One Down, Four to Go

When we decided to create Save the Second we established five goals that would work to make the NRA’s leadership structure stronger, more effective, relevant and accountable to the members. One of the very first focuses was to establish a Director attendance bylaw amendment, since we had all been educated on the shocking lack of director attendance by Adam Kraut and his work on the matter.

The news concerning Adam’s work was further shocking to us when after suggesting that the directors attend board meetings, NRA Director Marion Hammer called those who agreed with that “The Enemy Within.“

Those of you who signed the petitions and called for accountability in the NRA are obviously not the NRA’s enemy! It seems most directors understand that despite the outlandish accusations levied by Mrs. Hammer. As a result of your hard work we completed one of our five goals yesterday! Today, I am proud to say that the NRA Directors finally have an attendance policy. 

I arrived in Tysons Corner, VA (the location of the NRA Winter Board Meeting) on Wednesday night. While the NRA Board Meeting was held on Saturday, the Committee Meetings started on Wednesday and I was eager to speak with our NRA Directors.

On Thursday, Director Todd Rathner spent around two hours total speaking with me about various topics. Director Scott Bach joined in on one such conversation, as they had been working together on our Attendance Bylaw Petition. That was news to me and honestly, I was a skeptic and initially viewed some of their claims as convenient excuses to delay ratification of the petition. They proved my skepticism wrong. During the Board Meeting, the Bylaws & Resolutions Committee Chair, Carol Frampton, brought it before the Board for a vote!

Now, there are a few things that are strange and amended from our original Bylaw Amendment Proposal by Petition of the Members. For example, they chose to make it a Board Policy instead of a bylaw. The reason they chose to do that seems to be a correction from the early 80’s when the bylaws went from 24 pages to 38 and the officer removal became five paragraphs instead of the previous one: not every little thing can be a bylaw, but it can be a policy. Ultimately, it is now the Policy of the Board of Directors that they show up. 

You might also be worried that the Policy has no “teeth” to swiftly remove those empty chairs with the excused absences, delegating to the executive council and deferring to the NRA President. Yes, this is a double-edged sword, and a fair one. We would all hate to see this policy abused and weaponized to remove a director who was calling for positive change. Similarly we would hate to see a director removed because he/she was out on the streets of Virginia, or anywhere else, fighting the real fight and couldn’t attend the meeting as a result.

There is a balance there that Scott Bach, Todd Rathner and Carol Frampton spent a shocking amount of time on and I think they got it right, perhaps not by my aggressive standard but by the standards of reasonable, prudent Directors that were in attendance at the Board Meeting. Please note that Marion Hammer failed to attend. Perhaps that is why this policy was voted for with no objection!

There is no doubt about it, this would have never been possible without your involvement. Everyone that sent a letter, email, tweet or message to their NRA Directors: Bravo!

To everyone who signed the Petition and spread the message: This would not have been possible without you!

To those of you who want to see the NRA address the problems, correct the problems and come out truly winning the fight for the protection and expansion of the Second Amendment: Do not stop now! We have four more goals to go!