This week, we’re taking a close look at the state of the NRA.
The nation’s largest gun-rights group is not nearly as large as it was half a decade ago. President Donald Trump just bailed on its conference. However, its civil corruption suit is now over, and its latest board election is in the books.
To give us a detailed view of where the NRA is at today, we’ve got freelance reporter John Petrolino on the show. John often writes for Shooting News Weekly and Bearing Arms. He recently did a great breakdown of the NRA election for the latter.
John said the reformers, who now go by NRA 2.0, won a sizeable victory and should have a significant majority headed into next weekend’s NRA Annual Meeting. Other longtime board members and defenders of former CEO Wayne LaPierre, many of whom are now part of what’s called Strong NRA, did not fare as well. But John noted those who didn’t run under the banner of either group did the worst of all.
He also said some prominent board members, like New York State Rifle and Pistol Association president Tom King, lost their bids. John said he was a bit surprised by some of the results, but he believes the board’s partisanship may not last. He said both sides have made calls for unity, however hard that might end up being.
You can listen to the show on your favorite podcasting app or by clicking here. Video of the episode is available on our YouTube channel. An auto-generated transcript is here. Reload Members get access on Sunday, as always. Everyone else can listen on Monday.
Reload Members can also join the show for a member segment if they’d like. Just reply to your Sunday email and let me know you want to come have a chat!
Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I cover the latest updates in the shooting at Florida State University, including the early response from President Donald Trump. We also talk about Trump’s decision to skip the NRA’s annual meeting for the first time since 2015 and what it says about the group’s current influence. Finally, we discuss a new federal appeals court ruling upholding Massachusetts’ ban on AR-15s and ammunition magazines as well as a new Montana bill cracking down on red flag laws.
