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Smith & Wesson Selling Thompson/Center Arms

May 3, 2021 by 1 Comment

It looks like Smith & Wesson is planning to divest their Thompson/Center Arms subsidiary. According to the press release below, it will allow them to shift production capacity to the S&W line where sales are booming. Their last financial report issued in March said that sales were up 102% over the same quarter a year ago.

They say the company will remain committed to both hunting and long-range shooting. That said, I don’t see anything in the existing Smith & Wesson product mix other than big boomer revolvers that is really hunting-related. The only long-distance rifle is a T/C bolt action on a chassis.

They did not announce a buyer for the company but merely said they plan to divest it. Looking at potential buyers, I think Savage Arms might be the most likely candidate. They would probably ditch the T/C bolt rifles as they compete with their own but could add the Contender and Encore lines. I really don’t see RemArms as being able to buy them and I don’t see Ruger being that interested now that they have Marlin.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., May 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select Market: SWBI), a leader in firearm manufacturing and design, today announced that it plans to divest its Thompson/Center Arms brand. This decision is part of the Company’s broader strategic plan that will focus on its core Smith & Wesson brands.

Mark P. Smith, President and CEO of Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., said, “Thompson/Center is a beloved hunting brand with a longstanding heritage, and we are committed to ensuring a smooth transition. Thompson/Center Arms’ loyal consumers should rest assured that they will continue to receive the world-class firearms, accessories, and customer service support that the brand has been known for since its founding in 1965.  We remain fully committed to the hunting and long-range shooting market, and with this divestiture we will be able to now focus on these categories under our iconic Smith & Wesson brand.  Additionally, this will allow us to immediately redirect manufacturing capacity to increase overall production volumes, allowing us to gain additional market share while simultaneously increasing profitability.”

At this time, a buyer for the Thompson/Center Arms brand has not been identified; however, the divestiture is not expected to have a material financial impact on the Company’s first quarter fiscal year 2022 results and the Company expects the divestiture to be accretive to the Company’s full year fiscal 2022 through higher overall production levels, increased margins, and lower marketing costs. The Company states that this decision will not result in a workforce reduction as its flexible manufacturing model allows it to repurpose capacity immediately to other areas without a headcount reduction.

If you want to buy them, they say to call them at 413-747-3448.

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NRA Reorganization Plan

May 3, 2021 by 5 Comments

The attorneys for the National Rifle Association filed this reorganization plan with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas on Sunday. I assume that it was approved by the NRA Board on Saturday. I say assumed as no word has come out of those meetings on whether it was passed, what the vote was, or anything else.

I have listened to some of the closing arguments in the case today. I missed the NY Attorney General’s closing argument but I have read that they pushed for dismissal. I did parts of the arguments of the attorney for Judge Phillip Journey and other board members as well as that by Lisa Lambert who is the US Trustee. Both argued for the appointment of an examiner with special powers. Ms. Lambert was especially forceful that the examiner have the power and the money needed to do the job. They both argued against the Chief Restructuring Officer.

I have only briefly scanned through the reorganization plan. However, from what I’ve seen it just moves the NRA to Texas, leaves the existing board in place, and says members now will be members in the Reorganized NRA.

If you do have the time to read through this and see something, please add you observations in the comments.

NRA Reorganization Plan by jpr9954 on Scribd

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Vote On H398 Is Wednesday

May 2, 2021 by 1 Comment

It finally looks like the North Carolina pistol purchase permit will be on its way out. A vote in the NC House is scheduled for Wednesday, May 5th.

Of course, I fully expect Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) to veto H398 if it passes the North Carolina General Assembly. An override will depend upon whether Democrats want to defend a racist, Jim Crow-era law that has been shown still to discriminate against African-Americans.

As Grass Roots North Carolina says in the alert, now is the time to put on and keep up the pressure.

Call your own representative, Democrat or Republican, and demand they pass this bill. If you don’t know who your representative is, use this tool.

Email every House Republican. Their email addresses are in the alert. You may need to copy the email addresses into your word processor and convert the “;” into a “,” depending upon your email program. I’d also suggest pasting them in as a BCC. Two minutes of copy and paste is all it takes. I just did it.

If you are not on the Grass Roots North Carolina email alert list, you need to be! Go here to sign up.

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For Your Weekend Reading

May 1, 2021 by 5 Comments

The NRA Board of Directors is having a special meeting today in Dallas along with a regular meeting tomorrow on Sunday. The special meeting is to approve the reorganization plan and the Chief Restructuring Officer. This comes on the heels of the last day of testimony in the US Bankruptcy Court hearings.

Day 10, as reported by the blog NRA In Danger, had testimony from the NRA’s outside auditor and the proposed Chief Restructuring Officer as well as cross-examination of Wayne LaPierre. While there is a lot there and you should read it in its entirety, three things captured my attention.

This witness did not do well under cross examination. He argued he’d reformed everything, then was faced with improper events that occurred after his alleged reforms. His choices were to appear corrupt or to appear incompetent and out of control, and he went with the second choice.

That to me provides even more evidence to Judge Harlin Hale that perhaps a trustee is called for. As those who are no fans of Wayne but are really worried about the future of the NRA have observed, a trustee would have the power to convert the Chapter 11 into a Chapter 7 and dissolve the NRA.

The second thing that captured my attention was Wayne’s response to the NRA’s attorney Greg Garman when asked about his background and history.

Background. MA from Boston College in politics, VA legislature. Got Phd. Over at DNC, knew NRA people, NRA right across street. Went into NRA building, they offered me job, late 1977. State liaison for year, then director state local. 1 year, then head govt affairs, in 1980. Membership now 4.9 million. Tried convert NRA into freedom organization. Outreach to celebrities. Celebrity shoots in Hollywood, dinners, etc.

Wayne does not have a PhD. He may have been in a PhD program in political science at BC but he never earned a PhD. I was admitted to the PhD program in political science at UNC-Chapel Hill. However, I left with a wife and no degree. I would never, ever, claim to hold a PhD if I hadn’t earned it. It just isn’t done and is consummately tacky.

Finally, there is Judge Hale’s question that he ordered the attorneys for both sides to answer on Monday. Judge Hale may be nicknamed “Cooter” but he is no fool.

Judge asks question, to be answered in arguments Monday (no court Friday)—chapter 11 purpose is to save company from liquidation bankruptcy. Does court have jurisdiction where sole purpose is to save company from dissolution under state law, which dissolution will only occur if the state court concludes dissolution is in best interests of public?

The blog NRA In Danger examines Judge Hale’s question in more detail. It is the critical question: does the court have jurisdiction? If not, then the case must be dismissed and the NYAG is free to continue in her attempt to dissolve the NRA.

Her dissolution suit has been strengthened by the bankruptcy court revelations. Just the lad day of testimony saw Wayne LaPierre claiming that he’d begun cleaning everything up in 2017, but forced to admit that he’d been given an incredibly lucrative “golden parachute” agreement in mid-2018 (it would have given him many millions had the board ever stopped electing him) that was signed by an outgoing president and Carolyn Meadows, now NRA president and head of the board’s Special Litigation Committee. The signing of the contract implicates NRA’s current board leadership, and also LaPierre himself, and shows his supposed 2017 reforms are. sham. He himself is free to loot despite them. On the same day those board officers signed another golden parachute for Woody Phillips, the NRA treasurer who had to “take the Fifth” dozens of times in his testimony. Others who got such agreements, LaPierre testified he had no idea of the contracts, showing that even if he were honest, in practice others are free to loot NRA at will without his being able to discover it.

Read the whole thing.

Moving on, a column by Stephen Gutowski on his new platform The Reload examines what he calls the membership program. In 2013, Wayne promised to double the membership after it had just hit five million members. Membership now stands at 4.89 million members. Not only has membership not doubled under Wayne’s most recent watch but it has regressed.

If the NRA’s membership has hit a ceiling, that’s significant, and it’s a bad sign for the most influential gun-rights group on the planet. It’s also a bad sign for NRA leadership’s argument in their current argument in the bankruptcy case. NRA leadership has repeatedly argued the LaPierre is the driving force behind fundraising at the organization, and it could not operate anywhere as effectively without him. But LaPierre has not only failed to meet his self-set 2013 goal of doubling NRA membership; membership has actually receded by his own account.

There are millions of new gun owners out there. I imagine some may have joined the NRA this year but the majority have not. Moreover, if what I’m reading across the Internet in forums on hunting, on the Second Amendment, and the like is correct, then there are a lot of people refusing to renew memberships or to make donations so long as Wayne and his grifter cronies remain in power. I am hearing this from both Gun Culture v1.0 and 2.0. I know my own wallet will remain closed to the NRA so long as Wayne is there.

Finally, my friend Kevin Creighton has an excellent post about the NRA’s fund raising approach. He notes Stephen Gutowski’s column on the NRA’s negative growth and relates it to their fund raising approach.

However, let’s face facts. For over 10 years now, the NRA’s primary messaging has been “Give us money, they’re a-comin’ for yer guns.” Okay, fine, let’s say they actually ARE coming for our guns. What have you, the NRA, done to prevent that from happening? What value am I getting for my donation? Why should I give to you right now, except out of habit?

Kevin relates his success fund raising for a faith-based organization using a positive approach. He urges the NRA to get away from the negative approach and return to the more positive approach of the past. Then, both money and membership might grow.

If you are a NRA member or were at one time, you really need to read all these blog posts and articles. Those of us who want a reformed NRA may be voices crying in the wilderness like the Old Testament prophets but the fight for the Second Amendment depends upon it.

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Ridicule Is Man’s Most Potent Weapon

April 28, 2021 by 5 Comments

Saul Alinsky‘s Rule Number 5 states, “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. There is no defense. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage.”

Mike Spies of The Trace understands this very well and just unleased a torrent of ridicule upon Wayne LaPierre. Somehow – and I have my suspicions – he obtained the lost and unaired footage from a 2013 African safari that Wayne and Susan LaPierre took that was to have aired on Under Wild Skies. That show was hosted by Wayne’s former BFF Tony Makris and was sponsored by the NRA. I have been told that Makris and Wayne used the show to reward LaPierre loyalists with a paid-for safari in Africa.

The footage is part of an article that is running in both The Trace and The New Yorker.

The footage of LaPierre in Botswana first shows him walking through the bush dressed in loose-fitting safari attire and an NRA Sports baseball cap. He is accompanied by several professional guides and his longtime adviser, Tony Makris, a top executive at the N.R.A.’s former public-relations firm, Ackerman McQueen, and the host of “Under Wild Skies.” The heat, at times, causes LaPierre to sweat. As he walks, his wire-framed glasses slide down his nose. After a guide spots an elephant standing behind a tree, LaPierre takes aim with a rifle. As LaPierre peers through the weapon’s scope, the guide repeatedly tells him to wait before firing. LaPierre is wearing earplugs, doesn’t hear the instructions, and pulls the trigger. The elephant drops. “Did we get him?” LaPierre asks.

The guide at first says yes, but then, as he approaches the elephant, it appears that the animal is still breathing. The guide brings LaPierre within a few strides of the elephant, which lays motionless on the ground. He tells LaPierre that another bullet is needed. “I’m going to show you where to shoot,” the guide says. “Listen, hold your rifle—I’m going to tell you when. Just hold it up.” The guide pushes the rifle’s barrel skyward as other men involved in the expedition move around in the distance. “I’m going to point for you where to shoot. Just waiting for these guys.”

Needless to say, Bwana Wayne botches this and two more shots. Tony Makris is the one who has to deliver the final shot.

It appears that both Wayne and Susan are using custom Blaser rifles with engraved actions and beautiful wood that I was told a while back were billed to the NRA. I wonder what ever happened to them.

As the video makes clear, Susan is the better hunter and much better shot than Wayne. She is also much more excited by her trophy than is Wayne who looks kind of befuddled. You wonder if he isn’t just looking for a place to go and throw up.

The whole episode brings to mind that classic Hemingway short story The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. While Wayne didn’t run in the face of the elephant like Macomber did in the face of the lion, it took someone else to finish the job. Moreover, Wayne comes off as a bumbling incompetent and not the great white hunter in charge of an organization dedicated to preserving hunting and the Second Amendment.

I know this is coming from the Bloomberg supported The Trace. As I’ve said in the past, just because you don’t like the source doesn’t mean it isn’t accurate. Spies gets his information right because he knows he will be sued every which way if he doesn’t.

I hope to go to Africa in a couple of years to hunt plains game. Unlike Wayne, I will be paying for the trip myself. Also, unlike Wayne, I plan to get in a lot of shooting practice in advance especially from sticks. It appears that Wayne was not that familiar with his rifle and it shows. When you are given the chance for the hunt of a lifetime, you damn well ought to be ready.

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SCOTUS Accepts Carry Case

April 26, 2021 by 2 Comments

In Orders of the Court released this morning, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in NY State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Corlett et al. This is a case that challenges New York’s requirement to show cause for issuance of a carry permit.

20-843 NEW YORK STATE RIFLE, ET AL. V. CORLETT, KEITH M., ET AL.


The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted limited to
the following question: Whether the State’s denial of
petitioners’ applications for concealed-carry licenses for
self-defense violated the Second Amendment.

From the Washington Post:

The court will hear the challenge to a century-old New York gun control law in the term that begins in October. It is considering a law that requires those who seek a permit to carry a concealed weapon show a special need for self-defense. It is similar to laws in Maryland, Massachusetts and elsewhere that the court in the past has declined to review.

The individual plaintiffs in the case – Robert Nash and Brandon Koch – have permits to carry outside the home for hunting and target practice purposes. However, they were turned down when they requested carry permits for self-defense.

It takes four justices to agree to take a case. Last year, the court turned down a number of Second Amendment cases. The operating consensus was that the conservatives on the court were unsure of where Chief Justice John Roberts would come down. Now, however, with the addition of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, that has changed and there are five potentially reliable Second Amendment votes.

Assuming that the court agrees that there carry outside the home for self-defense is a key component of the Second Amendment, Chief Justice Roberts will have a hard decision. If he goes along with the majority, he gets to assign the opinion or reserve it for himself. If he is in the minority, then the assignment choice goes to the longest serving Associate Justice in the majority. In this case that would be Justice Clarence Thomas who has telegraphed many times his frustration with the court’s refusal to treat the Second Amendment as any thing other than a second-class right. Part of me hopes that Roberts is in the minority because that means a stronger decision in favor of the Second Amendment.

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NC’s Pistol Purchase Permit May Be Eliminated

April 21, 2021 by 4 Comments

That 1919 remnant of the Jim Crow era, North Carolina’s pistol purchase permit, may finally be on its way out. The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association has finally endorsed its elimination and the House Judiciary 4 Committee voted out a bill that would do away with it.

Research published in the North Carolina Law Review showed that African-Americans were three times as likely to be denied than whites. This comes from a study of permits issued in Wake County where Sheriff Gerald Baker (D-Wake) is facing lawsuits for refusing to issue permits “due to COVID”.

This is not a done deal and I fully expect Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) to veto it. The law was intended to deny constitutional rights to African-Americans and its practice still does. Let him veto it and then try and defend that!

Since this is not a done deal, Grass Roots North Carolina is calling people to contact first Republicans and then later Democrats to pass this bill.

House Committee Passes Purchase Permit Repeal
Thanks to Reps. Jay Adams, Hugh Blackwell, Keith Kidwell, and George Cleveland, today the NC House Judiciary 4 Committee passed H398, a full repeal of North Carolina’s Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permit (PPP) law – a law which not only allows some urban sheriffs to obstruct people from buying handguns for self-protection, but to this day also disproportionally denies minorities the ability to buy handguns for self-defense.

Not only are Republicans on board with repealing the racist law, but now the NC Sheriffs’ Association has joined them in supporting repeal. And who does that leave still supporting racist gun control? Democrats.
Said GRNC president Paul Valone:
“We are encouraged to see that the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association now agrees to bring gun purchases in North Carolina into the 21st Century by eliminating our Jim Crow-era permit system and requiring background checks at the point of sale. Given that a recent UNC School of Law paper found that in Wake County, black applicants are being denied permits three times more often than whites, it is clear that racism in issuing permits continues to this day. Consequently, we are calling upon Democrat legislators to join in repealing this racist law.”

Presuming the PPP repeal passes the General Assembly, anti-gun Democrat Governor Roy Cooper will certainly veto it. Because Republicans don’t have the 6/10 majority in either chamber that is required to over-ride Cooper’s veto, at least some Democrats will have to vote to over-ride.

Will Democrats do the right thing, or will they be the only ones left clinging to racist gun control? Please note that this message goes to Republicans.

Very soon, we will issue another alert with a message for Democrats.

EMAIL ALL NC HOUSE REPUBLICANS:  Please note that the large number of Republican recipients may require you to break up your message into multiple groups.   
CALL YOUR NC HOUSE REP:  You can find your NC House rep by going to: 

https://ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators

PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO GRNC: Help us fight gun control while we promote Second Amendment principles. Please CLICK HERE to contribute. Bear in mind that GRNC is an all-volunteer organization, so you can be sure your donations are put to the best possible use. Any amount helps, and any amount is appreciated.

CONTACT INFO
 
Copy each block of address and paste into an email

 
Edward.Goodwin@ncleg.gov; Larry.Yarborough@ncleg.gov; Steve.Tyson@ncleg.gov;   Jimmy.Dixon@ncleg.gov;  Bobby.Hanig@ncleg.gov; Matthew.Winslow@ncleg.gov;  John.Bell@ncleg.gov;  Chris.Humphrey@ncleg.gov; Pat.McElraft@ncleg.gov;  Phil.Shepard@ncleg.gov; Carson.Smith@ncleg.gov; Frank.Iler@ncleg.gov;  Charles.Miller@ncleg.gov; Ted.Davis@ncleg.gov;  William.Brisson@ncleg.gov;   Donna.White@ncleg.gov;  Larry.Strickland@ncleg.gov; 

Erin.Pare@ncleg.gov;                           Diane.Wheatley@ncleg.gov;  John.Szoka@ncleg.gov;  Brenden.Jones@ncleg.gov;  Graig.Meyer@ncleg.gov;                              John.Sauls@ncleg.gov;  Jamie.Boles@ncleg.gov;                        Howard.Penny@ncleg.gov;  Mark.Brody@ncleg.gov;                            Jon.Hardister@ncleg.gov; 
 
John.Faircloth@ncleg.gov;  Dennis.Riddell@ncleg.gov; Jerry.Carter@ncleg.gov; Ben.Moss@ncleg.gov; Wayne.Sasser@ncleg.gov; David.Willis@ncleg.gov; Dean.Arp@ncleg.gov; Pat.Hurley@ncleg.gov;  Lee.Zachary@ncleg.gov; Jeff.Zenger@ncleg.gov; Donny.Lambeth@ncleg.gov; Harry.Warren@ncleg.gov; Julia.Howard@ncleg.gov; Allen.McNeill@ncleg.gov; Sam.Watford@ncleg.gov; Larry.Potts@ncleg.gov; Kristin.Baker@ncleg.gov;  Dudley.Greene@ncleg.gov; Hugh.Blackwell@ncleg.gov; Destin.Hall@ncleg.gov;  Mitchell.Setzer@ncleg.gov; Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.gov
 
Kyle.Hall@ncleg.gov;  Ray.Pickett@ncleg.gov; Jeffrey.Elmore@ncleg.gov; Grey.Mills@ncleg.gov;  Jason.Saine@ncleg.gov; John.Bradford@ncleg.gov;  John.Torbett@ncleg.gov; Dana.Bumgardner@ncleg.gov; Kelly.Hastings@ncleg.gov; Tim.Moore@ncleg.gov; David.Rogers@ncleg.gov; Jake.Johnson@ncleg.gov;  Tim.Moffitt@ncleg.gov; Mark.Pless@ncleg.gov; Mike.Clampitt@ncleg.gov; Karl.Gillespie@ncleg.govsomebody@ncleg.net
 
DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “Repeal our racist pistol purchase permit law”  
 
Dear NC House Representative:
 
As stated by NC Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director Eddie Caldwell in the Judiciary 4 Committee, the association now supports the repeal of our Jim-Crow era pistol purchase permit system. Describing recent improvements to North Carolina reporting to the computerized National Instant Background Check System (NICS), Caldwell described the archaic and racist permit law as “duplicative.”

A recent UNC Law School paper noted that in Wake County alone, from 2015 to 2020, black applicants were denied permits at a rate three times that of whites, demonstrating that racism in the permit law continues to this day. In early 2020, Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker decided to stop issuing permits altogether in violation of G.S. 14-404(f), which requires permits to be issued to qualified applicants within 14 days. In other urban North Carolina counties, permits are still being delayed by weeks, even months.

Finally, purchase permits remain valid for 5 years, raising the possibility that an individual could obtain a permit, commit a crime and then, once disqualified from buying a firearm, use the 5-year-old permit to bypass NICS.

I strongly urge you to support the repeal of our archaic, racist, and obstructionist pistol purchase permit law. I will be monitoring this issue through Grass Roots North Carolina legislative alerts.


Respectfully,
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Another NRA Board Special Meeting

April 19, 2021 by 2 Comments

Stephen Gutowski of The Reload is reporting that a special meeting of the Board of Directors has been called for May 1st in Dallas. The purpose of this meeting is to approve a reorganization plan that the NRA plans to present to the US Bankruptcy Court.

They plan to have a regular Board meeting on Sunday, May 2nd.

This meeting comes after two weeks of testimony before Judge Hale in the US Bankruptcy Court. As Gutowski, myself, and others have noted, this testimony has brought out many questionable financial practices involving Wayne LaPierre, his executive assistant Millie Hallow, and former CFO Woody Phillips.

As Gutowski notes regarding the meeting:

The NRA did not respond to a request for comment on the special board meeting, but there is a possibility the meeting won’t even take place. The current portion of the bankruptcy trial is set to end on April 23, and the judge is supposed to issue an order in the case by April 30. If the judge decides to appoint a trustee or dismiss the case, it is possible the group won’t have an opportunity to present the restructuring plan the board is set to review on May 1. A trustee could also fire current leadership and the board of directors before the meeting occurs.

The US Trustee has objected to the appointment of a Chief Restructuring Officer as proposed by the NRA. The US Trustee noted that the CRO would report to Wayne and the Special Litigation Committee composed of Meadows, Cotton, and Lee. Thus, the CRO would not be independent and could not be independent without bylaw changes by the NRA.

As the blog NRA In Danger points out:

The US Trustee did a better job of reading NRA’s Bylaws than did NRA’s attorneys. He points out that the CRO might be an NRA officer and the Bylaws say only the members can create a new NRA officer,

“It is not clear whether the NRA’s bylaws permit the creation of a chief restructuring officer position. The NRA’s most recent Bylaws incorporate input from the NRA’s membership and confer limited authority to officers and committees. The NRA’s Bylaws state that certain “AMENDMENTS IN BOLD FACE ITALICS SHALL NOT BE REPEALED OR AMENDED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.” Instead, Article XV, Section 4, reserves authority to amend bylaws in bold and italics to the NRA’s membership. Article V, Section 1(b), describes the specific officer positions, and in bold italics, states “The Board may not abolish said offices nor create any other offices.” 

There is another hearing scheduled before Judge Hale this afternoon at 4pm CDT. It will be interesting to hear what comes out of that meeting.

You will note that I did not say that Stephen Gutowski is with the Free Beacon. He left them on Friday and is now out on his own with The Reload. I would urge you to check it out and subscribe if you think it worthwhile. I did and I’m looking forward to his continued reporting on all things gun-related.

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They Can’t Claim Ignorance Any More

April 18, 2021 by 3 Comments

The NRA Board of Directors has long relied upon the word of EVP Wayne LaPierre for virtually everything. If a disturbing matter was brought up to them, they, for the most part, would say something like, “Well, I talked to Wayne and he said blah, blah, blah.” They considered this as doing their duty of care as a Board member.

As I pointed out in my post on fiduciary duties, duty of care means to give “reasonable attention and care to providing oversight.” Under New York public charities law, that includes knowledge of the organization’s finances.

Over the last few days, I have listened intermittently to the hearings held on the NRA’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I have also read synopses of these hearings on other sites. Some of the things I heard had me shaking my head while shouting at the computer, “How could you not know?”

For example, Wayne LaPierre testified before the court that he had no knowledge of the consulting contract awarded to former CFO Woody Phillips and that he had only recently learned of it. The contract in question was for $30,000 monthly to run for four full years. The total value of the contract would then be worth $1,440,00. How can a CEO not know that his recently retired CFO just got a contract worth over $1.4 million?

The one thing I do believe that came out of Wayne’s rambling testimony is his acknowledgement that he didn’t inform the Board of his intention to seek bankruptcy before filing it. If he had, I believe more Board members would have reacted at the time like Judge Phil Journey saying “we didn’t authorize that.” Their ex post facto motion saying they authorized filing bankruptcy then and now is frankly nothing more than a cover garment.

On Friday I listened to live testimony from Wayne’s former BFF Tony Makris as well as AckMac CFO Bill Winkler. A deposition of former NRA CFO Woody Phillips was also read into the record with one NYAG attorney reading the questions and another reading Phillips’ response. The key thing that was continually pointed out by Makris and Winkler is that the vague invoices sent by AckMac were at the direct request of Wayne. This continued even after a new agreement was reached that stated the only deviations had to be in writing from Wayne as EVP. Wayne, of course, still continued with his way of not putting his wishes in writing. Greg Garman, one of the NRA’s attorney, pounded on AckMac’s Bill Winkler about ignoring the letter of the contract and going along with how things had been done in the past. I think this was a strategic mistake on his part as it opens the door to questioning similar vague invoices from Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors.

I should note here that Woody Phillips’ testimony primarily consisted of him saying, “I decline to answer based on the privilege accorded me by 5thamendment of the US Constitution.” The one thing I can say about that is that you can’t be accused of perjury if you always take the Fifth.

As I said in the headline, the NRA Board of Directors cannot claim ignorance any longer. The beauty of WebEx is that it does a good job of capturing who is participating or listening in to an event. In this case, I saw reporters such as Danny Hakim of the NY Times, Mark Maremont of the Wall Street Journal, and Stephen Gutowski of the Free Beacon. I also counted at least six Board members listening in. They included Carrie Lightfoot, Anthony Colandro, Joel Friedman, Linda Walker, Howard “Walt” Walters, and Judge Phil Journey (who I expected to listen in). There may have been more as there were people who logged on by phone and not by computer.

My point is that after multiple days of testimony and over 600 documents, pleadings, exhibits, motions, and replies, it is impossible for anyone on the Board to say they don’t know what is going on. If they do, then they need to resign.