76th Director

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New Location For 2020 NRA Annual Meeting

August 12, 2020 by 6 Comments

Springfield is out and Tucson is in. The new location for the mandatory 2020 NRA Annual Meeting of Member is Tucson, Arizona on October 24th. The meeting is mandatory due to the bylaws.

An email was sent out today to the candidates for the 76th Director from John Frazer, Secretary and General Counsel of the NRA.

“Dear NRA Board candidate:

The Meeting Site Selection Committee met on Tuesday, August 11, 2020, for the purpose of deciding upon the date and location of the rescheduled 2020 Annual Meeting of Members. The Committee unanimously voted to hold the 2020 Annual Meeting of Members on Saturday, October 24, 2020, starting at 9:00 a.m. local time, in the Kiva Ballroom of the Loews Ventana Canyon Hotel in Tucson, Arizona.

Official notice of the meeting will be published in the NRA magazines and on NRA websites.

Balloting for the 76th Director seat will be held in conjunction with the meeting. Further information about the voting location and hours will follow separately in the near future.

We appreciate your patience throughout this challenging process.

Sincerely,

John”

Of course there is a conflict on that date. The 2nd Annual Rally for your 2A Rights is also scheduled for Saturday, October 24th in Washington, DC. The NRA has a “not invented here” mindset, for the most part, when it comes to other 2A activism. This was seen in Richmond back in January. The NRA held a “Lobby Day” in the State Capitol a week ahead of the long scheduled VCDL Lobby Day

Looking over the Loews Ventana Canyon Hotel website, the Kiva Ballroom can hold at most 1,000 people in normal times. What becomes interesting here is that there is a currently in-force Executive Order from Gov. Doug Ducey (R-AZ) that limits public gatherings to 50 people.

The hotel itself seems very nice. For almost $200 a night it should be nice.

The downside is that it is 18-20 miles away from the airport and a half hour plus drive depending on traffic.

I have fully planned to go to the meeting in Springfield. I had my ticket and my room. Now I am going to have to do some recalculating.

One things for sure – it’s a heckuva lot easier to get to Tucson if you are part of the California NRA Members’ Councils than it is for us folks on the East Coast. It is not named the “Sinister Coast” for no reason.

UPDATE: I have been told by Todd Rathner, who is a Board member and Tucson resident, that the Board of Directors meeting will be on Saturday afternoon. When the meeting was scheduled for Springfield, MO, the Meeting of Members was on Saturday and the Board of Directors meeting was on Monday.

Any committee meetings will be held by phone or Zoom later. Participation in those by non-committee members will be at the discretion of the chairs.

Committee meetings will be held before the Board of Directors meeting on Saturday afternoon. I was just given a correction on that.

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Extortion? Oh, Puhleeze! UPDATED

April 26, 2019 by 0 Comments

Adam Kraut had an opinion piece published in Ammoland.com on Monday. It was entitled “When the Levee Breaks – NRA’s Untenable Position”. It discussed much of the ongoing controversy surrounding the leadership and executive staff of the NRA. At the end, it has this mislabeled comment regarding Adam’s candidacy for the board and Anthony Colandro. Adam considered the statement as an assertion and not a “challenge”.

With that out of the way, there is one more issue to attend to. Numerous individuals have asked if I’d be running for the 76th Board Seat at the NRA Annual Meeting. Others have asked if I would endorse or support Anthony Colandro (who is now being supported by Wayne LaPierre, among others!?). I’ve decided to keep my options open. My name will appear on the ballot, however, if Mr. Colandro will join me in demanding that Wayne and the Board Members who failed to exercise their fiduciary responsibilities immediately resign, I will consider stepping aside and offering my endorsement. Without that commitment though, I could not in good conscience endorse any candidate.

For those attending the NRA Annual Meeting this year, I’ll see you there. I hope you’ll join me in demanding accountability from the Officers and the Board.

Mr. Colandro responded in the comments saying it reeked of extortion.

I’m independent and I will make my own decisions. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I won’t be intimidated by ANYONE to make ANY decision. In New Jersey, we’re all too familiar with corruption and Mr. Kraut’s so-called “challenge” reeks of extortion. This infighting has to stop! We all have a common goal in the 2A community. If we stand strong and stand together, we stand a chance.

Extortion? I didn’t realize the self-described tough guy with pit-bull tendencies was such a snowflake.

Mr. Colandro makes much of the fact that he serves as a non-director member of three NRA committees. As Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned noted, “Those appointments don’t come without the blessing of the leadership and support of the incumbent board.”

Therein lies the problem in my eyes. Mr. Colandro was 33rd out of 35 candidates and had existing board members in the runner-up position ahead of him. I have a feeling – and it is only a feeling – that some sort of deal or commitment was made between Mr. Colandro and the powers that be. The NRA Board doesn’t need any more people beholden to the executive staff. Indeed that is where many of the internal troubles have originated.

As for me, I plan to vote for the second runner-up aka Adam. I have a level of trust that Adam Kraut will do the right thing whereas I don’t trust Mr. Colandro in the least to do what’s right for the organization and its future.

This is my last post before Indy. I will try to post from the NRA Annual Meeting when I have time.

UPDATE: Rob Pincus has a post on Facebook expressing much of the same misgivings about a deal between Mr. Colandro and the existing executive leadership.

Anthony Colandro has been endorsed by the NRA. Nothing about the NRA suggests they would support him unless a clear deal was in place for him to support the current regime.

Read the whole thing. If you are here and want change, then vote for Adam Kraut. If you are satisfied with the status quo and don’t care if the NRA goes down the tubes, then by all means vote for Mr. Colandro.

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Adam For 76th Director

May 1, 2018 by 0 Comments

I endorsed Adam Kraut for the NRA Board of Directors before the balloting started. The other two people I endorsed – Julie Golob and Tim Knight – made it on the board but Adam came up a bit short. He has let me know that he will be running again for the 76th Director position. It is a one-year post and ALL members are eligible to vote for this director. You don’t have to be a Life Member or a 5-year continuous member to vote on this position. However, you must vote in person at the NRA Annual Meeting in Dallas.

As Adam posted on his Facebook page:

You didn’t think we were giving up did you?

Who can vote – ALL NRA Members
Where to vote – Outside Exhibit Hall A
When to vote – Thurs. 2 PM to 6 PM, Fri. 8 AM to 6 PM and Sat. 8 AM to 4 PM.

Last year we lost by only 60 votes. Bring everyone with you to cast a ballot.

If you are going to be at the Annual Meeting, I would urge you to vote for Adam. We need young blood like him on the Board of Directors now more than ever.