by There are suddenly two openings on the NRA Board of Directors. The first one was due to death of John Cushman on February 15th in New York. He was 76 years old. John was the president and found of New York-based Sportman’s Association for Firearms Education.
The second opening was due to the resignation today by Todd Rathner of Arizona. He had been on the board for 23 years. As the email below from NRA Secretary John Frazer states Todd is leaving for a position with another Second Amendment organization.
From: John Frazer <John.Frazer@nrahq.org>
Date: Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 5:34 PM
To: John Frazer <John.Frazer@nrahq.org>
Subject: Todd Rathner resignationDear Board and Executive Council members:
This note is to inform you that Todd Rathner has resigned from the Board to pursue opportunities with another Second Amendment organization. Please join me in thanking Todd for his service to the NRA, and in wishing him well in his new endeavors.
Sincerely,
John Frazer
Secretary and General Counsel
Todd posted this letter announcing his resignation on Facebook a few hours ago.
Dear Friends and Supporters,
I wanted to let you know that after almost 23 years I have resigned from the National Rifle Association’s Board of Directors.
America needs, and deserves a strong National Rifle Association, and I wish the NRA nothing but great things in the future.
My personal commitment to the Second Amendment has never been stronger, and I will continue my work to defend it as long as I live. I am still in the fight, I am still working EVERY SINGLE DAY to fight against those who would leave us defenseless. My advocacy will continue.
Thank you again for your years of support and encouragement, I am fully at peace with this decision.
Sincerely,
Todd J. Rathner
Since they didn’t fill the 76th Director spot, this means that there are effectively three openings. It also means that in the current election that 27 seats will be elected plus the 76th Director.
I have not heard if there are any plans to fill the spots in the interim.
Interesting that Frazer’s email mentioned the other 2A organization and that Rathner did not mention which organization. Any buzz on that?
I hear through the grapevine that it is the Firearms Policy Coalition which actually surprises me. He did some lobbying work for them in Ohio on constitutional carry.
Mr. Rathner also testified on February 23rd in Indiana in support of HB1077 constitutional carry.
Run for the board so Wayne can force you off?
Hard pass
Interesting… Now the question is, what will the board do to get ‘their or WLP’s’ choices pushed through?
I have not heard if there are any plans to fill the spots in the interim.
There is no way to fill them. One of the bold italics sections of the bylaws (meaning the Board can’t change them on their own) is the method for handling vacancies. (Speaking of, just hopped onto NRA’s chat to request updated copies of the bylaws since with more than 1 year passed since my last copy was issued, I’m sure they’ve been changed again.) They can only come from those who ran and lost on the most recent mailed ballot.
Since they ran out of candidates in the last one to the point where they didn’t even have a candidate for 76th who could lawfully run, they have no more. The seats sit empty.
What is interesting is knowing how few Board members even bother to attend for important meetings these days (the Jan 7 2021 meeting was only 37 members of the Board – picked because the attendance sheet was quick to find in court documents). Quorum is 25, and both Rathner & Cushman were regular attendees. While that’s not to the point of being at total risk of being able to conduct business, it’s definitely not good to have so many Directors checking out and openings they can’t fill. Interestingly, quorum is something the Board can change on its own.