By Jeff Knox, member, NRA Board of Directors since May, 2024
The NRA held its Fall Board and committee meetings in Northern Virginia from September 16th through the 19th. Since we only meet in person three times per year, there’s always a lot of work to be done at these meetings.
The main business was several bylaw amendment proposals. A few were somewhat controversial, so sides had formed up well before we arrived at the hotel in Reston. Even so, the floor debate was not dramatic. This Board is solid and down-to-earth, with little political gamesmanship or parliamentary trickery. After three days of committee meetings, most are fairly well informed about the issues being discussed in the board meeting, and they have already decided their position by the time a motion hits the floor.
The proposal of most interest to NRA members was a Bylaw amendment proposal from President Bachenberg. The proposal was to amend the Bylaws to reduce the size of the Board by ten seats per year for the next three years, beginning with the current election. So, rather than 26 seats to fill in the upcoming election, there would be only 16.
I was unhappy with the way the proposal had come about and been dropped on the Board by the President, but was prepared to vote in favor if it had come down to a straight up-or-down vote, simply because I originally ran on a platform of reducing the Board size. Even if I didn’t think this was the best way to accomplish that goal, I felt it would at least be a step in the right direction and could be cleaned up in future meetings.
Thankfully, as far as I’m concerned, it didn’t come to that. Amanda Suffecool, the Chair of the Special Committee on Organization (of which I am a member), stood and moved that the proposal be remanded to that committee for further study and recommendations. Amanda’s motion passed overwhelmingly, and the matter was resolved, at least for the time being.
The fact that this proposal hadn’t been brought to the Committee on Organization previously was one of my major problems with it. The Committee was created and specifically tasked with “studying, recommending and where appropriate, advising in the implementation of board composition…” That seems pretty clear, and the Committee had already been researching the important questions that really need to be asked before launching into a reform like this. Such as, what specific problem(s) are we trying to solve, and would this proposal actually solve, or at least favorably impact it?
The Committee immediately began coordinating next steps to accelerate its progress on this issue, including building lists of questions that need answers, surveys for Board members and for Association members to get a better feel for their specific concerns, and planning online and in-person meetings of the Committee (at Committee members’ own expense) to bring the information and ideas together for possible action at the January Board meeting.
While the vote to remand the President’s proposal to the committee will certainly extend the process of “right-sizing” the board, at least the next election cycle, it also reduces the chances of doing something that we, and the members, end up regretting down the line.
I’m surprised that I haven’t seen more about this meeting, and this vote in particular, in the press and on social media. I was expecting some diatribes about the “reformers” reneging on their promises and the like, but I’ve not seen a lot of that. Some, but not a lot. From my discussions with other Directors, I think the vast majority agree that the Board should be smaller, but ideas on exactly why we think that, how much smaller, and how to get there are all over the map. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.
The other Bylaw amendment proposals voted on in this meeting included some that require member approval. The board can recommend changes, but the membership has to approve them by voting on them in the next election. If you’ve ever looked at our Bylaws (which all members should), you might have noticed that some parts are printed in Bold Italic print. Those parts can only be amended or repealed by a vote of the membership, while the rest can be changed by the Board of Directors. We’re asking our members to approve a few relatively minor changes to some Bold Italic text in the upcoming election.
The proposals have been combined for simplicity, so there will only be one question to either approve or reject the proposed changes. The first part changes a couple of titles of officers to clarify their roles and stop ongoing confusion. Specifically, we want to shift the title from “Executive Vice President” to “Chief Executive Officer,” and that of “Executive Director of NRA General Operations” to “Chief Operating Officer.” Adopting the proposal wouldn’t change the duties or responsibilities of either of them, just their titles.
The second part of the proposal would strike a provision that forbids the board from creating or deleting any officer positions without prior permission from the membership. No one recalls why this provision was added to the Bylaws, but it created a problem when we were required by the court to add a Chief Compliance Officer last year. It’s also generated confusion when we’ve wanted to use titles like Chief Technology Officer, because people think “Officer” in the title means they’re legally an officer of the corporation, which is incorrect. To avoid this confusion and unnecessary delays, if we do need to add or remove an officer position in the future, we’d like to remove this provision.
The board passed several other Bylaw amendments as follows:
- New provisions and amendments providing for, and authorizing the scope and duties of the Chief Compliance Officer.
- An amendment to incorporate much of our conflict of interest policy into the text of the Bylaws.
- Amendments to change most of the salaried officer positions from “elected” to “appointed with ratification by the board,” which is mostly just a technical change to make it easier to hire quality people, and which doesn’t change duties or responsibilities of any of those officers.
- A resolution requiring directors to inform the Secretary whenever they leave a board meeting prior to its conclusion, so we always maintain a quorum count and can track attendance.
- A proposal to repeal a section of the Bylaws which requires 5 years as a Life Member in order to be eligible to run for a director seat failed, so that minimum requirement remains.
The final business from the Bylaws and Resolutions Committee was the passage of three memorial resolutions for directors who passed away this year. One of the longest-serving directors and one of the shortest-serving directors both died on the same morning. Wayne Anthony Ross of Alaska was first elected to the Board in 1980 and served almost continuously for the rest of his life, with only a short break in the early ‘90s. He passed away on April 18, 2026, as did Lynn Gipson of Illinois, who had just been elected to a one-year term on the board, but hadn’t yet been sworn in. In addition, former President and member of the Executive Council, Allan Cors, passed away on August 10, 2026.
Shortly after the board meeting, the Nominating Committee released its list of nominees for the 2027 election. My name was on the list, as well as my compadre Rocky Marshall (who serves as Second Vice President). However, the committee did not nominate the other half of our “Four for Reform” slate, Judge Phil Journey and Dennis Fusaro.
Both Phil and Dennis are circulating petitions to get on the ballot. They have my endorsement, and I encourage Voting Members of NRA – that’s Annual Members with at least 5 years of consecutive membership, and any Life Members – to follow the links below and sign their petitions. You’ll need your NRA Membership Number.
I’ll undoubtedly have more to say about the elections in the coming weeks.
About Jeff Knox:
Jeff Knox is a dedicated political activist and the director of The Firearms Coalition, following in the footsteps of his father, Neal Knox. In 2024, Jeff was elected to the NRA Board of Directors, underscoring his lifelong commitment to protecting the Second Amendment. The Knox family has played a pivotal role in the ongoing struggle for gun rights, a legacy documented in the book Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War, authored by Jeff’s brother, Chris Knox.
Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, The Firearms Coalition is a network of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs, and civil rights organizations. The Coalition supports grassroots efforts by providing education, analysis of current issues, and a historical perspective on the gun rights movement. For more information, visit www.FirearmsCoalition.org.
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