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Intervention By Rocky Marshall Denied

February 16, 2022 by 1 Comment

Former NRA Director Rocky Marshall had filed a motion to intervene in the NRA dissolution case. His motion was filed in September 2021. He was still a director when he filed the motion to intervene. New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 720 b (1) gave him the statutory right to intervene.

Today a hearing was held on this motion in New York County Supreme Court. Unfortunately, Judge Joel Cohen denied Mr. Marshall’s intervention motion. I did not have an opportunity to listen to the hearing.

However, Stephen Gutowski of The Reload did cover the hearing and posted a series of tweets about it.

He wrote:

The hearing over former board member Rocky Marshall’s attempt to intervene in the New York suit against the NRA is happening. Marshall and others are trying to intervene as a way of providing an alternative representation of members. 

The judge seems skeptical of letting Marshall intervene without evidence he was illegitimately pushed off the NRA board. 

Marshall’s lawyers are noting they have different claims against the NRA than what New York has brought. They note that a big one is potentially trying to recover legal fees that the interveners believe are excessive. 

The judge says that sort of claim isn’t at issue in the New York suit and wouldn’t be decided there. So, an intervention isn’t necessary. Marshall’s lawyers counter that the NRA could be dissolved in this suit and they wouldn’t be able to make any claims at that point. 

The interveners argue NRA leadership, such as CEO Wayne LaPierre, has acted against the interests of NRA membership. They argue leadership has harmed the organization and they should be able to intervene on behalf of NRA members. 

The NRA’s lawyers are arguing, basically, what the judge had argued earlier. They say Marshall doesn’t have standing to intervene since he isn’t a director anymore. 

The NRA is arguing that because Rocky Marshall ran for NRA president during last year’s board meeting he has a conflict of interest in trying to invene (sic) in the case. 

The NRA is also arguing Marshall filed his intervention too late. The New York AG’s office also don’t want Marshall to intervene. They also argue he has no standing. 

The judge has denied former board member Marshall’s motion to intervene in New York’s case against the NRA. 

The judge says he does value the input of NRA members who don’t agree with how NRA leadership has run the organization, though. 

Judge says Marshall lacks standing because he is no longer an NRA board member. 

It will be interesting to see whether the judge has to decide this same intervention question for a third time if Frank Tait, who is another one of the interveners, is able to get on the NRA board. 

Well, crap! I thought Mr. Marshall had a chance to become an intervenor. As things stand now – and I hate to say it – the closest thing we as members have to someone representing our interests in the case is the NY Attorney General’s Office. That sucks.

Frank Tait noted in a post today:

Rocky’s attorneys made the point that the NRA is being bled dry and that this helps achieve the NY AG’s intent of dissolving the NRA.

That correlates with reporting in The Reload that analyzed the NRA’s finances and found that 20% of the budget is now going for legal expenses. Moreover, Wayne’s attorney Phillip Correll has billed the NRA approximately $175,000 in legal fees as of this past August.

One last thing that came out in the hearing today is that Susan LaPierre is also being represented by Phillip Correll. That leads to the obvious question is who is paying him to represent her – the NRA or the LaPierres?

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Social Media And ATF – A Match Made In Hell

February 14, 2022 by 2 Comments

Given how the government works, I am guessing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is paying their Manager of Social Media a six-figure salary. I have been reading their posts on Facebook and Twitter for a few months now. I continually am shaking my head. However, just when I thought it could not get any worse, it did.

The tweet below which is also posted to Facebook is asking the spurned ex to go full Stasi on the former boyfriend or girlfriend.

I’ve heard of being tone deaf but urging an ex to take retribution on someone with whom they had an intimate relationship on a day supposedly devoted to love is profoundly tone deaf.

The comments have run as you might well expect. They contain tons of pictures of Eric Holder and hashtags of Operation Fast and Furious.

David Codrea reminded them that they still have done nothing about Hunter Biden who lied on his Form 4473 about illegal drug use.

One of the better comments was this one:

Even if I did, my Ex’s dog doesn’t deserve to die.

On a more serious note:

Encouraging revenge based reports, many of which will be false to get Ex’s ‘SWAT’ed, while your own agency still has to answer for #OperationFastAndFuriousThat’s a bold strategy.

Way to use a Hallmark/Hershey’s holiday to turn people into your own personal, unconstitutional gestapo.

This post by BATFE gives new meaning to the Valentine’s Day Massacre.

UPDATE: Then there is this great response by @docboogie.

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I Disagree With Mr. Pearson

February 10, 2022 by 5 Comments

Richard Pearson is the Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association. He has held that position for many years and I have a lot of respect for what he has done over the years in a difficult state.

In the course of his job, he puts out a weekly email newsletter dealing with gun rights, issues within the Illinois General Assembly, and other issues.

In this week’s issue, he started off regarding problems within the NRA. Specifically it dealt with declining membership, declining revenues, and Wayne LaPierre. He said:

The online publication “The Reload” reported what we already suspected about the NRA and their financial condition. The phalanx of lawsuits launched against the NRA and Executive Vice President, Wayne LaPierre, has hurt them badly.  Of course, the lawsuits were designed to do just that.  Legal fees now make up 20 percent of the NRA’s expenses.  The Reload sort of backhands the NRA for paying Wayne LaPierre’s legal expenses but in the real world, that is what has to be done.  LaPierre was acting on behalf of the NRA and I am glad they are backing him up.

There are those who want Wayne LaPierre fired immediately.  I am not one of those.  First of all, to fire Wayne LaPierre at this time would give the anti-gunners an immediate victory.  Secondly, just who do you have in mind to take that job at this time?  You may have noticed there are no long lines of people applying for the position. Their name plate wouldn’t be on the office door before they were sued.  Third, there is no one who has the corporate knowledge that he has.  Like it or not, that is important.  These are perilous times.  You may not like the captain but it still wouldn’t be a good idea to replace him with the cabin boy.

I would agree that the NY Attorney General’s lawsuit has hurt the NRA. I would also say that given what has been contained in the allegations and what many of us know to be true that it is also a self-inflicted injury. There would have been no grounds to bring a suit to dissolve the NRA if Wayne and company hadn’t treated it like their personal piggybank. Moreover, if the Board of Directors had done their fiduciary duty – which I contend they have not – then the issues would have been identified and remedied long ago.

It is the second paragraph with which I really take issue. Firing Wayne might be seen as a victory for the gun prohibitionists. It would, however, be a win for every one of us who wants to see a reformed NRA where money is spent wisely and judiciously, which has a board doing its fiduciary duty, and, most importantly, a NRA that stops compromising on Second Amendment issues.

As to the second point, Wayne and his coterie of followers have actively prevented any sort of succession plan. In October 2020 I attended the NRA Annual Meeting. I did so at my own expense. I presented a well thought-out resolution calling for a formal succession plan. I watched as directors Joel Friedman, Don Saba, and Kayne Robinson savaged my resolution saying it was not needed. I watched Wayne himself raise his hand to vote against this. Study after study has shown successful organizations have formal succession plans; troubled organizations do not.

Finally, to the third point, there was a person who not only had the corporate knowledge but had the skills to replace Wayne. Thanks to Wayne’s paranoia and what I suspect was the Machiavellian string-pulling by Bill Brewer, Chris Cox was forced out of the NRA after heading the institute for Legislative Action for many years. He was the natural successor and thus a threat to Wayne’s continuing in office. While I can’t speak for Mr. Cox, I get the feeling he would have booted Bill Brewer’s gaudy, pin-striped ass out the door if he had his choice.

I agree with Mr. Pearson that the NRA will continue to struggle for a long time. I am also gratified to see other Second Amendment organizations stepping up on the national scene. However, none of these have the clout, real or perceived, on Capitol Hill of the NRA. Imagine what a growing NRA with the spine of a GOA, the dexterity of a FPC, and the legal prowess of the Second Amendment Foundation could do in battling the Biden Administration and the gun prohibitionists in Congress. Unfortunately, until Wayne is gone, that will only be a pipe dream.

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NYPD Signals They Expect To Lose Bruen

February 9, 2022 by 5 Comments

The New York Police Department is looking to hire 73 part-time investigators whose job includes doing background checks for handgun licenses.

From Rob Romano on Twitter:

Among the job duties the NYPD has for these new hires is this:

Conducting interviews and investigations of candidates applying for handgun licenses; process various applications for carrying handguns; determine and ensure applicant meets requirements for license requested; fingerprint applicant using LIVESCAN system; research various databases and contact references to substantiate information submitted by applicant; and notify applicant of approval or appeal process for denial of handgun permit.

While you can never predict what the Supreme Court will do, it seems to me that the NYPD is signaling that they expect the court to rule against New York in NYSRPA v. Bruen. That case is a challenge to the state’s denial of carry permits for the purpose of self-defense.

In this instance, I really hope that the NYPD is correct in their assessment.

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They Call This A Protest?

February 6, 2022 by 3 Comments

The Complementary Spouse and I were able to attend a couple of days at the Safari Club International Convention in Las Vegas. It coincided with the SHOT Show which really worked out well for us.

Just like with those who push gun prohibition, the hunt prohibitionists are divided between the well-funded astroturf groups and the wannabe players like Compassion Works International. The former would include well-funded organizations like PETA, the Humane Society of the US, and the Center for Biological Diversity. I would liken the latter to groups like the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic). In other words, they put on “protests” with lots of advance fanfare that draw little more than a dozen protestors.

Frankly, I would not have even known of CWI if I hadn’t seen a mobile billboard like this one on Saturday, January 22nd, as we were leaving the Mandalay Bay complex.

After doing a bit of online sleuthing, I found their website and their social media pages. They call themselves “animal advocates” and “activists”. As part of their mission statement they say:

CWI is  committed to ending speciesism and fostering a compassionate, vegan world that shows respect for the autonomy of all beings.

Ye gads!

They say that they participated in protests every night of the SCI Convention as part of the Worldwide Rally Against Trophy Hunting (WRATH). They say that they had people standing in solidarity with animals who braved the cold of Las Vegas to make their voices heard. The cold of Las Vegas? If I remember correctly the evening temperatures were in the 50s.

Here is a picture from one of their protests that I found on their Facebook page. I count all of 16 participants.

May be an image of 6 people, people standing and outdoors

By contrast, the auctions and events held at the Safari Club International Convention raised over $15 million for wildife conservation and advocacy. I sincerely doubt that these protestors have ever considered funding anti-poaching efforts in Africa or even the United States.

While I am sure some of these protestors are well-intentioned, they fail to recognize their own neocolonialism and cultural imperialism. They believe that THEY – upper middle-class Americans – know what is best for Africans and not the scientists and wildlife conservationists on the ground in countries like Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia (among many others). These and other African countries use a model of wildlife conservation where the wildlife policy is governed by science, that animals are considered a public resource, and that it is a shared resource that must not be wasted.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of both the Dallas Safari Club and SCI. Also in the interest of full disclosure, I have treated the anti-hunting movement with disdain long before I learned of DSC and SCI.

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You Can Still Buy A Cannon!

February 4, 2022 by 3 Comments

As Tom Gresham often says on Gun Talk, a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth. I think that is Joe Biden’s mantra especially with regard to all things Second Amendment and firearms.

Even though his lie about the Founders not allowing you to buy a cannon was debunked, he still repeated it again yesterday. Joe, Joe, Joe. SMDH.

Even the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives will tell you that you don’t need a license or have to pay a tax to own a muzzle-loading cannon. Moreover, for a $200 tax plus registration, you can own a more modern artillery piece. My friends Cheryl and Danny Todd have one.

So Joe’s Big Lie got me to wondering where I could go if I wanted my very own muzzle-loading cannon. Turns out I didn’t have to look too hard.

Hern Iron Works of Couer d’Alene, Idaho is offering a Model 1861 3″ light artillery rifle for only $3,951. While that doesn’t include the carriage, I’m sure anyone handy with wood could make their own.

Let’s say you want to go a little bigger. Dixie Gun Works has their Civil War Field Cannon with an 8″ muzzle diameter for a little bit more. This steel-lined, cast iron beauty weighs a mere 875 pounds.

If you want something a little smaller but with lots of style, Steen Cannons of Ashland, KY offers their US Model 1857 12-pounder Napoleon in bronze. Price, unfortunately, is on request but Steen has a lot of models from which to choose.

These are all legal and all are working cannons. You just need a supply of black powder, fuses, and some ammunition. If you want an idea of your choices, Wikipedia comes through!

So do the guys on Myth Busters.

If you do buy a cannon, play it safe. We don’t want a Moms Demand Action Against Cannon Violence to be Shannon Watts next new gig.

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ATF’s PR Campaign Against Self-Made Firearms

February 3, 2022 by

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is engaged in a public relations campaign using the mainstream media to build support for their proposed rulemaking that includes identification of privately made firearms. Of course, the mainstream media and the leadership of the BATFE are calling them “ghost guns” as that term is meant to scare those who are uninformed.

A case in point is a report that aired tonight on the CBS Evening News. The report by Jeff Pegues included an interview with Acting BATFE Director Marvin Richardson. The report slyly included the Glock auto switch in with 80% frames and 3-D printed frames. I say slyly because the Glock auto switch is considered a machine gun and would be illegal to make or own for an ordinary person given the Hughes Amendment. What the story also doesn’t really say is that no matter the origin of any firearm, self-made, stolen, or purchased, it is still illegal for a prohibited person to possess one as well as the ammunition. Nonetheless, they continue to blame the firearm for crime and not the illegal possessor.

You can see this for yourself in the video below:

Bear in mind that over 249,000 comments were received on this proposed rulemaking. While I don’t have the final breakdown between those in favor and those against this proposed rule, I am going to make an informed guess that that 90% or more were against it. In the end, the BATFE will do what the Biden Administration wants and enact the rule. They will ignore our comments and will basically tell the American people who don’t want it to f*%$ off. Court cases will be filed, money wasted on enforcing an unenforceable law, and nothing will stop those who are prohibited from possessing a firearm from doing whatever they want.

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Franklin Armory Wins Safety Award

February 2, 2022 by

I realize most people have never been nor will they ever get to the SHOT Show’s Industry Day at the Range. I have been fortunate enough to have attended multiple times and was supposed to be there this year. Thanks to weather-related travel delays, we did not arrive in Las Vegas until Tuesday evening so missed out on it.

Let me set the scene for you. You have hundreds of people wandering around a huge range that has over 50 shooting locations. At these shooting locations you have people of varying firearms experience shooting real firearms with real ammunition. Add on top of this a number of these people are also trying to film themselves or others while they are firing these firearms. It could be a recipe for disaster if you didn’t have excellent range safety officers and tight control by the various company representatives.

Thus, when I heard that Franklin Armory won the Action Target Industry Day Safety Award I was very impressed. Not only did they win the award but they did it while showcasing products – binary triggers – that work in a unique way. You can see some of how they work in the video below done by The Firearm Blog TV.

From the release by Industry Day announcing the win:

The winner of the Action Target Safety Award receives a $2,000 credit toward the 2023 Industry Day at the Range event. Franklin Armory has elected to donate the $2,000 to Project ChildSafe. Project ChildSafe is a National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) program committed to promoting firearm safety to communities across the United States.

“Action Target recognizes the importance of promoting firearms safety throughout our industry. As market leaders, we understand the importance of building the safest and most advanced shooting ranges possible. We are proud to be a part of this great event and honored to recognize and congratulate Franklin Armory for taking the appropriate steps at Industry Day to promote firearm safety.” says Mike Birch, President and CEO at Action Target.

Safety auditors judged shooting exhibitors during Industry Day, and the score was determined by range safety criteria such as providing hearing and eye protection, control of ammunition and safe handling of firearms on the firing line. Scoring also took into consideration the posting of rules, availability of first aid kits at the shooting stations and crowd management.

“We recognize that Industry Day at the Range is a fast-paced event, and like all firearms, our products require diligent adherence to the four rules of firearm safety,” said Jay Jacobson, Franklin Armory President. “Our team has consistently made safety not just a plan, but a process.  The fruit of that labor has been a safe and successful experience for all who attended.  We know all of our industry peers share this commitment, and it is with great honor that we receive this award.”

So congratulations to Franklin Armory and their whole team for showing everyone how to do it right.

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Best Concurring Opinion Evah!

January 27, 2022 by 2 Comments

Judge Lawrence VanDyke wrote the court’s opinion in McDougall v. Ventura County (California). It was a recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that found Ventura County’s public health order closing of gun shops, ammo stores, and shooting ranges for 48 days violated the Second Amendment.

Judge VanDyke was appointed to the 9th Circuit by President Donald Trump. He had previously served as the Solicitor General for both the states of Montana and Nevada as well as Assistant Solicitor General for Texas. VanDyke earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering before attending Harvard Law School.

VanDyke gets appeals court seat despite Cortez Masto, Rosen protest

Judge VanDyke did something quite unusual. He actually wrote a concurring opinion to the court’s opinion that he himself had written.

Why, you ask, would a judge write a concurring opinion to his own opinion? VanDyke, knowing that virtually all Second Amendment wins in the 9th Circuit get overturned en banc by the court, wanted to point out the absurdity of those opinions by giving the court a draft en banc opinion.

Given both of these realities—that (1) no firearm-related ban or regulation ever ultimately fails our circuit’s Second Amendment review, and (2) that review is effectively standardless and imposes no burden on the government—it occurred to me that I might demonstrate the latter while assisting my hard-working colleagues with the former. Those who know our court well know that all of our judges
are very busy and that it’s a lot of work for any judge to call a panel decision en banc. A judge or group of judges must first write a call memo, and then, if the en banc call is successful, the en banc majority must write a new opinion. Since our court’s Second Amendment intermediate scrutiny standard can reach any result one desires, I figure there is no reason why I shouldn’t write an alternative draft opinion that
will apply our test in a way more to the liking of the majority of our court. That way I can demonstrate just how easy it is to reach any desired conclusion under our current framework, and the majority of our court can get a jumpstart on calling this case en banc. Sort of a win-win for everyone.

The real beauty of VanDyke’s concurrence lies within the footnotes where he gives his snarkiness free rein.

You have gems like this:

We refer to strict scrutiny as a theoretical matter—a thought-experiment, really. Our court has never ultimately applied strict scrutiny to any real-life gun regulation.

And this:

Here’s the deal: Whenever we think the history helps us in upholding the challenged regulation, we’re happy to rely on it in step one of our test. See, e.g., Young, 992 F.3d at 784–826. But most of the time the
history either doesn’t help us uphold the gun regulation, is indeterminate, or is just really hard to evaluate. So usually we just skip over step one of our “two-step” test by assuming the challenged regulation burdens Second Amendment-protected conduct. But that’s okay, because the real beauty of our two-step test is its amazing flexibility at the various stages of step two in balancing the government’s asserted interest versus the claimed impact on the “core” of the Second Amendment.

And another one:

The first prong is always met in Second Amendment cases. Guns are dangerous, after all, so the government’s interest in ameliorating such danger is always important. At first we were worried this case
might be a problem, because the regulations here don’t really have any nexus to the dangerousness of guns. But COVID-19 is dangerous too, so that substitutes in nicely.

And his concluding footnote:

Again, it doesn’t matter much what we say here. Once we’re allowed to effectively balance competing interests under our Second Amendment intermediate scrutiny, it’s so easy justifying a regulation that we could easily just delegate this part of the opinion to our interns.

VanDyke ends his concurrence by saying” You’re welcome.” I’m sure this won’t endear him to some of his fellow judges on the 9th Circuit but I don’t think he gives a damn. From what I can tell, VanDyke’s dissents have really irritated the liberals on the court for which I say, “Good!”.

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New US Primer Manufacturer Coming

January 23, 2022 by 33 Comments

Until now, only two companies controlled the market for primers in the United States. Olin Corporation through their ownership of Winchester and Vista Outdoor with their ownership of Federal, Remington Ammunition, and CCI. A third manufacturer intends to to begin producing by 2023.

Expansion Industries of Carrolton, Texas will be opening a new plant on the site of the former Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant outside of Texarkana, Texas.

Ammunition plant coming to the Texarkana area
From KTBS.com https://www.ktbs.com/news/texarkana/ammunition-plant-coming-to-the-texarkana-area/article_a00ac8b4-7a38-11ec-83e4-5754598b14c6.html

According to reports in the Texarkana Gazette, Expansion Industries has already invested $100 million in the effort.

The facility will specialize in the production of primers, a key component in ammunition manufacturing, for the small arms industry.

“We have invested $100 million into the site so far,” said Richard A. Smissen, owner, Expansion Industries. “This is all about supply and demand. There is serious demand in the industry for this product and right now, for various reasons, the supply chain is falling woefully short. So we are getting ready to do our part to help out with that issue.”

Smissen describes the new facility as state-of-the-art, featuring a high level of automation. He said the site at the former Lone Star Army Ammunition plant is uniquely situated for what they will be doing.

“The manufacturing facilities at Lone Star were set up for ammunition manufacturing,” said Smissen. “Not only the way the facilities are laid out on the former base, but the facilities themselves are hardened to protect against possible accidents working with this material. What is here was ready for someone like us to come and set up shop. So we’ve had our people in there getting it ready for a modern manufacturing facility. We aim to be up and running in the first few months of this year.”

They intend to employ up to 400 employees by 2023 and have already started their employee recruitment efforts.

This is good news as primers are the key component which seems to be in the shortest supply. I know it was a topic of discussion this week among my friends at the SHOT Show.