“Wearing many hats” is a phrase I first heard in the Air Force. It means that along with your regular assigned duties based on your job, you could have other additional duties. Depending on what you are doing at the moment, you are wearing a different hat.
While supporting the 2nd Amendment (2A) I wear two different hats. (Actually, it’s four different hats, but for brevity’s sake I’ll go with two. Fortunately, I do pretty much the same thing with each organization. As someone who is usually wearing a hat, which hat tells you which group I’m representing (although I will have the other hat in my bag in case it’s needed.) ISRPA hat when I’m the Co-Director of Government Affairs, NRA hat in my role as an NRA-ILA-Frontlines Activist Leader (FAL.) Since the ISRPA is the State affiliate to the NRA, the lines do blur.
Recently while wearing my NRA hat, I had the opportunity to attend an online meeting with John Commerford, the new Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA.) ILA is the political arm of the NRA (funded only by donations from NRA members.) Mr. Commerford has been with the NRA for many years, starting as an intern. He covered a lot of information; I did my best to take notes.
(US) House of Representatives Bill 38/HR 38:
– Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act
– “Constitutional rights don’t stop at the State line”
Suppressors:
– Hearing Protection Act
– Tax on these (National Firearms Act of 1934/NFA item) proposed to decrease from $200 to $0
– Taxation is budget, can be done through “reconciliation” requiring a simple majority in the Senate, vice 60 votes to end debate
– This is a step towards removing suppressors from the NFA registry
– “The NFA of 1934 should be repealed”
“The NRA exists for gun owners who don’t know they need the NRA”
NRA-ILA-Political Victory Fund (PVF:)
– Political Action Committee (PAC) of the NRA-ILA
– Off-year (2025) Governor elections in Virginia and New Jersey
– 2026 Mid-Terms:
- Republican Senate majority: judicial nominations approval
- Republican House majority: prevents endless impeachment attempts/investigations
– PVF Candidate Grades:
- Strictly based on 2A votes/support
- Incumbent who supports 2A will receive endorsement
Gun Owners Voting:
– NRA members: an estimated 95% of NRA members vote
– All gun owners: not so much
– 2024 general election:
- NRA-ILA focused on gun-owners who were “low propensity voters”
- All seven swing-States went for President Trump
NRA-ILA Litigation:
– New strategy, work with other 2A supporting organizations
- Most notably the Gun Owners of America and the Second Amendment Foundation
- “If NRA-ILA takes the case, we’re willing to go to the Supreme Court”
– Reactive: lawsuits
– Proactive: taking the fight to the State and US Legislatures
NRA-ILA State Directors:
– 12 covering all 50 States
– Now the State Directors live in one of the represented States (saves travel costs)
– Much of the 2A fight is at State level
“State with the most NRA members: Texas. State with second-most NRA members: California.”
As gun owners, we need to remember the fight to preserve our 2A Rights never ends. When our elected representatives need to be reminded that we are here and we are paying attention, we have to step up.
There was one other thing Mr. Commerford mentioned a number of times during the meeting: elections have consequences.
Kelly Myers
Co-Director Government Affairs
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