NRA withdraws federal lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James

The National Rifle Association has withdrawn its federal lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James, where it alleges she violated the organization's constitutional right and asks for a jury to determine it's been operating lawfully in the state. The NRA says in a statement that it "voluntarily" withdrew this suit "in favor of pursuing the same claims against James in New York State court in Manhattan." It filed a similar suit in New York state court in February. "The NRA dropping its countersuit today in federal court is an implicit admission that their strategy would never prevail," James said in a statement. "The truth is that (NRA head) Wayne LaPierre and his lieutenants used the NRA as a breeding ground for personal gain and a lavish lifestyle. We were victorious against the organization's attempt to declare bankruptcy, and our fight for transparency and accountability will continue because no one is above the law." The move comes after a federal judge in May dismissed the NRA's petition for bankruptcy, saying it had not "been filed in good faith," in order to avoid litigation by James' office, which sued to dissolve the NRA for allegedly misusing charitable funds. The decision means the NRA will not have bankruptcy protections, which it has said are needed to protect against a "barrage of litigation" the organization is facing. It also means that the NRA cannot reorganize in the state of Texas without approval from the New York Attorney General's office, James said last month. The NRA had requested to be reincorporated in Texas when it filed for bankruptcy, a move hailed by Texas politicians. After the decision, LaPierre sent an encouraging email to approximately 5 million members assuring them the organization remains "strong and secure" despite their recently dismissed petition for bankruptcy in Texas...MORE

NRA Says It May Have Legal Claims Against Former CFO

The National Rifle Association said in a bankruptcy court filing in Dallas that it might have legal claims against its former finance chief, whom it has blamed for internal problems at the gun rights group that are now the subject of a pending enforcement action by New York’s attorney general. Wilson “Woody” Phillips, the NRA’s chief financial officer and treasurer until 2018, is one of a handful of former and current executives, including Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre, who have been individually sued by New York authorities for alleged improprieties at the organization. On Monday, the NRA opposed Mr. Phillips’s request to get insurance proceeds under a policy for its directors and officers to help cover the cost of his legal defense in New York. Mr. Phillips has denied the allegations in the New York lawsuit. In March, Mr. Phillips declined to testify during a deposition related to the NRA’s chapter 11, invoking the Fifth Amendment. In its filing this week, the NRA said Mr. Phillips’s decision suggests that representations he made as CFO to the Internal Revenue Service, auditors and the organization may not have been truthful, complete or accurate...WSJ

NRA faces internal woes as it girds for new gun control fight

...Four years later, though, the NRA is confronting challenges that have undercut the power of the long-feared lobby organization, even as new gun control measures are proposed after two mass shootings in a week in Atlanta and Boulder, Colo. The group has been plagued by infighting and allegations of self-dealing and is defending itself against a sweeping lawsuit filed in August by the New York attorney general that alleges that the organization violated its nonprofit status as its top leaders allegedly raided the organization’s coffers for personal gain. The NRA disclosed last year that it was cutting salaries and preparing to lay off employees as donations dried up during the coronavirus pandemic. Several key executives left the organization in the past two years, including the NRA’s former top lobbyist Chris Cox, who resigned in 2019. And political spending dropped significantly last year compared with the previous cycle. In 2016, the NRA spent $54.4 million on political advocacy, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2020, that spending fell to $29.4 million. Now, the NRA’s top executives are soon likely to take the stand in a Dallas courtroom, a potentially bruising public display, in a federal hearing scheduled to open April 5 to determine whether the organization will be allowed to declare bankruptcy, as it requested earlier this year...The bankruptcy proceedings are likely to reveal embarrassing new details about the organization’s internal workings and extravagant spending. Already, filings associated with the process have documented that the group was informed by the IRS that it owes $3.4 million in taxes dating to 2014 and that it paid for mosquito control at LaPierre’s home, citing the expense as intended for “security purposes.” NRA lawyers say the organization has acknowledged past fiscal problems and has worked to rectify them, making a “commitment to good governance” and replacing top officers...NRA officials say efforts by President Biden and Democratic majorities in Congress to push ahead with gun legislation will spur a spike in membership and renewed donations to the group. They say 140,000 new members have joined since the election alone and that the group’s financial situation is strong. But the new gun-control campaign also will serve as a test of the NRA’s continued political clout in the face of its challenges, its opponents said...In filings, James has argued that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlan Hale should reject the bankruptcy petition as a ploy to avoid accountability in New York. Brewer, the NRA’s outside counsel, said the group looked forward to litigating the claims, which he called “contrived.” Other creditors of the organization told the judge that they support the NRA’s position, arguing that bankruptcy is the appropriate route to protect the group against the consequences of the New York action...MORE

NRA Board Member Demands LaPierre Probe in Bankruptcy Case

A gun-collecting Kansas judge is leading a new crusade to save the National Rifle Association from two existential threats: New York’s Attorney General and the executives who currently run the organization.

Phillip Journey, a family court judge in Wichita and member of the NRA’s board, inserted himself into the group’s bankruptcy to try and block New York’s top law enforcement official from dissolving the 150-year-old group and distributing its $200 million in assets to other, less controversial gun-rights organizations. To do so, he says he must take on a culture of subservience and alleged financial misdeeds that has sprung up around the group’s top executive, Wayne LaPierre.

 In February, Journey urged the court to call a timeout in the bankruptcy case and appoint an independent examiner. That, Journey says, is the only way to get to the bottom of a dispute riddled with allegations of fraud and self-enrichment by NRA executives, conflicts of interest among attorneys and creditors and claims of over-reach by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who had called the gun-rights group a “terrorist organization” even before she took office.

“A lot of times, bankruptcy looks like a dog pile,” Journey, who sold about 100 weapons from his personal collection to fund his successful campaign for his judicial seat last year, said in an interview. “All I want is to open the door, let in an examiner and see where to go. Restore corporate governance and let the NRA operate like it’s supposed to.”

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin D. “Cooter” Hale is scheduled to start a multi-day hearing April 5 that could strengthen James’ effort to shut down the NRA. James has urged Hale to either appoint a trustee to run the NRA or throw out its bankruptcy case, which would make it easier for her to seize the group’s assets if she prevails in her New York lawsuit.

Matthew Bruckner, an associate professor of law at Howard University, says that courts are inclined to comply with requests to appoint an independent examiner in cases like the NRA’s, where the assets in question exceed $5 million. What’s more, in the NRA’s case the court is likely to give weight to the fact that the request is coming from a board member with Journey’s background, he added. 

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Major NRA donor to challenge gun group's bankruptcy over alleged fraud

A major donor to the National Rifle Association is poised to challenge key aspects of the gun group’s bankruptcy filing, in an attempt to hold executives accountable for allegedly having defrauded their members of millions of dollars to support their own lavish lifestyles. Dave Dell’Aquila, a former tech company boss who has donated more than $100,000 to the NRA, told the Guardian on Saturday he was preparing to lodge a complaint in US bankruptcy court in Dallas, Texas. If successful, it could stop top NRA executives discharging a substantial portion of the organisation’s debts. It could also stop Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s controversial longtime chief executive, avoiding ongoing lawsuits that allege he defrauded the pro-gun group’s members to pay for luxury travel to the Bahamas and Europe and high-end Zegna suits. LaPierre has denied the allegations of financial impropriety, insisting in a letter to NRA members that the group is “well-governed, financially solvent and committed to good governance”.Dell’Aquila’s complaint, likely to be brought within the next few weeks, would use a provision of the bankruptcy code to prevent the NRA from sidestepping more than $60m of debt on grounds it was improperly incurred. The law stipulates that debts acquired through malfeasance can be deemed by the court to be an exception to bankruptcy arrangements. Speaking from his home in Nashville, Tennessee, Dell’Aquila said: “We intend to invoke this provision. We are going to ask the judge to determine that our claim was incurred as a result of fraud and should be deemed non-dischargeable.”...MORE

NRA files for bankruptcy, says it will reincorporate in Texas

 The National Rifle Association said Friday that it has filed for bankruptcy in U.S. court as part of a larger restructuring plan aimed at moving to Texas after New York state had sought the organization’s dissolution for allegedly misappropriating funds.

The gun-rights advocacy group said it would restructure as a Texas nonprofit to exit from what it described as “a corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York,” where it is currently registered.

“The plan can be summed up quite simply: We are DUMPING New York, and we are pursuing plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas,” wrote NRA CEO and executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, adding that the move will have “no major changes are expected to the NRA’s operations or workforce.”

In his statement Friday, LaPierre said that the NRA is not insolvent and the move to Texas would make the organization stronger. “We are as financially strong as we have been in years,” he said.

He added that the organization has no plans at this time to move the NRA headquarters from Fairfax, Virginia.

Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that the state was seeking to dissolve the NRA in a lawsuit that accused the organization’s leadership of diverting millions for their own personal use, resulting in a $64 million loss to the organization...

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NRA reports alleged misspending by current and former executives to IRS

After years of denying allegations of lax financial oversight, the National Rifle Association has made a stunning declaration in a new tax filing: Current and former executives used the nonprofit group’s money for personal benefit and enrichment. The NRA said in the filing that it continues to review the alleged abuse of funds, as the tax-exempt organization curtails services and runs up multimillion-dollar legal bills. The assertion of impropriety comes four months after the attorney general of New York state filed a lawsuit accusing NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and other top executives of using NRA funds for decades to provide inflated salaries and expense accounts. The tax return, which The Washington Post obtained from the organization, says the NRA “became aware during 2019 of a significant diversion of its assets.” The 2019 filing states that LaPierre and five former executives received “excess benefits,” a term the IRS uses to describe executives’ enriching themselves at the expense of a nonprofit entity. The disclosures in the tax return suggest that the organization is standing by its 71-year-old chief executive while continuing to pursue former executives of the group. The filing says that LaPierre “corrected” his financial lapses with a repayment and contends that former executives “improperly” used NRA funds or charged the nonprofit for expenses that were “not appropriate.” LaPierre has reimbursed the organization nearly $300,000 in travel expenses covering 2015 to 2019, according to the tax return, which does not explain how that amount was determined or when LaPierre paid it. NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said in a statement this week that “the vast majority of Mr. LaPierre’s travel was undertaken in strict compliance with NRA policy.” In response to questions from The Post, NRA executives said the organization is financially strong and closely adhering to nonprofit law. “As its tax filing demonstrates, the NRA is committed to strict compliance with itsThe tax filing acknowledges that there are disputes over the alleged financial abuses the NRA blames on the departed officers, including former board president Oliver North and former chief lobbyist Chris Cox. Some of those executives parted ways with LaPierre over his leadership and are cooperating with the New York attorney general’s investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the ongoing investigation. accounting controls and good­governance practices,” said Charles Cotton, an NRA vice president and audit committee chair...MORE

IRS Investigating NRA’s Wayne LaPierre for Possible Tax Fraud

The Internal Revenue Service is investigating longtime National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre for possible criminal tax fraud related to his personal taxes, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. LaPierre was paid $2.2 million by the NRA in 2018, the most recent year available, the nonprofit group’s public filings show. His total reported pay from 2014 to 2018 was $11.2 million. In August, he was charged in a civil suit by New York Attorney GeneralLetitia James with taking millions of dollars of allegedly undisclosed compensation from the NRA and its vendors, in the form of free yacht trips, private jet flights for his family, exotic safaris and other benefits. Asked at a news conference announcing the lawsuit whether she believed Mr. LaPierre had evaded personal taxes, Ms. James declined to comment but said she was referring the matter to the IRS. The AG lawsuit claimed the NRA’s failure to include certain personal benefits in Mr. LaPierre’s W-2 annual-compensation forms “permitted him to file false personal tax returns with the IRS.” P. Kent Correll, an attorney for Mr. LaPierre, said, “We’re not aware of any inquiry, so it would be premature for us to comment.” “The NRA is not aware of any IRS inquiry but, of course, will fully cooperate with any appropriate requests for assistance,” said William A. Brewer III, an outside attorney for the NRA, who noted that the group’s tax filings are audited. The gun-rights organization has called the legal action by Ms. James, a Democrat, politically motivated, and Mr. LaPierre previously defended the NRA as well-governed, saying, “We’re ready for the fight. Bring it on.”...MORE

An NRA Insider Tells All

Robert Verbruggen

For the past few years, pretty much everyone outside the group has been wondering what the heck is going on with the National Rifle Association. It’s a major presence in American politics with millions of members who vote and a decent amount of money, and it played a big role in electing Donald Trump president. Lately, however, the organization has been in the news mainly for its crazy internal politics and alleged financial mismanagement. Joshua L. Powell, who from 2016 to 2019 served as a senior strategist for the NRA and chief of staff to its CEO, Wayne LaPierre, has stepped up to tell the tale. The picture he paints in Inside the NRA: A Tell-All Account of Corruption, Greed, and Paranoia within the Most Powerful Political Group in America is pretty much what the title promises. The book provides only a single perspective on a story with many sides, but it is an important document for NRA members and others who want to know what’s going on. Powell came to the NRA to modernize its operations. As he tells it, the place had simply not kept up with the times. When it spent money trying to attract new members, it didn’t keep the usual metrics about how much each member cost to win and how much they later contributed. Its board had a whopping 76 members. The organization’s structure was a set of fiefdoms run independently from each other; there were even several different marketing and PR operations. Unfortunately, he ended up getting sucked into the dysfunction rather than imposing order on it. He accuses LaPierre of having a terrible management style, avoiding conflict, and getting bullied by other prominent figures in the organization. Most important, Angus McQueen, of the marketing firm Ackerman McQueen, acted as LaPierre’s “puppet master,” despite the fact that Ackerman McQueen was merely a vendor of the organization of which LaPierre was the CEO. LaPierre is not an uncompromising firebrand by nature, but McQueen got him to play one. Of course, Ackerman McQueen is at the center of a lot of the controversy here. According to Powell, they’d cost the NRA $25 million a year but refuse to provide detailed invoices as to where the money was going, and McQueen would scream at anyone who challenged him. Eventually, of course, the NRA parted ways with Ackerman McQueen and ended NRATV, the costly collection of gun-related video channels that Ackerman had put together, which frequently veered away from Second Amendment issues and into culture-war territory. (Full disclosure, I was occasionally a guest on NRATV to discuss articles I wrote, though I didn’t get paid.) A legal battle between Ackerman McQueen and the NRA is ongoing. And the Ackerman relationship wasn’t the only problem. Heads within the NRA have rolled left and right lately, including that of Oliver North, who was president (the same largely ceremonial role Charlton Heston once occupied) and had come into the organization through a lucrative NRATV contract. There are allegations of financial shenanigans against LaPierre, including some involving pricey suits, expensive travel, and a $6 million “safe house” that was considered but never purchased. A high-powered lawyer whom Powell helped to bring aboard has raised eyebrows for his costs, too. As for Powell himself, he admits he failed to keep track of some expenses properly and ended up writing a roughly $22,000 check to cover it; he also faced two sexual-harassment claims that he says were baseless. Oh, and don’t forget that whole thing with Maria Butina, the Russian gun activist–slash–spy, which gets a chapter of its own here...MORE

 

In Act of Heresy, N.R.A.’s Former No. 2 Calls for Gun Control

Danny Hakim and Maggie Haberman

The National Rifle Association’s former second-in-command is breaking with the group’s orthodoxy and calling for universal background checks and so-called red flag laws in a new book assailing the organization as more focused on money and internal intrigue than the Second Amendment, while thwarting constructive dialogue on gun violence. The former executive, Joshua L. Powell, who was fired by the N.R.A. in January, reinforces the kind of criticism made of the organization by gun control groups and state regulators, but it is the first critical look at its recent history by such a high-ranking insider. He describes the N.R.A.’s longtime chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, as a woefully inept manager, but also a skilled lobbyist with a deft touch at directing President Trump to support the group’s objectives, and who repeatedly reeled in the president’s flirtations with even modest gun control measures. The book, “Inside the N.R.A.: A Tell-All Account of Corruption, Greed, and Paranoia Within the Most Powerful Political Group in America,” is to be published next week, the latest public calamity for an organization that has faced years of headlines detailing allegations of corruption, infighting and even its infiltration by a Russian agent. The attorney general of New York, Letitia James, is also seeking to dissolve the group, in a lawsuit filed last month that names both Mr. LaPierre and Mr. Powell among four individual defendants from whom it is seeking millions of dollars in restitution. Mr. Powell’s book has drawn scathing reactions from the N.R.A. Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman, said that Mr. LaPierre spoke to many people about succession planning “if, and when, he ever left the N.R.A.” and that Mr. Powell “knows full well that the most serious ‘financial issues’ the N.R.A. confronted were the abuses of now terminated employees and vendors who abused the trust placed in them.” (In his book, Mr. Powell calls Mr. Arulanandam “the guy who became my best friend at the N.R.A.”) Documents reviewed by The New York Times showed that weeks before Mr. Powell was fired, he was accused of improperly charging roughly $58,000 in personal expenses to the organization, a nonprofit, including airfare for himself or his family to Palm Beach, Fla., San Antonio, Phoenix and Dallas, among a number of other destinations — accusations that echo those made by the attorney general against Mr. LaPierre. Mr. Powell subsequently agreed to repay about $40,000 to the organization, though the N.R.A. has not cashed his check as its review of his expenses continues...MORE

NRA Sues San Francisco over ‘Domestic Terrorist Organization’ Label

The National Rifle Association filed suit Monday against the city of San Francisco in response to city’s board of supervisors labeling the gun-rights group a “domestic terrorist organization.” The suit — filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the city and county of San Francisco, as well as the board of supervisors — claims the city violated the gun lobby’s first amendment rights by seeking to prevent any individuals or entities associated with it from doing business in San Francisco. “This lawsuit comes with a message to those who attack the NRA: we will never stop fighting for our law-abiding members and their constitutional freedoms,” NRA CEO and executive vice president Wayne LaPierre said in a statement shared with the Washington Post...MORE

Fox News host roasts NRA's LaPierre: 'An odious little grifter' who needs to go

Joe Concha

Fox News host Steve Hilton is blasting National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre, calling him "an odious little grifter" who needs to be shown the door. Hilton listed several high-ticket purchases LaPierre has made over the years while running the NRA, including a $5 million estate and luxury travel and rent costs incurred during trips to the Bahamas and throughout Europe that entailed private air charters and drivers. "He made NRA members pay for a trip to Italy and Budapest in 2014, including $6,500 at the Four Seasons Hotel. I've been to that hotel. It's lovely," Hilton said. "But Mr. LaPierre, there are other countries and other hotels you can stay at, if you want to protect the Second Amendment. Try the Hyatt in Washington, D.C. It's a short walk to places like the United States Congress and the Supreme Court where Americans' gun rights are actually decided, not Budapest or even Lake Como, where you billed NRA members $2,400 for a stay at this luxury retreat, the Casta Diva Resort," he continued. "Not to mention $17,550 for an air charter, also known as a private jet, to get you from one to the other. Oh, and $18,300 for a car and driver at each end."...MORE

Fifth NRA Board Member Resigns Amid String of Recent Defections

A fifth member of the National Rifle Association's board of directors has resigned, the latest in a string of high-profile defections within the powerful gun rights group in recent weeks. NRA board member Richard Childress, a former NASCAR driver and the owner of a self-titled car racing enterprise, submitted his resignation to the board, John Frazer—the organization's secretary—and NRA President Carolyn Meadows on Monday, according to a copy of the letter obtained by Newsweek. This marks the fifth resignation from the NRA's board of directors since August 1, when three board members quit after they allege they were sidelined for raising questions about apparently lavish spending and mismanagement by top executives. Childress, along with former NRA President Lt. Col. Oliver North, had previously authored a memorandum to the chairman of the NRA's audit committee and Frazer (in his dual capacity as general counsel) expressing how they were "deeply concerned" about the billable hours being racked up by the organization's outside counsel, William A. Brewer III. The letter revealed that Brewer's firm earned $24 million over a 13-month period, payments that Childress and North described as "excessive on their face." Childress, also serving as the NRA'S first vice president, read North's resignation letter aloud at the annual meeting in April. A fourth NRA board member, Julie Golob, announced her departure on August 12. Childress did not refer in his resignation letter to the Brewer dispute or any of the myriad fiscal and governance scandals that have plagued the NRA since April, when The New Yorker documented what would be the first in a long line of allegations of financial misconduct that have racked the organization...MORE

If It Wants To Survive, The NRA Needs To Change

In the mid-1970s the NRA had to make a choice. As crime continued to spike across the nation, and politicians increasingly embraced gun control measures, an internal debate broke out about the future of the organization. Initially, the NRA’s more passionate Second Amendment advocates were purged. NRA leadership would fire more than 70 activists during the early part of the decade. By 1976, the organization’s board decided to relocate its headquarters from Washington to Colorado to extract itself from political debate altogether. It wasn’t until a 1977 NRA convention in Cincinnati that politically minded members pulled off something of a coup, wresting the organization from the nonpolitical wing. Many of today’s gun control advocates like to claim the “Cincinnati revolt” was the moment extremists took over the organization, undermining average gun owners who were merely interested in hunting and skeet shooting — which is, needless to say, a simplistic understanding of both the NRA’s history and gun owners. The reality is that the shift was an organic one, reflecting the mounting anxieties among members who felt increasingly under political attack. The NRA was best positioned to take the lead. If it hadn’t, another advocacy group would have emerged to take its place. The gun control debate had changed, and the NRA changed with it. And the more gun controllers pushed, the more popular the NRA became, doubling its membership from 1977 to 1983. With every concerted effort to enact gun restrictions, the organization grew. What is the point of the NRA now? Is it to be one of the thousand partisan outfits in D.C. helping elect Republicans, or is it to make compelling and effective arguments about the virtues and necessity of the Second Amendment?...MORE

NRA meltdown has Trump campaign sweating

The National Rifle Association aired an avalanche of TV ads and pushed its 5 million-plus members to the polls for Donald Trump in 2016, propelling him in the Rust Belt states that delivered him the presidency. Now, the gun rights group is in total meltdown — and senior Republicans and Trump 2020 officials are alarmed. In recent weeks, the NRA has seen everything from a failed coup attempt to the departure of its longtime political architect to embarrassing tales of self-dealing by top leaders. The turmoil is fueling fears that the organization will be profoundly diminished heading into the election, leaving the Republican Party with a gaping hole in its political machinery. With the Chamber of Commerce and Koch political network withdrawing from their once-dominant roles in electing conservatives, Republicans worry that three organizations that have long formed the core of their electoral infrastructure will be effectively on the sidelines. The predicament has so troubled some Republicans that they are calling on the famously secretive NRA to address its 2020 plans. Within the past week, senators have privately expressed concerns about the group to National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Todd Young. “No organization has been more important to conservative voter education and engagement than the NRA. We all hope they’re able to mount the kind of effort in the 2020 cycle they have in the past,” said Gregg Keller, a former American Conservative Union executive director. “But in case they can’t, given their current situation, I hope they’re being forthright about that within the movement so others can pick up the slack.”...MORE

Major NRA donor to lead rebellion gunning for ‘radioactive’ leader Wayne LaPierre

Even as the National Rifle Association (NRA) has been consumed by relentless and increasingly public infighting, Wayne LaPierre has maintained a firm grip on its leadership. Now one of the gun group’s major benefactors says he is preparing to lead an insurgency among wealthy contributors to oust Mr LaPierre as chief executive, along with his senior leadership team. Such a rebellion would represent a troublesome new threat to Mr LaPierre, as his organisation’s finances and vaunted political machine are being strained amid a host of legal battles, most notably the New York attorney general’s investigation into its tax-exempt status. David Dell’Aquila, the restive donor, said the NRA’s internal warfare “has become a daily soap opera, and it’s decaying and destroying the NRA from within, and it needs to stop”. He added, “Even if these allegations regarding Mr LaPierre and his leadership are false, he has become radioactive and must step down.” Until that happens, Mr Dell’Aquila, a retired technology consultant who has given roughly $100,000 (£80,000) to the NRA in cash and gifts, said he would suspend donations — including his pledge of the bulk of an estate worth several million dollars. He said he was among a network of wealthy NRA donors who would cumulatively withhold more than $134 million (£106 million) in pledges, much of it earmarked years in advance through estate planning, and would soon give the gun group’s board a list of demands for reform. That figure could not be verified, however, and Mr Dell’Aquila declined to provide a list of the other donors, who he said were not ready to go public. But a second prominent donor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is a senior firearms industry executive, said he was also suspending a plan to give more than $2 million (£1.6 million) from his estate, as well as halting other donations, and was backing Mr Dell’Aquila’s effort. “The donors are rebelling,” the executive said, adding that he believed that the leadership turmoil was “helping to destroy, temporarily, the strength of the NRA as one of the strongest lobbying groups”. The extent of any rebellion is difficult to discern, and the NRA insisted it still had the firm backing of its donor base. Mr LaPierre has also retained the support of the NRA’s 76-member board, with fewer than a handful of public defections, and it would take a three-fourths vote by the board and one of its committees to oust him...MORE

Attention NRA Members - Board Election - Vote for William H. Satterfield

If you are a voting member of the NRA, please vote for William H. Satterfield. We need to keep a true conservative on environmental law and strong supporter of our individual right to bear arms on the NRA board.

I've known Bill for many years and urge you to vote for him on the ballot to be found in the current issue of your magazine.

Here is some more info on Bill.

Colonel William H. Satterfield, USAR (Ret.), J.D. from Birmingham, Alabama, has been nominated by the NRA’s Nominating Committee for a third term on the National Rifle Association’s Board of Directors. For the past seven years, Bill has served on NRA’s Legal Affairs Committee, and he is one of ten Trustees for NRA’s Civil Rights Defense Fund. He is also a Trustee of the NRA Foundation, and he was recently elected President of the Foundation. During his six years on NRA’s Board, Bill has served as Chairman of the Elections Committee (twice) and on the Nominating Committee. He presently serves as Chair of the Ethics Committee, Chair of the Range Development Committee, and as a member of the Bylaws and Resolutions Committee.

    Bill had thirty-two years’ service in the Army Reserve, including active duty in Viet Nam and Thailand.  He was a President Reagan appointee as Associate Solicitor and Deputy Solicitor for the Department of Interior, and as General Counsel of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.  He is an expert in environmental and endangered species law. An avid hunter who has used firearms his entire life, Bill continues to work fighting environmental and anti-gunner attacks on hunting and shooting ranges.  He is also a strong supporter of competitive shooting... 

Harvey Weinstein and Meryl Streep - new movie to make NRA ‘wish they weren’t alive’

Movie producer Harvey Weinstein announced for the first time on Howard Stern’s radio show that he is making a full feature drama to try to destroy the National Rifle Association. Mr. Stern asked Mr. Weinstein on Wednesday whether he owned a gun. The Hollywood heavyweight replied that he did not and never would. “I don’t think we need guns in this country. And I hate it,” the producer said. “I think the NRA is a disaster area.” Mr. Weinstein then revealed his secret project about the gun rights group. “I shouldn’t say this, but I’ll tell it to you, Howard,” he said. “I’m going to make a movie with Meryl Streep, and we’re going to take this head-on. And they’re going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them.” The shock jock asked whether the film was going to be a documentary. Mr. Weinstein said no, that it would be a “big movie like a ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.’” The movie mogul said his vision was to scare people away from firearms. He foresees moviegoers to leave thinking, “Gun stocks — I don’t want to be involved in that stuff. It’s going to be like crash and burn.” The chairman of the Weinstein Co. (formerly Miramax) is one of President Obama’s biggest fundraisers. He brought in more than $500,000 from his Hollywood friends for the president’s re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee in 2012...more

Obama, Biden & Gun Control Articles & Headlines

Vice President Biden will present his anti-gun-violence working group's recommendations to President Obama by Tuesday of next week. Biden made the remark at the opening of a meeting with sportsmen and wildlife interest groups and hours before he is set to meet with representatives of the National Rifle Association and other gun-owners groups. “I have committed to him that I will have the recommendations to chim by Tuesday,” Biden said. Biden had been given an end-of-month deadline to offer his task force’s recommendations to Obama. The president formed the group after 20 six- and seven-year-olds were killed in a mass shooting last month at a Connecticut elementary school. Seven adults were also killed in the rampage. Biden met with gun control and gun safety groups yesterday, whom he said emphasized strengthening criminal background checks for gun owners. Biden said this included “universal background checks, not just closing the gun show loophole.”  Biden also suggested that the federal government would revamp the way it collected data on gun violence, comparing current limits on data gathering with the 1970s-era restrictions on federal research over the causes of traffic fatalities. He emphasized that the government needed to gather information on “what kind of weapons are used most to kill people” and “what kind of weapons are trafficked weapons” to better evaluate the problem of gun violence. The announcement came at the start of a packed day of meetings for the vice president. In addition to the meetings with the NRA and sportsmen groups, Biden will meet this evening with entertainment industry representatives...more

Biden: Executive action can be taken on guns  Vice President Joe Biden indicated Wednesday that the president will be able to take executive action to combat gun violence as he kicked off one of several meetings this week in response to the Newtown shooting. "We're here today to deal with a problem that requires immediate action, urgent action," Biden said at the start of a meeting with leaders from gun control groups and several victims of gun violence.

NRA rips Biden task force for 'attack' on 2nd Amendment, as details of plan emerge The National Rifle Association emerged from a meeting Thursday with Vice President Biden and accused his gun violence task force of leading an "attack" on the Second Amendment -- just hours after Biden gave a glimpse into the gun-control recommendations expected to hit the president's desk in a matter of days.The vice president said earlier that "an emerging set of recommendations" focuses on launching "universal" background checks, restricting high-capacity magazines and allowing federal agencies to do more research on gun violence. But the NRA, after sitting down with Biden and other firearms groups Thursday afternoon, blasted the effort as primarily focused on restricting gun rights.  "We were disappointed with how little this meeting had to do with keeping our children safe and how much it had to do with an agenda to attack the Second Amendment," the group said in a written statement. "While claiming that no policy proposals would be 'prejudged,' this Task Force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners -- honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans. "It is unfortunate that this administration continues to insist on pushing failed solutions to our nation's most pressing problems. We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen."  Aside from the NRA, Biden also met Thursday with sports groups like the Outdoor Industry Association and firearms groups like the National Association of Arms Shows.  Attorney General Eric Holder and other Obama Cabinet secretaries were meeting as well with Walmart and several other sports retailers...more 

Wal-Mart to attend gun control meeting at White House After initially declining an invitation to attend, Wal-Mart announced Wednesday that it will participate in a meeting with Vice President Joseph Biden's gun violence task force. In response to the criticism, Wal-Mart said it would attend. "We underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on Thursday in person, so we are sending an appropriate representative to participate," said Wal-Mart spokesman David Tovar. Tovar said that Wal-Mart has been "very purposeful" about striking the right balance between serving hunters and sportsman and ensuring that it sells firearms responsibly. He also said the retailer is committed to staying engaged in the discussion about the right path forward with lawmakers. Wal-Mart sells guns in roughly 1,800 of its 4,000 stores, according to Tovar. It sells semiautomatic assault rifles, like the ones used in Sandy Hook, in about 1,200 stores across the country.

U.S. Senator calls for background checks to buy ammo

Mayors gun control group airing TV ad (This is the same group the Mayors of Las Cruces and Ruidoso are involved in)