I am proud to endorse Jacqueline “Jaci” Janes for the NRA Board of Directors. I have known Jaci since we both attended the Lucky Gunner Blogger Shoot all the way back in 2011. We have kept up with one another over the years whether it was running into one another at a NRA Annual Meeting, the SHOT Show, or another event.
When I began to seek out people who I thought could bring something to the Board of Directors to nominate, I was looking for not only reform-minded individuals but people who could bring multiple talents to the Board. Jaci is such an individual.
Obviously from her shirt you can tell she is a competitor. Participation in competition is just one thing the Nominating Committee is seeking.
Jaci goes well beyond that.
She was a volunteer for the NRA-ILA in Arizona for 14 years. Indeed, she was the co-recipient of the Jay M. Littlefield Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award for 2012 along with her partner Robert Messenger. She knows the grassroots and has helped organize it.
She served a 3-year term as a director of the Phoenix Rod & Gun Club including one year as membership director.
Jaci has been a marketing professional for over 30 years including 10 within the firearms industry. She is currently the Director of Marketing for Apex Tactical Specialties in Peoria, AZ. Along those lines, she knows social media and how to use it for marketing.
Jaci is running for the Board by both petition and is seeking nomination by the Nominating Committee. I encouraged her to do it both ways.
Her petition is below and I think you should sign it if you are a voting member of the NRA. Both the Complementary Spouse and I have signed.
As a reminder, a voting member is either a Life Member or a 5-year, continuous with no breaks, Annual Member.
Gov. Josh Stein (D-NC) vetoed two firearms related bills in June and July. SB 50 – Freedom to Carry NC was vetoed in June and it provided for permitless concealed carry. It has received most of the attention. HB 193 – Firearm Law Revisions has received must less attention. That bill would allow private schools to arm staff or volunteers with firearms or stun guns provided they had extra training over and above their NC Concealed Handgun Permit. It additionally would allow persons with a carry permit to carry at churches which also had an attached school outside of school hours and events. The bill has other provisions regarding threats to public officials. Stein vetoed this bill on July 9th on the grounds of it would make children less safe.
This morning the NC Senate voted 30-19 to override the governor’s veto of SB 50. Additionally, the NC House voted 72-48 to override the veto of HB 193. However, according the General Assembly’s website, the veto override of HB 193 initially failed in the Senate but Sen. Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick, Columbus, & New Hanover) later switched his vote to Aye. This means that the veto of HB 193 has been overridden in both houses of the General Assembly and will become law.
Photo by The Humble Southpaw
Everytown and their affiliated groups were very quick to criticize the Senate for their veto override calling it “politics over public safety” which is utter BS. In their press release they allege that North Carolina has the 23rd highest rate of deaths attributed to firearms in the nation. That sound really bad until you realize that the Tar Heel State is the 9th largest in the country by population. That means we have a lower than average death rate per capita.
Now it is up to the NC House to override the veto of SB 50.
The only way that Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of both SB 50 and HB 193 will be over-ridden is if the Republicans in the North Carolina House stay together. That plus one to three House Democrats need to be absent on the day of the vote. This is just like last session in which the pistol purchase permit was finally repealed.
GRNC issued an alert yesterday along with a call to action.
TELL ALL HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO OVERRIDE STEIN’S VETOES OF CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY & PROTECTION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS
UPDATE & ACTIONS
2A Friends and Defenders,Senate Bill 50 (“Freedom to Carry NC”) and House Bill 193 – bills that would restore your right to carry concealed without a government permission slip—WERE VETOED by Anti-2A Governor Josh Stein. His excuse? That they would “make North Carolinians less safe.” Something we all know is not true.
Make no mistake: these vetoes are not about safety. It’s about control.
Several so-called “Republicans” dodged the vote entirely. Rather than standing with their constituents and defending liberty, they chose political self-preservation over the Constitution.
You should have seen the Alert sent yesterday to address the betrayals by Ted Davis (R-Iredell) and Bill Brisson (R-Bladen, Sampson)—now permanently branded the “Treachery Twins.” They voted against SB50, siding with the Left and betraying the very voters who put them in office.
Let us be crystal clear: if Davis and Brisson once again turn their backs on us during the override vote, they will be held responsible for killing permitless carry in North Carolina. GRNC’s Political Victory Fund is watching. And when election season comes, we will remember.
We don’t beg. We demand our rights.
Prepare to fight. Prepare to call. Prepare to vote out every last Anti-2A politician who stands in the way of your freedoms.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED
CONTACT ALL NC House Republican Members: Email them again.
Tell them to override Stein’s Vetoes of Both SB50 and HB 193. Use the e-mail lists below. You will need to send multiple e-mails, thank you for very much for your efforts
Below, find a copy-paste email list(s) so you can use to easily contact these representatives. Beneath that, in the Deliver This Message section, find the copy-paste message to use.
Suggested Subject: Stand Firm — Override Stein’s Anti-2A Vetoes
Dear NC Representatives: I’m writing to demand that you stand firm and vote to override Governor Josh Stein’s disgraceful vetoes of SB50 (“Freedom to Carry NC”) and HB193. These bills represent a long-overdue return to Constitutional principles—SB50 removes the permit requirement for concealed carry, and HB193 empowers private schools to protect their students using trained, vetted volunteers. approved by the schools.
The governor’s vetoes are rooted in nothing more than tired anti-gun fearmongering and outright disregard for the rights of law-abiding citizens. I urge you to ignore the emotion-driven theatrics from House Democrats and the Anti-2A organizations and do what is right—not what is politically convenient.
29 states—three-fifths of the country—have constitutional carry. North Carolina must no longer lag behind. We were promised Constitutional Carry in 2023. We expect it in 2025. That promise must be kept.
Let me be clear: gun owners were instrumental in securing Republican majorities in the General Assembly. We did not vote for compromise. We voted for courage. We expect our representatives to fight for freedom, not fold under pressure.
I’ll be watching how you vote. So will thousands of gun rights voters across this state—through legislative alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.
Vote to override. Deliver the freedom we were promised.
Wake County has approximately 1.1 million residents. I have to believe that more than just a handful believe in gun rights and believe that permitless concealed carry is the way to go. Gov. Josh Stein (D-NC) has vetoed bill dealing with permitless carry and for the protection of students attending private schools. These vetoes must be over-ridden.
Grass Roots North Carolina is organizing a rally at the Legislative Building to push for the override of these vetoes. It is not a sure thing as two House Republicans voted against SB50 – Freedom to Carry NC and another 10 just happened to be absent on the day of the House vote. GOP politicians need to start doing more than just providing lip service to their supposed support for the Second Amendment and gun rights. The veto of SB 50 should be over-ridden in the Senate as Sen. President Pro Tem Phil Berger has his supermajority. It is up to House members to do the same and for Speaker Destin Hall to work his magic on scheduling the vote. The GOP in the House is one short of a supermajority and will depend on a few Democrats being absent.
We have fought for this too long and too hard for it to be postponed another two years. If you are in the Raleigh and can take a morning off of work, please be there.
Here is the information on the GRNC rally:
ATTEND NEXT WEDNESDAY IN RALEIGH: Please plan to be at the General Assembly Legislative Building, Wednesday morning (7/30/2025), by 8:30 AM (or as soon as you can be there). Meet at “Printed Bills,” and there will be a GRNC representative there to fill you in on details as soon as they are available. See below for directions. Please dress for the press, business casual or nicer clothing is requested.
PLEASE RSVP: If you can make it, please email us at DirectorOfDevelopment@GRNC.org and let us know how many will attend. The more, the merrier. Check your email for Alert Updates.
PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO GRNC: Help us fight gun control while we promote Second Amendment principles. Please CLICK HERE to contribute. Bear in mind that GRNC is an all-volunteer organization, so you can be sure your donations are put to the best possible use. Any amount helps, and any amount is appreciated.
EVENT DETAILS
WHEN:
Wednesday, 7/30/2025 at 8:30 AM (or as soon as you can be there)
This being the middle of the work week or “hump day”, I thought some off the wall dark humor might help you get through the rest of it.
I stumbled across this short video by comedian Nazeem Hussain yesterday. In the video he is “working” with a charity in Uganda called “guns for Africa”. If you don’t appreciate dark humor or are a member of the gun control industry, stop now and go elsewhere. You will be offended and that is not my intent.
Do not say I didn’t warn you.
By the way, I do think $50 for a grenade launcher is good value.
Bear in mind that the Final Judgment mandated that the Nominating Committee should “endeavor” to find 20 additional candidates for the board who were qualified (5+ years as a Life Member and conflict free) and who had not served more than one term of office on the Board prior to 2022. In other words, Judge Cohen didn’t want to see the same old 25 or so people being nominated for the Board of Directors year after year.
Part of the nomination process approved by the court was for the Nominating Committee in consultation with the officers to develop a list of attributes that they were seeking in candidates for the Board. I reached out to Buz Mills who is chair of the Nominating Committee for this list of attributes. With his permission, here is the list that was developed.
The following attributes were identified as skills particularly desired over and above those normally evaluated:
Gap Analysis:
Insurance / risk management experience
Finance / Investment review
Competition Shooting
Membership organizational experience
Gun Collectors
Minorities (Hispanic, Black, Asian)
Younger individuals with business or program background
Other qualifications desired:
Ability to communicate effectively
High level of passion for the NRA and our advocacy
Availably to dedicate a great deal of time to the Association
Availability to commit to extensive travel
Great social media skills
Industry professionals
Media influencers
If you know of someone who be a great Board member, nominate them! Nominations have to be in to the Nominating Committee by August 3rd in order for nominees to fill out the requisite paperwork and for the Nominating Committee to evaluate it.
If you would like to run by run by petition, you need to request the petition (and nomination) package from the Secretary’s Office. I would send an email to Laura Green, the Assistant Secretary, at lgreen@nrahq.org to request it. She will send you the packet and will set up your online link to your petition.
As I have said before elsewhere, the Board will only be as good as those we have on the ballot. To be brutally honest, write-in candidates have little to no chance of being elected. I could be wrong but the only person I know of who got elected by way of a write-in vote was the late Charlton Heston and that was almost 30 years ago.
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals is no friend of gun rights or gun rights organizations. Despite NRA v. Vullo being remanded back to the 2nd Circuit by the Supreme Court in a 9-0 decision for rehearing, the Court of Appeals found that Maria Vullo and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) were covered by qualified immunity.
The NRA released this statement on the ruling.
The Second Circuit has regrettably declined to reverse itself on the issue of whether the defendants have immunity for their actions. This is not a decision on whether their actions were proper but rather a finding that they have immunity from liability for such actions. NRA is exploring all legal action in appealing this ruling from the Second Circuit, up to and including petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court, which has previously vindicated our assertion that these actions may have violated our First Amendment rights. “Although we are disappointed in the Second Circuit’s ruling, we are confident in our position and are evaluating all appropriate next steps,” said NRA CEO and EVP Doug Hamlin.
You may read the Second Circuit opinion by clicking here.
Given you had two judges appointed by Pres. Barack Obama and the third by Pres. Joe Biden, one should not be surprised by this ruling. Only 11 judges out of the 27 senior and active judges on the circuit were appointed by Republican presidents.
As I wrote earlier, Charlie Brown was part of our NRA 2.0 team running for the NRA Board of Directors last year. Thanks to two hurricanes and the lack of leeway in the Bylaws on the submission of petitions, his arrived a day or two late. He should have been on the regular ballot and should not have had to run as a write-in candidate.
He is again running as a petition candidate for the NRA Board and I have endorsed him. You can find a link to his petition here. He brings a wealth of management and marketing experience. Moreover, it is experience in managing and marketing a firearms company.
Frank Tait has assembled the first set of candidate biographies. This is for Ken Bowra, William Askins, and Jerry Kraus.
You can read them here. I have done thumbnails of the biographies and you can read them below.
Ken Bowra is a retired Major General (Army) who commanded special forces units at all levels. He then went on to the Department of Energy as well as a serving as a diplomat in the State Department. Along the way he amassed experience in running non-profits as the president of the Virginia War Museum Foundation and as a trustee of the Special Operations Association Foundation.
William Askins is a retired USMC officer who also had experience serving with the CIA’s Clandestine Services. If the name Askins rings a bell, it is because he is the son of Col. Charles Askins and grandson of Maj. Charles Askins. More importantly for our purposes, he was a participant in the Cincinnati Revolt of 1977 and went on to serve as Harlon Carter’s executive assistant. He also served as the Deputy Director of the NRA’s publication division.
Finally, Jerry Kraus has served as an ILA Volunteer Election Coordinator over a many year period. Currently a mortgage broker, he has over 30 years of experience in sales, finance, marketing, business strategy, and development. He is an avid marksman and hunter who both competes in events like IDPA and has hunted Africa and Alaska.
The NRA Bylaws (Art. VIII, Sec. 3(b)) state that all petition signatures must be received within 45 days after the Nominating Committee meets. With the Nominating Committee meeting on August 23, 2025, the cut-off date to submit petition signatures is October 7, 2025 or 85 days from now. The bylaws as they stand now have no provision for the extension of this date for force majure, hurricanes, or any other thing that would make it hard to get the signatures to the Office of the Secretary on time.
Click picture for link
The other deadline that is critical is August 3rd. This is the day by which names are to be submitted in nomination to the Nominating Committee for consideration. You can nominate a candidate for the Board of Directors online. You will need both their membership number and your own membership number along with addresses, etc. Just to be on the safe side, I think a conversation with the person you are nominating would be a good first step. He or she might have other commitments that would make serving on the Board a problem.
If running by petition, a candidate needs 0.5% of the number of participating voters in the prior year’s election. For 2026 this number is 363 which is one of the lowest on record. In the past, petitions were always on paper and each signature had to be verified by hand in the Office of the Secretary. However, as the New York court mandated in the fifth point of its Final Judgment, an online version is now available. I have signed a number of these already.
The one major limitation on obtaining signatures is that they must come from a voting member. A voting member is either a Life Member or an Annual Member with five years of continuous, unbroken membership. With many Annual Members dropping their membership due to their disgust over the excesses of Wayne and his coterie of friends, it is not as easy to find voting members as it was pre-2019. I and many of my fellow petition candidates certainly ran into this problem last year.
To run by petition, a candidate needs to request the petition (and nomination) package from the Secretary’s Office. I would send an email to Laura Green, the Assistant Secretary, at lgreen@nrahq.org to request it. She will send you the packet and will set up your online link to your petition.
Judge Cohen’s order in the Final Judgment specified that the Nominating Committee was to “endeavor to identify up to 20 additional candidates” who met the required qualifications (Life Member of 5 plus years) and who did not serve more than one term on the Board prior to 2022. Judge Cohen referred to these as “New Qualified Candidates”. His goal was to expand the pool of nominees on the ballot and to bring new people and new ideas to the Board of Directors. He had noted it seemed the same people were getting nominated and elected year after year.
2025 was a watershed year in that 14 Directors were elected who had never served on the Board in the past. New directors are either Chair or Vice-Chair of five committees including critical ones such as Finance and Elections. Moreover, new directors are a majority on the Audit Committee which is a committee of the Board under NY Non-Profit Corporation Law.
Enough about the logistics.
The Board will only be as good as those nominated and elected. We need good people with the dedication to both the Second Amendment and board governance to run. We don’t need ticket punchers or resume polishers. We have had enough of those in the past! It goes beyond showing up to Board meetings three times a year. We need hard workers who will do the committee work necessary to help rebuild this 154 year old organization.
I have reached out to Buz Mills who is the chair of the Nominating Committee for skills they are seeking. I will post his response here when I get it. I can say from my own perspective that candidates with management, marketing, and finance skills, experience in non-profit governance, grass roots advocacy, and social media skills are especially welcome. I would also say that younger candidates who can reach out to millennials and Gen Z to become members are doubly welcome.
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