Safety Recall On Sig Sauer CROSS Bolt-Action Rifles

Sig Sauer issued a safety recall on all of their CROSS Bolt-Action Rifles today. They say that you should stop using the rifle immediately as at least one rifle had a delayed discharge after the trigger was pulled.

From their email announcing the safety recall:

NEWINGTON, N.H., (November 25, 2020) – Today Sig Sauer, Inc. is announcing a safety recall for the CROSS Bolt-Action Rifle, and consumers should immediately discontinue use of the rifle.  This recall applies to all CROSS Bolt-Action rifles currently manufactured. 


Sig Sauer has viewed an online video that presents a single CROSS Bolt-Action Rifle with a potential safety concern.  This gun has been returned to Sig Sauer and upon evaluation it has been confirmed that the rifle exhibited a delayed discharge after the trigger was pulled.  Sig Sauer has decided to issue a safety recall in order to implement a modification to the firing action to address this potential safety concern.


To register for the recall process please visit sigsauer.com/crossrecall or call Sig Sauer Customer Service at 603-610-3000, option 1.  Following registration Sig Sauer will further communicate with you to arrange for the return of your rifle to Sig Sauer for the safety improvement.  All shipment and replacement costs will be covered by Sig Sauer. 


Sig Sauer is committed to providing the highest quality, industry leading firearms in the marketplace and is requesting that consumers take immediate action and follow the recall process as described. 

NRA Releases 2019 Tax Filing

Non-profit organizations are required to release and make public their IRS Form 990 filings. The Form 990 is their equivalent of a corporate tax return. The submission is usually almost a year after the end of the prior year.

Today, the Washington Post reported that the NRA’s 2019 Form 990 was made public. It has some interesting admissions contained within it. I’m just going to hit the highlights and will post a link to the actual Form 990 so that you can examine it for yourself.

From the article by Beth Reinhard and Carol Leonnig:

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.

As was reported in the Wall Street Journal in October, the Internal Revenue Service is supposedly investigating Wayne LaPierre for criminal tax fraud. There is a lot of speculation that this tax filing which was signed by Wayne himself was a way to mitigate the damage of that investigation.

Three tax and accounting experts who reviewed the 2019 tax return for The Post said the disclosures show the organization and LaPierre trying to take responsibility and avoid further legal jeopardy.

“This is the type of cleanup I would expect to see after a history of gross violations of nonprofit law,” said Philip Hackney, an associate professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh who worked at the IRS for five years until 2011 providing legal oversight of tax-exempt organizations.

LaPierre personally signed the 2019 tax return; such a document is customarily signed by the organization’s treasurer. “He is putting himself on the line, under penalties of perjury, which is what you do if you are trying to get in someone’s good graces,” Hackney said.

New York lawyer and expert on nonprofits Daniel Kurtz said, “It’s a smart move by the NRA instead of digging in their heels, though who knows how they came up with the numbers. It’s an admission of wrongdoing, for sure.”

It also appears that this Form 990 is also trying to throw a number of former NRA executives such as Chris Cox and David Lehman of ILA under the bus along with Oliver North. Josh Powell is also mentioned as having received previously unreported excess benefits. Some undisclosed directors are also mentioned as having traveled First Class without “authorization”.

Cox resigned in June 2019 after LaPierre accused him and North of orchestrating a coup — a claim they both denied. The tax return says the organization is seeking to recover more than $1 million it says Cox improperly received for travel, meals and tickets to sporting events.

Cox’s lawyer, Tom Buchanan, called the allegation “false” and said all of the lobbyist’s expenses during his 24 years with the NRA were reviewed and never questioned. Buchanan said also that Cox has provided the New York attorney general with “thousands of documents” and has not been implicated in her investigation.

North was ousted as NRA president last year after accusing LaPierre of spending recklessly on legal fees for Brewer’s firm. The new tax filing says the NRA has “reason to believe” North received excess salary that he failed to earn. North declined through his attorney to comment on the tax return.

North has previously argued that the NRA has falsely accused him of financial improprieties in retaliation for his cooperating as a key witness in the New York investigation, according to pleadings in New York State Court.

“In public, the NRA has said these allegations of misspending were completely unfounded, but these official filings present a picture that a lot of the claims made were accurate and the only question is who was at fault,” said Brian Mittendorf, an accounting professor at Ohio State University.

A quick glance at the Form 990 shows that overall revenues were down by over $60 million and the ongoing operating deficit was $12.2 million for the year. Mind you, this is for 2019 which was pre-pandemic.

There is a lot more there. Now is the time I wish I had taken more accounting classes.

NRA 2019 IRS Form 990 by jpr9954 on Scribd

The really interesting stuff starts at about page 77 and goes from there.

Asheville – The East Coast Of Maui?

I was just reading about the upcoming holiday and early season basketball tournaments. CBS Sports was ranking which ones were the best for real basketball junkies.

Number one was the Maui Invitational featuring such teams as my UNC Tar Heels, Providence, Stanford, Davison, Alabama, Texas, Indiana, and UNLV.

However, what had me rolling on this floor was the location of the Maui Invitational. Let’s just say it isn’t Hawaii.

Asheville is now the location of the 2020 Maui Invitational.

Asheville, the San Francisco of Appalachia, the Austin of the Carolinas.

1. Maui Invitational

Dates: Nov. 30-Dec. 2 | Schedule

Location: Asheville, NC

FieldAlabamaDavidsonIndiana, No. 16 North CarolinaProvidenceStanford, No. 19 TexasUNLV

The Maui Invitational is always a gem to whet the hoops appetite, and this year’s field is an absolute doozy. In addition to some of the strongest brands in the game — North Carolina, Indiana and Texas — the field also includes teams with star power capable of making noise in 2020. Between Kellan Grady (Davidson), David Duke (Providence), Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana), Garrison Brooks (UNC) and Ziaire Williams (Stanford), this field is loaded with big names primed to set us up for some big games, even if they are not played in Hawaii as usual.

Like I’ve said many a time, 2020 has been a strange year.

Uhh, That’s Not A Marlin Lever Action

Examine the picture below. It was used by The Motley Fool website to illustrate a story regarding Ruger’s completion of the Marlin Firearms acquisition as a result of the Remington bankruptcy.

For some reason I don’t think the author was the one who picked the picture used to illustrate the story. That is because the story itself was pretty much on the money when it came to the background of Marlin and the impact the Freedom Group purchase initially had on quality.

Now I don’t claim to be an authority on everything lever action but I do know a Savage 99 from a Marlin 336. I have a couple of the former and one of the latter. I also know that the rotary magazine of the Savage lent itself to the use of the cartridges with spitzer bullets shown in the picture. Marlin lever actions, being tube fed, would generally use round or flat nose bullets.

The rule of thumb for a publication should be to let someone who knows a little bit about firearms pick the picture to illustrate your story on firearms.

UPDATE: A closer examination of the cartridges used in the photo show that many of them are flat nose bullets. I had to download the picture and enlarge it to actually see it. On first glance, I thought they were spitzer bullets with exposed lead tips.

No NRA Petition Candidates For 2021

Unless there was someone besides Frank Tait seeking a nomination to run for the NRA Board of Directors by petition, there will be no petition candidates in the 2021 election. If you know of anyone else, please let me know in the comments.

Frank was notified yesterday that he fell short. He had submitted 725 signatures which was almost 32% greater than the required 551 valid signatures. However, he had 227 signatures disqualified for a variety of reasons. The greatest number of signatures disqualified was due to not being a member for five consecutive years.

Frank told me that he assumed that if someone went to the trouble to mail him a signed petition that the person was either a Life Member of some level or a five year member with voting privileges. He said his biggest mistake was not vetting those signatures which looked complete.

Given the restrictions on assembling in 2020 such as at gun shows, he really only had three months instead of the more normal five months to gather these signatures. I remember last year I gathered about a dozen or more valid signatures for Frank at the Grass Roots Policy Conference.

In 2017, there was a package of bylaw amendments that, among other things, raised the minimum number of signatures required from 250 to 0.5% of the number of valid votes in the preceding year. It was an all or nothing package. While some of the bylaw changes were mere housekeeping, others like changing the number of signatures required to be a petition candidate were not. Dave Hardy covered it well back then in his Of Arms and the Law blog.

I went back to read Dave’s post as well as the comments. I found the comments particularly relevant.

Ken914 wrote this, in part, on the bylaw changes:

If this is passed, the Board can assured the nominating committee, made up of Board members, will have complete control of who can run for the Board from now on. The limp-wristed celebrities, hangers-on, and 2A do-nothings that fill so so soooo many seats on the Board will be safe from the NRA membership attempting to replace them with new directors who will advocate for a full understanding of the RKBA.

Remember, this is the same BoD that defended Joaquin Jackson until his death. What could go wrong if we just let them become a closed club who hand-selects their own successors?

Jeff Knox, who urged a “no” vote on the bylaw changes wrote this:

Ken914 is spot-on in his assessment. This is an incumbent protection move, removing power from the members, and giving even more power to the Board.

David is correct that many of the changes are just housekeeping, and some of the other stuff could be justified, but this is an all-or-nothing proposal that would do serious harm.

The suggestion that Bloomberg is going to come in and take over the NRA – or stir up trouble by funding recall elections – is a straw man play. The formula they are suggesting would mean that only someone with Bloomberg’s money could possibly orchestrate a successful recall or bylaw petition.

I won’t go into the other changes wrought by the 2017 bylaw amendments. Suffice to say, it solidified power in the Board of Directors and has made another Cincinnati Revolt virtually impossible. Prior to these changes, Frank Tait would have been on the 2021 ballot.

I did vote NO on the bylaw amendments.

I am going to think long and hard before I support anyone that was nominated by the Nominations Committee for the 2021 Board election.

Dr. John Lott Is Now At DOJ

I got a LinkedIn notice yesterday telling me that Dr. John Lott had taken a position with the US Department of Justice. He is now the Senior Advisor for Research and Statistics. Unfortunately, as Dr. Lott noted to me when I congratulated him on the new position, it is a political appointment which will end when President Trump leaves office in January.

According to an article posted this morning in Yahoo News, Dr. Lott will be working in the Office of Justice Programs which is responsible for administering $5 billion annually in grants to states, police departments, and non-profits.

The article there is a repost from Politico. The headline referred to him as “controversial gun advocate”. Jeez!

Dr. Lott left the Crime Prevention Research Center on October 12th to take the DOJ job according to CPRC Executive Director Nikki Goeser.

From the article:

Lott’s role as president of CPRC was turned over earlier this month to Andrew Pollack, who emerged as a prominent pro-gun voice after his 18-year-old daughter Meadow was killed in the shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in 2018.

Pollack did not respond to requests for comment, but CPRC Executive Director Nikki Goeser said the group’s pro-gun advocacy will continue.

“Since Dr. Lott left the CPRC on October 12th, much about the CPRC will remain unchanged,” Goeser told POLITICO by email.

“Research projects that we have been conducting are continuing: on the percent of gun ownership across different countries as well as our regular reports on things such as the number of concealed handgun permits, keeping track of what would have been mass public shootings that were stopped by concealed handgun permit holders will continue, keeping track of states that allow people to carry handguns at state capitols will continue, and similarly for state rules on letting teachers carry guns,” she added.

Safety Recall On Certain S&W M&P Shield EZ Pistols

Smith & Wesson has issued a safety recall on certain M&P Shield EZ pistols manufactured between March 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020. They have found cracked hammers on two of these pistols which will let them potentially have multiple discharges. The hammers were manufactured by an outside supplier for Smith & Wesson.

Smith & Wesson has identified two M&P Shield EZ Pistols on which the hammers manufactured by our supplier were cracked.  In those firearms, the hammer failed to fully engage the sear, causing the round to fire, cycling the slide, and potentially resulting in multiple discharges without depressing the trigger.  This issue can occur in the following two scenarios:

1. With a loaded magazine in the firearm and the grip safety depressed, releasing the slide (by pulling it back, or releasing the slide stop), may ignite the round as the slide closes, without engaging the trigger.  The condition may occur, regardless of the manual thumb safety position if equipped.  This may also result in multiple discharges.
 

2. With a loaded magazine in the firearm, the grip safety depressed, manual safety in the fire position, slide closed, and a round in the chamber, pulling the trigger will cause the round to fire normally, however as the slide cycles, the next round may be ignited as it is chambered by the hammer failing to fully engage the sear, causing multiple discharges.

In all cases, the firearm will NOT fire unless the grip safety is depressed.  While this condition has been found only in two hammers, and our investigation suggests that these two incidents are very isolated, any unintended discharge of a firearm has the potential to cause injury.  Therefore, we have established this Safety Recall as a precautionary measure to ensure that all M&P Shield EZ Pistols in service meet our design specifications. 

Stop using your M&P® Shield™ EZ pistol until you determine whether it is included in this safety recall, and if so, until it has been inspected and repaired by Smith & Wesson, if necessary.

PRODUCT AFFECTED:

This notice applies ONLY to M&P® Shield™ EZ pistols (including Performance Center® models) manufactured between March 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020, and only to a small percentage of that population. It does NOT apply to all SHIELD™ pistols.  To determine whether your M&P Shield EZ Pistol is affected, check the label on the box to determine date of manufacture (see image below), and if manufacture date is between March 1, 2020 and October 31, 2020 – your pistol may be affected. In this case (or if you are unsure of your date of manufacture), simply go to MPShieldEZrecall.com and input your serial number, or call 888-871-7114 .

Smith & Wesson has set up a special website where you can check your serial number to see if it is one of the impacted pistols. This recall applies to both 9mm and .380 Shield EZ pistols

You can go to the website here.

NRA Settles CarryGuard Debacle With NY State

The National Rifle Association entered into a consent order with the New York State Department of Financial Services today. The Department of Financial Services had charged the NRA with violating New York insurance law with its CarryGuard program as well as with its affiliate insurance programs.

From the NY DFS new release:

Superintendent of Financial Services Linda A. Lacewell today announced that the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has entered into a consent order with the National Rifle Association (NRA). On February 5, 2020, DFS served a statement of charges and notice of hearing to the NRA over violations of New York Insurance Law. That case is now resolved by a consent order that includes a civil monetary penalty of $2.5 million for violations of New York insurance laws.  

In addition, the NRA is banned from marketing insurance in the State or receiving compensation in connection with any newly issued New York insurance policies for five years, irrespective of whether the NRA obtains a license. This brings to a close a three-year investigation. 

In the consent order, DFS found that, despite lacking a license to conduct insurance business in New York, the NRA violated various New York insurance laws and regulations by, among other things, acting as an insurance producer without a license in participating in efforts to solicit and market the sale of insurance products, including the NRA’s Carry Guard insurance program. 

“The NRA operated as an unlicensed insurance producer and broke the New York Insurance Law by soliciting insurance products and receiving compensation,” said Superintendent Lacewell. “Even worse, the NRA violated the New York Insurance Law by soliciting dangerous and impermissible insurance products, including those within its Carry Guard program that purported to insure intentional acts and criminal defense costs. The Department will continue to protect the integrity of the insurance market for the purposes of safety and soundness and the good of all consumers.” 

The CarryGuard program was rushed into the market under the management of former Executive Director of General Operations and former Chief of Staff Josh Powell. As I understand it, his predecessor Kyle Weaver, then Director of General Operations, was building the program out step by step which wasn’t fast enough for the powers that be. The thought behind the program was that the NRA had helped get shall-issue concealed carry introduced in many states. However, they saw groups like USCCA offering legal defense programs which the NRA saw as making money off their hard work and they wanted in on it.

Then, Powell replaced Weaver and rushed the product to market with big fanfare at the NRA Annual Meeting in Atlanta. That rush has now cost the NRA $2.5 million it can ill afford to spend.

In a story from Reuters on this consent order, NRA outside counsel William Brewer III tries to put a positive spin on it.

The NRA has said it did not underwrite its insurance programs, and that like “countless” affinity groups it relied on industry experts to market products to members.. It did not admit wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

William Brewer, a lawyer for the NRA, said in a statement: “The DFS inquiry, which began with a roar, ends with a whimper.” He said the settlement has no effect on other litigation pending between New York state and the NRA.

That story also has this from Superintendent Lacewell regarding the other insurance offered through the NRA.

She also accused the NRA of misleading gun collectors, dealers, instructors, clubs and shows by promising coverage at the “lowest possible cost,” when the group typically kept between 13.7% and 21.9% of premiums paid.

2021 NRA Board Nominations

30 individuals have been nominated by the NRA Nominating Committee to run for the Board of Directors in 2021.

Rather than listing them by name, here is a photo of the list.

This does not include those who plan to run by Petition such as Frank Tait.

I’d like to point out sitting Directors who would normally be up for re-election this year that are not on the list.

First and foremost is LtCol Robert Brown. Evidently he was just a bit too free-spoken and too likely to rock the boat. I did hear a rumor that NRA President Carolyn Meadows had earlier demanded he resign from the Board.

Also missing are people like Il-Ling New, Kristy Titus, and Robert “Bob” Nosler.

What is that old saying, “the more things change, they more stay the same.” 2020 has seen the New York AG move to dissolve the NRA, Republican control of the Senate is on the edge, and a new anti-gun administration presumably (if possibly fraudulently) has been elected. So the Nominating Committee comes up with a list of the same old names with a few new ones tossed in.

All I can say is that Wayne is secure if not the organization.

Sigh.

Snark Of The Day

Writing something with just the right amount of snarkiness is an art form. Of course, we all know that Tam is the High Priestess of this. But she may have a competitor in Dov Fischer, a lawyer and rabbi, who writes for The American Spectator.

Writing about the opinion polls that were so wrong, Fischer noted that they gave Democrats the courage to tell Americans exactly what they intended to do if elected.

In the list of things the Democrats planned to do was this:

We will end the Electoral College because it is the only college left in the country that does not have a Critical Race Theory major requirement.

Given the crap being proposed at my alma mater, I think he may be correct.