Day 1 of NRA Board committee meetings - Morning sessions

If you are in Houston for the NRAAM. Please stop in Room 330 and vote for me for 76th director

Other than a noticeable Houston PD presence, the scheduled board committee meetings are happening as scheduled here in Houston,

I attended the Resolutions and By-Laws committee meeting. Other than routine business, they approved memorial resolutions for recently deceased board members.

I attended the Foundation Investment committee meeting. The Turbulence in the market was in the spotlight. Overall the NRA Foundation’s investments have performed above benchmarks for the past 1, 3, and 5 years. Year to date, the portfolio is down 10.27% compared to the S&P down 18% and the NASDAQ down 28%. The portfolio produces about $2.3million of interest and dividends per year.

The committee had many questions about where the market is headed. The advisors stated that they see another 6-8 months of contraction that will lead to a mild recession (a mild recession is a 20% decline, with the S&P already at 18% down - this makes sense). The wildcards, are the war in Ukraine, the China-Taiwan situation, Energy costs, and any potential new lockdowns. The committee reviewed the investment policy and determined that no changes were needed at this time.

I attended the State and Local Affairs Subcommittee meeting. “The real work protecting our rights happens at the state level.” The committee noted the success in the constitutional (permit-less) carry legislation and the losses with several “ghost “ghost gun” laws and spent time discussing the importance of Preemption given all of the changes in Colorado, where 14 jurisdictions have passed or are considering carry restrictions, gun-free zone expansions, lost and stolen reporting, and gun storage ordinances. They also discussed working to make sure gun stores, gun ranges and firearm license/permit operations are deemed “essential” in the case of any future lockdown.

One notable item, in Delaware, the Moms group started sending school board candidate questionnaires. The DE gun rights group quickly followed suit, sending questionnaires of their own asking about school resource officers and providing hunter education in the schools. Expect the Moms to do this in other states.

Jason Ouimet, the head of NRA-ILA, stopped in and said that there is no change in strategy. He would like to be able to deploy $35million in this election/legislative cycle but, given the challenging fundraising environment, expects that he will only have about $30million to spend.