Make Your Vote Count. Make A Difference! NRA 2.0

As gun owners and advocates for the 2nd Amendment (2A,) we must always be prepared to take action defending the essential right to keep and bear arms. As members of the Indiana State Rifle & Pistol Association (ISRPA) we are also members of the State-affiliate of the National Rifle Association.

The NRA has undergone challenges for several years. It was unfortunate that Indiana was at the center of the turmoil at the very beginning during the 2019 NRA Annual Meeting of Members in Indianapolis. Over the next several years the NRA’s challenges came from within with a struggle to change leadership and the State where it is incorporated. Challenges also came from the outside, State-funded lawsuits against the NRA and the New York State government coercing banks in insurance companies to not do business with the NRA. Years later, the NRA won a unanimous Supreme Court decision over the New York government (NRA v. Vulo 2024.)

NRA 2.0 (moving on from the NRA of the past to a new version) is a phrase coined by the new NRA CEO and Executive Vice-President Doug Hamlin. As with any large corporation, the CEO is responsible for operations, the board of directors provides oversight. Without reform-minded board members, NRA 2.0 would not exist. As advocates of the 2A, we all know the importance of a strong and influential NRA.

Our ISRPA President is Charlie Hiltunen. Charlie has also been a member of the NRA Board of Directors for the past three years. During that time, he has been a leader for reform and allowing NRA 2.0 to exist. Working behind the scenes with like-minded board members (and those who would become reformers) brought about new leadership at the NRA. Unfortunately, vestiges of “the old guard” still exist, as he would find out with the nominations for board of directors’ candidates.

While there is a new CEO and Board President, the old guard (loyal to the previous leadership) is alive and well in the nominating committee. A significant number of reformers (including a former NRA Board of Directors Vice President) were left off the ballot by the nominating committee. This left nominating by petition (an extremely antiquated method that has never been updated, possibly since the NRA came to be during the Ulysses S. Grant Administration) as the only option. Charlie Hiltunen was not deterred by this daunting task.

Charlie took the case for the reformers to the Great State of Indiana and the ISRPA membership (many also being NRA members) to fill out petitions and nominate the reform candidates. Not only will most of the reformers be on the ballot soon (next NRA magazine will have the ballots,) but the NRA/ISRPA members from the Great State of Indiana alone provided enough signatures to get the reformers on the ballot. That says a lot!

Having served on the NRA Board for three years, Charlie Hiltunen is on the ballot as well. In the numerous conversations I’ve had with him, at some point the discussion always turns to the NRA. Getting the right people in place to make a difference, as well as returning the NRA to the core missions of marksmanship, safety and training, and supporting the 2A is why Charlie ran for the NRA Board three years ago.

As the ISRPA Co-Director of Government Affairs, I can tell you it never hurts to have someone on the team who can pick up the phone and contact NRA Institute for Legislative Action Director if needed.

When you get your ballot in the next NRA magazine, look for these candidates:

(current board members/reformers)

Ø Al Hammond

Ø Charles Hiltunen

Ø Todd Ellis

Ø Jim Wallace

Ø Jim Porter

Ø Anthony Colandro

Ø Cathy Wright

Ø Mitzy McCorvey

Ø Phillip Gray

Ø Willis Lee

(New reform candidates)

Ø Paul Babaz

Ø Charles Brown (Write-in Candidate)

Ø Anthony Colandro

Ø Robert Emslie

Ø Richard Fairburn

Ø Richard Figard

Ø James Fortis

Ø Jonathan Goldstein

Ø Jack Hagan

Ø Teresa Inacker

Ø Howard Massingill

Ø David Mitten

Ø John Richardson

Ø James Sheckels

Ø Regis Synan

Ø Frank Tait

Ø Todd Vandermyde

Ø Knox Williams

Ø Jason Wilson

An incredibly low percentage of voting-eligible NRA members (Life members plus non-Life members who have been in the NRA for at least 5 years) actually turn in the ballot. In 2023 just under 3% of the eligible voters chose 25 board members. With numbers like that, your vote really can make a difference. Putting Charlie Hiltunen back on the NRA Board of Directors along with a solid majority of reform candidates will keep the NRA moving in the right direction.

Make Your Vote Count Here!