NRA Petition List up and running!

Head on over to http://NRAPetitionList.blogspot.com/ and sign up on the list so you are notified quickly when another petition is needed to correct some injustice at NRA HQ. We can be a vocal membership when our elected officials step out of line! Go over to the above site and if we need to take action again we can do it posthaste!

Leadership accountability to the membership is a GOOD thing! It will take us to where we all want to go!

The Decision Is In, This Petition has Ended (Important Note in 3rd paragraph!!!)

First I want to thank all of you who worked to bringing this important issue to light. All of you who copied petitions and carried them to your meeting places and spread the word about this effort. Although we did not garner the numbers needed (see the following "Update.. " to see the final numbers) I think it was and remains a noble effort to ensure that our elected leaders realize that there are those of us out here that are watching. We insist that our organization pursue the objectives as outlined in our Bylaws and that we will not take kindly to those who, inadvertently or not, make our lives, sport, methods of defense, our very freedoms harder to hold onto.

This effort has "rung the bell" at NRA HQ loud and clear. Our message has gotten through even if we didn't get the recall pushed through. No problem. I've been told, as I wrote earlier, that a stern message was delivered to all the Board members to watch what they say and who they say it to. We were a part of that.

I've created a new website at NRAPetitionList.blogspot.com where active and interested NRA voting members can sign up to become "Minutemen". This list will be kept privately and in the event another petition is needed we'll have the requisite number of members so in the future a validated petition can be had in a matter of weeks if not days. Also this site will have other member's petitions and their information as needed. If you sent me a petition I ask that you sign up to be a Minuteman. I'd like to write each one of you before I destroy all the petitions but that is going to cost over $73 (.41 x 180, plus envelopes and paper). I received $1 dollar as a donation to the cause (Thank you!). All other expenses were born by me. (These included P.O. Box rental, a binder, site hosting for download file [free but I bought the hotlink so it would be easy to "click and download" instead of having to navigate through myriad buttons and links to get to the file], dividers, tabs, and the time, gas, and wear and tear on the vehicle to go to Box [almost daily since mid-October].)

It is very important that all of us spread the existence of this new site to all voting members. I estimate that we've got over one million voting members in the NRA. We might have touched around a percent with this petition (with luck!). We need to let a much larger slice of voting members know about this so they can sign up. I'd like a thousand or two. That's only about 16/10,000ths of a percent!! That way we'll never be caught short again. It can only bring more health and vitality to our Organization!!

Update: How is the effort going?

We needed 450 total with at least 100 coming from at least three states. We did not meet that threshold.

1624 downloads from the Megaupload site as of 1557 hrs EST 20 Jan 08. (Not counting pdf downloads from the various places it is posted but there's around 250 of them.)

The hard part will be getting 100 per in at least three states.

180 Petitions received.
Three states closest to 100:
1st:
California - 27
2nd:
New York - 14
3rd: (Tie)
Pennsylvania - 10
Texas - 10

Breakdown (with some just kidding for the "no shows", come on, SMILE!):
Alabama - 2
Alaska - 3
Arizona - 4
Arkansas - 1
California - 27
Colorado - 5
Connecticut - 1
Delaware - 0 ("The First State" to fail to support this effort.)
Florida - 5
Georgia - 4
Hawaii - 0 (I'm not surprised by this demo-mecca. Please surprise me!!)
Idaho - 0 (This one I am surprised by! Although after the Randy Weaver massacre I can see why they're a little gun-shy...)
Illinois - 4
Indiana - 5
Iowa - 2
Kansas - 1
Kentucky - 2
Louisiana - 0 (Ray Nagin and his merry band of gun grabbing criminal JBT's, maybe there's none left to protect?)
Maine - 1
Maryland - 4
Massachusetts - 1
Michigan - 5
Minnesota - 3
Mississippi - 4
Missouri - 5
Montana - 1
Nebraska - 1
Nevada - 2
New Hampshire - 1
New Jersey - 4
New Mexico - 0 (Home of the Whittington Center?! Probably busy keeping their powder dry and an eye on their southern border.)
New York - 14
North Carolina - 7
North Dakota - 2
Ohio - 2
Oklahoma - 2
Oregon - 3
Pennsylvania - 10
Rhode Island - 2
South Carolina - 3
South Dakota - 0 (You gotta be kidding me! Joe Foss' home state?!!)
Tennessee - 2
Texas - 10
Utah - 1
Vermont - 2
Virginia - 8
Washington - 7
West Virginia - 0 (Well, you turned your back on us 144 years ago, you'd be out of character to stand with us now.)
Wisconsin - 4
Wyoming - 4

And here's a few tidbits:
West Coast vs. East Coast: 37 v. 54

West of Mississippi River vs. East of Mississippi River: 84 v. 97

Red State vs. Blue State (2004 Presidential Election): 88 v. 93

Hearing Board Ready and Waiting

I received a call from NRA Secretary Jim Land today. He was letting me know that the hearing board is set for the 19th-20th of Dec and all is a go. I let him know that as of present, we don't have the numbers to validate the petition. I told him I set Dec 10th as the next deadline to get the petitions to me and that I'd be in contact with him to let him know what the outcome is, closer to the 10th.

The NRA is doing their part... (hint hint, let's get those petitions in!)


...in more ways than one. He did let me know that at the fall board meeting a senior leader basically (I'm paraphrasing, he used different terms and my memory these days is, uh, not what it once was. I do know what he was getting across) dressed down the Board and emphasized the point that if you can't properly speak (in supporting NRA policy, etc.) in public then don't open your mouth!

Regardless of what happens with this petition effort, I think the message was received loud and clear at NRA HQ!

Download the Recall Jackson Petition

Click here or on the title link to download a Word copy of the petition to recall Joaquin Jackson from the NRA Board of Directors.

IMPORTANT: You MUST be an eligible voting member, that is, either a Life Member (or higher) OR an Annual Member in good standing for at least Five (5) consecutive years.

If you do not qualify, you can still help out. How? Tell other NRA Members about this petition and send them to this website.

We are up against a deadline, so please don't put this off. Time is of the essence.

As Petition originator (click on nic to go to pdf form at The High Road)Jeff82 says:

Get this around to gun shows, clubs, ranges etc. We need to act fairly quickly as this needs to get in in time to make the print deadline for the next annual meeting. We've got about a month. Remember, we need 450 total, with a minimum of 100 from three states to qualify.

Also note this is available in pdf format via The High Road post where this is introduced.

Extending Time Frame, Keep 'em Coming!

This is cutting into our safety margin but we've no choice. We'll extend another few weeks but GET THEM IN NOW!

Welcome to Recall Joaquin Jackson

The purpose of this petition is to get a recall vote to remove Joaquin Jackson from the NRA Board of Directors.

Why?

Watch and see:



And the damage control spin hardly helps his case.

We do not feel it is appropriate for an NRA director to disparage ownership of any type of firearm, and believe anyone who does should not sit on the board.

Why? Let me count the ways...

Here's the reasoning behind the decision to remove Mr. Jackson from the NRA BoD.

Mr. Jackson, a sitting NRA Board of Directors member, went on public television and this is what he had to say;

Interviewer: Of course a lot of law enforcement are concerned about things like assault weapons which they feel like don't really contribute to the keeping of the peace.

JJ: Well, I'm a person that believes in a weapon should never…I personally believe a weapon should never have over a – far as civilian – 5 round capacity. If a hunter, if you're a hunter if you're gonna go hunting with a weapon, you shouldn't need over but one round…

He went on;

Interviewer: So have you brought to the attention of your fellow board members at the NRA that maybe assault weapons ought to be restricted?

JJ: Well we've talked, we've discussed it you know, but uh this thing about assault weapons has been a kind of a touchy deal, but personally, I think these assault weapons basically need to be in the hands of the military and they need to be in the hands of the police, but uh, as far as assault weapons to a civilian, if you… if you… it's alright if you got that magazine capacity down to five…

Interviewer: Five rounds. Limited to that.

JJ: …five, five… Good to go. Five rounds or some…

As his voice trailed off it sounded like he was going to add some more restrictions...

Part II "The Inexplicable Explanation"

Here's where I get some serious heartburn. Mr. Jackson issued a statement to rebut the criticisms he was receiving as news of his statements to the press spread. It was filled with all the heart and soul of a guy trying to get back his place amongst his buddies at the campfire. Unfortunately, after looking closer at the statement, it is illogical and attempts to divert the reader from the real issue.

From his prepared statement:

JJ: When asked about my views of “assault weapons,” I was talking about true assault weapons – fully automatic firearms. I was not speaking, in any way, about semiautomatic rifles.

To illustrate the folly of this statement go back and reread his earlier statements only substitute "machine gun" for "weapon" and you'll see what I mean. Ludicrous. If we are to believe this then he just said he's okay with hunters using 5 round machine guns and civilians having machine guns so long as the mags are limited to 5 rounds. This is either the ramblings of a man who is out of his element when working with the 2nd Amendment (particularly when he started using the undefinable term "assault weapon") or is a blatant attempt to "pull the wool over your eyes." Either, way not the traits I want in an NRA Board of Director member.

A little further down he does address full auto machine guns (another giveaway indicating he wasn't talking about full auto above!) and is very generous saying;

JJ: Many Americans also enjoy owning fully automatic firearms, after being cleared by a background check and meeting the rigorous regulations to own such firearms.

I certainly thank him for his generosity! Strangely, I still haven't seen this in the US Constitution! But it does give you an idea where he is coming from and also shows he was not confusing the two different types of firearms, as he claims.

Now that we've explored what has happened let's look at how the NRA bylaws are effected (or more properly, how he has failed them and us, the members). (Like what we've already learned isn't enough!!)

As members (and Mr. Jackson especially, as a Director on the Board), we are charged with carrying out and acting according to the NRA bylaws. Mr. Jackson has broken several of them. This is serious as he is a sitting member. I've underlined the particular areas I believe Mr. Jackson violated by failing to uphold:

NRA Bylaws
Article II
Purposes and Objectives
The purposes and objectives of the National Rifle Association are:
1. To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially with reference to the inalienable right of the individual American citizen guaranteed by such Constitution to acquire, possess, collect, exhibit, transport, carry, transfer ownership of, and enjoy the right to use firearms, in order that the people may always be in a position to exercise their legitimate individual rights of self-preservation and defense of family, person, and property, as well as to serve effectively in the appropriate militia for the common defense of the Republic and the individual liberty of its citizens;
2. To promote public safety, law and order, and the national defense;
3. To train members of law enforcement agencies, the armed forces, the militia, and people of good repute in marksmanship and in the safe handling and efficient use of small arms."

The overwhelming majority of the above relates to self defense and arms useful as tools for self and family preservation, the militia and armed forces, and the ability to defend from criminals and tyrannical governments; IT'S NOT ABOUT HUNTING!

further;

Article III Section 9
Duties of Members
(a) It is the duty of each member to assist in every feasible manner in promoting the objectives of the Association as set forth in Article II of these Bylaws and to act at all times and in every matter in a manner befitting a sportsman and good citizen.

Did Mr. Jackson's comments (or even his explanations), when looked at properly and with care, advance these objectives? Or harm them?

And does this mean anything: This is what the NRA wrote back to me concerning Mr. Jackson's statements:

"I can assure you that the apparent implications of his statement do NOT reflect the NRA's position." (their capitalization.)

What Director needs to be disavowed by the organization he is sitting on the board of?!! How does this jive with Article III Section 9? What this statement is is the NRA's tacit admission that Mr. Jackson is in violation of the NRA bylaws. I understand board members need to be able to have differing opinions (to invigorate discussion when with the group). BUT, you keep your trap shut when out in public and your views run counter to the established policies. That or leave the organisation.


This is the damage as I see it:

Several reasons we must recall him for this:
1- We have to live with his comments being used by the anti's forever more. This makes our job harder. It will be easier to say, "Yep, and he's no longer on our Board."
2- Consider it a "shot across the bow" of any other appeasers or "civil rights compromisers."
3-We lose members (and prospective members) when the NRA leadership takes up compromise positions on constitutional issues. You can't have a principled organization if you don't ensure the principles are applied. Read back through the various forums and count the number of people who have left or never joined because of the positions the NRA take!
4- We've lost at least three ways: He's given our opposition ammunition, we will have to expend capitol/effort to undo what he's done, we will have to expend more capitol to counter the anti's on this issue, and we could have used that capitol/effort advancing our agenda instead of having to work "damage control".

"I can assure you that the apparent implications of his statement do NOT reflect the NRA's position."

Yep. That's the response I got from the NRA when I asked what was going on with Mr. Jackson and his statement to public TV.

The question now is, "Why is he still sitting on the NRA Board of Directors?" If you said, "But Jeff82 (ok, "Recall Jackson" on this blog), according to the Bylaws it falls to the voting membership to petition to recall a sitting member." I'd say, "You're right, among other ways, this is the best remedy when members need to remove Board Members when they don't follow the NRA Bylaws. Have you filled out your petition?" (Which is availabe right here on this site.)

You can read all about the email, the statements, the excuses, all about everything involved by roaming around on this blog.

9% Return Rate?!

As of right now I'm seeing about a 9% return rate of downloaded petitions. That means that more than 9 out of 10 of those who downloaded this petition either gave up on it, decided it wasn't important enough, or were talked out of it by peers. This won't get us to where we need to go.

(Following comments directed to those "whom the shoe fits": )

We could have this all wrapped up all ready (and have one "H" of an effective gun rights steamroller in the making) but it seems the more "passionate" among us have turned tail and run (leaving or already left the NRA) allowing NRA "Milquetoast" to remain at the helm. That coupled with the fact that, as I was warned by others who've led these efforts before, the majority of gun owners are apathetic, lazy, self interested, and couldn't care less about your guns, so long as they keep theirs. This is stupidity at it's core as anyone with any brains realizes "a house divided will fall". "Onward to mediocrity!!" (In this case meaning, you can only have the [portion of] the Rights I say you can!)

Count yourself fortunate if you have the company of aggressive, like-minded, pro 2A gun owners! You may need the 'cell' later!

Help me get "those" motivated!

Your NRA number is on your magazine label

NRA Magazine Mailing Label
(ID begins in position 6 and is 10 digits long)

Example, underline and color added to member number: #0790101234567895#F* LIFE


See it here on the NRA site:
https://www.nramemberservices.org/login_new.asp

BTW, don't worry if you wrote the whole thing down, they know how to decode it at NRA HQ. Also don't worry if you sent me the "old" style number. They have links from your old number to your new number.

ZERO Petitions from the following States:

Where are you? Are we to believe that there is NO ONE in the state who is a voting member of the NRA and does not believe in putting their "money where their mouth is" and won't send in a petition? Not even ONE?

"Deadbeat" States:

Delaware
Hawaii
Idaho
Louisiana
New Mexico
South Dakota
West Virginia

Let's get off this list!!

Post your own "Wanted" poster of Joaquin Jackson

Post at your club, range, group, etc.
Jackson Wanted Poster

(Pay no attention to the 'normal' posting dates)

In order to place the posts in the order I want I change the "posting date". I've put the most important info up higher in the order. If you look in the "Update" post you will see the time and date I updated the numbers. Thanks.

What's another Texan got to say about it?

Here's a great video of Suzanna Gracia Hupp testifying before some congressional panel. She addresses (sic)"assault weapons" and is from the same state as Joaquin. She went on to be elected to the Texas House of Representatives.

Suzanna Gracia Hupp's Video Testimony

"Somewhere along the line I made one of my stupidest decisions... I was afraid that ... if ... somebody caught me with the gun in my purse, I could lose my license to practice, lose my ability to make a living. So I took the gun out of my purse and I left it in my car ... which the laws in my state are kinda wishy- washy on ...and I thought, 'Heck, if I needed it, it's probably going to be when I'm out on the road ... in the middle of nowhere and, you know, my car's broke down or something ..."

-Dr. Suzanna Gratia, Killeen Texas Luby's massacre survivor
HK91.com Quote Library

Honor, racism, service rifles and assault weapons: One black cop’s view

Outstanding article!! Should be required reading for ALL LEO including Mr. Jackson!! Had he heeded this (had it been written earlier) he'd not be in the position he's in!!

(If their server is down I've copied and pasted it in it's entirety at the bottom of this blog.)

Another great site for info!

Gun Thing Site

Western Rifle Shooters Say "Recall Jackson"

Don't ever tolerate anti-gunners on the NRA Board, no matter what good deeds they may or may not have done in the past.

It's a matter of principle.

We couldn't agree more.

NRA's Response to My Email

Below is the NRA's response to me. I find the first sentence, third paragraph particularly enlightening.

"Dear Mr. Reed,

Thank you for your email.


Recently, concerns have been raised in response to statements made by NRA Board Member Joaquin Jackson to Texas Monthly in 2005. We have received questions from NRA members who are seeking clarity as to NRA's positions on the subject matter discussed in Mr. Jackson's interview. To be clear, NRA supports the right of all law-abiding citizens to Keep and Bear Arms for all lawful purposes. We will continue, as we have in the past, to vigorously oppose any efforts to limit gun ownership by law-abiding citizens as an unconstitutional infringement on our Second Amendment freedoms. These efforts include opposition to any attempts to ban firearms, including firearms incorrectly referred to as "assault weapons", and any attempts to place arbitrary limits on magazine capacity.

I can assure you that the apparent implications of his statement do NOT reflect the NRA's position. We have long acknowledged the Constitutionally protected right of law-abiding citizens to purchase and possess semi-automatic rifles and "high-capacity" magazines for legitimate purposes.

He is one of 76 Directors elected to the Board of Directors by NRA members. They may choose to vote for another candidate in 2010 if they would like someone else to take his seat.

For more information on NRA's legislative efforts to defend the Second Amendment, please visit www.NRAILA.org and www.clintongunban.com.

Thank you again for your email. If you have any more questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at (800) 392-8683.

Cordially,



Angus McClellan
NRA-ILA Grassroots"





For the record, here's my original email to Membership/General Comments:

"-----Original Message-----
From: edited: Jeff82
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 8:49 AM
To: Membership
Subject: What the heck is going on with board member Joaquin Jackson?

His "statement" repudiating his PBS interview is asinine. If I'm to take him at his (second) word then I'm to assume he supports hunters using 5 round machineguns?!! Pure CYA BS!! As they say, "with friends like this... " More irreparable harm to our, scratch that, MY cause.

Too bad I didn't' see this a month or so ago. I wouldn't have upgraded to Patron member. Wouldn't ya know it, as soon as I was getting comfortable with the NRA leadership again and decided to spend some money y'all would show your ignorance again.

Well, the NRA is back on my "no-sh*t-no-pay-no-donation" list for at least a couple more years. Same as the RNC and Repug party. They haven't seen any money from me in almost six years and they won't in the next six either."

Great Dialog!

Places to read what others are saying, the points and counter-points that have been made, and other interesting twists!

(In the order they are lined up in my Forums Folder!)

AK-47.net
American Backyard Forum
AR15.com (1)
AR15.com (2)
CZ Forum
Florida Shooters Network
Glock Talk (1)
Glock Talk (2)
Gunforums
GunThing (1)
GunThing (2)
Liberty's Price
Military Firearm
Olympic Arms Owners Association
Sniper's Hide
Tactical Shooting Forum
The High Road
War Rifles (1)
War Rifles (2)

Gun Thing Forum Discusses Jackson Recall

Quite a bit of interest is being stirred up on the Gun Thing forum, which independently started a "Recall Joaquin Jackson" effort and has since joined forces with us.