What is Restore the NRA?
Restore the NRA is an effort to ensure the National Rifle Association continues its mission with the highest integrity to effectively service and represent gun owners, sportsmen and hunting enthusiasts. Restore the NRAis not a separate organization competing with the NRA. Rather, it is a legal fund launched by Kansas District Court Judge and current NRA Board Member, Phil Journey, to accomplish two things:
- Restore the NRA has been fighting and will continue to fight efforts by New York Attorney General Letitia James and other anti-gun officials to dissolve, shut down, or severely limit the NRA from pursuing its mission and objectives and offering the services, programs and lobbying efforts millions of American gun owners and 2nd Amendment enthusiasts have come to rely upon.
- Restore the NRA is working to reform the NRA from the inside out. The press has reported numerous stories regarding gross financial mismanagement, self-dealing by current officers, staff, and vendors, and a severe lack of transparency in the NRA’s fiscal operations. Unfortunately, these reports appear to have legitimacy and have given opponents of the 2nd Amendment ammunition to attack and undermine the NRA and its mission. Restore the NRA is asking a Manhattan (NY) court to appoint an independent conservator to, essentially, “clean house” and replace those responsible for this abuse with those who will place the interests of NRA’s millions of members over those who have, in recent years, turned it into a personal ATM.
Who is Judge Phil Journey?
Phil Journey is a former Kansas State Senator and a current Kansas District Court Judge who sits on the Board of the National Rifle Association. Judge Journey, who previously served on the boards of the NRA (1995-1998) and the Kansas State Rifle Association, authored much of the pro-gun legislation enacted into Kansas law while serving in the State Senate. He is an NRA-certified firearms instructor, youth firearms coach, and longtime collector, sporting enthusiast, and hunter. Journey’s passion for Second Amendment rights and shooting sports inspired his recent successful return to the NRA Board, and prompted him to launch this effort to Restore the NRA.
What will the funds raised for this effort accomplish?
Pending IRS approval of Restore the NRA’s 501(c)(3) status, your contribution to this effort will be tax deductible and will go to pay the legal expenses to pursue legal action in court. Judge Journey, though the lead plaintiff in the action, will not derive any financial benefit and since this is a legal defense fund, rather than an organization, no organization employees will benefit. An advertising firm that is strongly supportive of gun rights and the 2nd Amendment, which has offered its services at below-market rates, has been engaged to help get the word out about this vital effort. Aside from that firm’s expenses, all dollars raised will be used for legal expenses in pursuit of this action.
Can the NRA really be restored to its premier reputation as the leading Second Amendment advocacy and sportsman’s organization?
Yes! Judge Journey would not be pursuing this matter if he didn’t believe it was absolutely possible – and essential – to get the National Rifle Association back on its feet. It won’t be without some challenges and significant legal costs. But over time, with a demonstrated re-dedication to its mission and a re-commitment to governance with integrity, the NRA can and will, once again, be restored as the organization its members trust to be their voice on the national stage. We simply must Restore the NRA so that it may continue defending Second Amendment freedoms and serving as its members premier partner in sporting activities.