Tanya K. Metaksa announced on Wednesday that she is stepping down as NRA-ILA Executive Director to assume new responsibilities as Senior Advisor to the Executive Vice President of the NRA. Mrs. Metaksa said, "I am proud of the work I have accomplished in NRA's Institute for Legislative Action to preserve the Second Amendment." "Although Tanya is leaving the day-to-day operations of ILA, she has agreed to be available to the Association on a regular basis," said Wayne LaPierre, NRA's Executive Vice President and CEO. "All of us at NRA appreciate Tanya's many years of dedication to our cause and are pleased that she will continue to be available to us in an advisory capacity to meet the challenges that lie ahead."

   On Thursday, Mr. LaPierre, announced the appointment of James Jay Baker to the position of Executive Director of NRA-ILA, effective immediately. "Jim Baker is a staunch defender of Second Amendment freedoms with a strong NRA background," LaPierre said. "He has served NRA in the past as an expert in federal elections law, as Director of our Federal Affairs Division, and, until 1994, as Executive Director of the Institute for Legislative Action. NRA members know Jim Baker, and they know the fight for their rights is in capable hands." The appointment marks a return for Baker to the position he held from 1991 to 1994. "Jim Baker returns to the NRA with an incredible wealth of experience and expertise as an aggressive defender of our Second Amendment freedoms. He has an exemplary reputation on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures, and Jim is highly regarded by the nearly three million NRA members and the nation's firearms owning community. Jim Baker is a hunter, a firearms expert and a skilled legislative strategist. Our members have full confidence that the fight for their rights is in capable hands."