Get Your NRA 2017 Ballots Mailed

By Jeff Knox

NRA Board of Directors 2017 Ballot : NOTE On your Ballot names may be randomized in a different order.
NRA Board of Directors 2017 Ballot : NOTE On your Ballot names may be randomized in a different order.
FirearmsCoalition.org
FirearmsCoalition.org

Buckeye, AZ –-(Ammoland.com)- You’re running out of time to get your ballot in for the 2017 NRA board elections.

Fewer than 6% of eligible NRA members return their ballot each year.  If you have not yet mailed your ballot, please do so now.  Along with the ballot for electing directors, there is a ballot on approval or rejection of a group of bylaw amendments.

Whether you vote for directors or not, please mark “No” on the bylaw ballot and mail it in immediately.

The bylaw ballot is a single page with just one question.  Some of the proposed amendments are simple housekeeping, but others remove power from the members, and consolidate power in the Board of Directors.

I strongly urge you to vote No.

Go right now and find your February issue.  If there is a ballot stapled into the center, you are eligible to vote.  Mark your ballots and mail them in the envelope provided..

If you’re not sure who to vote for in the NRA Board Directors race, I am encouraging voting for only the following three candidates: Adam Kraut, Sean Maloney, and Graham Hill.  You need not mark any other names.

Adam Kraut
Adam Kraut
NRA Board Member Sean Maloney
NRA Board Member Sean Maloney

Adam Kraut is an attorney from Pennsylvania and host of “The Legal Brief” on “The Gun Collective” YouTube channel and appears regularly on AmmoLand News.  I’ve been very impressed with Adam’s insights and enthusiasm, and think he would be an excellent addition to the Board.

I have endorsed Sean Maloney twice before, and he’s barely missed the cut each time, but last year, he moved up when another director resigned to take a half-million dollar per year job at NRA Headquarters.  This year, we have the opportunity to give him a full 3-year term, and I think that would be good for the NRA.

Graham Hill has served well on the Board for many years, but is not well-known among the members, and didn’t make the cut last year.  I think Graham has a lot to offer NRA, and deserves another term on the Board.

There are other candidates that I like.  Most will be reelected easily, and don’t need extra support, while others have little chance of winning.  I consider these three to have a solid chance to win seats, but be close to the cut-off mark, and so they would benefit most from extra support.

Overall, the NRA Board of Directors is an impressive group that generally does a pretty good job.

I think where they fall short is in their unwillingness to hold staff – Wayne and company – accountable and keep the budget in check.  Too many people are making too much money off of NRA members, and it’s the Board’s responsibility to manage that.  Paying LaPierre a million dollars a year is simply outrageous.  Paying other top executives three-quarters of a million each is unconscionable, and the money that is dumped into the PR firm of Ackerman McQueen is scandalous.  I’m also very disappointed that directors that I know, trust, and like, are advocating in support of the current bylaw amendments.  A big part of this stems from last year’s messy recall effort against Grover Norquist. And the losses of several incumbents in a field crowded with petition candidates.  I think many of the directors were a bit shocked by that debacle, and now they want to make sure nothing like that happens again.  I think those fears are unfounded, and these bylaw amendments are unjustifiable.

Donald Trump & Graham Hill
Donald Trump & Graham Hill

The key bylaw amendments would make nominating Board candidates by petition much more difficult, and would make petitioning for recalls and bylaw amendments impossible.

Since 1977, when my father proposed an amendment to the bylaws providing a way for members to nominate candidates by petition, the number of qualified signatures required has been set at 250, a number Dad saw as tough, but possible for someone committed to the effort.  Prior to that, the NRA President would name the members of the Nominating Committee, and the Nominating Committee would nominate just the number of candidates needed to fill the available seats.  Members had no say at all.

For recalls and bylaw amendments, the number was set at 450, a higher standard, but even more difficult since members are naturally reticent to sign recall and bylaw petitions unless they understand and agree with them, as opposed to director petitions, which most members will sign regardless.

Under the proposed bylaws, the number of signatures required would shift from a fixed number to a sliding scale based on how many votes were cast in the previous year’s director elections.  For nominating directors, the requirement would be 0.5% of the prior year’s ballots, and for recalls and bylaw amendments the number would be set at 5.0%.

What those percentages translate to in the real world are about 600 and 6000 respectively – assuming NRA members continue voting at the current low rate.  Getting signatures, member numbers, and home addresses from 600 NRA Life or 5-year consecutive members would be very difficult, requiring a pretty sophisticated, multi-state effort.  Getting 6000 signatures and related information for a recall or bylaw amendment petition would be virtually impossible.  And those numbers would go up exponentially if more members vote.

So these bylaw amendments would completely take away the members’ ability to propose bylaw amendments or recall an officer or director, and make it much more difficult for members to nominate director candidates.

This is wrong, and should not be allowed to happen.  Members must reject these amendments by voting “No.”  Ballots must be returned by April 9 2017.

Neal Knox - The Gun Rights War
Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War

About Jeff Knox:

Jeff Knox is a second-generation political activist and director of The Firearms Coalition. His father Neal Knox lead many of the early gun rights battles for your right to keep and bear arms. Read Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War.

The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition is a project of Neal Knox Associates, Manassas, VA. Visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org

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Al Kerber

thank you for sending out the email.
My ballot has been marked and returned.

Boyd Bivens

Just think how many members the NRA would have if it were not overrun by the corruption of people who are greedy and just want the power and money? “At first, it is a cause, then it becomes a business, and then it becomes a racket.”.
Just like the AARP, Red Cross, United Way, Wounded Warrior, and on and on.

William Graves

CORRECTION CORRECTION CORRECTION

The full list of bios was available. Walter, Washington and Wright were on the back side of the REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE. I did see them ’til after I had voted and was filing all the ballot info to call the NRA.

Sorry. I will look for your input before the 2018 election.

William Graves

I’m a Benefactor member and have voted every year since I was eligible in the early 1970s, My February 2017 issue of 1st Freedom cut off the bio for Lt. Commander Howard Walter and didn’t list any for Heidi Washington or Eric Wright. The 32 were listed in reverse alphabetical order. Adam Kraut had a bio and was on my ballot but was not listed on the REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE that I use as a work sheet prior to marking my ballot. For all the money I and others send to the NRA they need a good editor… Read more »

Sharron Albaugh

Jeff, we followed your dad through out the problems with the NRA takeover way back when and were always glad to get his perspective on the goings on. It was a pleasure to get your perspective. I would have loved to have had this info in Feb when we filled out and sent in our ballots, even though I do not vote yes on changes to by-laws your reasoning would have been helpful in convincing others to do the same. Please continue to share your thoughts, maybe just a little earlier. Thank you PS still miss your dad and his… Read more »

Richard Osborne

Why can’t votes be cast via a computer.

Anibal Cazal

I vote “NO” for the propose bylaw amendments.
I vote for Adam Kraut, Sean Maloney, and Graham Hill for the Board of Directors.

Wild Bill

@Richard, Too much chance of hacking. The NRA is so much smarter than the States and their rigged voting machines.

Boyd Bivens

A million a year for Wayne? 3/4 mil for others? This is why I quit the NRA and do not donate to any charities, they are all scams that need to fail and go bankrupt. There are other organizations I can donate my money to. Like my Congressman when he votes pro-2nd or the other guy when he doesn`t.
Hey, the President of the USA only gets $400,000 a year. The way Wayne has been running things he should have to pay 3/4 mil just to enter the building.

Sharron Albaugh

You are absolutely correct, no excuse for this kind of waste. You sure do not hear about these salaries very often. I guess they want to keep it a deep dark secret. What can we do to change this plundering of the NRA coffers?

Wild Bill

@Boyd and Sharron, I don’t know. You get what you pay for, and the NRA has never been more effective. The NRA has gotten us a lot (e.g. Hillary is not president). And let us not forget that Obama halved the value of the dollar. So a million dollars sounds like a lot (if that is what he is getting), but really it is only a half million.