by As I noted in the prior post, every resolution submitted by Robert Rhyne was ruled by Charles Cotton to be “out of order.” The next five called for an independent audit, curtailing of waste travel expenses, term limits, legal action on behalf of gun rights, and the ouster of Wayne LaPierre.
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Meeting Of Members – Resolutions, Part I
I already wrote about the “we love Wayne” resolution that was passed at the 2022 NRA Meeting of Members. That was the first resolution considered and was intended to run out the clock. As far as the powers that be are concerned, no discussion of matters concerning the NRA and its operations is good discussion.
By my count, there were a total of 12 resolutions. The first was the “we love Wayne” resolution, eight that were ruled out of order, two were allowed to come to a vote, and one that Jeff Knox withdrew.
Robert Rhyne and Mitchell Martin introduced seven resolutions. They were resolutions two through eight. Each and every one of their resolutions was ruled by Charles Cotton to be “out of order” and were not considered. Mr. Rhyne was kind enough to send me copies of his resolutions and I will post them.
Mr. Rhyne is from Arkansas and appeared to me to be the solid, salt of the earth type of NRA member who just got fed up with the “Beltway Bandits”.
The first resolution called for settlement of the lawsuit brought by NY Attorney General Letitia James. The second said that after settlement, the NRA should be reincorporated in Texas.
An Unholy Alliance
I received a press release on May 31st from the American Federation of Teachers. They are the smaller of the two major teachers’ unions in the United States. The release announced that the teachers’ union was preparing to have a series of event “to demand action on gun violence (sic) prevention.” They planned vigils outside of the offices of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).
It really isn’t news when a lefty union holds an event outside a politician’s office. Whether it is higher pay, gun control, or opposition to school innovation and/or charter schools, it is the same old same old.
However, what really caught my eye in this press release is that they are announcing a new partnership.
Educators, parents and students will send the message that “enough is enough” and that students, parents, educators and communities deserve commonsense gun safety laws now. The union also will be partnering with Parkland, Fla., school shooting survivor and activist David Hogg in the lead up to the March for Our Lives on June 11.
So David “Camera” Hogg and the AFT will be partners.
It really isn’t that surprising. Both are engaged in indoctrinating the youth of our country that “guns are bad”, “only the police should have guns”, and “Republicans are evil”. While it may be a good match for each of them, it is an unholy alliance for our schools and our children.
UPDATE: Going through my email, I found a second press release from the American Federation of Teachers issued on June 1st. It included additional comments by AFT President Randi Weingarten and “Camera” Hogg.
From Weingarten:
Our No. 1 priority is keeping our children, our members, our families and our communities safe, and that requires a commitment from every single one of us: educators, parents, students, faith leaders and legislators alike. We are teachers, nurses and public employees who have been on the front lines of the gun violence epidemic, and we’re standing side by side with the country’s students to demand action on gun safety before one more life is lost, whether it’s a mass shooting on school grounds or one of the countless instances of gun violence that take lives in our neighborhoods every day. Enough is enough. The vast majority of Americans have found common ground on preventing gun violence and want action on gun safety now.”
Gun control is not gun safety and never has been. I also take issue with “the vast majority of Americans” finding common ground on gun control. Perhaps if you use a push poll worded to get the answers you desire but that would be it.
From Hogg:
“Our teachers are everything to America’s children. They’re counselors, mentors, they’re there for our highs and for our lows. In this moment of crisis, as gun violence has soared to become the leading cause of death in our children, our teachers are there with us shielding us with their care and sometimes even their own bodies. The threat to our lives from gun violence is unacceptable, and once again our teachers are here to fight for us. We’re organizing across the country with teachers, teacher aides, and our entire school communities to say: Enough is enough. This will be the beginning of the end of gun violence, and the American Federation of Teachers is there with us to make it happen.”
I think Hogg confuses the role of teachers with that of parents. We all have had teachers we admired and even loved. That said, they rarely were our everything.
If you really wanted to empower teachers to shield students, you would offer training such as the FASTER program along with “stop the bleed”.
Truth In Labeling
This is a story about Texas. It doesn’t have anything to do with the recent NRA Annual Meeting, Uvalde, or gun control. Rather it is about a product coming from Texas for which they are building a good reputation. That product is whiskey.
In my past trips to the Houston area, I have come home with whiskey produced by Balcones (Waco) and Rio Brazos (College Station). The former is actually distilled in Texas while the latter is a blend of Texas and non-Texas bourbons. Both were purchased at Spec’s which is a Houston-area chain of liquor stores. If I remember correctly, Spec’s was recommended to me as the go-to place by Mark Gillespie of the WhiskyCast Podcast.
Thus, on this trip to Houston for the NRA Annual Meeting I was determined to come home with some more great Texas bourbon. I bought two bottles of bourbon from two different Spec’s locations
The first bottle was purchased at Spec’s near the Alameda Mall in South Houston. I was approached by a young clerk who offered to help as I was studying the selection. I explained that I was looking for Texas whiskey. He highly recommended the Lone Star 1835 Limited Release Single Barrel bourbon. I deferred to his advice and bought it. In retrospect, I should have examined the bottle just a little closer.
Looking at the front of the bottle it has the Lone Star, a cannon, and 1835 which is when the citizens of Gonzales told the Mexican Army who wanted their cannon to come and take it. Doesn’t that just scream Texas to you!
The back of the bottle continues the Texas imagery. It says, “each sip offers a boldness reminiscent of the independence Texas is known for. Come and take it.” Then the three little words which follow dash that image all to pieces: Distilled in Kentucky. WTF?! It seems Spec’s has a history of hawking this bourbon heavily.
I was pissed when I saw that. I was pissed at the cluelessness of the young clerk and I was pissed at myself for not reading the label. I know what sourced bourbon is and oft time it is good. That said, this is not Texas bourbon distilled from Texas corn and aged in the heat of Texas. I’m sipping a sample of it now and it is OK. The finish is not that great. I find it a bit metallic.
As well-known bourbon writer Chuck Cowdery wrote about their bourbon:
But that’s not what Texans care about, I reckon. They don’t much care what some government regulators in Washington think either. They care about Texas grains, Texas yeast, and Texas water. They care about Texas-distilled whiskey maturing in the Texas heat. They care about Texas jobs. And they don’t buy whiskey that says “Made in Texas’ when it’s not.
Just like they don’t buy salsa made in New York City.
Since I had decided attending the NRA Board meeting would have been a waste, I had some time before I had to return my rental car. I decided to give Spec’s another chance. This time I drove into downtown Houston to their flagship store on Smith Street.
This time I was very specific with the clerk that the whiskey had to be distilled in Texas. We discussed Balcones, Still Austin, and Shire Oak among others.
Shire Distilling is out of Brookshire, Texas which is west of Houston. As you can see on the back of the bottle, it is “certified Texas whiskey“. This certification comes from the Texas Whiskey Association and means that everything from “grain to glass” was done in Texas. In other words, the grain was grown in Texas, the fermentation of the mash was in Texas, the distilling was done in Texas, the aging was done in Texas, and the bottling was done in Texas.
The difference between the two bourbons is like night and day. The Shire Oak is barrel strength and has a lot of flavor. It might not be as old as the Lone Star 1835 but the aging in the heat of Texas really pulls something out of the charred oak. The real kicker is that they were priced within a few bucks of one another.
My point in this post is that you have to study the label and look for the clues. If the whiskey is distilled in a state other than that of the producer or bottler, it must be disclosed. The Treasury’s Tax and Trade Bureau approves all labels for alcoholic beverages and has specific requirements. I’m OK with sourced whiskey as many are excellent. My point is that is not cool to confuse the origin of a whiskey with a lot of verbiage and that is especially true of Texas whiskey.
Screwing With The Protestors In Houston
When the Tonight Show was hosted by Jay Leno, he had a feature called “Jay Walking” where he would talk to people on the street and ask questions. Well, Brandon Herrera who is a “social media influencer” just updated that a bit in Houston during the NRA Annual Meeting. You see across the street from the George Brown Convention Center were a bunch of anti-gun protestors. As you know from an earlier post them, they were oh so polite.
Brandon, who goes by TheAKGuy on Twitter, really screwed with them. He asked them to sign a petition supporting the Firearms Policy Coalition and asked them if a Federal background check should be required in gun stores. We all know that this is already Federal law and has been since the enactment of the Brady Act.
The people who are going to watch this video are gun people. They are not gun control people. They hate gun control. Thus, I found it funny that the ad that ran in the middle of this video when I watched it was from gun control group Sandy Hook Promise. I think they got taken as much as the protestors.
More Thoughts On NRA Expo Attendance
An astute reader who was at the NRA Meeting in Houston sent me a set of pictures. They were all taken as the exhibition was closing on Sunday afternoon. The pictures are of leftover 2022 convention programs. This has me pondering about the real numbers for attendance at the exhibition.
As noted in an earlier post, the official total of attendees was 61,254. This was the lowest number of attendees since 2006.
Now look at this first photo. The label on the box says the box holds 90 programs and that it was box 147 of 417. Assuming that this was the only order of the programs, the NRA has 37,530 printed to give out.
Now look at the next set of pictures taken at the various entrances to the exhibition hall.
A very rough estimate has at least 32 unopened boxes of 90 each. That is 2,880 program. Let’s assume that number of loose programs not handed out is another 900. That adds up to about 10% of the ordered programs were not handed out and are now wasted. Rounding up, this leads me to assume that maybe 34,000 programs were handed out.
On the one hand you have the people who didn’t take a program. On the other hand you have those who picked up a program on more than one day. I was in the middle in that I picked up a program on the first day and used it for the whole three days.
My rough observation going in and out of the hall numerous times daily is that more than half the people took a program. That leads me again to be suspicious of the official number of attendees as the numbers are just not adding up. I could be wrong and I will cheerfully admit it.
It is not that I don’t trust the NRA but there are people who have a vested interest in fudging the numbers. Unfortunately, many of those people are in positions of authority.
Wayne Gets Punked At Meeting Of Members
I was one of only about a hundred people that sat through the whole NRA Meeting of Members from beginning to end. I say that not to pat myself on the back but to say I saw what I’m about to show in real time.
The first resolution considered was to commend Wayne LaPierre for his leadership of the NRA past, present, and future. It was submitted by a Charles Beers (spelling?) from upstate New York. While there were people that opposed it, the Friends of Wayne including board members planned to use the discussion of it to run out the clock and to condemn anyone who had not drunk the purple Kool-Aid.
Jeff Knox was ruled out of order when he pointed out the bylaws forbid awards but Charles Cotton and the parliamentarian decided a resolution commending Wayne was not an award.
Here is where it gets interesting. So interesting in fact that it made the Washington Post, Newsweek, and many other publications.
As Stephen Gutowski of The Reload reported on Twitter at the time:
NRA member Jason Selvig says he’s tired of the left wing media spreading misinformation about LaPierre. Says he gets wrongly blamed for mass shootings. He says thought and prayers could stop shootings. He starts loudly chanting thoughts and prayers. Seems like some kind of stunt.
Well, it turns out it was a stunt. I will admit I thought the guy was a little strange. However, after listening to almost an hour of praise of Wayne nothing really seemed that strange.
Jason Selvig is one half of the comedy duo The Good Liars. They tend to poke fun at conservatives.
The video below that has been posted on Twitter has been watched over 8 million times.
On Saturday, I was able to speak at the NRA Convention in Houston and “thank” Wayne LaPierre for all his thoughts and prayers. pic.twitter.com/Eoc7zXcUAR
— Jason Selvig (@jasonselvig) May 30, 2022
While I may vehemently disagree with Mr. Selvig’s politics, I am enough of “an enemy within” and a “son of a bitch traitor” to enjoy the fact that Wayne got punked. I only wish the video contained the end where he was trying to get everyone to chant “thoughts and prayers”.
I Think I’ll Pass On This Suggestion
Facebook will often make suggestions on people to “friend”. It may be that you and that person share a number of mutual friends, have common interests, or the like. While responding to a new friend request this weekend, I got this suggestion yesterday.
I am going to have to pass on that one.
The list of reasons why I’d never friend him could go “to infinity and beyond” to quote the great philosopher Buzz Lightyear.
I’ll keep it classy and leave it at that.
NRA Annual Meeting Attendance
Stephen Gutowski of The Reload has a tweet up with the official attendance.
The NRA claims they had 61,254 people attend the Annual meeting this week. There are 62 of the 76 board members at the board meeting, according to a source who was in the meeting.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) May 30, 2022
With all due respect, I think the key word in Stephen’s tweet is “claims”. I have been to every NRA Annual Meeting that has had an exposition since Charlotte in 2010. This had the least people by far. Friday had really light attendance. It picked up on Saturday as one would expect and was so-so on Sunday. I never had trouble walking the aisles of the George Brown Convention Center on any day. I never got pulled along with the crowd nor blocked at intersections. Every vendor I asked about business said it was slow.
I have attended numerous SHOT Shows where the attendance is in the 60-70,000 range and they all seemed more crowded than this show.
As I said in the comments section in a reply to Old NFO, I saw a lot less of “new media” than in the past. There were a few podcasters, a handful of the professional gun press, and very few of the bloggers I’ve gotten to know over the years. There really were not that many of the mainstream media for that matter. I did have some fun conversations with Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the LA Times and Andrew Schneider of Houston Public Radio.
I did not get the chance to attend any of the seminars or workshops. There were some by historian Martin K. A. Morgan that I would have liked to hear. I believe he did ones on the weapons in the Battle of Hue as well as in the Russo-Ukranian war.
A Concealed Carry Fashion Show – The Horror!
My friend and fellow co-host of the Polite Society Podcast Amanda Suffecool has been producing a concealed carry fashion show for a number of years. It showcases a number of holsters, purses, and other gear that allow you to conceal your handgun. The event is always fun and the “models” are just average people.
This year’s event caught the eye of the British newspaper and online site The Daily Mail. They are horrified that it was held just days after the murders at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
From the Daily Mail:
Many models appeared to show that concealed weapons didn’t mean you had to give up fashion as women and men were seen in various styles from secret agent-style suits to cowboy boots and sundresses.
However, despite the fashionable ways the NRA’s models showed weapons can be concealed, the convention – which boisterously displays guns of all-types throughout Memorial Day weekend – comes after 19 children and two teachers were murdered in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
I am guessing the writer never heard Michael Bane say, “You are on your own”, nor believes that you are your own first responder. One gathers they would prefer to what for an unarmed Bobby to appear to save the day. Fat chance at that.
Here is some video from the event.
I recognize a number of my friends and colleagues in amongst the models and emcees. My suggestion is to look at the pictures and forget the rest of the story. I will say there some quite innovative ways to conceal your firearm shown.