Members’ Newsletter: NRA Members Side with Reformers at Annual Meeting
In the seven years since the NRA’s corruption scandal first broke into the open, there hasn’t been a members’ meeting quite like the one on Saturday.
While others, especially 2019’s meeting, have been more explosive, none have been as consequential. For the first time, a majority of NRA members in the meeting sided with reformers and passed a substantive resolution. The resolution itself may not bring about a massive immediate change, but it does send a symbolic message about where the internal reform effort is at in 2025.
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It was the first time in my years covering the meeting that there was enough of a dispute over one resolution that the members ended up needing a tabulated vote, rather than just a voice vote, to see which side won. It’s also the first where a substantive resolution was adopted rather than referred to the board for further deliberation. Even the resolution members referred to the board, a tactic that has nearly always ended in the death of the idea, was only sent that direction after a significant compromise on the details.
All in all, the NRA members considered four resolutions. They voted down two, passed one, and referred another to the board. There seemed to be something of a theme in why members went in the direction they did.
The two resolutions that failed were argued against primarily because opponents viewed them as focused on the past failings of the NRA and its board. One would have expressed condemnation of board members who allegedly colluded with LaPierre to fix who would be on the board. The other called on David Coy, a longtime LaPierre supporter at the center of the controversy over last year’s time-limited meeting, to resign over a long list of grievances.
Meanwhile, the resolutions that made it through the meeting were more forward-looking and focused on reforming the group’s operations. The one that was referred to the board after a roll-call vote sought to implement a strict conflict-of-interest policy. Members sent it to the board because some had concerns that the policy was too strict, but they also asked the board to make the author of the resolution a member of the committee assigned to review the idea.
The resolution that was adopted dealt with future transparency efforts. It told the board to create a website for NRA members that expands access to basic financial and governance reports, such as meeting minutes and the non-profit’s tax filings. It also asked them to figure out how to live-stream board meetings to all NRA members.
That resolution was by far the most popular. It was adopted nearly unanimously, with just six or so members voting against it.
Overall, this was good news for NRA reformers. Just as they’ve likely tipped the balance on the board in their favor after the most recent election, they’ve finally put a transparency resolution over the hump in a members’ meeting.
That’s progress. It’s incremental, but it’s progress. The board meeting on Monday may well deliver more forward movement for reformers, too.
