I’ve gotten a steady stream of questions in for our board candidates. Most of them quite good. However a number of them are on legislative topics, and legislative priorities, which the NRA Board is only tangentially involved in. Those decisions get made by ILA. For those that asked questions of this nature, I will see if I can get an interview with a decision maker at ILA after we’re finished with all the board stuff.
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Thanks- is there any chance you’d elucidate about what falls under what umbrella? I know there’s more out there than NRA and NRA-ILA.
The board is, theoretically, responsible for the overall direction of the organization. Board members should really bring a certain expertise to the table. Either local experience, or something that adds something to the board.
For instance, some folks were asking questions about specific legislation, which would make more sense for someone at ILA to answer.
Questions for board members would be less specific, and more focused on their experience and attitudes. Also any local knowledge they might have. I will try to work a lot of the questions people are asking in, but I may rephrase them a bit.
But I still think it would be good to try to get someone from ILA to answer some of the legislative questions.
I do not claim to understand the inner workings of the NRA or the ILA. But in my opinion your explanation above does not do anything to further your argument that legislative questions are not appropriate for board nominees. If anything your statement, “The board is, theoretically, responsible for the overall direction of the organization”, strengthens my belief that legislative questions are appropriate for board nominees. If the board controls the direction of the organization then I can only assume that includes the ILA and the ILA’s agenda.
I will amend the question I posed then. Instead of “Do you support actively working to repeal 18 USC 922(o)?”, please substitute, “Do you support directing the ILA to actively work to repeal 18 USC 922(o) and will you work to replace executive leadership and ILA leadership who will not persue this goal?”. Is that better?
Where are the votes going to come from to repeal 922(o)? The thing got passed on a voice vote, which means not a single critter raised an objection to it back in 1996. You think Pelosi is going to allow a bill with that in it to come to the floor? You think Obama is going to sign it?
Actually more than one critter raised an objection. Many to most people believe that the “Hughes Amendment” that added 18 USC 922(o) was rejected by the voice vote but was gaveled as passed by the chair. And no, there are not enough votes to pass a repeal of 922(o) if a bill was brought to the floor to do so. But we live in an era of thousand page bills that no one reads. Less than two dozen words in the middle of the night by a single legislator would undo 922(o). Say adding “18 USC 922(o)(2)(c) any lawful transfer or lawful possession registered per the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record” to a stimulus or health overhaul bill. No more dirty than the way it was passed in the first place.
I was mistaken. House rules are a recorded vote can be called for by a single member on a Point of Order for lack of a quorum or by 1/5th of those present or 1/5th of a quorum.
So basically, if there was serious objection to Hughes, there were procedural things the minority could have done to make sure it was a recorded vote, and at least frustrated its passage. Those things didn’t happen.