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Let’s Be Above Average

March 7, 2025 by 2 Comments

In another voting facts factoid from the Falls Township Rifle and Pistol Association, we learn that in the last five NRA Board elections that it took an average of 51,774 votes to be elected.

If what I’m hearing on the ground is accurate, it should take more than that to be elected. The reason being is that I’m hearing from long time members that they plan to vote for the first time. Moreover, they plan to vote for NRA 2.0 and reform.

If you have friends who are NRA members, ask them if they are a voting member? Ask them if they have voted yet? If they answer no, tell them they need to vote and they need to vote for NRA 2.0. While it might be nice to see the NRA returned to its former prominence, I am more concerned about it being an effective advocate for the Second Amendment and not worrying about who gets the credit for the win.

Go to ElectANewNRA.com to see the whole slate.

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Brewer Withdraws From Dell’Aquila Case

March 5, 2025 by

When the Brewer law firm said they were severing ties with the NRA, I wondered how long it would take them to withdraw as defense counsel in the case of Dell’Aquila et al v. NRA. Thanks to a Courtlistener alert I received today, we have an answer.

Today was the day William Brewer and the attorneys from Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors have officially withdrawn as defense counsel in the case. NRA General Counsel Michael Blaz approved the withdrawal on February 19th and the firm of Neal and Harwell PLC will now represent the NRA in this case. The new firm is out of Nashville, Tennessee which makes sense as the case is being heard in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

The case was originally brought by David Dell’Aquila against the NRA, the NRA Foundation, and Wayne LaPierre. The complaint said that they had fraudulently solicited memberships and donations saying the monies would be used to further the mission of the NRA. In 2020, Judge William Campbell dismissed the cases against the Foundation and Wayne LaPierre but allowed one charge against the NRA itself to proceed.

You can see the filings related to the withdrawal by Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors below:

Brewer withdraws from Dell’Aquila caseDownload

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This Is One Way To Increase Voter Turnout

March 4, 2025 by 13 Comments

The factoids from Falls Township Rifle and Pistol Association illustrate that voter turnout in the NRA Board elections is terrible. Indeed, to put it bluntly, a fraction about 3 percent is an embarrassment.

I think the Dallas Safari Club might be on to something. Not only have they gone to online voting but they are offering an inducement to increase voter participation.

If the chance to win a $4,000 +/- rifle doesn’t induce you to vote, then nothing will.

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NRA Voting Facts Revisited

March 3, 2025 by

In another illustration of how so few eligible NRA voting members actually vote is this factoid from the Falls Township Rifle and Pistol Association.

Thanks to Bitter and the Falls Township Rifle and Pistol Association for compiling these numbers. Imagine a NRA if a million members voted for change, reform, and NRA 2.0. Nothing could stop us!

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March 7th Is Deadline To Become A Voting Member

February 28, 2025 by

I received an email this morning from NRA Secretary John Frazer which clarifies the deadline to become a voting member eligible to vote in the 2025 NRA Board of Directors election. The deadline is March 7th.

Here is the email from Frazer:

To:          Board and Executive Council members

                2025 Board of Directors candidates

We’ve received a couple of questions about the voting eligibility of members who paid their Life membership dues in January or February. 

Under the Bylaws, anyone who is a fully paid Life member (or reaches the five-year mark of annual membership) at least 50 days before the Annual Meeting of Members is eligible to vote.  This year, that date is March 7.

However, anyone who becomes eligible after late December wouldn’t get a ballot in the February magazines (or the initial first-class mailing for overseas ballots).  Members who qualify to vote between that initial data pull and March 7 will receive a ballot by first-class mail around March 11.

Based on the questions we’ve received and some social media posts, it appears that our Membership call center may not have communicated that clearly.  We’ve reminded the call center about this timeline. 

Anyone who joined early enough to get a ballot in the initial mailing, but still hasn’t received one, can contact Membership to verify their ballot status, and request a replacement if appropriate.

Many thanks to those who called this to our attention, and please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

John Frazer

Secretary

National Rifle Association of America

11250 Waples Mill Rd.

Fairfax, VA 22030

So if you are planning on buying or upgrading to a Life Membership so that you can vote in this election, your deadline to do so is March 7th.

The half price Life Membership offer at $750 has reportedly expired. However, it is still listed online here. If you are considering becoming a Life Member, do it now and take advantage of that discount. I sincerely doubt that the days of the $300 “friends and family” Life Memberships will ever return.

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Proof Online Voting Is Viable

February 27, 2025 by 1 Comment

One of the questions I have been getting with some frequency as a candidate for the NRA Board of Directors is, “Can I vote online?” I have to answer that they cannot and they must use the paper ballot that was mailed to them in the February issue of the various NRA magazines.

It is a reasonable question and with today’s technology the question really should be “Why can’t I?” We vote proxies for multi-billion dollar public companies online all the time with the option to use a paper ballot. We use DocuSign to sign off securely on mortgages and financial transactions. Judge Cohen called the paper and ink petition signature gathering process as very “20th Century” and “antiquated”. In his Final Order, while permitting the paper petitions to remain, he said the NRA must provide an online alternative.

It is doable and I know it is doable because I just voted that way this evening for the Dallas Safari Club Board of Directors. I realize that DSC is a much smaller organization but I can’t see why it could not work for a larger organization like the NRA.

I was given an Election Code and Voting PIN. The ballot had the names of five candidates plus spaces for three write-in candidates. I could vote for up to three candidates. I ended up voting for only two and the system questioned whether I wanted to vote for a third candidate before submitting my vote. I didn’t and it went through with no troubles. As you can see above, I even got a confirm that it was a success.

This system was run by a company called YesElections which was formerly known as Election-America, Inc. According to a PDF e-book that I downloaded, they are able to handle hybrid elections where members are sent a paper ballot with the option to vote it online.

I plan to follow up with them this week and ask is there a maximum limit on the number of voters that they can handle. I know there are other companies like ProxyVote that handle millions of proxy votes during Annual Meeting season. While the latter is exclusively for the financial world, YesElections seems to work with a wider range of clients ranging from associations to unions to educational institutions.

Read their e-book yourself. Can you think of any reason something like this could not be implemented for the 2026 NRA Board of Directors’ election?

I can’t.

Ebook _ The Ultimate Guide To Planning & Organizing ElectionsDownload
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NC Legislators: Advance SB50 and HB5 Now!

February 24, 2025 by 2 Comments

With Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Guilford, Rockingham) as a co-sponsor of SB50, permitless concealed carry is on the move in North Carolina. This is a big switch from 2023 when Berger said enough pro-gun bills had been passed.

As the Grass Roots North Carolina alert below makes clear, you can help move these bills along. You may need to change the delimiter between email addresses to fit your own email program’s preferences. This is easy to do in MS Word using find and replace. Additionally, I’d suggest using BCC when mailing to the legislators urging the two bills passage in each chamber’s Rules Committee.

From GRNC:

MAKE CONSTITUTIONAL
CARRY NC LAW
Senate Bill 50 (“Freedom to Carry NC”) and House Bill 5 (“NC Constitutional Carry”) are in the process of becoming NC law. We are so thankful to Sen.Berger and Rep Kidwell for their sponsorship and support in this pursuit.

GRNC has been pivotal in this endeavour as we presented a 7,000-signature petition to Berger in a press conference at his office, and thousands of emails were sent to legislators by GRNC supporters.

Additional sponsors for HB 5 are Reps. Jay Adams (R-Catawba, ****), Ben Moss (R-Moore, Richmond, ****) and freshman Brian Echevarria (R-Cabarrus, ****). Additional sponsors for SB 50 are Sens. Danny Britt (R-Hoke, Robeson, Scotland, GRNC ****), Warren Daniel (R-Buncombe, Burke, McDowell ****), and Eddie Settle (R-Alexander, Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin, ****). Both bills are currently in their respective Rules, Calendar and Operations committees.  
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

IMMEDIATELY CONTACT REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP: Contact both Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and Speaker Destin Hall to thank them for their support and urge them to give prompt committee hearings to HB 5 and SB 50. Use the links provided in the previous sentence for their contact information. Call and/or email the two leaders to thank them and to encourage them to advance these bills.  

IMMEDIATELY CONTACT ALL RULES COMMITTEE REPUBLICANS: Both Rules Committees (for House and Senate) need to hear loud and clear that you want a prompt committee hearing for HB 5 and SB 50. See contact information below. 

Please send two messages. Below, find two copy-paste email lists, one for the House and one for the Senate. Below that, find the copy-paste email message. 

DONATE TO GRNC:  We are still low on funds after our highly successful election effort. Please donate by going to: grnc.org/wp/2012/06/donate-to-or-join-grnc/  NC HOUSE Rules Committee (copy-paste email list):

Reece.Pyrtle@ncleg.gov; Blair.Eddins@ncleg.gov; Brenden.Jones@ncleg.gov; Charles.Miller@ncleg.gov; Donna.White@ncleg.gov; Erin.Pare@ncleg.gov; Jimmy.Dixon@ncleg.gov; John.Torbett@ncleg.gov; John.Bell@ncleg.gov; Karl.Gillespie@ncleg.gov; Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.gov; Kyle.Hall@ncleg.gov; Neal.Jackson@ncleg.gov; Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.gov; Steve.Tyson@ncleg.gov; Ted.Davis@ncleg.gov; Tricia.Cotham@ncleg.gov; William.Brisson@ncleg.gov


NC SENATE Rules Committee (copy-paste email list): 

Amy.Galey@ncleg.gov; Benton.Sawrey@ncleg.gov; Bill.Rabon@ncleg.gov; Brent.Jackson@ncleg.gov; Danny.Britt@ncleg.gov; Lisa.Barnes@ncleg.gov; Michael.Lazzara@ncleg.gov; Michael.Lee@ncleg.gov; Norman.Sanderson@ncleg.gov; Paul.Newton@ncleg.gov; Ralph.Hise@ncleg.gov; Todd.Johnson@ncleg.gov; Tom.McInnis@ncleg.gov; Vickie.Sawyer@ncleg.gov; Warren.Daniel@ncleg.gov 

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “Advance Constitutional Carry Bills HB 5 & SB 50”   Dear Rules Committee Members: 

As a Grass Roots North Carolina member, I thank you for your support and strongly urge you to give a prompt committee hearing to permitless or “constitutional” carry bills HB 5 and SB 50.

Fully 29 states have already adopted constitutional carry, with none of its naysayers’ dire predictions coming true. In fact, the Crime Prevention Research Center finds a small but significant reduction in violent crime among states which adopt permitless carry.

North Carolina Republicans are now lagging their counterparts in other states. Accordingly, I strongly urge you to bring constitutional carry to a prompt committee hearing and floor vote.

I will be monitoring your actions through Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.

Respectfully, 
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ATF Chief Counsel Fired

February 21, 2025 by 1 Comment

Pamela Hicks, ATF Chief Counsel since September 2021, was fired yesterday by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Hicks, a graduate of Duke Law, had served at ATF for a total of 14 plus years with additional service at the Department of Justice and Department of the Treasury. She had been promoted to Chief Counsel from the Deputy Counsel position. At the time of her promotion, an article by John Crump pointed out that Hicks had donated to Democrat candidates including Hillary Clinton along with Emily’s List. I’m sure that helped confirm her bona fides to the Biden Administration.

From LinkedIn

According to ABC News, Hicks was escorted out of her office upon being fired. Hicks posted a note on her LinkedIn page that said she had been fired but did not specify the reason.

Earlier today, I was served official notice from the Attorney General of the United States that I was being removed from my position as the Chief Counsel of ATF and my employment with the Department of Justice terminated. I have had the privilege of serving in the federal civil service for almost 28 years, including 23 as an attorney for the Department of Justice. Serving as ATF Chief Counsel has been the highest honor of my career and working with the people at ATF and throughout the Department has been a pleasure.

As The Firearm Blog notes, Hicks had a mixed batting record given the Biden-era rulings coming out of ATF such as the pistol brace rule.

Over the past few years, the ATF has been involved with cases such as the Pistol Brace Flip-Flop, where the feds were in the odd position of saying pistol-stabilizing braces were illegal and then saying they weren’t, and then saying they’d decide on a case-by-case basis with no real guidance.

These and other Second Amendment-suspicious situations do not indicate strong leadership or solid legal groundwork, and whether you were looking at the situation from an anti-gun or a pro-gun viewpoint, it is no surprise to see Hicks punted a few weeks after ATF Director Steven Dettelbach left. With a new director incoming, whoever that may be, the agency will also likely want to clean house of previous personnel and policies.

ATF quickly erased her from their page devoted to the bureau’s leadership. She still can be found on the older page which featured Steve Dettelbach as Director.

Of course, the gun control industry is upset by this.

Brady United President Kris Brown called the firing “chilling” and said “we are all at greater risk.” Everytown and The Cult of Personality known as Giffords have not posted anything as of yet concerning her firing. The latter seems more concerned with Kash Patel winning confirmation as the Director of the FBI.

As for me, I say it is a good first step. I hope more firings are to come.

Update: Hicks first job after graduation from Duke Law was with the law firm of Crowell and Moring. I was just reading an article by 2A scholar David Kopel on the Volokh Conspiracy regarding an amicus brief submitted by the NRA, FPC Action Foundation, and the Independence Institute in Smith & Wesson Brands v. Mexico. It was authored by he and NRA-ILA’s Joe Greenlee. The response attacking this brief came from none other than lawyers affiliated with Crowell and Moring.

Why am I not surprised? One must wonder if former Chief Counsel Hicks was involved in recruiting her former firm to submit the response brief.

This is also another case of Big Law wanting subvert gun rights.