NRA President Bachenberg in October announced some changes coming to the Association. In the days since, more members have been clamoring about magazine distribution changes and he’s recently addressed them.
Changes that NRA President Bill Bachenberg discussed in October included streamlining NRA Publications into a new division, NRA Media. Members can expect to continue to receive high quality editorial and articles from the Association, however how they consume that information is changing. Under NRA Media, the four hard copy magazines that were available have been minimized to two. The remaining magazines will be “American Rifleman” and “American Hunter,” with distribution changing from monthly to quarterly. All the other content that members were accustomed to will be available online.
Bachenberg recently addressed these changes as more and more members have been expressing their opinions on the topic. Bachenberg sent a message to the entire Board of Directors for them to distribute as they see fit. Via email, Bachenbarg told Bearing Arms that the message “went to the board without restriction for the members” and he encouraged directors to share it.
“There has been a lot of chatter on the magazine changes,” Bachenberg told Bearing arms. “Here is some background for your readers.”
Bachenberg’s letter opened by explaining that many members have asked why the changes were necessary. He continued by explaining that had the NRA kept up with inflation since the 90’s, a current annual membership would cost $62.00 and life membership would be $3,700.00. However, an annual membership is “as low as $35” and a life membership is still $1,500.00 — the same as it was in the 1990s.
“For around 10 cents a day, your annual member dues help defend your God-given Second Amendment rights and provide great programs in Education & Training, Women & Youth programs, Edie Eagle®, Refuse to be a Victim® and Women-On-Target® to name a few, plus a great magazine,” Bachenberg said. “NRA has been producing a magazine starting in 1885 called ‘The Rifle’ that continues today as the ‘American Rifleman.’ ‘American Hunter’ was first published in October of 1973. During the 1980s and ’90s the NRA published additional targeted magazines.
“Back then, paper and postage was relatively cheap, and gas was 36 cents a gallon. Today paper is about six to seven times more expensive, and a first-class stamp went from 6 cents to 78 cents, a 13 times increase. NRA has been subsidizing the cost of production for the magazines for many years, it has now gotten to a point that we cannot in good conscious continue funding the magazines instead of fully funding our programs that members are demanding.”
Bachenberg reiterated that it was not an easy choice in how to close the gap between publishing costs “without significantly increas[ing] membership dues or charging [an additional] 20 plus dollars for a magazine subscription.” While Bachenberg admits that he’s part of the older generation who’s more accustomed to hard copy magazines, he’s excited about and hopeful that the changes will create a more meaningful experience for Association members, especially the younger generations of gun owners.
“What is exciting about digital magazines is that we can include video and sound in the articles,” Bachenberg wrote. “Your digital experience can now contain more current news, not news that is two months old due to publishing deadlines. Our advertisers can now advertise like on TV instead of one-dimensional paper ads.”
Bachenberg’s letter ended with:
As we have publicized, the publication group at NRA will be moving content from the discontinued magazines to the American Rifleman or the American Hunter and to the digital delivery format, so not all is lost. We knew for some this would not be popular, but we had to make the hard decisions so we could still publish a paper magazine, maybe not on the frequency you were used to, but you are getting a paper magazine four times a year when most organizations have discontinued their magazine.
Again, while this was a gut wrenching decision, we believe it was made in the best interest of the members. Please give the digital format a try on your computer or mobile device.
Change is inevitable for any group or organization if they wish to survive. The National Rifle Association — and their members — has been through a lot in the last half-decade or so. Under the leadership of solid reform-minded officers, directors, and executive-level employees, the Association has turned a much needed page in their history and members should accept these new promises with hopeful optimism.
For members who are interested in interacting in a more direct manner with NRA President Bill Bachenberg, he’s launched his own website, NRAPresident.com. There, verified members can get access to many documents, a historical explanation on the NRA’s current status, as well as Bachenberg’s responses to some frequently asked questions he’s received since sharing his email address with the members at large.
Editor’s Note: To celebrate Christmas and ring in 2026, Bearing Arms is matching our biggest sale ever on VIP memberships. Now through January 1, until 11:59 pm PT, receive 74% off a VIP membership using promo code MERRY74!
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