NRA

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Organizational Changes At The NRA

October 31, 2025 by 1 Comment

As has been reported by multiple sources, there will be organization changes happening to the NRA. A press release went out yesterday at 3pm Eastern which I will reprint below. I would have put it up earlier but I had three back-to-back Zoom/Teams yesterday evening. The last one of the evening was a NRA Board of Directors’ Town Hall meeting that was directors only. That is, no staff of any sort from EVP Doug Hamlin down to the janitor were on that call.

The gist of our town hall was to explain the organizational changes, review the 2026 budget, and to answer many, many questions. While it was never explicitly stated that we were in executive session I am going to assume we were. Thus, my comments on it are going to be general and top-level without going into the nitty-gritty details.

First, attendance was very good. I counted 60 board member attending including all three of the newest members.

Second, the presenters were all three of the officers plus Jonathan Goldstein who is chair of the Finance Committee.

Third, the NRA will end 2025 in the black for the first time in a long time. Going forward in 2026, budgeting with be a zero based budgeting approach. Automatic increases to budgets are a thing of the past. Each component of the NRA will need to justify their budget from scratch.

Fourth, for too long the NRA has existed organizationally as a collection of silos. I remember my friend Apryl Marie was told when she asked questions that she should stay in her silo. What one silo did was apart from what another silo did. Thus, education and training was separate from membership and so on. The reorganization is going to break down many of these walls. For example, advancement, marketing, and membership will have their walls broken down and will be one organic unit instead of three.

Fifth, the “Trump Slump” is real. It is not only impacting the firearms industry but the NRA as well. The number of guns sold annually is a good proxy to determine what the NRA’s revenues will be year to year. In 2020, over 20 million firearms were sold. In 2025, the estimates are that it will be approximately 13.5 million and the industry is banking on a flat year for 2026.

Sixth, the one NRA area that has been virtually untouched in the past has been publications aka NRA Media. When you see longtime outdoor and firearms media such as American Handgunner, Outdoor Life, Guns, and Field & Stream going digital, you know a new reality is here. Just as changes are happening within the firearms and outdoor media world, so too must the NRA change to accommodate this new reality. Thus, the print magazines will be reduced to the American Hunter and American Rifleman with the remainder going to a news-based web site. Moreover, the American Hunter and American Rifleman will become quarterly magazines in print and monthly digital magazines for the rest of the time.

Seventh, there are going to be furloughs. That is taking place today. Who is being furloughed, I don’t know. I do know I have many longtime friends in the publications division and I have my fingers crossed for them. All industries have ups and downs. Layoffs and furloughs are unfortunately a fact of life during reorganizations and restructurings. It sucks but it needs to be done for the overall health of the organization. If our revenues improve, some of those furloughed will be brought back.

Eighth, normally our committee meetings prior to the three board meetings take place over three days. That will be cut to two and all committees are being urged to do as much in advance as possible using online meetings. In person meetings are not cheap. Even reducing one day could save upwards of $25,000 or more by my wild guesstimate.

Finally, training, hunter education, and Second Amendment advocacy (NRA-ILA) will not be downsized and will instead be emphasized.

More will be coming out as we go forward.

Below is the full press released from yesterday:

NRA Announces Restructuring, Prepares for Future Battles for Gun Rights


FAIRFAX, VA- Today, the NRA is announcing organizational restructuring. These changes are
aimed at maximizing member dollars, streamlining operations, and investing in critical programs
that best serve NRA members and ensure the long-term strength of the organization.


“It’s our duty to ensure the long-term strength of the Second Amendment and health of our
critical organization,” said Doug Hamlin, Executive Vice President and CEO of the NRA.
“The NRA has delivered on its promise to provide a pro-gun President, Congress, and Supreme
Court for our members. These successes have not gone unnoticed by our adversaries, who are
doubling down on election spending, lawfare, and new programs to push their radical gun-
grabbing agenda. To ensure we are prepared for the fights ahead, we must create a leaner NRA
that focuses on stretching every member dollar to best protect your right to keep and bear
arms.”


Restructuring will occur within NRA Media (formerly NRA Publications), which has avoided
substantial cuts similar to those impacting a large segment of the print media market. In the past
15 years, major publications have foregone print altogether and moved to digital-only models,
yet the NRA currently releases four print publications, 12 months of the year. These publications
will be consolidated into our two legacy brands, American Rifleman and American Hunter,
which will move to a monthly, enhanced, premium digital magazine, accompanied by print
versions released quarterly.


“The NRA is listening and anticipating our members’ needs,” said NRA President Bill
Bachenberg. “NRA 2.0 is re-focusing on its core missions of protecting our God-given Second
Amendment rights, gun safety and training, supporting our Clubs & Associations and shooting
competitions. We are flattening the organizational structure, redeploying staff, and exploiting
technology to better manage the day-to-day activities of the Association. By knocking down the
current vertical silos and creating cross-functional teams, there will be less duplication, stronger
member services, and better communications.”


To increase efficiency and remove redundancies, the NRA will also merge its Membership,
Marketing and Advancement Divisions into a single department. This will streamline operations
and enable the NRA to implement new, data-driven techniques to increase revenue.
NRA-ILA and General Operations are not affected by today’s announcement. The NRA is
increasing its investments in its core missions of promoting and training the safe and lawful use
of firearms as it fights for the Second Amendment rights of Americans in courthouses and state
houses across the country, and in Washington, D.C.


These necessary changes will, unfortunately, impact staff. The NRA’s leadership did not make
these decisions lightly but must realign resources to ensure America’s largest and oldest gun
rights organization remains strong and ready to address the fight ahead

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Transparency Rules!

September 7, 2025 by 2 Comments

The core values of the NRA include a commitment to transparency. It was based on this that I offered a resolution at the 2025 Meeting of Members in Atlanta that was successfully passed. It requested the Board of Directors to post on a members-only webpage certain documents including an up-to-date copy of the bylaws, IRS Form 990s, minutes from the Board of Directors’ meetings, and committee information. It also asked for a feasibility study on live-streaming Board meetings.

Today, in the Fall Board of Directors Meeting, I offered the following resolution which was passed unanimously.

I move that: 

  1. The EVP be directed to make available, through the NRA member self-service website, an up-to-date edition of the Bylaws, the Statements of Responsibility of all standing and special committees, and the past three years of the organization’s IRS Form 990 filings and Board of Directors meeting minutes, to be updated on an ongoing basis; and
  2. That the consideration of live-streaming Board meetings not be pursued at this time.

I worked with the Secretary’s Office to craft this resolution. The only thing missing in Part One from my original resolution in Atlanta was a list of committee members. I was asked to omit this due to security concerns for directors which I understand having spoken a few times with the NRA’s Director of Security.

As to the live-streaming of Board meetings, a cost estimate to live-stream each individual meeting was a minimum of $15,000. As much as I’d like people to be able to watch a Board meeting live, there are better uses for that money. Besides, in all honesty, much of the stuff we do in the meeting is not exciting and borders on the mundane. It is all important but the committee reports can drag out.

I don’t have the exact timeline for this information to be posted but I think it will be sooner than later. I want to thank my fellow directors for voting for transparency which is critical to the rebirth of the NRA. I also want to thank John Frazer and the Secretary’s Office for help on bringing this resolution to fore. Their help was crucial in getting the resolution before the Board for a vote.

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NRA Fall Board Meeting Report

September 5, 2025 by 6 Comments

This week I’m at the NRA board and committee meetings being held in Reston, Virginia. The decision was made earlier that the fall and winter board meetings would be held in Virginia to cut travel costs. By being here, travel for all the associated staff that would normally have to travel to a meeting location in Texas or another state is eliminated. Whereas expenses like this in the past were fluffed off, they are not any more.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are dedicated to committee meetings. The new leadership is committed to reinvigorating committees, reducing their numbers, and demanding results from committees. Just as importantly, committees are no longer little islands acting independently from the rest of the committees. Every committee meeting that I’ve attended has been very aware of the impact of their work and their decisions on other areas of the NRA.

There seems to be a new synergy. Thus, when the Membership Committee pushes for a phone app there is an awareness that this app can be used by NRA-ILA to send out legislative alerts. Likewise, the Legislative Policy Committee recognizes that Second Amendment policies formulated in their committee will have an impact on attracting new members and retaining existing ones.

Wednesday committees for me were the Audit Committee and the Membership Committee. The Audit Committee focused on the draft of the Form 990 and I will have a full report on the Form 990 when it is released. It would be violating my fiduciary duties to go into any further detail on the draft. The Membership Committee is committed to the development of a phone app for both the iPhone and Android platforms. There is a recognition that many of the younger generations use their phone for everything. Working with both the NRA’s in-house IT team and one of our outside marketing vendors, our goal is to have this app ready before the end of the year if not sooner. Naturally, such an app will be a work in progress as more features will be added to it over time.

My Thursday committee meetings were for the Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Committee and the Legislative Policy Committee. Matt Fleming is the new director of Hunting, Conservation, and Ranges replacing Peter Churchbourne who has moved over to the NRA Foundation as their Executive Director. He provided an update on hunting programs such as Hunters for the Hungry. We also heard from Keith Mark with Hunter Nation. Their work in energizing hunters to become active voters using their data driven approach provided the margin of victory in many swing states. There is a recognition that hunters are not necessarily 2A supporters and 2A supporters are not necessarily supporters of hunting initiatives. The job for both the NRA and the independent Hunter Nation is to bring both groups into alignment.

The Legislative Policy Committee heard reports from John Commerford, Director of NRA-ILA, and the directors for State and Local Affairs, Federal Affairs, and International Affairs. Much of the discussion was about the budget reconciliation act and the zeroing out of the taxes on suppressors and short-barreled firearms. The committee also heard reports from the chairs of other committees such as Grassroots and Media as there is a significant interplay between what Leg Policy does and its impact on the grassroots as well as the public image of the NRA.

I don’t have any official committee meeting scheduled for today until late this afternoon. However, I do intend to drop into the Legal Affairs Committee after lunch.

My overall impression of the last few days is that everyone, reformers and Old Guard, are committed to working together to bring the NRA back. I hope that continues on to the Board Meeting on Saturday.

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Huey Laugesen For NRA Board

September 2, 2025 by 1 Comment

Huey Laugesen is the executive director of the Colorado Shooting Sports Association as well as a member of the NRA’s Membership Committee. He is running to be on the 2026 NRA Board election ballot by petition. I have posted his petition link previously and I’m doing it again.

https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/c1cb1f95-9d72-4df2-9be4-935a07d2e6e6?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

I serve on the Membership Committee with Huey and I am convinced he is someone who needs to be on the Board for a variety of reasons. First, he has successfully increased the membership of the CSSA by 170% in the last two years. His use of targeted mailings in that state should be used as a guide by the NRA.

 Sadly to say given how Colorado politics have trended recently, he is now on the front lines of the battles to preserve our Second Amendment rights. If anyone knows how a state can go from good to bad in a short period of time, it is Huey and he is fighting it tooth and nail.

Huey would bring youth to the Board and would help us find ways to appeal to Millennials and Gen Z. He is, by my estimate, on the lower end of the Millennial generation yet is still a husband and father. In other words, his youth is tempered by responsibility.

Huey’s biography is below:

Huey Laugesen NRA BoD Candidate BioDownload
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Todd Vandermyde For NRA Board

September 1, 2025 by 1 Comment

I nominated Todd Vandermyde for the NRA Board in 2024 and I did it again this year. Neither time resulted in him being nominated by the Nominating Committee which I found very disappointing. Todd was on the ballot by petition for the 2025 Board election and was a part of the NRA 2.0 reform slate. Unfortunately, he missed being elected by a just a few spots.

Todd is again running for the Board by petition. He is off to a good start but needs your help to cross the finish line. If you are a voting member of the NRA, you should sign his electronic petition! Voting members are either Life Members or Annual Members who have 5 or more years of continuous, unbroken membership.

https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/bc943a68-a03b-4e53-be4e-b5f1ddffa775

First and foremost, Todd is an innovative thinker when it comes to finding ways to preserve, protect, and advance the Second Amendment through both legislation and litigation. Sometimes to move beyond incremental change you need a disruptor and I think Todd could provide this to both the Legislative Affairs and Legal Affairs Committees. He fought for over 25 years in the Illinois General Assembly to advance gun rights and won more than he lost. Further, he has helped build Second Amendment litigation from scratch including Shepard v Madigan who brought shall-issue concealed carry to Illinois.

Second, he is the President of the Aurora Sportsman’s Club which is the largest gun club in Illinois with over 2,000 members. Running a gun club that size is like herding cats with all the competing interests and Todd has done it smoothly. Having this non-profit management experience would be valuable on the Board. Even more importantly, clubs and associations have been earmarked as an area in which the NRA is seeking to grow members.

Third, Todd knows social media. His YouTube channel Freedom’s Steel has a growing viewership and Todd’s analysis of cases is spot on. Yeah, he kinda looks like a “Bad Santa” but he is our Bad Santa.

Fourth, Todd knows heavy machinery! Of course he does as he was an operating engineer (aka heavy machinery operator) as a member of International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150. In other words, Todd has worked with his hands unlike most of us on the NRA Board. Given today is Labor Day, I thought it important to point this out.

Fifth, Todd is a veteran. He served 19 years in the US Army Reserves in a variety of units and MOS’s.

Finally, Todd is my friend and we have known one another for years. That said, I have never been more impressed with Todd than over the past two years as he has helped his wife Amy rebound from a massive stroke. That takes love, dedication, care, and perseverance.

Todd’s bio is below and gives many details. Why he was not nominated by the Nominating Committee is beyond me but you can see that he is on the ballot by signing his petition.

As Nike advertises – Just Do It!

Todd Vandermyde BIODownload
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NRA Nominating Committee Priorities

July 18, 2025 by 7 Comments

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.

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Plan B

June 28, 2025 by 3 Comments

Now that Senate Majority Leader John Thune has kowtowed to the Left’s Deep State Operative aka the Senate Parliamentarian on needed reform to the National Firearms Act, it is time for Plan B.

According to a text I received this morning from John Commerford, Executive Director of the NRA-ILA, the tax on silencers, short barreled rifles and shotguns, and any other weapons has been lowered to zero dollars in the text of the bill. Additionally, they will be exempted from the excise taxes of the Pittman-Robertson Act. However, all of these items will still be subject to all the laws and regulations of the National Firearms Act including registration. This also means you have to ask ATF for a “mother, may I” permission slip to cross state lines even temporarily with your short barreled rifle or shotgun. Silencers and AOWs are exempt from that requirement.

As my friend Miggy Gonzalez said on Facebook, “We were hoping for a free steak dinner, but we are getting a side of large fries for a Happy Meal instead.”

A coalition of the groups fighting for NFA reform which included the NRA, the American Suppressor Association, GOA, SAF, FPC, and others released this statement yesterday.

The bottom line is ain’t nobody that happy on our side of the fence while the other side is enjoying the fact that their Deep State Operative came through for them. That, and as Diamondback notes, John Thune is a “Temu knockoff of Mitch McConnell.” You would think that with how Elizabeth McDonough just dissed the entire GOP majority of the Senate Finance Committee that the Republicans might show more spine and less squishiness. A guy can dream, right?

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NRA Gun Of The Week – The Roscoe

June 14, 2025 by

I have to admit I am tempted especially at the Heritage Manufacturing’s price point for the Roscoe. MSRP is $364-378. Street price is as low as $279 if you search places like Classic Firearms or a little bit more if using Gallery of Guns which includes shipping and tax..

While the Roscoe is available in both a 2″ model and a 3″ model, it is the 3″ model that catches my eye. You have a slightly longer sight radius along with just a bit more weight at the muzzle to control muzzle flip.

American Rifleman has filmed a short video describing the Roscoe and you can see how the 2″ model handles.

You can read more of the editors take on the Roscoe here. The Heritage Manufacturing’s page on the Roscoe is here.

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2025 NRA Committee Assignments

June 11, 2025 by 5 Comments

The list of NRA committee assignments has been released for 2025. It is preliminary as committee members must still accept their assignment to the various committees. This goes for both Board members and non-Board members.

I also want to note this list is not confidential. I specifically asked the Office of the Secretary about that in an email.

From what I understand, the officers put a lot of time and effort into filling the committee positions. I can believe it as finding the right people for the right committees while taking into account the person’s preferences is not a small task. Additionally, consolidation of committees is under discussion. I am sure it will be on the agenda of our September board meeting. You can see from the listing below how there will be an effort to consolidate competition shooting committees along with “fun” shooting committees.

As for me, I got everything I sought. I wanted to be on the Membership Committee to look for ways to reach out to younger potential members as our membership base is aging. I wanted Legislative Policy and the State & Local Subcommittee for obvious reasons. Likewise, my interest in hunting has grown in recent years so I was happy to be assigned to Hunting and Wildlife Conservation. I think bringing hunters back into the fold is a key component of rebuilding NRA membership. Finally, the Audit Committee is a committee of the Board and I was elected to it.

Below is the list. Again, as a reminder, it is preliminary but I don’t expect many changes. I will post the final list down the road. If you would like to compare 2025 with 2024, go this page.

2025 Committee AssignmentsDownload

UPDATE: I was asked why Maria Heil’s name appears in red on the Nominating Committee list. That is because she has resigned from that committee and it is an indication of an open seat. As a reminder, the Nominating Committee is elected by the whole board and is not an appointed seat.

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NRA Statement On One Big Beautiful Bill

May 22, 2025 by 3 Comments

This statement was released by the NRA on the passage of HR 1, “One, Big Beautiful Bill”, which included the removal of suppressors from the National Firearms Act.

This morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1, the budget reconciliation bill known as the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, on a 215-214 vote. Included in the House’s reconciliation package was NRA-ILA’s number one legislative priority for the reconciliation fight – the full removal of suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA). This is a massive win for NRA members, law-abiding gun owners, and Second Amendment supporters in this country. The work continues, though, as the bill now heads over to the Senate for their consideration. Following the passage of H.R. 1 this morning, the NRA released the following statements from Doug and John:

“On behalf of the millions of NRA members, I thank Speaker Johnson and Republican House leadership for including a pro-gun victory in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill. Eliminating the onerous tax and regulations surrounding suppressor purchases would mark a significant and long-overdue reform. Despite the fearmongering from anti-gun activists, suppressors are important safety devices that protect the hearing health of gun owners and hunters. The NRA looks forward to working with the pro-gun majority in the U.S. Senate to see that this bill becomes law.” – Doug Hamlin, NRA EVP & CEO

“This morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed President Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill, which includes the complete removal of suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA). This represents a monumental victory for Second Amendment rights, eliminating burdensome regulations on the purchase of critical hearing protection devices. The NRA thanks the House members who supported this bill and urges its swift passage in the U.S. Senate.” – John Commerford, NRA-ILA Executive Director

We are grateful for all the NRA members who have been calling their members of Congress advocating for this change. NRA-ILA will keep you updated as the One, Big, Beautiful Bill continues through the legislative process.

One gentle reminder – it is not time to stop calling Congress and in particular your two US Senators. Tell them you want to have suppressors removed from the NFA. You might also say that it would be even better if they included the SHORT Act in the bill. You don’t get what you don’t ask for. The US Capitol switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected to your Senator’s office.