believe are unethical decisions on the part of our association president. As many of you know my son is disabled and at the time was working for the national muzzle loading rifle Association. Shortly after his election, by the board of directors, the incoming, and current, president of the national muzzle loading rifle Association fired my son from his employment through the then managing director. Several things seemed askew about this firing and I therefore met with the executive committee of the Board of Directors to explain to them that I felt that this was an incorrect decision and if they continued on this course that the Americans with disabilities organization may become involved. For those of you who do not understand this organization, it is a governmental organization within the Department of Justice. Shortly after this discussion his employment was reinstated.
Unethical action number two that I’m aware of was the replacement of the primitive range officer without notification being given to the chief range officer of the national muzzle loading rifle Association prior to the action. It is my understanding that all Range officers work for and at the discretion of the chief range officer.
Unethical act number 3 was the cancellation, without the knowledge of the board of directors, a scheduled program by the Freemasons of the state of Indiana.  This event had been scheduled and planned with the open knowledge of the event by the general membership, by a member in good standing of the NMLRA and was to pay honor to the raising of two members in good standing of the NMLRA to full Freemasonry status. This cancellation took place on the Tuesday prior to the Thursday event and had been scheduled since the prior September. Without notice or consultation with anyone involved with the event the president of the Board of Directors merely canceled saying and “if we allow this we would have to allow the Ku Klux Klan” access to our grounds. Upon hearing, this I mentioned it to a brother Mason who became very disturbed. Shortly thereafter John Campbell, a member of the national muzzle loading rifle Association Board of Directors, parked his truck in the range that I was operating. I approached him in a gentlemanly fashion and asked him if he believed this to be a correct action on the president’s par and the, as I expected, agreed with the president. I made the statement, that I would be expecting to take this before the full board of directors. Sometime later most likely one to two hours, I received a visit from a very agitated president and the secretary of the national muzzle loading rifle Association’s Board of Directors. The president was very unprofessional raising his voice and claiming that I had no right to do what I had done, he did this in an open public forum where many of the shooters and bystanders could tell that there was a disagreement taking place. Both left in a hurry, in my opinion exceeding the speed limit of the grounds, and some 30 to 45 minutes later returned with a group, or should I say gang, of individuals consisting of the president, secretary, vice president, treasurer and two members of the board being John Temple and Edina cloud. The president was so boisterous that the range officer I had left in charge of the range  was forced to come out and asks us to move it farther away because there were once again shooters and bystanders that were being disturbed. The president brought board member John Campbell forward to speak to me and immediately took a physically threatening posture as if he desired to have a fight. Being a gentleman  I did not wish to have an altercation that would embarrass the Association. A rather one-sided discussion ensued at the end of which I was invited to leave the Association. Further, I was told “if I didn’t like the way the president was doing things that I could leave and not to let the gates hit me where the good Lord split me”.
Recently chief range officer Jerry Middendorf was forced to dismiss me as the head line officer of the chunk, table, youth and running boar line without explanation as to why I was being replaced. To the best of my knowledge, during my tenure as line officer, there have been no infractions of NMLRA rules that have not been corrected and no safety measures have been undermined which would certainly have led to an earlier dismissal. As stated earlier, I became aware of my dismissal only after receiving a phone call from my replacement, whom I am led to believe was placed in this position by the association president as opposed to being selected by the chief range officer.
  I feel that the actions above are very unethical and even childlike and I was unaware that my First Amendment rights should have been checked at the gate. I was also unaware that we no longer had a president but had moved into having someone who acted unilaterally as a monarch. I am therefore requesting that an ethics investigation be conducted on the president, secretary, vice president and board member John Campbell to determine if their actions meet the guidelines if the NMLRA charter and by laws. I found their actions to be personally embarrassing as well as embarrassing to the Association.
I feel that over the past several years that I have gone above and beyond the call of duty for the Association. I feel that these actions by the president and the executive board, were taken because of personal differences and dislikes and the fact that I would not yield to the president’s pleasure in his desire to act as a unilateral monarch.
Based on the preceding incidents and the hope that the board of directors will follow the guidelines set forth in the NMLRA’s charter and by laws, I will look forward to your early response.

Respectfully,

Robin Warner
#118565
cc: NMLRA B.O.D.
       General membership