The NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) recently celebrated half a century of fighting to protect the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
The victories for freedom that NRA-ILA has spearheaded are numerous, from a drastic expansion of constitutional carry to multiple landmark cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, most recently including New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022). In that case specifically, NRA-ILA brought that case from inception to completion, which NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford noted in this exclusive interview live from the 2025 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Atlanta, Ga.
Of course, there are still many battles ahead in the defense of our Second Amendment and NRA-ILA is always leading the charge. Now, among NRA-ILA’s top priorities are national concealed-carry reciprocity, challenging permit delays for law-abiding gun owners, getting rid of “sensitive place” restrictions and much more.
“Your right to self-defense shouldn’t end simply because you crossed the state line,” says Commerford, adding that national concealed-carry reciprocity has been a longtime priority of the NRA’s.
As for battles of note, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) recently signed into law one of the most-restrictive gun-control bills, which Commerford describes as “one of the worst we’ve ever seen.”
Though impossible to sum up all that NRA-ILA is doing in just a few minutes, Commerford discusses a wide range of goals, objectives and more throughout this exclusive interview.
“We’ve filed more amicus briefs in Second Amendment cases in the last 12 months than any other group out there,” says Commerford.
For more, go to nraila.org/litigation.
