The annual membership meeting will be held on September 12, 2021, during the National Championship Matches held in Friendship, Indiana. This will be located in the Education Center and will begin at 6:30 p.m.
The proposed by-law changes will be voted on. These have been published in the June, July, and August Muzzle Blasts. They are also be included below.
NMLRA PROPOSED BY-LAW CHANGES
First Proposed Change
Proposed by: Joe Cindric, Marty Murphy, Joe Hill, Berna Cindric, and Kip Carter
ARTICLE V-BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 2. Voting Procedure.
Present Text
Nomination shall be made by written petition of the members. All candidates nomination petitions shall be in writing, signed and having the valid membership number of not fewer than twenty-five (25) members whose membership shall not have expired on or before October 1 of the year proceeding the election.
Proposed Change
Nomination shall be made by written petition of the members. All candidates nomination petitions shall be in writing, signed and having the valid membership number of not fewer than twenty-five (25) members whose membership shall not have expired on or before October 1 of the year proceeding the election. Candidates shall have been members, in good standing, for 24 months prior to the regular annual meeting.
Section 3 Regular Annual Board Meetings.
Present Text
At the place of holding the annual meeting of members, the Board of Directors, as constituted upon completion of the annual election of Directors, shall convene for its regular annual meeting. At this time the Board shall elect the officers of the corporation and transact any other business properly brought before it; provided that the regular annual meeting of the Board of Directors in any year may be held at a different time and/or place than that herein provided, by consent of a majority of the Directors of such new Board.
Proposed Change
At the place of holding the annual meeting of members, the Board of Directors, as constituted upon completion of the annual election of Directors, shall convene for its regular annual meeting. At this time the Board shall elect the officers of the corporation. Directors nominated as officers, elected or appointed, shall have served as a Director for a minimum of 18 months. If a sufficient number of qualified Directors are not available the officers will be elected from the seated board. The Board will transact any other business properly brought before it; provided that the regular annual meeting of the Board of Directors in any year may be held at a different time and/or place than that herein provided, by consent of a majority of the Directors of such new Board.
Purpose of the Proposed Change
Vetting of Directors and Officers
The NMLRA is a successful organization. The continued success of the NMLRA is dependent upon the decisions and directions of the Board of Directors. They are responsible for the operation and management of the NMLRA assets, real estate, and employees. The decisions they make are based on their personal experience and knowledge of the NMLRA.
The point of these proposed changes are to guarantee that the directors, selected by the membership, have been members long enough to understand the NMLRA, its precepts, and operation. Similarly, the changes concerning the selection of officers will allow the Board to select members who are experienced and understand the inner workings of the Board and the Association. The amendment also provides the Board an option, if a qualified Board member cannot be found to serve, to elect a member who did not qualify.
The amendment changes will also help to eliminate the possibility of an outside organization taking over or controlling the NMLRA by proxy. The cost to buy a large number of memberships is for some organizations a minor cost. If they should gain control of the NMLRA via stacking the Board of Directors, the association could be used for other purposes, closed and/or sold off, in short be lost forever.
Second Proposed Change
Proposed by: Joe Cindric, Marty Murphy, Joe Hill, Berna Cindric, and Kip Carter
ARTICLE VII-AMENDMENTS
Present Text
These by-laws may be amended at any annual or special meeting of the members by a 2/3 vote of the members present and voting, provided the said amendment is presented in the official Association publication to the members 60 days in advance of the meeting at which it is to be considered. Any proposed amendment to the by-laws must be delivered in writing to the Secretary of the corporation 120 days prior to said meeting.
Proposed Change
These by-laws may be amended at any annual or special meeting of the members by a 2/3 vote of the members present and voting, provided the said amendment is presented in the official Association publication to the members 60 days in advance of the meeting at which it is to be considered. Any proposed amendment to the by-laws must be delivered in writing to the Secretary of the corporation 150 days prior to said meeting. The proposed amendment(s) will be presented to the Secretary as a packet which will include, the affected sections and the proposed changes. The packet shall also include an explanation, 300 words or less, of the merits and need for the proposed changes. The secretary shall immediately forward any proposed amendment(s) to the Bylaw Committee, a permanent standing committee.
Purpose of the Proposed Change
Formation of the By Law Committee
The proposed change establishes a permanent Bylaw committee, which is not extinguished due to inactivity. A Bylaw committee was used in the past to create and modify our original Constitution and By-Laws. The Bylaw committee will review and provide the advantages and disadvantages of proposed bylaw change(s) to the Board of
Directors and the author of the bylaw change. The Board will have the opportunity to pass the information and its’ opinion onto the general membership before the membership votes on the change(s). The members will have the advantage of understanding the impact of a change(s) prior to voting during the general membership meeting. The committee will review all proposed bylaw changes and, at the request of the Board, draft changes to the Constitution and By Laws.
Third Proposed Change
Submitted by Buddy Townsend
Article VI:
Change title of “Section 3” to “Section 3-A: Removal of Officer by Board of Directors”
Add: “Section 3-B: Removal of Officer or Director by Membership. Any member(s) in good standing may file a complaint against an officer or director of this association for just cause, with a petition co-signed by at least 100 members in good standing. The officer or director in question shall be notified in writing via certified mail of the accusations against him or her and of the time and place of the meeting, at which such officer shall be given the opportunity to produce his or her witnesses, if any, to be heard and to confront any witnesses against him/her. Such notice shall constitute a call of a special meeting of the membership held only for the purpose of the disciplinary proceeding against the accused officer or director. Such notice shall be served at least fifteen (15) days prior to the time of the meeting. All members of the Board of Directors shall receive written or electronic notice of the accusations as well as the time and place of the meeting. Once written notice of the accusations has been tendered, the officer or director shall be suspended from all duties and privileges pending outcome of the hearing. At the special meeting of the membership, all members in good standing shall be allowed to attend and participate in the disciplinary proceeding. After the proceeding, a vote by written ballot of two-thirds of the members present will result in removal of the officer or director from the Board of Directors and preclude the officer or director to hold any office indefinitely.”
Fourth Proposed Change
To NMLRA Secretary,
I propose that we change the NMLRA PLATFORM to conform to all of our other printed material by eliminating the words "firearm, firearms and arms" in six (6) places and replacing them with the appropriate wording of "muzzle loading guns, guns or gun".
I further propose that we replace the word "firearms" in the first sentence of ARTICLE II - OBJECT to the word "guns".
Respectfully Submitted,
Marty Murphy