Hey Everyone!
Over in the NRA Sh*t Storm thread, there have been several comments along the lines of "what can we do?" Well, I recently helped to draft some of the messaging for a new organization called Save the Second. It was discussed a bit over in the other thread. If you haven't heard about it, here's their website, and here's their Facebook page. Bottom line, it's a bunch of NRA members hoping to fix the NRA from the inside - essentially save the NRA from itself. Here are the five goals they're working on:
- Reduce the size of the board (requires bylaw amendment)
- Term limits for board members (bylaw amendment)
- Attendance requirements for board members (bylaw amendment)
- Better engagement with and by the membership - getting members more involved and increasing voter turnout
- Returning to a hard focus on the Second Amendment issues, instead of smashing television sets with sledgehammers and putting KKK hoods on toy trains
They've rolled out their first proposed bylaw amendment, and that's the one to require minimum attendance for directors. In order to get that amendment on the agenda for a vote at the September board meeting, they need 250 signatures by August 1st. I know, tight deadline. I should have posted this sooner; sorry, I've just been swamped. But if you're a voting-eligible NRA member and you agree that board members should actually attend board meetings, please consider adding your name to the petition. You can find simple instructions, the petition itself, and the return mailing address on their website: http://www.savethe2a.org/petitions/. Hope some of you will sign and return it ASAP (and if you've got buddies who want to sign, even better).
Reality check: I'm not super-optimistic that this amendment will pass. But I do want to get it before the Board and make the directors take action on it. I'm hoping for a roll-call vote so we can see exactly where every board member stands on this issue. Even if it's not successful, it's a step in the right direction.
To be clear, Save the Second ain't perfect, LOL. No organization is :-). But as far as I've found, they're the only outfit that's actually doing something about the NRA mess rather than just talking about it. So, I'm on board. I think they'll be introducing the next amendments for the January board meeting, but I'm not sure. I bet they'll probably reassess after we see what happens in September. If any of the STS board members are here on PF, please do chime in. And if you guys know of any other grassroots groups that are taking action, by all means please post them, because I'd like to support internal change however I can. I know about Dell'Aquila's effort, but that one is geared more towards big-dollar donors (which ain't me).
Thanks, everyone!
Tiff :-)