Month: September 2021

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An Insider’s View of the NRA Board of Directors

September 30, 2021 by 1 Comment

I was sent this release this afternoon from Rocky Marshall. He is encouraging those that can to attend the Meeting of Members in Charlotte. Regardless of whether you can attend or not, he does encourage members to get involved and I agree 100% with him on that.

From Rocky:

In the last eight months as a member of the NRA Board of Directors (BOD), I have been asked often by NRA members, pro-gun groups and pro-second amendment reporters “Why does the NRA BOD refuse to terminate Wayne LaPierre’s employment in light of the accusations and evidence of mismanagement, malfeasance, and misuse of NRA funds for personal benefit?” I believe there are three primary reasons and a lengthy list of secondary reasons.

Primary Reasons:

  1. NRA Officers and key board members fully support maintaining Wayne LaPierre as the EVP regardless of the evidence that has been presented in the recent Bankruptcy trial.
  2. Several Directors are not independent fiduciaries and will follow the leadership regardless of the admission of wrong doing by Wayne LaPierre and others.
  3. A few Directors are independent but will not openly challenge the current leadership for fear of reprisals, loss of committee assignments, and ultimately removal from the BOD. 

The BOD’s failure in the fiduciary role of over sight has created a risk of dissolution by the New York Attorney General and has enraged NRA members, pro second amendment organizations and second amendment reporters.  The very groups that historically have been the back bone of the NRA are now the biggest critics.  The NRA routinely describes these former support groups as adverse to the NRA and malcontents. These often repeated derogatory terms are used to described anyone or any organization with views that do not align with the NRA leadership.  

In order to develop an understanding of where the NRA is heading, it is necessary to predict the outcome of the New York Attorney General’s Complaint against the NRA. 

Potential Outcomes:

1)         The NRA prevails in the NYAG case and all charges are dropped and the NRA returns to normal operations with current management and BOD in place. This is not plausible due to the over whelming evidence compiled by the NYAG and through testimonies during the bankruptcy trial.  If Martha Stewart can go to jail for insider trading on a transaction valued at $45,000; then I venture to speculate that mismanagement of millions of dollars can also have serious consequences.

2)         The NRA loses the NYAG case and immediately files an appeal or another bankruptcy filing. This is possible, however I think is unlikely because the NRA will lose all leverage with the NYAG and will be at the mercy of the court. 

3)         The NRA avoids the trial through negotiations with the NYAG agrees to remove management, agrees to pay a massive fine, the NRA BOD is disbanded, and the NYAG has a huge political victory.  I think this outcome is the most likely based on the other possible outcomes. 

The appointment of an Independent Receiver by the New York Court could help stop the raiding of the NRA’s bank account. I am hoping that the recent filing of an intervention in the NYAG case (which I am the named Director) will finally end the continued wrong doing by a few and save the NRA for the members. 

I hope to encourage all NRA members to become fully engaged in taking back control of the NRA for the benefit of the members. The annual member’s meeting has been scheduled for October 2, 2021 in Charlotte North Carolina.  If you attend, now is the time for your voice to be heard. The BOD will not change course and have no intention of correcting the wrong doing of the past.  If the NRA is important to you, please get involved….now!

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Goodbye Massachusetts; Hello Tennessee!

September 30, 2021 by 2 Comments

An alternate title could be “How to Drive A 165 Year Old Business Out of Your State in Order to Appear Woke”.

What I’m referring to is the decision by Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. to relocate their headquarters and a significant part of their firearms manufacturing from Springfield, Massachusetts to Maryville, Tennessee. While they will have a number of jobs left in Massachusetts, they expect to have over 750 jobs in Maryville with employees relocating from their operation Massachusetts, Missouri, and Connecticut. The move comes due to proposed anti-gun legislation in Massachusetts.

SCCY Firearms had proposed moving much of their operations to Maryville but last year decided to expand in Daytona Beach, Florida instead. They closed their Maryville plant. I wonder if S&W will be using any part of that.

As a resident on the other side of the Smokies, I say welcome to the Great Smoky Mountains.

The full announcement is below:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Sept. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. , one of the nation’s oldest firearms manufacturers, announced today that it is moving its headquarters and significant elements of its operations to Maryville, Tennessee in 2023.   Smith & Wesson has been based in Springfield, Massachusetts since the company was incorporated in 1852.

Smith & Wesson Logo (PRNewsFoto/Smith & Wesson)

   

Mark Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer, said “This has been an extremely difficult and emotional decision for us, but after an exhaustive and thorough analysis, for the continued health and strength of our iconic company, we feel that we have been left with no other alternative.”  He specifically cited legislation recently proposed in Massachusetts that, if enacted, would prohibit the company from manufacturing certain firearms in the state. “These bills would prevent Smith & Wesson from manufacturing firearms that are legal in almost every state in America and that are safely used by tens of millions of law-abiding citizens every day exercising their Constitutional 2nd Amendment rights, protecting themselves and their families, and enjoying the shooting sports. While we are hopeful that this arbitrary and damaging legislation will be defeated in this session, these products made up over 60% of our revenue last year, and the unfortunate likelihood that such restrictions would be raised again led to a review of the best path forward for Smith & Wesson.”

Smith indicated that the company vetted a number of cities and states and, after careful consideration, made the decision to relocate 750 jobs and its headquarters to Maryville, Tennessee.  The key factors in the decision included the following:

  • Support for the 2nd Amendment
  • Business friendly environment
  • Quality of life for employees
  • Cost of living and affordability
  • Access to higher education institutions
  • Availability of qualified labor for its operations and headquarter functions
  • Favorable location for efficiency of distribution

Smith continued, “The strong support we have received from the State of Tennessee and the entire leadership of Blount County throughout this process, combined with the quality of life, outdoor lifestyle, and low cost of living in the Greater Knoxville area has left no doubt that Tennessee is the ideal location for Smith & Wesson’s new headquarters. We would like to specifically thank Governor Lee for his decisive contributions and the entire state legislature for their unwavering support of the 2nd Amendment and for creating a welcoming, business friendly environment.”

Smith & Wesson will also close facilities in Connecticut and Missouri as part of consolidating in Tennessee. This process will result in the company reducing the number of locations it maintains from four to three and will significantly streamline its manufacturing and distribution operations.

The company emphasized that the move will not begin until 2023 and will not have an impact on employees’ jobs until then.  “Our loyal employees are the reason for our success and are always our number one priority. We are deeply saddened by the impact that this difficult decision will have on so many of our dedicated employees, but in order to preserve future jobs and for the viability of our business in the long term, we are left with no choice but to relocate these functions to a state that does not propose burdensome restrictions on our company.” Smith said. “We are making this announcement now to ensure that each employee has the time to make the decision that is right for them and their families. We are firmly committed to working on an individual level with each and every one of those who will be affected. We will assist any affected employee who is willing and able to move with financial and logistical relocation assistance. However, we also fully realize that this is simply not feasible for some. Therefore, for any affected employee who cannot move with us, we will offer enhanced severance and job placement services. We understand that this announcement will be very difficult for our employees, and we will do everything we can to assist them during this transition,” Smith said. All employees whose jobs are moved will be given these offers.

Key Facts:

  • The facility in Springfield, Massachusetts will be reconfigured but will remain operational.
  • Smith & Wesson will keep some of its manufacturing operations in Springfield, Massachusetts, including all forging, machining, metal finishing, and assembly of revolvers, and will continue to have over 1,000 employees in the state.
  • The new facility will be built in Maryville, Tennessee and will comprise of the company’s headquarters, plastic injection molding, pistol and long gun assembly, and distribution.
  • Total investment in the project is estimated at $120 million, will be funded from cash on hand, and is expected to be accretive to EPS by $0.10 to $0.12 per year once fully operational.
  • Construction in Maryville, Tennessee is expected to begin in the calendar fourth quarter of 2021 and be substantially complete by the summer of 2023.
  • Upwards of 750 jobs will move from Springfield, Massachusetts; Deep River, Connecticut; and Columbia, Missouri to Maryville, Tennessee.
  • The company’s plastic injection molding facility in Deep River, Connecticut, which services both Smith & Wesson as well as a significant number of external customers, will be sold. The Smith & Wesson portion of the operations will be moved to the new facility in Maryville, Tennessee, however, the external customer business will remain in Connecticut and will be divested.
  • The company’s distribution operations in Columbia, Missouri will be moved to the new facility in Maryville, Tennessee, and the Columbia, Missouri facility will be marketed for sublease.
  • The relocation will have no impact on the company’s operations in Houlton, Maine.
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NRA Back To Houston

September 29, 2021 by 3 Comments

The 2022 NRA Annual Meeting was scheduled to be in Louisville, Kentucky. Then Carolyn Meadows called an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee that met last Friday to discuss future Annual Meeting. From the rumors I heard, they went into executive session rather quickly.

It seems that the decision was made to dump Louisville and go to Houston where they had intended to go this year.

NRA To Hold 151st Annual Meeting
and Exhibits in Houston May 2022


FAIRFAX, Va. — The National Rifle Association announced today the location of its 2022
Annual Meeting and Exhibits will be held in Houston, Texas over Memorial Day weekend May
27-29, 2022.

The NRA had planned to host its 150th celebration in May 2021 in Houston – the site of NRA’s
largest convention on record. The NRA community was disappointed when high COVID rates in
Harris County led to the cancellation of this marquee event.

The Association anticipates no further changes to the locations of the NRA’s Annual Meetings
and Exhibits from 2023 through 2026.

Not that I have anything against Texas but I was looking forward to Louisville for two reasons. First, it would have been easily drivable for me. Second, I could combine it with a couple of days touring the Bourbon Trail which is what we did the last time it was in Louisville.

I guess the plus side for me is that the credit I got for my canceled flights won’t be wasted.

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Crazy Ivan

September 28, 2021 by 2 Comments

If you have seen the movie The Hunt for Red October or read any thriller novels involving Soviet subs, you know the term “crazy Ivan” refers to their method of turning the sub so as to check the blind spot in their baffles for an American sub trailing them.

I think I may have found a new use for that term.

I don’t know about you but if I came across a wild boar in the woods asleep, I don’t think I would grab him by the ear. Their tusks are sharp and can cut like nobody’s business. However, this Russian thought it was a good idea to do just that.

There is no word whether vodka was involved in this caper but I wouldn’t doubt it.

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NRA Annual Meeting And Proper Notice (Update)

September 27, 2021 by 8 Comments

The NRA bylaws were updated last October 24th. One of the major updates that was slipped in was about the proper notice for the NRA Annual Meeting. It used to require that the notice of the meeting be placed in two consecutive issues of the Official Journal. The Official Journal would be the American Rifleman, American Hunter, Shooting Illustrated, and America’s 1st Freedom.

Article III, Section 8(a) of the Bylaws now reads, “Notice of the time and place of such meeting shall be given in such a manner as allowed by the corporate laws of the state under which the Association is incorporated.” In this case, it is the state of New York no matter how much the NRA would rather be incorporated in Texas or any other gun friendly state.

As Bitter noted in comments and the blog NRA In Danger made clear today, New York has some very specific requirements about meeting notice.

New York Not-for-profit Corporation Law, Sec. 605. Notice of Meeting of Members states, in part:

Whenever a corporation has more than five hundred members, the notice may be served by publication in a newspaper published in the county in the state in which the principal office of the corporation is located, once a week for three successive weeks next preceding the date of the meeting, provided that the corporation shall also prominently post notice of such meeting on the homepage of any website maintained by the corporation continuously from the date of publication through the date of the meeting. A corporation shall send notice of meetings by first class mail to any member who requests in writing that such notices be delivered by such method.

Normally, for a non-profit the size of the NRA that would suffice. However, they don’t meet the three week rule as it would have had to have been announced no later than September 11th and it was announced that the meeting would be in Charlotte on September 12th. Moreover, while they have announced it on the nraam.org website, I can find no notice in any of the newspapers serving Fairfax County, VA. I have checked the little local papers and the Washington Post.

Since they failed to meet the requirements for notice by an organization of 500 plus voting members, it should be assumed that they would then be required to meet the more stringent requirements of notice. That includes a notice no less than 10 days prior to the meeting by fax, by email, or by 1st Class mail to each and every voting member. I have received nothing by mail or by email.

The Complementary Spouse is an annual member. She does not have the five years of continuous membership required to be a voting member. However, she did get a notice of the meeting by email yesterday. Though, again, it is less than the required 10 days before the meeting that she received notice of it. I am sure I am on the “let’s keep the trouble-makers in the dark” list.

I have been told second-hand by a very trustworthy source that the powers that be have assured directors that the notice requirements for not-for-profit NY corporations do not apply to the NRA. That type of thinking that the rules don’t apply is what has gotten the NRA into the mess that it is in. I guess one should expect nothing less nowadays.

UPDATE: I did a totally unscientific poll of members of Friends of Save the Second on Facebook. So far I’ve gotten 35 responses and only one person might have gotten a invitation similar to that received by the Complementary Spouse. The overwhelming majority of the respondents are Life Members. Many were Endowment, Patron, or Benefactor members. The key is that everyone who responded was an eligible voter and they received no notice of the Charlotte meeting.

UPDATE II: I have well over 50 responses so far. With the exception of the one person I mentioned previously, not one Life or above member who responded got any notification by email about the Annual Meeting this coming Saturday in Charlotte. It is like they don’t want us to actually attend or something.

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Marshall Moves To Intervene In NRA Dissolution

September 25, 2021 by 1 Comment

In September, NY Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen ruled that Frank Tait and Mario Aguirre did not have standing to bring a Motion to Intervene in the New York Attorney General’s case asking for dissolution of the NRA. Among the things he mentioned at the time in ruling against them was the timeliness issue and that 5% of the members were not part of the Motion. At the time of the hearing, it was mentioned in court that a director of the NRA would be joining the Motion to Intervene but Judge Cohen said he could only rule on what was in front of him

Today, Rocky Marshall, a NRA Director, filed a Motion to Intervene in the case as a defendant, claimant, and counter claimant. New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law § 720 b (1) gives a director the statutory right to seek relief against a defendant for neglect, mismanagement, or “other violation of his duties in the management and disposition of corporate assets committed to his charge.” A director can also seek relief against a defendant for the loss or waste of corporate assets due to the defendant’s negligence, failure to perform, or other violations of his duties. New York CPLR § 1012 states that Mr. Marshall has an absolute right to intervene based upon NPCL § 720 b (1)

Remember that not only is the NRA a defendant in this case but so are Wayne LaPierre, Woody Phillips, Josh Powell, and John Frazer.

One of the grounds for seeking the Motion to Intervene is:

The Proposed Intervenor seeks to assure that the NRA as an entity has independent, conflict-free counsel. The law firm presently representing the NRA is irreconcilably conflicted and the NRA is alleged by the Attorney General to be controlled by one or more of the individual defendants. Thus no present party or law firm can adequately protect the NRA’s rights as an entity separate from the individual defendants.

The Memorandum of Law that accompanies the Motion to Intervene is quite interesting. It starts out by saying that Letitia James is wrong when she asserts that the NRA cannot be rehabilitated and dissolution is the only answer. It continues to say that the NRA and its leadership are wrong when they say it is nothing more than a political attack and everything is fine. It goes on to say that James cannot prove that dissolution of the NRA would be “beneficial to the NRA’s members”. It continues:

On the other hand, to rule for the Defendants merely requires that the Court hold its nose and swallow their claims that the NRA Board has investigated the Attorney General’s allegations and found nothing wrong, disregarding abundant evidence of the Individual Defendants’ serious breaches of duty and conflicts of interest, some of which is already before the Court.

Mr. Marshall goes on to say that the Board has failed in its fiduciary duties to the NRA and to its members. Problems have been presented to the Board and they have ignored them while also taking no action against the named individuals (LaPierre, Powell, Phillips, and Frazer).

Thus, the Memorandum states the Board should be dissolved because they are not independent of LaPierre and that a receiver be appointed. Mr. Marshall suggests he would be willing to serve as a temporary receiver to get a proper accounting and to elect a new independent board.

As to the old Board and leadership, it must go:

As his proposed Answer says, Mr. Marshall recognizes and appreciates that without this action no meaningful change in the NRA’s governance will likely occur due to Defendant LaPierre’s total control of the executive leadership and his dominance of the Board. To the extent possible Mr. Marshall will work with the Attorney General to reform the NRA’s
leadership for the benefit of all rank-and-file NRA members. Mr. Marshall will pursue recovery of all NRA funds wrongfully paid to the third parties implicated but not sued by the AG, while vigorously opposing the AG’s dissolution claim.

Accompanying the Motion and the Memorandum are 12 exhibits which consist of a proposed answer, numerous emails, NRA Board minutes, Marshall’s bio and resume (which is very impressive), and a compilation of Form 990 data. Rather than go through each of these, I am just going to put the links to them below.

Proposed Answer

Liptak Email

North-Childress Letter

Brewer legal bills

NRA Board Minutes 1/7/2021

Email to Board, 3/15/2021

Email to Board, 3/17/2021

Compilation of Form 990 data

NRA Board Minutes, 3/28/2021

Email to Board re Brewer, 3/18/2021

Email to Board, 7/1/2021

Email to Board, 8/27/2021

Bio and Resume

I would be remiss to not mention that Attorney General Letitia James released a statement today on Mr. Marshall’s Motion to Intervene. The only really relevant part was this:“While we continue to review this motion, we are glad to hear that Mr. Marshall agrees that Wayne LaPierre and his top lieutenants must be removed from the NRA. Our fight for transparency and accountability from the NRA and its leadership will continue because no organization is above the law.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that Willes Lee issued the official response from the NRA.

“It is unfortunate that Mr. Marshall aligns himself with those who continually attempt to intervene in the handling of NRA’s matters by its elected leadership. The NRA is a well-managed, actively engaged membership organization. We will continue on our current course of action—in the interests of our five million members and their Second Amendment freedoms.”

Any one who has read my blog for the last couple of years knows my opinion of Willes Lee. My biggest regret is that I endorsed him for the Board not once but twice. I was taken in by him like so many others. That someone of his ilk is in a leadership position at the NRA says everything you need to know about why Mr. Marshall’s Motion to Intervene must be granted.

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2021 Gun Rights Policy Conference

September 25, 2021 by

The 2021 Gun Rights Policy Conference starts tomorrow at 1pm Eastern. As like last year, it will be 100% virtual. It will be broadcast live on both Facebook and on YouTube. It will resume at 2pm on Sunday afternoon.

Registration is still open and can be found here.

Unlike in year’s past when I spoke about the use of new media to advance gun rights, this year I will have a presentation on the firearms of Sweden and Switzerland entitled “Armed Neutrality”.

Here is the list of the speakers for both days:

Saturday 10am Pacific/1pm Eastern Sunday  11am Pacific/2pm Eastern 
  
​Introduction Alan Gottlieb Law 
Invocation Kenn Blanchard Joel Ard  
​ Alan Beck  
History Josh Blackman 
Kevin Dixie Raymond DiGuiseppe 
David Hardy Matthew Goldstein 
Dave Kopel Don Kilmer 
George Mocsary George Lee 
John Richardson  John Ohlendorf 
Cheryl Todd Pete Patterson 
 Dan Schmutter 
BREAK David Sigale 
 David Thompson 
11:30AM Outreach 
Rick Ector  Policy
Derek LeBlanc  Mark Smith 
Tony Simon   
Robyn Sandoval Break 
Nikki Stallard 
 2:15PM State  Reports
Gun Culture Alex Kincaid  
Chris Cheng  Dave Kopp  
Charlie Cook Richard Nascak 
Andrew Gottlieb Richard Pearson 
 Dean Rieck 
BREAK Alexander Roubian 
 Bryan Strawser 
1:15 PMHolly Sullivan 
Public Safety Philip Van Cleave 
Mas Ayoob   
Patrick Collins Addressing National and International Regulations
Nikki Goeser  Diana Muller 
Jim Irvine  Rick Patterson 
John Lott   
Dan Wos  
  
Media  
Beth Alcazar   
Beth Baumann   
Cam Edwards   
Stephen Gutowski   
AWR Hawkins   
Don Irvine   
Mike Piwowarski   
Amanda Suffecool   
Mark Walters  
Lee Williams

If a more detailed agenda become available, I will post it.

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Update On NRA Annual Meeting

September 15, 2021 by 1 Comment

The NRA has finally provided official notice today of the time and place for the Meeting of Members in Charlotte. It will be at the Sheraton-La Meridian Hotel Complex. Having stayed there for a business meeting myself, it is a nice location.

From the American Rifleman site:

The National Rifle Association of America announces that the 2021 Annual Members’ Meeting has been rescheduled. The meeting was originally to have been held Sept. 4 in conjunction with the 2021 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, but was rescheduled due to the cancellation of the 2021 convention.

The meeting will now be held Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. in Charlotte, North Carolina in the Symphony Ballroom at the Sheraton & Le Meridien Charlotte Hotel Complex located at 555 South McDowell Street. Please join us and participate in the business of your Association.

The Voter Verification room, where eligible members can pick up their voting credentials will be located in the Executive Boardroom and will open on Friday, October 1, 2021, at 9:00am. The results of the 2021 mail ballot election for the NRA Board of Directors will be announced at the Annual Meeting of Members. For additional information, please visit nraam.org.

This notice is also on the NRA’s Annual Meeting website. It is not on the American Hunter website, the NRA homepage, or the America’s 1st Freedom website.

As for me, I think I can do more for advancing gun rights by setting up the Grass Roots North Carolina booth at the Asheville Gun Show that morning than by going to Charlotte. I also won’t have to see the makeup artist leaving after prepping Wayne for the cameras like I did in Tucson. Ugh!

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NRA Annual Meeting Moved To Charlotte

September 12, 2021 by 4 Comments

According to an email sent out to the NRA Board of Directors, the NRA Annual Meeting and fall board meeting will now be held on October 2nd in Charlotte, NC.

I don’t have any more details at this time but will post when I do.

I used to joke that Charlotte was full of charlatans. Actually, it is Charlotteans. But in this case, the joke becomes reality given Wayne, Brewer, and the majority of the board.

I don’t know why October 2nd was chosen or why Charlotte other than it is a hub for American Airlines. I do know that the USCCA Concealed Carry and Home Defense Expo is scheduled for that same weekend in Fort Worth, Texas.

While Charlotte is an easy drive for me, I’m just not sure it is worth it. I have a local gun show that weekend. I also have a dear friend and relative whom I haven’t seen since her husband’s funeral coming through town for dinner. Against this is the Annual Meeting where I will have the chance to beat my head agains the wall in a futile attempt to change the status quo. I think I just may have made my choice.