NRA’s 145th Annual Meeting
By Jeff Knox
(May 25, 2016) The NRA’s Annual Convention in Louisville, KY, with over 80,000 in attendance, was interesting for political junkies this year, as there was drama in NRA’s internal elections, as well as the hotly contested race for President. Presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump received the Association’s official endorsement before delivering a well-received speech. Some members were not happy about the endorsement, but the decision makes sense. The rigged system means only the R or D can possibly win, and the D – whether that ends up being Hillary, Bernie, or someone else – is absolutely unacceptable to GunVoters due to the Supreme Court situation if nothing else. Trump’s past support for some gun control schemes is uncomfortable, but was in line with the mainstream Republican position of the day. He has since recanted those comments, and is promising to be the most pro-rights President in modern history. He has also offered up a list of very qualified and acceptable Supreme Court possibles. Who knows what assurances he made behind closed doors, but as of now, Trump is the only hope GunVoters have of avoiding the sure disaster of another anti-rights D in the White House.
Once again, the member participation in the mail-in balloting was dismal. Only 164,026 of the 2,112,643 eligible ballots were returned this year. That’s a voter participation rate of less than 8%. On the brighter side though, over 2.1 million eligible voters – Lifetime Members and those who have maintained annual membership for at least 5 consecutive years – is pretty impressive. Numbers like that are the source of the NRA’s considerable political clout. If only those millions of members would take internal elections as seriously as they take politics outside the NRA.
The effort to recall NRA Director, Grover Norquist ended up much closer than I had expected, though the recall failed as predicted. The final numbers were 70,204 voting to retain Norquist in office, and 62,066 voting to remove him from the Board of Directors.
There were 25 incumbents and a number of challengers running for the 25 three-year seats up for election this year. Five of the incumbents didn’t make the cut, and one of those, long-time director, Lance Olson, won a one-year seat elected by the members in attendance at the Annual Meeting. Expect to see them all vying for the 25 three-year seats that will be on the ballot next year. There’s a good probability that at least one of the current directors could resign soon, due to health issues, meaning that Sean Maloney, who barely missed the cut this year, would fill that seat and be able to run as an incumbent next year. That will be an interesting race to watch, as the 2017 class has the fewest celebrities and big names of any of the three classes.
For years I have advocated creating an “Honorary” or “Advisory” Board comprised of celebrities, politicians, and big donors who support NRA’s mission, but are not really interested in rolling up their sleeves and doing the work of the Board of Directors. This could free up at least a dozen seats on the Board. With rumors circulating of a bylaw change to require directors to attend meetings and actively serve on committees in order to maintain their seats, now would be a good time to create this Advisory Board so there will be a place to slide those non-performers if their positions as directors come into question.
Along with all of this inside baseball at the Louisville Annual Meeting, there were a lot of guns. Not only were there acres of guns on display from manufacturers, custom builders, and collectors from all over the world, there were also guns on the hips and in the belts of a good many of the attendees. No incidents were reported, and crime in the city fell dramatically during the well-armed weekend.
Only the Secret Service-controlled, political rally featuring Donald Trump was off-limits to lawful carry. That fact was well publicized and problems were minimal, but while attendees left guns at home or in cars, many didn’t realize that the ban also applied to knives. Fortunately volunteers with KnifeRights.org set up a check system so people didn’t have to forfeit their knives or lose their places in line to trudge back to their cars to lock them up.
On the show floor, there were fantastic displays showing off guns that you would be lucky to see in museums, along with the latest offerings from gun companies large and small. The most interesting items that my friend Chilton and I found were a unique palm pistol that is being advanced as a medical device to allow people with various physical impairments to participate in shooting sports and personal defense, and a pair of custom 1911-style pistols carved almost completely from a large meteorite by high-end gun maker, Cabot Guns.
NRA will be in Atlanta, Georgia next year. Whatever your firearm interests, it’s definitely worth taking the time to peruse the show. Admission is free to NRA members, and would be a bargain at twice the price.