Might I Make A Suggestion

If you have been following Facebook, Twitter, or the news today, you know that Walmart’s CEO just announced changes in their firearms policy. They will no longer carry handgun ammo. Also included in the change was “short-barrel rifle ammunition”. Finally, they will be stopping handgun sales in Alaska.

From Walmart CEO Doug McMillon’s memo:

Today, we’re sharing the decisions we’ve made that go further: After selling through our current inventory commitments, we will discontinue sales of short-barrel rifle ammunition such as the .223 caliber and 5.56 caliber that, while commonly used in some hunting rifles, can also be used in large capacity clips on military-style weapons; We will sell through and discontinue handgun ammunition; and We will discontinue handgun sales in Alaska, marking our complete exit from handguns.

Walmart currently has a 20% market share of the civilian ammunition market. McMillon wants to get it down to between 6% and 9%.

If McMillon had stopped there or just made the change without a big announcement, it would have been one thing. However, McMillon decided to go “full corporate virtue signaling”.

Finally, we encourage our nation’s leaders to move forward and strengthen background checks and to remove weapons from those who have been determined to pose an imminent danger. We do not sell military-style rifles, and we believe the reauthorization of the Assault Weapons ban should be debated to determine its effectiveness. We must also do more, as a country, to understand the root causes that lead to this type of violent behavior. Today, I’m sending letters to the White House and the Congressional leadership that call for action on these common sense measures. As we’ve seen before, these horrific events occur and then the spotlight fades. We should not allow that to happen. Congress and the administration should act. Given our decades of experience selling firearms, we are also offering to serve as a resource in the national debate on responsible gun sales.

McMillon then alludes to the late Sam Walton and his love for hunting in an appeal to the Fudds. McMillon then says his family raised bird dogs when he was growing up and, of course, the obligatory “I’m a gun owner myself .”

Doug McMillon can protest all he wants but he is just another Ed Stack. He wants to hang out with what he perceives to be the cool kids (who really aren’t that cool).

I am an affiliate of Lucky Gunner. They carry good handgun ammo. They carry good 5.56×45 and .223 ammo. They have good prices. They provide research on handgun ammo penetration. Most importantly, they stood up when it counted after being sued by the Brady Campaign. They won and dedicated a good part of their winnings to backing Second Amendment organizations.

Look at the bottom of my blog on the left side. There is a link to Luckygunner.com. If you buy through that link, I earn a commission. Making the move to WordPress and a dedicated domain was not free. Commissions earned will go to support the costs of this blog. Commissions over and above the blog costs are donated to Second Amendment organizations.

Marion Has A Worthy Adversary

Marion Hammer, current NRA Board member and former President, has (or has had) a reputation for cowing legislators in Florida. She also expects subservience from those around her including NRA staffers. I think she may have met her match.

In a recent NRA-ILA alert for Florida by Ms. Hammer, she made a direct attack David Dell’Aguila who wants reform in the NRA.

Are David Dell’Aquila’s gun rights worth $100,000?  Worth more than $100 million?  Worth whatever it takes to defeat the anti-gun agitators and enemies of the Second Amendment? You’re damned right!  Whether he donates money to NRA to fund the fight or not – NRA is fighting for his rights and yours. 

This was in response to criticism of the $100,000 lost in fees and cancellation expenses to move the NRA Board meeting from Anchorage, AK back to the DC area.

Ms. Hammer is using Mr. Dell’Aquila as a foil for her fundraising appeal. Her letter includes 3 embedded donation links and another at the bottom.

She concludes:

It’s time to stop the lies, stop the attacks, stop manufacturing fake documents, stop cutting off your nose to spite your face.  It’s time to focus on stopping the anti-gun, anti-freedom, hate-mongering enemies of our rights. 

Hey, David Dell’Aquila! you may have abandoned the only organization capable of protecting your rights — shame on you — but nonetheless, we’ve got your back.  We’re donating to the fight!

I’m of the opinion such a letter would never have gone out if Chris Cox and other NRA-ILA leadership were still there. It is too personal, too petty, and too spiteful. Indeed, it was counterproductive.

Ms. Hammer finds a worthy opponent in Mr. Dell’Aquila. Indeed, a worthy opponent that is not cowed by her reputation. He has responded with an open letter today which is embedded at the bottom of the page.

Here are a few quotes from it.

First, thank you for so prominently repeating my name in your recent fundraising appeal. I can’t tell you how many people have reached out to me, who didn’t know anything about the concerns of improper spending at the NRA that the grassroots organization has raised, or about my lawsuit and campaign to withhold donations until the NRA gets its house in order. So far donors are withholding over $162 million from the NRA until the organization adopts new management and more transparent accountability.

Had it not been for your fundraising letter about the value of my Second Amendment gun rights, these people might never have discovered the nearly 100 news articles (linked here and here) detailing the allegations of improper spending by NRA executives and the failure of the NRA Board of Directors to provide oversight and fiduciary prudence to address the situation.

Ouch!

Now he goes for the jugular.

The available records are not particularly clear. However, it is clear that NRA members have paid you something in excess of $2 million dollars. In 2018 alone, a year when NRA finances were reported to be exceptionally low, records show that you were paid $270,000. Would these payments have something to do with your current vigorous defense of Wayne LaPierre, and his open-purse spending practices at the NRA? This would appear to be a conflict of interest, regarding any Board vote concerning Mr. LaPierre’s continued stewardship of the organization.

In addition, according to Article V, Section 5 of the NRA’s bylaws, no director — such as yourself — is entitled to receive “any private benefit” from NRA unless payment is specifically authorized by a resolution of the Board of Directors or an authorized committee of the Board. I would be very curious to see whether the NRA’s board has approved these payments to you. If so, perhaps you could forward a copy of the written resolutions.

Mr. Dell’Aquila concludes by noting that Ms. Hammer has done good work over the years. He also notes that so have others on the Board and with state-level groups. The difference is that the others received no direct compensation from the NRA for their efforts.

I imagine this letter will make Ms. Hammer spitting mad. That is, if she ever reads it. Nonetheless, I’m sure fundraisers in Fairfax will read it and say, “Please God, no more alerts from Marion!”

Hammer-2019-09-03 by jpr9954 on Scribd

NRA Moves Board Meeting Back to VA (Updated)

I don’t know whether it was due to pushback or due to Congress discussing gun control but the NRA has moved their September Board of Directors meeting back to Virginia. It was supposed to be held in Anchorage, Alaska. The location and expense of getting board members to Alaska at a time when the NRA is having financial difficulties caused quite a bit of controversy.

Notice of the change came from a Tweet by the New York Times reporter Danny Hakim. As noted before, he seems to be the new go-to guy for leaks.

UPDATE: The location of the NRA Board meeting will be the Hilton Washington Dulles Airport.

How A Browning Auto-5 Works

Read More

I came across this interesting animation of how the Browning Auto-5 shotgun works. It would also show how the Remington Model 11 and Savage 720/745 shotguns work. Interestingly, there were two Japanese made clones of the Auto-5 that were introduced in the 1970s: the Auto Pointer by Yamamoto of Tokyo and Herter’s SL-18.

I have a FN labeled Auto-5 in 16 gauge that was my father-in-law’s. I think he picked it up at an auction minus its stock. One of these days I’m going to get it restocked.

Special Elections In North Carolina Under Way

Grass Roots North Carolina reminds us that not one but two special elections are now under way here in North Carolina. The first is in the 3rd District to replace the late Rep. Walter Jones Jr. who passed away in February. The second is in the 9th District which includes parts of Charlotte and was a result of the Board of Elections ordering a new election. The first was tainted by vote harvesting which is illegal in North Carolina – though not in California it seems.

The GRNC-PVF has these recommendations:

CANDIDATE RECOMMENDATIONS:
US HOUSE 3 & US HOUSE 9



US HOUSE DISTRICT 3


GRNC Political Victory Fund recommends you vote for GREG MURPHY in this Special Election, which is fast approaching. Below, under ‘Voting Information,’ you’ll find information about early voting, which by the way, is already underway! Election Day is September 10.  



US HOUSE DISTRICT 9


GRNC Political Victory Fund recommends you vote for DAN BISHOP in this Special Election, which is fast approaching. Below, under ‘Voting Information,’ you’ll find information about early voting, which by the way, is already underway! Election Day is September 10.  

“One of these crazy white nationalist guys could just roll up into a gun show right here in North Carolina and buy all the assault weapons they want.”

– Dan McCready

To Dan McCready, as a gun owner you are a “crazy white nationalist” and he is trying to tell people that one can buy guns from dealers at gun shows without a background check. McCready WILL attack your rights if elected.

Read more here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/article234460552.html#storylink=cpy

Your Vote is Critical

Bishop’s and Murphy’s opponents are far left-wingers who can be counted on to support gun control. If victorious, they will surely be hanging with the likes of declared socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other anti-gun, power-hungry leftists
. If the anti-gun candidates win, you can be sure they will be coming for your guns, which is bad enough, but ultimately, you can count on them coming for ALL of your rights. In short, vote like your rights depend on it—because they do. And, if you’ve kept up with the news, you know that these statements are not hyperbole.

Contact Other Gun Rights Voters

Please remember to call friends and family who live* in the 3rd or 9th District and remind them that GRNC Political Victory Fund recommends a vote for GREG MURPHY in the 3rd and DAN BISHOP in the 9th on or before September 10. If you’re receiving this message, and don’t live in one of these districts, please remind anyone you know who does live in one of them to vote.

* The 3rd District consists of the following counties
: Beaufort, Camden, Carteret,
Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Greene, Hyde, Lenoir, Jones, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank,
Perquimans, part of Pitt (Pitt is split between District 3 and District 1) and Tyrrell.
*The 9th District covers all or parts of: Mecklenburg, Union, Anson, Richmond, Scotland, Robeson, Bladen, and Cumberland counties.

Voting Information

Special Election One-Stop Early Voting is underway right now and ends on September 6
. Check your county’s one-stop site information for specific times and locations. Election Day is Tuesday, September 10 from 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM. Click here to find your polling place on election day, or click here to find your One-Stop Early Voting location(s). Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day (September 10) and received by 5 PM three days after Election Day (if by mail). Click here to check your voter registration.

Same-day voter registration: One-stop absentee voting (commonly known as “early voting”) allows any registered voter to cast an absentee ballot in person on select days prior to Election Day. In 2019, Special Election one-stop voting is happening right now, and it ends on Friday, September 6.
Unlike on Election Day, when registered voters can only vote at their specific precinct location, one-stop voting allows registered voters to vote at any one-stop absentee voting site in their county, but only during the early voting dates. One-stop sites will have all the ballot styles for a given election at each site.

Virginians! Avoid These Enemies Of Your Rights

Virginia’s state motto is Sic Semper Tyrannis. Translated into English it means “Thus always to tyrannts”. I say those who would abridge your God-given right to self-defense as enshrined in the Second Amendment are indeed tyrannts.

Unlike John Wilkes Booth, I think there is a better way to deal with these petty tyrannts. Don’t vote for them.

But who are they you ask. Thanks to Brady United Against Gun Violence – formerly the Brady Campaign – we know at least 33 of them.

Washington, D.C., August 29 — Following its endorsements for Virginia’s General Assembly — which included Sen. Dick Saslaw for State Senate, and Dan Helmer and Sheila Bynum-Coleman for the House of Delegates — the gun violence prevention organization Brady is proud to announce its second set of endorsements in the Commonwealth. The organization has officially endorsed a diverse set of candidates that have made gun violence prevention a top-tier issue:


House of Delegates: Wendy Gooditis (House District 10), Sam Rasoul (House District 11), Chris Hurst (House District 12), Danica Roem (House District 13), Larry Barnett (House District 27), Joshua Cole (House District 28), Kathleen Murphy (House District 34), Eileen Filler-Corn (House District 41), Kathy Tran (House District 42), Alfonso Lopez (House District 49), Hala Ayala (House District 51), Marcus Simon (House District 53), Jeff Bourne (House District 71), Schuyler VanValkenburg (House District 72), Shelly Simonds (House District 94), and Phil Hernandez (House District 100)


State Senate: Mamie Locke (Senate District 2), Herb Jones (Senate District 3), Cheryl Turpin (Senate District 7), Missy Cotter Smasal (Senate District 8), Ghazala Hashmi (Senate District 10), Amanda Pohl (Senate District 11), Debra Rodman (Senate District 12), John Bell (Senate District 13), John Edwards (Senate District 21), Creigh Deeds (Senate District 25), Adam Ebbin (Senate District 30), Janet Howell (Senate District 32), Jennifer Boysko (Senate District 33), and Dave Marsden (Senate District 37)

Working on the enemy of my enemy is my friend doctrine, I have to assume that the opponents to these 33 are at least marginally better. I notice at least one of these candidates – Creigh Deeds – was at one time endorsed by the NRA.

These candidates are expected by Brady to support red flag laws, magazine bans, and a state “assault weapons ban” (sic). I’m sure both Brady and Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) have more on the drawing board.

Look to state-level gun rights organizations for evaluations of their opponents. These include the Virginia Citizens Defense League and the Virginia Shooting Sports Association. VCDL has a page with candidate evaluations from the 2019 primary. I think contributions made to state-level organizations like these go much further than to national organization. Both have ways to contribute online. I can’t speak for VSSA but I do know that VCDL does have their own PAC which endorses and supports candidates.

The bottom line here is to prevent Virginia from becoming another Maryland or worse for Constitutionally-enumerated rights. Moreover, as a North Carolinian, I don’t want the state next door to become a gun control haven. Stuff like that has a way of migrating.

Blogroll Added

I am still getting used to WordPress. The theme or template I chose is quite a bit different than what I was used to in Blogger. I couldn’t figure out how to transport my blogroll to the new site. Then I saw that pages were different than posts and it made sense.

Instead of having to worry about stuff in the sidebar, I could just make a new page for the blogroll. So I did. The picture shows where to find the blogroll.

I transported all the existing sites from the old onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com site. I will be going through them to make sure that they still active.

If you know of a gun blog that should be in my blogroll, suggest it in the comments. I’ll check it out and add it.

NRA Wins Some, Loses Some In Lawsuit Hearing

The NRA v. Ackerman-McQueen case had a hearing today in Virginia. Both sides won a little something in the judge’s rulings.

First, in the win for the NRA, Wayne LaPierre won’t have to appear for a deposition in early September. The judge ruled that it should be delayed until the week of September 23rd.

According to CNN, Michael Collins, a partner with Brewer, Attorneys and Counselers, said, “We are pleased to see the deposition of Mr. LaPierre will be scheduled in a manner that accommodates him and his many obligations to the NRA and its members.”

The other side of the coin was that the judge agreed with the attorneys for Ackerman McQueen and limited the documents that could be seen by William Brewer III and his PR staff.

In Wednesday’s hearing, Ackerman’s attorney, David Dickieson, argued that the communications shop within Brewer’s firm poses a direct competitive threat to Ackerman’s public affairs business and that handing over proprietary information to Brewer’s public relations team would allow them to siphon away business from Ackerman.

Ack-Mac also noted in court that they had laid off, furloughed, or terminated approximately 50 employees dedicated to the NRA account. They have also closed their Alexandria, Virginia office.

A Great Response To Corporate Virtue Signaling

Jim Shepherd of the Outdoor Wires posted an editorial today concerning corporate virtue signaling. The grist for his editorial was something that took place at the most recent meeting of the Business Roundtable. At that event, a number of mega-corporation CEOs signed a document pledging to shift corporate governance away from shareholder value.

Yep, they decided that being virtuous would be more important (to them) than the long-accepted dictum that the goal of a company is to make money for its owners. Granted, the document they signed was described as “high level and low on specifics” it is most assuredly indicative of the current social and business environment.


Not presuming to think along the high-minded ridges of such industry leaders, I’ve never known a company to suddenly decide business-as-usual was no longer acceptable. Honestly, this kind of talk seldom passes my personal “smell test”. It’s my experience that when someone who makes millions of dollars annually starts telling me what’s best for the rest of us, I start sniffing. Especially when I start hearing a mix of solid thinking interspersed with comments about “what type of society is possible.”

I agree with Jim on this. We have started to see high technology companies in the social media realm decide that advertising and posts of a conservative bent must be censored or rejected. We have seen certain large banks try to tell firearms manufacturers how to run their legitimate businesses. The list goes on.

I have always been something of a contrarian. Thus, it was refreshing to see a company that hasn’t bought on to the “guns are evil” mantra. Jim points out that a company called Defenseshield Inc. that has gone the opposite way.

Not everyone, fortunately, is cut from that same bland cloth. Yesterday, I was forwarded a release from Defenseshield, Inc., a “preeminent designer, manufacturer, and seller of armor systems to the US Military, Federal agencies, the nuclear industry, airports and courthouses.”
Their CEO, Collins White, irritated at the latest rounds of “virtue signaling” in corporate America, announced some “pro-constitutional measures for all Defenseshield employees:”


1. Every day is “Bring a gun to work” day.
2. 1-year membership in the NRA.
3. Lifetime membership to Gun Owners of America.
4. Free FFL firearms transfers.
5. Pay for firearms training.
6. Pay for any permits that allow you to own or carry a firearm.
7. Pay entry fees to any firearms competition
8. Pay entry fees to any gun show
9. Match contributions to NRA, GOA, USA (Olympic) Shooting, 4H shooting, Scouting shooting programs.
10. $100 annual match toward firearms range or club membership.
11. $20 for every pair of jeans you buy that aren’t Levi’s.


“The attack on the Constitution by elite left-wing billionaires cannot be tolerated,” White said, “I left New York when the so-called safe act made many of my guns, accessories and magazines illegal. I’ve relocated to Florida where the environment for business and the freedoms granted by the constitution is not under such a rabid assault. I invite all corporate leaders to stand with me in upholding the constitution, and to invest in the future of America.”

Collins White is my kind of CEO. While I am not in their customer base and have little need for their product, if I was I’d be looking to them to fulfill it.

I only wish more CEOs and more companies were like Mr. White of Defenseshield. If you would like to let them know you appreciate their standing up for what is right, you can contact them at  info[@]defenshield.com

Wayne Needs A Better Attorney

The New York Daily News is not a fan of the NRA. They have made that very clear over the years. They make that very clear when they refer to the NRA’s defunct CarryGuard insurance program as “murder insurance”.

The context was that investigators with the New York Department of Financial Services served a subpoena upon NRA Executive VP Wayne LaPierre. They want to know what Wayne knows or knew about the marketing of CarryGuard. It should come as no surprise that New York officials would want to put Wayne on the record with a sworn deposition.

I can think of a number of reasons that they would do this. They would include harassment, payback for the Federal suit against Gov. Cuomo and former DFS head Maria Vullo, an opportunity to catch Wayne in a lie, and the list goes on.

What struck me about this article was this:

The gun-rights group’s top lawyer said it was “surprised” by the subpoena and noted that LaPierre has “virtually no information” beyond what others have already told investigators.

“The NRA believes the ‘investigation’ was blatantly political in its motivation,” said William A. Brewer III, lead counsel to the NRA, in a statement. “Nonetheless, the NRA has attempted to cooperate with reasonable requests by (New York).”

Any competent attorney should have expected this subpoena. To be surprised by what should have been a foregone conclusion indicates either Brewer is incompetent or that he is trying to create a smokescreen. I know which way I’m leaning but for the moment I’ll reserve judgement.