NRA Board Experience

"In times of crisis, experience counts, leadership counts, loyalty counts, integrity counts."

Captain John C. Sigler (Ret.) - JD

"The Members' President"

2007-2009

"Experience for the future"

We are at a critical crossroads in the history of the National Rifle Association of America. Like many other rank-in-file NRA members, I fear for the future of NRA.

I am angry at how we got here, and I feel compelled to do something about it.

As a Past President of the National Rifle Association of America perhaps I should be content to sit in the back row with the other past-president members of the honorary Executive Council ("The Old Goats Club") and simply be content to watch as "The New Breed" attempts to find its way through the complex morass of difficult issues now facing the NRA. But I am not - that's not my style.

Now is not the time for steep, up-hill learning curves and "crash-course, on-the-job-training."  Now is the time for doing - doing what is right for our members, and doing what is needed to save the most important organization American Freedom has ever known.

I love the NRA. I have devoted much of my life to the NRA. I simply cannot sit back and watch as others struggle to learn the hard and sometimes complex lessons I have already paid so dearly to learn.

I still have much to give to the NRA and, with your help and your vote, I intend to give as much as I can for as long as I can to the cause of Freedom and to "Freedom's Messenger," the National Rifle Association of America.

For that reason, and that reason alone, I am once again seeking the privilege of serving on the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association of America. (Please go to the "Why I Am Running" page of this website for more details and for my "Platform").

Experience Counts - Especially Now

NRA Committee Experience:

During my time on the NRA Board of Directors I was privileged to serve on, and in some cases Chair, each of the following committees listed in alphabetical order:

 

I have also served on the Boards of Trustees for the NRA Foundation, the NRA Special Contribution Fund (Whittington Center), and the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund.

The NRA is a large and complex organization. Because of my years of experience, I know the NRA - the good, the bad and the ugly.

It takes both knowledge and experience to effectively bring about change and reform.

Finance Committee:

Back in the day, I served as the Chairman of the Finance Committee for ten (10) years - from 1997 until 2007. I was first appointed to that position by President Hammer and then again by President Heston, President Robinson, and President Froman.

I removed myself from the Chair and from the Finance Committee when I became President because I felt that it was a conflict of interest to serve in both positions simultaneously. Some of my successors felt otherwise.

I was appointed by President Hammer to reform and reshape the Finance Committee to be NRA's "Business Committee." During my time as Chairman, we adopted a new Purchasing Policy, a new Travel Policy, and a new Investment Policy.

The old Development Office became the Office of Advancement, and our Membership Affinity Programs were dramatically expanded, adding new sources of revenue to the balance sheet, new benefits for our members, and a new sense of pride among our members. Most importantly, NRA was operating on a balanced budget basis at that time.

Openness and transparency were the watchwords of the day. Our December Budget Meetings frequently lasted two full days with every Department within the organization participating.

Our investment portfolio grew, and we established both short-term and long-term reserves.

NRA was both solvent and strong. Our members trusted us, our donors trusted us and our enemies feared us.

Sadly, most of us who served on the Finance Committee during those "glory years" are no longer on the Board and no longer on the Committee. You have seen the results.

As Your President:

There is no greater honor in the Second Amendment Community than to be chosen to serve as the President of the National Rifle Association of America - with one exception. That exception is to be known and remembered as "The Members' President." (See DSSA Endorsement Letter).

During my presidency, NRA Membership grew, NRA Programs flourished, our NRA Clubs grew strong and effective, our donors were plentiful and generous, and NRA-ILA won victory after victory, including the landmark Supreme Court decision in Washington, D.C. v. Heller. As a member of the Supreme Court Bar, I was privileged to be present in the courtroom during the oral arguments in Heller.

During my two years as NRA President, we operated with a balanced budget and increased our membership by nearly 700,000 additional NRA members.

As NRA's 59^th President I especially focused on two sectors of NRA's membership that I believed were being underserved - Competitors and Veterans.

I took precious time from my family and from my job as an attorney to travel and meet our members in every venue possible, from FONRA dinners to competitive shooting events, to State Association meetings, and Second Amendment rallies throughout the country.

The most meaningful and moving visits were my trips to the Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Read Army Hospital, and my interactions with the various private organizations serving the needs of America's disabled veterans.

As a result of these visits, I sponsored the creation of two new committees dedicated to better serve our veteran members, the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee and the Disabled Shooting Committee.

My first-hand observations that NRA was not properly serving the competitive shooting community led to the creation of The Competitive Shooting Endowment and renewed efforts to make NRA's National Matches at Camp Perry a much more competitor-friendly experience.

I also used my office as NRA's President to encourage our clubs and associations to become more welcoming to women and youth. Those who have heard me speak on the topic have often heard me say that "If the hand that rocks the cradle doesn't hold a firearm, the occupant of that cradle probably never will either."

It is absolutely imperative that America's women feel welcome and comfortable on our ranges and in our clubs, and that they feel at home within our NRA Family.

NRA Vice President:

Prior to my election as NRA's President, I was elected to two consecutive terms as NRA's 2^nd Vice President (2003-2005) and two consecutive terms as NRA's 1^st Vice President (2005-2007). During those four years I devoted almost every weekend to visiting with NRA members at various events and venues, listening what they had to say, hearing their complaints and concerns, and passing their ideas and suggestions on to the other officers, Staff, and the Board.

From coast to coast, from the Gulf Coast to the Canadian border, NRA members had one consistent message - "Make the NRA strong and effective, fight for the Second Amendment, and be America's strong voice for Freedom."

I heard that message loud and clear.

NRA National Firearms Law Seminar:

Very early during my tenure of the NRA Board of Directors it became apparent to me and another member of the Board who is also an attorney that the future would surely bring a marked increase in Second Amendment litigation throughout the country and that far too few lawyers understood the philosophical and technical intricacies of Second Amendment jurisprudence, and we both knew from personal experience that, with few exceptions, most jurisdictions require mandatory continuing legal education (CLE).

We also knew that many attorneys provided estate planning services for their clients. We viewed a possible CLE program as an opportunity to educate attorneys as to the charitable giving opportunities the NRA Foundation could provide for their pro-gun and pro-NRA clients.

That other attorney was now-Past President Sandra Froman, and together she and I founded the remarkably successful NRA National Firearms Law Seminar which is now held annually in conjunction with NRA's Annual Meeting of Members.

Additional Experiences:

For more information concerning my education and experience please visit the following pages found elsewhere within this website:

Second Amendment Activist

Legal Career

Education

Police Career

Military Service

Competitions

Hunting

Endorsements

Why I am Running (My Platform)

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"Let's Make NRA Great Again!"

Let's do it together!