Bob Barr Elected NRA President, Reform Slate Sweeps Other Offices

Bearing Arms ^ | 5/20/24 | Cam Edwards

[CFW]

Commentary by Cam Edwards on NRA elections:

I have a passing acquaintance with Bob Barr thanks to my longtime tenure at NRA News. We've had a few conversations over the years at the Annual Meetings, and he's been a guest on Cam & Co in the past, though it's been awhile since he's been on the show. I have nothing against Barr as a person. He's a fascinating conversationalist and a staunch defender of the Second Amendment, but I confess he wasn't my first choice for NRA president this year.

[snip]

There were a lot of positive signs over the weekend that gave me hope the reform camp was going to prevail during Monday's board meetings, but Barr's election gave me pause. As of this writing, I haven't spoken to any board member to find out what, if any, reassurances Barr might have given board members about his commitment to reform before the vote was cast, but he was the hand-picked candidate of the nominating committee, which means he was the preferred choice of the status quo.

@StephenGutowski

Bill Bachenberg, who was a reform candidate, won the First Vice President over Blaine Wade by a vote of 36 to 31. So, the reformers got a win on the second spot.

[snip]

It wasn't a clean sweep for the reform slate, but it was pretty darn close, and that's supremely good news for NRA members who want to see the organization regain its strength. With the election of reform-minded officers, it looks like a majority of the board understands the dire position the organization is in and the need to rebuild the trust of current and former members. I just hope it's not too late to overcome the challenges the NRA faces.

[matthew fuller]

Wasn’t this ex- congresscritter from GA a member here on FR a while back? Maybe still is?

[gundog]

Wasn’t that Sen. Frank Lautenberg. D-NJ?

[Redcitizen]

Lotta Cretaceous Aged folks here on FR too. :)

[DesertRhino]

Kinda, kinda not.

Lautenberg did the original full and retroactive ban. Barr changed it to only apply to people convicted of misdemeanors from 97 on. We held the house then. Dole and Trent Lott ran the Senate in that era.

“Representative Barr’s amendment could arm thousands of convicted abusers by narrowing the law so that it applies only to those batterers and child abusers convicted after the date of the law’s passage: September 30, 1996. Under the Barr measure, any wife beater or child abuser convicted prior to that date�and who is now forbidden to purchase or possess a firearm could once again legally own or buy a gun.”

[gundog]

I remember that there were a considerable number of law enforcement officers that were prohibited from owning firearms after the amendment. Apart from the clearly un-Constitutional ex post facto nature of the law, I wonder how much that played into Barr’s decision.

[Gaffer]

Maybe, but my impression is that the ACLU is about as ‘reformable’ as the NAACP.