~Basil

Subject: NRA Directors election

Dear MSSA Friends,

Those of you who are eligible to vote in the NRA Board of Directors election are receiving your ballot in your current issue of whichever NRA magazine you choose to receive. I usually get multiple inquiries asking which candidates to vote for. Here is my recommendation.

First, some background. The NRA is in serious trouble. It is unknown if or how long the NRA will survive. We all hope the NRA will arise from its current problems even better and stronger than before, but that doesn't seem to be the direction things are going right now.

The problem is that we, the members, have allowed headstrong people to seize control of the NRA, and the current BoD has failed miserably in its duty to set and enforce proper policies for the NRA executives and staff. Yes, the problem is the good-ole-boys club the BoD has become, a social club that has let the executives and staff have and do whatever they have wanted for about two decades.

One curious feature about NRA elections is that the fewer people you vote for, the more your vote counts.

With all of this in mind, I recommend that you NOT vote for any
incumbents on the ballot. These are the people who have shirked their duty and allowed the NRA mess to develop. Further, I recommend that you vote for just four candidates on the ballot. Those are: Phil Journey, Dennis Fusaro, Jeff Knox, and Rocky Marshall. My suggestion is that you mark those four candidates, quit, and mail in your ballot.

If you want more history about the NRA and the current problems, here is a summary.

The NRA was founded shortly after the US Civil War specifically to promote civilian marksmanship. Up until the 1960s, the NRA BoD was populated with directors with the chief interest of promoting the various NRA shooting disciplines, such as Smallbore, Bullseye, and Highpower. These BoD members came to be known as the "hobby shooters." With the political turbulence of the 1960s, more members were elected to the BoD who wanted to see the NRA assert the Second Amendment and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Under the leadership of Neal Knox, these "Second Amendment types" became the controlling influence on the NRA BoD. This dominance lasted for maybe a couple of decades.

Then, the senior NRA staff began carefully and quietly recruiting a different type of candidates for the Board. This new generation of Board members, even if otherwise qualified, had the chief quality of being loyal to the NRA senior staff. Once a majority of the BoD was populated with this new crowd, the senior staff had the bit in its teeth, which set the stage for the mess the NRA is currently in.

Although I'm a strong supporter of GOA and SAF, I believe the NRA has an important role and is worth saving. My advice here is a
well-intended effort to help save the NRA. Whether the future NRA focuses on civilian marksmanship and/or the Second Amendment, it must return to being a membership-driven organization, not a social club for its BoD or a piggy bank for its senior staff.

I will vote for Phil Journey, Dennis Fusaro, Jeff Knox, and Rocky
Marshall, only. I commend this strategy to you.

Best wishes,

Gary Marbut, NRA Life Member since 1989

--
Gary Marbut, President
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
Author, *Gun Laws of Montana*
http://www.mtpublish.com