NRA

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NRA EVP Search Committee Plans Meeting (Updated)

April 3, 2024 by 6 Comments

NRA President Charles Cotton appointed a committee of insiders to search for an Executive Vice President and CEO back in February. This move by Cotton came after criticism he was seeking to circumvent the process in order to be named EVP himself. More importantly, as the letter from long-time director Bill Bachenberg makes clear, there was little to no input from the rest of the Board on this move.

Yesterday, an email came out that announced the EVP search committee would be meeting in Atlanta at the end of the month to hear from Board members on their ideas and insights about a new EVP. You can read the full email below:

As you know, on February 10th  President Cotton appointed the Executive Vice-President Search Committee, which he asked me to chair. The Committee has been working diligently to fulfill the charge given it by President Cotton to “determin[e] the process and timing of the selection of appropriate candidates to present to the Nominating Committee and, ultimately, the full Board of Directors.”

An important part of the Committee’s work has been to solicit and consider input from all Board members regarding the procedures to follow in making recommendations to the Board, including suggested names of candidates to consider as EVP. The Committee has sent two emails to all Board members asking for input, and as noted previously, that invitation is a continuing one.

The Committee also specifically extended an invitation to  all former NRA presidents and current President Cotton to appear personally before the Committee at the Committee’s next in-person meeting on April 13th to offer suggestions based on their unique perspective on the position of NRA EVP.

The Committee considers it extremely important also that every Board member have the opportunity to not only send ideas to the Committee, but to appear in person to offer their insights and ideas.

Board members are invited to attend a scheduled meeting of the EVP Search Committee on Saturday, April 27, 2024, beginning at 9:00 AM EDT.  This meeting will be held at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Atlanta Airport Hotel located at 4700 Southport Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30337. Board members who attend will be provided a reasonable opportunity to make a presentation and engage in dialogue with Committee members.

Please note that Board members will be responsible for their own travel and accommodation expenses. The Secretary’s Office will make every attempt to reserve a room at the hotel at NRA’s negotiated rate.

The Committee respectfully requests that any Board member wishing to attend the April 27th meeting inform Committee Secretary Nick Perrine by Friday, April 20, 2024, in order to allow for appropriate scheduling of the presentations.

Thank you for your dedicated service to our Association, and for your support of the Committee’s important task.   

Bob Barr

Chairman, EVP Search Committee

One must ask why the majority of the Board must travel to Atlanta at their own expense if they want to have a voice in the selection of the new Executive VP and CEO. They should have been heard from the very beginning as well as have been involved in the actual selection of the search committee. That they were not is another indication that the Old Guard aka the Cabal wants to maintain the status quo despite the jury in New York finding a breach of fiduciary duty. This presumably would include the continued employment of Bill Brewer and his firm.

Reading this email I was struck by the deference being paid to Charles Cotton and the past presidents of the NRA by the committee. They will be given a special opportunity on April 13th to make their voices be heard on the selection of the replacement for Wayne LaPierre. When Barr speaks of the “unique perspectives” of past presidents I would wager house money that he is not speaking about Ollie North or Pete Brownell. Rather he is referring to the Marion Hammers and others of the long-time “friends of Wayne” that allowed the problems currently facing the NRA to fester.

While it hasn’t been publicly mentioned, I have heard rumors that some of the Cabal are seeking bylaw changes that would exclude certain candidates from being considered. This would include the exclusion of former ILA General Counsel and Deputy Director Wade Callender who has the support of a number of GOP attorneys general as well as some on the Board itself. The rationale for keeping Callender out of the running for EVP is that he would be a change agent. The Old Guard’s desire is to keep everything as it is with them in charge regardless of how disastrous it is to the future of the NRA.

Rigging of the bylaws to exclude anyone should be a non-starter. It certainly is not in the interest of the members of the NRA which should be the primary consideration of this committee as well as the Board. However, what is in the interest of the members rarely seems to be given much consideration.

UPDATE: NRA In Danger has some very interesting comments on this meeting. Moreover, he (or she) notes that when the Legal Affairs Committee recently met in Fairfax they, too, had invited Board members to attend – at their own expense. They were there to hear from Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, on how things went at the New York trial. One must wonder if anyone bothered to ask them how much it all cost and what the NRA was getting for its money.

I like the appeal for a reincarnated Harlon (Carter) and Neal (Knox) to return and lead the organization. Oh, how the Friends of Wayne would be howling like banshees if that were to occur!

Read the whole post!

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My 2024 NRA Ballots

March 11, 2024 by 3 Comments

Here are my ballots for the 2024 NRA Board of Director election and for the bylaw change.

Now to explain my votes. It should go without saying that I support the Four for Reform. I signed and promoted their petitions to be on the ballot as well as have supported them here. I would love it if they ended up as the top four winning candidates.

I would have voted for Owen Buz Mills except that he told Jeff Knox that he wanted people to bullet vote for the Four for Reform. As to why I added Rick Ector as the fifth candidate, his “missionary work” in Detroit in which he has introduced thousands of women is worthy of recognition. Just as importantly, he bucked the Old Guard aka “The Cabal” when he endorsed Wade Callender to be the next Executive VP of the NRA. These two factors were why I added Rick to the list of candidates for whom I voted.

While I consider the bylaw change to add a Chief Compliance Officer independent of the EVP as closing the barn doors after the horses have escaped, it is a reform in the right direction. I worked for 25 years in the financial services industry and we always had a Chief Compliance Officer. There were times I thought they were a bit “nit-picky” but their goal was to protect both the company and the client. If I had questions on something such as a political contribution, I knew I could reach out to them for advice on the best way to handle it.

While the appointment of a Chief Compliance Officer must wait until the vote is tallied, it appears that a candidate has been hired in anticipation of the bylaw change. Robert Mensinger was hired by the NRA in September 2023 as a Managing Director. He holds a law degree, has had an extensive career as a compliance and business integrity officer, and spent almost 25 years working as a Special Agent/Criminal Investigator for the Small Business Administration, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Treasury Department. My only reservation about Mensinger is that he was selected for his present job by Wayne LaPierre upon the advice and counsel of Bill Brewer. Other than that, he seems ideal for the job. Only time will tell if I was worried about nothing which is my actual hope.

UPDATE: This is just a reminder that you should vote by NAME and not by NUMBER. There are 5 or so different ballots and the order of the names varies. It is randomized as a security measure.

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The NRA Responds

March 10, 2024 by 5 Comments

It appears that my post on the promotion of Wayne LaPierre’s niece, Colleen Sterner, has hit a nerve at the NRA. I received a direct message on Twitter/X from Billy McLaughlin who is the NRA’s spokesperson. It was sent yesterday afternoon.

Here is the message in its entirety:

John: This is Billy McLaughlin, NRA’s spokesman. Although the NRA does not typically respond to the false reports such as yours- we do so here given the that motivation seems to be reporting falsely the circumstances of our employees. Therefore, we confirm that your report is 100 percent false. In fact, the only information in your report which is accurate is that the employee in question is held in high regard by her supervisor. Please check your sources and “facts” – it is amazing what qualifies as “reporting” about the NRA these days.

First and foremost, I stand by my sources and the veracity of the information that they shared with me. I would not have written the post nor would I have posted it if I did not trust my sources to give me honest and accurate information.

Second, this response is very reminiscent of the NRA’s response to the Mike Spies article in The New Yorker. In that article, Tyler Schropp is quoted as saying, “Sterner is an ‘extraordinary and valuable employee’ who manages ‘national events that make a positive impact on the N.R.A., its members, and its mission.'” Likewise, McLaughlin’s predecessor as spokesperson and now his boss Andrew Arulanadam said, “Sterner “played a leading role in producing’ the affair.” This was in reference to a 2015 Women’s Leadership Forum summit where internal NRA documents showed her responsibilities were basic and rather menial.

Third, as an Endowment Life Member of the NRA my “motivation” is not as McLaughlin states “to be reporting falsely the circumstances of our employees” but to ask why a relative directly linked to what the jury in New York considered a dereliction of LaPierre’s fiduciary duties was promoted. That Tyler Schropp holds her “in high regard” is irrelevant. While it might not seem fair that she is tainted by association with her uncle’s misdeeds, it is what it is.

Finally, given McLaughlin asserts that the “report is 100 percent false”, I would say as my old high school chemistry and physics teacher would say, show me. Is Mrs. Sterner not Wayne and Susan LaPierre’s niece? No, we know that she is. Did she not get promoted to be Director of Events for Advancement? No, we have Tyler Schropp’s email announcing her promotion. Did not Wayne LaPierre divert flights to Nebraska to pick up Mrs. Sterner? No, we have the documentation provided in court that proves it. A blanket assertion that a story or report is false is the oldest tool in the PR flack’s toolbox. It is the PR equivalent of yelling, “squirrel!!!!!”

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Nepotism Lives On At The NRA

March 9, 2024 by 9 Comments

One might be under the impression that the NRA has cleaned up its act, put new procedures in place, is respectful of the member’s money, and that the misdeeds of the LaPierre era are never to be repeated. Indeed, that is the premise of the NRA attorney’s arguments as they head into the next phase of the New York trial. Attorney Sarah Rogers of Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, wrote in a letter to Judge Cohen, “The remainder of the trial should focus on the sole remaining triable issue of fact: whether any of the statutory violations established in the jury phase are continuing or are imminently likely to reoccur.”

Unfortunately, as I found out yesterday from multiple sources, regardless of the new procedures, nepotism and the disrespect for the members’ money lives on at the NRA. That is because a mere 21 days after Wayne LaPierre’s resignation from the NRA became effective, his niece Colleen Sterner was promoted to be Director of Events for Advancement. She will continue to live and work from her home in Nebraska. According to my sources, insiders are saying her salary is estimated to be in the $300,000 range.

Making the promotion was Tyler Schropp, the Executive Director of the NRA Office of Advancement, and the second highest compensated employee at the NRA according to the NRA’s 2022 Form 990. His total compensation was reported to be $854,219. As exhibits in the New York trial make clear, Schropp went by the “Wayne said/Wayne OK’ed it” modus operandi and actual procedures and documentation be damned.

The NRA Employee Handbook, Sec. C1.12, states that relatives of current employees including nieces and nephews can be hired if qualified. Sterner was first hired by the NRA in 2015 to work for the Women’s Leadership Forum which was led by her Aunt Susan (LaPierre) on a volunteer basis. Sterner supposedly helped organize “national events” but, as an article in The New Yorker points out, her assignments tended to be basic tasks such as helping out with registration.

According to Andrew Arulanandam, an N.R.A. spokesperson, Sterner “played a leading role in producing” the affair. Yet one of the summit’s organizers told me, “I’d never met Colleen before the event started, but Susan had mentioned she’d be part of the staff. She didn’t work at headquarters, and she wasn’t on the regular planning calls or meetings that we had. Her status was never clear to me.”

Internal N.R.A. records show that Sterner was assigned a half dozen basic responsibilities, such as providing “registration support as needed” and serving as a point of contact for a trap and skeet shooting activity. Multiple people who worked the summit said that it was often difficult to locate Sterner.

The article in The New Yorker by Mike Spies which includes many interviews with NRA employees casts serious doubts on her actual work for the NRA. This correlates with what my own sources have told me about Sterner. I would say read the entire article and make up your own mind about whether Sterner is now qualified for a $300,000 director level position. While Spies does write for The Trace and I would disagree with much of his conclusions, the guy gets his facts correct.

The private jet and helicopter flights that the jury in the New York trial found Wayne LaPierre liable for repaying include those that diverted to Nebraska to pick up Sterner as well as a helicopter flight to a NASCAR race in which her husband Terry was a passenger. It is also why Wayne was found to have breached his fiduciary duty under the Non-Profit Corporation Law.

The NRA is currently recruiting for a Meetings Manager. This would be at least one level below a director. Requirements include a college degree, 5+ years of experience, and preferably hold the Certified Meeting Professional designation. Part of the job requirements including contract review and negotiations. Unless I am grossly mistaken, I just don’t see Sterner holding the requisite qualifications other than, perhaps, a college degree.

One has to wonder if the promotion of Sterner to be Director of Events for Advancement was not a quid pro quo negotiated by LaPierre with Schropp in his final days at the NRA. It would not surprise me in the least if it were. Given that Judge Cohen was reportedly leaning away from appointing a monitor to oversee the NRA, this could and should give pause to that. It is more evidence that new leadership is needed, that the house (including upper level NRA managers) must be cleansed, and that the Old Guard and their supporters cast out if the NRA is to be saved as an effective Second Amendment organization. Members, current, former, and future, are not going to donate unless this happens.

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NRA’s First Organizational Change In the Post-LaPierre Era

March 5, 2024 by 1 Comment

The NRA made its first organizational change in the post-LaPierre era. Interim EVP Andrew Arulanadam announced this morning that a Hunting Division would be established within General Operations. It would join the existing Community Engagement, Competitions, Education and Training, and Law Enforcement divisions. The announcement was made in an email to staff.

Heading the new division will be Peter Churchbourne as Managing Director. He has been the director of the NRA’s Hunter’s Leadership Forum for the past five years and has been with the NRA since 2015. Prior to that, he had spent 17 years with Ducks Unlimited.

From Arulanadam’s letter, in part:

NRA Hunting will be dedicated to re-emphasizing the current hunting programs like YHEC, Online Hunter Education, Hunters for the Hungry, and the Wildlife Art Contest while also focusing on increasing the association’s visibility in its support for the American Hunter. We will also seek to expand our scope of victories and efforts -many that often go uncelebrated and unacknowledged. NRA Hunting will be a separate General Operations division joining Community Engagement, Competitions, Education and Training, and Law Enforcement.

Peter Churchbourne will lead this new division as the Managing Director of the NRA Hunting Division. He will also serve as the Managing Director of the Hunters’ Leadership Forum. Peter is a well-known advocate in the hunting community and a nine-year veteran of the NRA. Peter’s dual role will allow the NRA to be better positioned in the hunting program support and advocacy arena. Please join me in welcoming Peter to his new roles.

Churchbourne also currently serves as the Board Chair for the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation. The foundation has a number of hunting related programs that seek, among other things, to communicate the role hunters and fishermen play in funding land, fish and wildlife conservation in America.

I don’t know the impetus that led Arulanadam to make Hunting a full division within General Operations. It could be an effort to increase NRA membership within the hunting community. As for Churchbourne, he seems like a decent choice to lead such a division. I am told he is solid on the Second Amendment by a friend who is a former NRA employee.

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Open Letter From Former NRA Director Tim Knight

February 22, 2024 by 3 Comments

Below is an open letter from former NRA Director Tim Knight. I am publishing it with his permission.

Image from knight4nra.com

Tim along with fellow directors Esther Schneider and Sean Maloney are named as whistleblowers (Question 9b on verdict form) in the current New York trial who suffered retaliation. They spoke out about alleged financial misconduct and called for a review of the billings by Bill Brewer and his firm. As a result, he and the other two were stripped of their committee assignments, rebuffed when they sought information, and were prevented from doing their fiduciary duties. This led to their resignations on August 1, 2019.

I don’t think it needs repeating but I’ll say it anyway. Tim is one of the good guys. He helped lead the grassroots campaign in Colorado that led to the recall of two anti-gun politicians. Like another famous Tennessean, he answered the call from another state and went to help in their fight. He is a grassroots activist who has always recognized that his job was to serve the members of the NRA.

The verdict in the NY vs. NRA case is due shortly. Although I believe the case had some political motivations behind it based on the words of the New York Attorney General when she was running for office, I don’t think NRA members should dismiss the grave concerns revealed in what is now several court cases.

I, along with a few others directors, expressed concerns over the misappropriation of funds both internally and then later publicly in 2019. We recognized who our boss actually was:  our fellow members who were faithfully paying their dues. We did not believe the NRA Board and management were holding to the mission of the Association nor were they being transparent about expenses. Every NRA Director has a duty to the members, the law and the NRA’s mission statement. Several of us were dismissed from our committees and accused of disloyalty towards the NRA for raising our financial concerns. Most Board members were too scared to stand up to Wayne and his cronies, especially Marion Hammer. Other Board members were part of the management cabal themselves and had no intention of changing a thing. So, the Board circled their wagons and remained silent. They were unwilling or unable to speak up or divided on where their loyalties lay.

The current NRA Board has failed in its duty to the NRA members, and I think that every single Board member who hasn’t openly spoken up about reform and responsibility should resign immediately. Our Association deserves bold, honorable and honest Board members focused on their legal responsibilities and on the members who elected them. No more should they focus on those who can dole out favors, vacations, car rides, consulting fees and other graft. We need to stop electing the silent, the complicit or those who hope to be “trusted remainders” when this all blows over. Board members who are 2nd Amendment hero’s, politicians or captains of industry might once have been effective for our association. They are no longer effective and need to resign as well.

To fix our association, we need a much smaller board with term limits as well as a significant revision of the structure the board operates under. Strict disclosure rules for Board members and management needs to be enforced and shared with NRA members during the annual meeting. This information should be disclosed to everyone during the main members business meeting that is open to the public. 

I trust the members who make up the association and in the mission statement that should always keep it focused. We need new leadership and a new board now. If both do not change, the slow degradation of our once great association will do more damage to our civil rights, hunting culture, gun safety education and competitions that we can ill afford. My fellow members, if the court does not grant you the remedy you think is deserved, please stop supporting the do nothing’s, ne’er do wells, and the faded hero’s. If we want our Republic back, let’s start with our association!

I look forward to the day when the NRA once again, through hard work and results, regains the trust of millions of law abiding gun owners. We are stronger when we stand together as hunters, competitors, enthusiasts, advocates and educators.

  • Timothy Knight

NRA Board of Directors 2015-2019

Citizen of the Republic, Constitutionalist, National 2a Advocate, Founder‘13 CO Recalls. School Safety Proponent, Effective Grassroots Campaigner.

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Vote Four For Reform

February 21, 2024 by 8 Comments

The official NRA magazines with the ballots for the 2024 Board of Directors election have started to arrive. The Complementary Spouse and I both received ours today.

I would urge you in the strongest possible terms to bullet vote, i.e, only vote for these candidates and no others, for the Four for Reform. While there are a couple of others deserving of your vote, it is essential that these four get elected.

All four are on the ballot as a result of your efforts in signing their petition. We need people like them on the Board as they won’t put up and shut up. Indeed, both Judge Phil Journey and Rocky Marshall were retaliated against for standing up for what is right. That retaliation has led to the NRA being charged with violating the State of New York ‘s whistleblower law. This is one of the charges that the jurors in the New York trial are in the process of deciding guilt or innocence.

So few of the eligible voters actually vote that every vote for these four is critical.

We don’t know the outcome of the trial in New York and we don’t know what remedies Judge Cohen will impose if the NRA is found guilty. He could dissolve the current board and reduce it in size. He could appoint a special overseer. He could appoint a temporary board of people who are not tainted such as these four. He could do all of these things and that is why support for clean, untainted candidates is so important.

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I Actually Agree With Marion On This

February 10, 2024 by 7 Comments

As weird as it may seem I find myself somewhat in agreement with Marion Hammer. I was forwarded an email from her to the NRA-EVP Search Committee.

She made the point that the committee needs to look outside the current NRA operations for the person that can be a success as the next CEO and EVP of the NRA.

Here is her email and the members of the committee:

TO: The Members of the NRA-EVP Search Committee:

Congressman Bob Barr – Chairman
Professor David Coy
Carol Frampton, Esq.
Curtis Jenkins, Esq.
Sheriff Jay Printz
Barbara Rumpel
Chief Blaine Wade

Friends,

At the risk of being redundant, I must say that these are tough times for the NRA.  The right leader or leaders is essential for NRA’s future.  I say leaders because I’m not sure that you can find one person who can do the job.  

You might need someone to be the public face of NRA. To do the TV and all media coverage and essentially be the person out front representing NRA and the work we do.

You also might need to find someone to be the workhorse.  Someone to make the tough decisions about running the day to day operations who won’t be afraid to “break some eggs to make an omelet”  and who isn’t afraid to terminate people who are only interested in themselves and not the NRA and our cause.

I seriously doubt that anyone currently involved with NRA operations meets either need.  Don’t be afraid to look outside of NRA for fresh new leaders who care about NRA.  Our members are depending on you to find the right person or persons.

When I look at you, I see 2 current NRA Officers, 2 lawyers, 2 law enforcement representatives and one average person.  None of you is what I would consider a high end business person, yet we must look at the business perspective.   

Whatever you decide, Is up to you.  I wouldn’t want to be in your position with the world watching me and expecting perfection.  Nonetheless, you must live in a “fishbowl” until the job is done, and then you must live with your decisions.

Please take your time and be thorough. Please be transparent with the NRA Board and don’t be afraid to reach out to Board members for information and advice. Always remember that there are good business people with incredible business knowledge on the Board who are there to serve.  Use them.   

I wish you all the very best of luck as you embark on a mission that is essential for the future of NRA and our members.  

Marion Hammer

Now as to what bothers me in all of this.

The committee is composed of the same old Board members who allowed Wayne to get away with his grifting, who didn’t object to Brewer’s billing, and who allowed a whole host of things that has led the NRA to be reduced to a shadow of its former self. Unless I am greatly mistaken and we the members get really lucky, anyone chosen by this bunch will not renovate nor reinvigorate the NRA. The organization will continue to muddle along with same old mindset appealing to an ever aging membership.

Interesting that Buz Mills was left off the list. Likewise, it is interesting Charles Cotton is off the list. Could this be so that Cotton could be their pick for the next EVP? God forbid!

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NRA Board Member Herb Lanford Passes Away

February 6, 2024 by 1 Comment

I received news yesterday that Herbert Lanford, Jr., a longtime member of the NRA Board of Directors, died on February 1st. He was 75 years old. He died in hospice care from Spartanburg (SC) Regional Hospice Home.

The notice from NRA Secretary John Frazer reads in part:

It is with great sadness that I share with you that NRA Board member Herbert A. “Herb” Lanford, Jr. passed away on February 1, 2024. He was 75 years old.  Herb served on and off the Board beginning in 1986.  He is survived by his brother, Tom; his sister, Joanne Hensley; and many nieces and nephews.

Graveside services with military honors will be held at 4:00 p.m., Thursday, February 8, at Greenlawn Memorial Garden located at 1300 Fernwood Glendale Road, Spartanburg, SC  29307.  Visitation will be at the graveside prior to the service.

Lanford’s death will leave the Board with only 75 Directors as all three of the non-elected candidates from 2023 have filled positions on the Board. Article IV, Section 2 of the NRA Bylaws makes no provision for filling a vacancy other than from those who had been on the ballot and not elected.

CORRECTION: I had assumed that James Chapman was already on the Board of Directors as he had received more votes than Rick Ector who is on the Board. I had forgotten Rick was elected as the 76th Director. Thus, James Chapman will fill the seat left empty by Herb Lanford’s death and the Board will still have 76 members. That is, for now. Things could change after the NY trial but who knows.

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I Endorse Four For Reform

February 3, 2024 by 1 Comment

The NRA’s trial in New York has provided more than enough evidence that many members of the Board of Directors ignored their fiduciary duties. Many thought loyalty to Wayne was the same as loyalty to the organization. It was not.

The ballots for the 2024 Board election go out to eligible voters in the March issue of the NRA official magazines. Not only has the Nominations Committee stacked the ballot with retreads, they are the same people that allowed the rot and corruption to grow. They include people like former NRA President Carolyn Meadows who currently is considered too ill to testify either in person or virtually in the NY trial. It also includes 2nd VP David Coy who served on the Audit Committee for many years who voted to approve questionable expenditures after the fact.

There are four people on the ballot who were not put there by the Nominations Committee. Dennis Fusaro, Judge Phil Journey, Jeff Knox, and Rocky Marshall are on the ballot by petition. In other words, enough of you who are voting members said you wanted them on the ballot. They are untainted by the corruption of the past and are running on a platform of reform. I wholeheartedly endorse all four and would urge you to give them your votes.

The only two current Board members I might consider voting for are Buz Mills and Rick Ector. As evidenced by his letter to the Board exposing the backdoor shenanigans to make Charles Cotton the next EVP, Buz is not a go-along to get-along sort of guy. Rick Ector had done phenomenal grassroots work in the Detroit area introducing thousands of women to self-defense through firearms training. He also bucked the trend with his endorsement of Wade Callender for the EVP.

If it were me, I would not consider anyone else on the list of candidates. The four petition candidates plus the two that have bucked the system are the only candidates that I think will work day in and day out to restore and reform the NRA. We need an effective and untainted NRA. Now is the time to do it.