NRA Board Endorsements And A Non-Endorsement

If you are either a Life Member or a 5-Year Member of the National Rifle Association, you should have received your ballot for the NRA Board of Directors in the March issue of the American Rifleman/American Hunter. There are 29 people listed on the ballot and the Nominating Committee has selected 28 for endorsement. However, you can only vote for 25 directors. Ballots must be returned and received by April 14th.

Dave Hardy has his endorsements for the board up here. He, like me, believes in strategic voting. This means only voting for the 5 or 6 that you consider the best. Dave categorizes them as either indispensable or very, very good. In the indispensable category he places Steve Schreiner, Carol Bambery, and Jim Porter. In the very, very good category he adds Sandy Froman, Lance Olson, and Bob Sanders.

Charles Cotton from the Texas Firearms Coalition and a current NRA board member has his endorsements up here. He, like Dave, endorses both Carol Bambery and Jim Porter. He adds Dwight Van Horn as well. He considers the three all very hardworking and people who get down in the trenches to do the heavy lifting.

Lt Col. Robert Brown, editor and publisher of Soldier of Fortune magazine and a NRA board member, has his endorsements up here. Col. Brown enthusiastically endorses Steve Schreiner for the board. SOF also recommends Tom King, Carol Bambry, Johnny Nugent, Jim Porter and Oliver North. Both Schreiner and King are on the front lines of the battle for the Second Amendment as they are in Colorado and New York respectively.

Jeff and Chris Knox of the Firearms Coalition has traditionally put forth endorsements. Their late father Neal Knox was one of the engineers behind the Cincinnati Revolt of 1977. This year they have not made any endorsements. They don’t think their endorsements would make any appreciable difference and that all the candidates they would endorse are pretty much assured election as are some that they aren’t too thrilled about.

Now for the non-endorsement.

Retired Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson is a current board member and has been nominated by the Nominating Committee. That said, it is time to thank him for his past service and send him off into retirement. I’m sure he is a fine person, an excellent shot, and a colorful character as are all of the old Texas Rangers.

His comments about semiautomatic firearms and magazine size to the Texas Monthly in 2007 (see video clip below) are just the sort of ammunition our enemies would love to exploit. On the gun boards around the country, there are many “fire Jackson” threads. As an example, see this one from Arfcom. Even MSNBC has noticed this and did a post on it entitled, “Young guns target ‘old school’ NRA board member.”

At this time in our fight for the Second Amendment, we need media savvy directors who are not going to tripped up by reporters with “gotcha” questions. Joaquin Jackson is not one of them. While his heart probably is in the right place, I just don’t think he helps the cause and should not merit re-election as a result.