petition candidate

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Let’s Put Huey Over The Top

September 21, 2025 by 2 Comments

Huey Laugesen needs your help to get on the NRA ballot for 2026 by petition. He is close to having the required number of signatures but needs about 100 more to get over the top.

He is the executive director of the Colorado Shooting Sports Association and serves with me on the NRA Board’s Membership Committee. I have endorsed him in the past and continue that endorsement as I believe he has good ideas on how to increase membership in the NRA.

Just as importantly, he understands how tenuous our hold on gun rights can be. He is from Colorado which has transitioned from a good state on gun rights to one of the worst. Earlier this month, his organization with the assistance of the Mountain States Legal Foundation filed suit against the State of Colorado over its new permit to purchase law for certain semi-automatic firearms.

If you are a NRA Life Member (of any level) or an Annual Member with five or more years of continuous, unbroken membership you are eligible to sign Huey’s petition. As I and others have said, Huey is just the sort of younger member we need on the Board. Please sign his petition below if you have not already done so. Just as importantly, forward his petition link to fellow NRA members for them to sign.

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

All signatures must be submitted by October 7th. Signatures done online are submitted immediately so I am urging you to go use the link above and not procrastinate on signing.

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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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Your Weekend Task – Sign These Petitions

August 15, 2025 by 4 Comments

The clock is ticking on the time limit to gather the required 363 valid signatures to be placed upon the NRA Board of Directors ballot for 2026. The Nominating Committee meets on August 23rd and then 45 days later the window closes. Article VIII, Sec. 3(b) of the Bylaws provides NO leeway to the deadline and it is a black letter bylaw at that. A black letter bylaw can only be changed by a vote of the members and it has a very high bar to even get on the ballot.

The first three here are candidates that I have either nominated directly or strongly encouraged to run for the Board

Todd Vandermyde

Todd is the president of the Aurora Sportsman’s Club which is the largest gun club in Illinois. More importantly, Todd spent years in the trenches of the Illinois General Assembly lobbying for gun rights. Few people know more Illinois gun laws than Todd. Additionally, Todd has helped bring many lawsuits that have helped advance gun rights. While not a lawyer, his out of the box thinking on legal and legislative strategy is desperately needed on the Board of Directors. I was happy to nominate Todd for the Board last year and am happy to do it again. We need him on the Board.

Rob Beckman

Rob brings so many things to the table as I said in my post endorsing him back in June. He has business experience, he has a social media presence as a podcaster, he is a trainer, he is a hunter, and the list keeps going on. Most importantly, Rob is solidly on the side of reform and rebuilding the NRA. Frank Tait has a more extensive biography of Rob on his Substack site.

Jacqueline Janes

I have known Jaci since we met at the Lucky Gunner Blogger Shoot in 2011. As I said in my post endorsing her, we have kept in touch ever since at various events. Jaci brings industry experience, competitive experience, non-profit experience, and marketing experience to the table. She is currently the Director of Marketing for Apex Tactical Specialties in Arizona. Importantly, she brings with her significant grassroots organizing experience. Indeed, she and her partner Robert were co-winners of the NRA-ILA’s Jay M. Littlefield Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award for 2012.

The next five names on my list were not nominated or recruited by me but are people I’ve worked with to improve the NRA over the past few years.

Huey Laugesen

I serve with Huey on the NRA’s Membership Committee. He is the Executive Director of the Colorado Shooting Sports Association. He has increased their membership by 170% by the smart use of social media and targeted emails. 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 is, I believe, on the younger end of the Millennial age range. Frank Tait published a bio for Huey on his website found here.

Charles Brown

Charles was part of the NRA 2.0 slate in 2024-25. Unfortunately, due to back to back hurricanes, he was not able to get his petitions in by the deadline and had to run as a write-in candidate. He has been in the firearms industry for decades as the owner of MKS Supply and Hi-Point Firearms. You can scoff all you want about Hi-Point pistols but they work and they serve a niche in the market. Charles would bring needed management and marketing experience to the Board if he is on the ballot. Frank Tait has more here.

R. Todd Figard

Todd was part of our NRA 2.0 ticket in 2024-25 running by petition. He is a retired quality engineer from Ohio, a firearms safety examiner for the Great American Outdoor Show, and an instructor. Unfortunately, Todd did not make the cut to be elected in 2025 but would make an excellent candidate for 2026. He comes highly recommended by my friend Amanda Suffecool.

Randy Luth

Randy was one of the first within the firearms industry to break from the “all is well with the NRA” theme pushed by Wayne LaPierre and his cohort. As far back as 2021, he called for Wayne to leave. Randy currently owns Luth-AR and was the founder of DPMS-Panther Arms which is now a sister company to Palmetto State Armory. I think Randy has confirmed his reformer credentials and I think his management and entrepreneurial experience speaks for itself.

LtCol Robert Brown

What more can I say about Col. Bob that hasn’t already been said? Founder of Soldier of Fortune Magazine, shooting raconteur, former dissident Board member, and burr under the saddle of the Old Guard. When I decided to run for the Board, he was one of those who encouraged me to just do it.

You can find the rest of Col. Bob’s endorsements here. I don’t know some of them so I have to trust his recommendations which have always proved valid.

As a final aside, Amanda Suffecool is not on this list because she has made her numbers. Way to go, Amanda!

Just as a reminder, only voting members of the NRA can sign these petitions. A voting member is a Life Member of whatever level or an Annual Member with five years of continuous, unbroken membership or more. I hate to say it but if you had a break in your Annual Membership, the clock started again.

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Jacqueline Janes For NRA Board

July 30, 2025 by 3 Comments

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.

https://nra.directnominations.net/Petitions/Sign/8f440d9c-a25b-4f14-8583-8616be5f4fab

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You Did It! I Made My NRA Petition Numbers

October 5, 2024 by 5 Comments

547 petition signatures with membership numbers sent by UPS Next Day Air to the NRA Office of the Secretary.

236 petition sheets with an average of 2.32 signatures per page.

The stack was about 1.5 inches and weighed just under three pounds.

Blank sheet on top for privacy.

USPS came through by delivering enough petitions with signatures on Friday to surpass the bylaw required number of 398.

I could not have done this without the aid of all of you who mailed me your petitions directly, those who signed a petition at a gun club, or those who mailed their petitions to Rocky Marshall in Texas for forwarding to me.

Beyond the many individuals who sent me their petition, I would like especially to thank Karl Rehn, Phil Journey, “Bitter”, and Todd Vandermyde for gathering multiple sheets of signatures at events like a class or GRPC and at their respective gun clubs. I also want to thank Rocky Marshall who helped coordinate the gathering of petitions for all the reform candidates and then sending them forward. Finally, a big thanks to Buz Mills of Gunsite for a huge email push, to the Board of Directors of California Rifle and Pistol Association for suggesting their members consider signing candidates’ petitions, and to the Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association which did likewise.

Two things were made very clear through this whole process to me. First, there are many, many individual NRA members who are not happy with the current state of things and want reform. Second, the number of people who have dropped their NRA annual memberships over the past few years is extraordinarily large. This was due in large part to a) disgust over the corruption and grifting by Wayne and his friends, b) the failure by many long-time members on the current Board to do their fiduciary duty, and c) a feeling that the NRA was no longer relevant in the fight for the Second Amendment as they had compromised one time too many. Any current board member that does not recognize that sticking to the “old ways” and looking the other way contributed in large part to the huge decline in membership of the NRA should think twice about remaining on the board.

To conclude, I want to reiterate my great thanks to all who signed my petition and those of other 13 reform candidates. I think all will be on the ballot come 2025.

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NRA Petition Candidate – Jonathan Goldstein

September 14, 2024 by

Jonathan Goldstein is an attorney specializing in firearms law, a serial entrepreneur, and a private equity investor. He has served on the NRA’s Legal Affairs Committee and lectures on firearms law and safety across Pennsylvania. He is the founding partner of Goldstein Law Partners. He is seeking to be on the 2025 ballot by petition. The Board certainly could use more members with entrepreneurial experience as they tend to think outside the box.

Jonathan’s biography is below:

Jonathan Goldstein BIODownload

You can return Jonathan’s petition either to him directly at 824 Buck Lane, Haverford, PA 19041. Alternatively, you can return it along with other petitions to Rocky Marshall. That address is Frontier Truck Gear, Attn Rocky Marshall, PO Box 277, Center Point, TX 78010. Regardless of which address you send it, the petition should be sent so that it arrives by September 30th. Both the Complementary Spouse and I have signed his petition.

Jonathan Goldstein PetitionDownload

As with all of these petition candidates, if you can get more voting members to sign it, so much the better. A voting member is a) a Life Member of whatever level or b) an Annual Member with five years of continuous membership without a break.

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NRA Petition Candidate – Howard Massingill

September 14, 2024 by

Howard Massingill is many things: a retired Special Forces Sergeant Major, a combat veteran, a gunsmith, a gunsmithing instructor, and a gun store owner. He is the CEO of Massingill and Massingill Tactical Security Group (M2TSG) located in Pueblo, Colorado. He is seeking to be on the 2025 ballot for the NRA Board of Directors as a petition candidate for the reform slate.

Howard’s bio is below:

Howard Massingill BIODownload

You can return Howard’s petition either to him directly at 138 N. Merrill Dr., Pueblo West, CO 81007. Alternatively, you can return it along with other petitions to Rocky Marshall. That address is Frontier Truck Gear, Attn Rocky Marshall, PO Box 277, Center Point, TX 78010. Regardless of which address you send it, the petition should be sent so that it arrives by September 30th. Both the Complementary Spouse and I have signed his petition.

Howard Massingill PetitionDownload

As with all of these petition candidates, if you can get more voting members to sign it, so much the better. A voting member is a) a Life Member of whatever level or b) an Annual Member with five years of continuous membership without a break.

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Running As A Petition Candidate

September 14, 2024 by

First things first. I am on the ballot for the 2025 NRA Board of Directors election thanks to being nominated by the Nominating Committee. However, I am also seeking to be on the ballot by petition for two reasons. First, nomination by petition means I’m on the ballot thanks to the rank and file members. This is very important to me and, if elected, that is who I plan to represent. Second, being double nominated will give me an advantage in a very crowded field. You have 39 people on the ballot thanks to the Nominating Committee with potentially another 12-14 solely added by petition. If Judge Cohen so rules, it could be even more than this 51-53 candidates. I need to stick out as something different.

As anyone who has read this blog for any amount of time will realize, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about the issues facing the NRA as well as too much of the “dirt” that has tainted an organization for which I once had great respect. I have a better feel for the issues facing the survival of the NRA than most and certainly more than those on the Board who have been consciously and blissfully ignorant.

Thus, I need your help to help me reach the 398 signatures of voting members goal. I stand at about 200 signatures plus or minus as of today. There may be more out there that I don’t know about but these are what I have on hand or will have on hand shortly. If you are attending a gun show in the next week or so, please bring my petition to gather a few signatures. If you have a gun club meeting, please bring a copy or two of the petition. If you have family members who are voting members, ask them to stop by and sign my petition.

My petition is below:

John Richardson NRA Petition Form Landscape 2024-2025Download

I am attaching a copy of my resume. I prepared it for the Nominating Committee to emphasize my business experience. I’ve done a lot of stuff in my 67 years in both business and academia which I think would be relevant to serving on the Board of Directors. My experience is somewhat different than many other candidates in that not a competitor but rather a collector of mostly milsurp curios and relics. Both are needed by the Board.

JPR ResumeDownload

I am also attaching a short bio that I put together for a gun club in Pennsylvania. I emphasized the hunting aspect in that along with using a crossbow to take my first deeer.

John Richardson.NRA BioDownload

I am taking a chance by posting my address here but it will make it easier for you to return the petition. Please send to me at 11 Sunview Circle, Arden, NC 28704.

I want to thank everyone who has previously sent me a signed petition. It is greatly appreciated! Now to finish strong down the home stretch..

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NRA Petition Candidate – Charles Brown

September 13, 2024 by

Charles “Charlie” Brown is the President and owner of MKS Supply out of Dayton, Ohio. You may not recognize MKS Supply but you certainly will recognize some of their brands including Inland Manufacturing and Hi-Point. Originally hired as a sales representative with the predecessor company when he graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a business degree, he worked his way up and purchased the company in 1994. He would bring a level of business and management experience to the Board of Directors that is sorely lacking. His “official bio” is below:

Charles Brown BIODownload

You can return Charlie’s petition either to him directly at 2446 Glen Arbor Ct, Dayton, OH 45414. Alternatively, you can return it along with other petitions to Rocky Marshall. That address is Frontier Truck Gear, Attn Rocky Marshall, PO Box 277, Center Point, TX 78010. Regardless of which address you send it, the petition should be sent so that it arrives by September 30th. Both the Complementary Spouse and I have signed his petition.

Charles Brown PetitionDownload

I understand that Charlie has promised a Yeet Cannon 9 to everyone who signs his petition. Sorry – just kidding!

As with all of these petition candidates, if you can get more voting members to sign it, so much the better. A voting member is a) a Life Member of whatever level or b) an Annual Member with five years of continuous membership without a break.