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I’m Back On The Road Again

August 9, 2019 by 3 Comments

If you tried to reach this blog starting on early Wednesday morning you would have gotten an error message. Something along the lines that this blog was locked and not available for future use or some such verbiage. I was alerted to this by SAF’s Dave Workman who asked me around 7am what was going on.

Checking my email I saw this from 3am:

Hello, Your blog at http://onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com/ has been reviewed and confirmed as in violation of our Terms of Service for: REGULATED. In accordance to these terms, we’ve removed the blog and the URL is no longer accessible. For more information, please review the following resources: Terms of Service: https://www.blogger.com/go/terms Blogger Content Policy: https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy -The Blogger Team

Checking the terms of service for “regulated” I find that it is defined as this:

Do not use Blogger to promote or sell regulated goods and services, such as alcohol, gambling, pharmaceuticals and unapproved supplements, tobacco, fireworks, weapons, or health/medical devices.

I immediately appealed the locking of the blog as I knew I never sold any firearms. All I could think was that it was the www.Luckygunner.com banner ad. They were gracious enough to check and let me know that I was the only Blogger based blog that had this happen to them.

The worst part about all of this was that I could not even access my own content from over nine years. I will never, ever be slack about backups again.

This morning I got this message from the Blogger team:

Hello, We have received your appeal regarding your blog http://onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com/. Upon further review we have determined that your blog was mistakenly marked as a TOS violator by our automated system and, as such, we have reinstated your blog. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused in the meantime and thank you for your patience as we completed our review process. Thank you for understanding. Sincerely, The Blogger Team

In other words, I was out of jail.

I credit this to the publicity that the blocking of my blog has gotten on Facebook, Twitter, and in the online press. I especially want to thank Dave Workman for his article here and Tom Knighton of Bearingarms.com for his article on it.

I also want to thank Erin Palette of Operation Blazing Swords/Pink Pistols who put me in touch with attorneys in California and offered to help subsidize the legal bills if need be. I have had offers to help host the blog from a number of sources including Miggy at Gun Free Zone, Brandon Combs of the Firearms Policy Coalition, Bill Chachkes and his friend Kyle plus others. Then there are all the tech gurus out there like Sebastian, Tiffany Johnson, David Yamane, Harold Ancell, Baron B., Jacqui Janes, and many more. If I omitted your name, I do apologize. Please just know I appreciate all the support I’ve received as it really shows that we in the gun culture are a community.

In the past two days I have registered the domain www.onlygunsandmoney.com and have registered an account with WordPress. I have looked at dozens of WordPress themes. I will be revamping the look and feel of my blog and it will be migrated to WordPress. Where I actually host it is up in the air for the moment. There is nothing like a near tragedy to spur one into action!

So in closing, to everyone who asked what was going on, to everyone who reposted my Facebook or Twitter messages, to everyone who gave helpful advice, and especially to everyone who just cared, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate more than you can imagine.

I’ll let Willie have the last word here.

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More Subpoenas Served On The NRA

August 6, 2019 by 1 Comment

Danny Hakim in the New York Times is reporting that New York Attorney General Letitia James and her office have served a subpoena on the NRA seeking financial records from over 90 current and former members of the Board of Directors. The subpoena was served yesterday evening.

The subpoena is an escalation of a continuing investigation into the tax-exempt status of the N.R.A., which is chartered in New York, and engulfs the organization’s board of directors in the inquiry. The subpoena seeks financial records and other documents that would shed light on spending decisions made by the board.

While James’ office is not commenting on the subpoena, the NRA’s outside counsel William Brewer III had this to say.

William A. Brewer III, the N.R.A.’s outside counsel, said in a statement: “As we understand it, counsel to the N.R.A. board accepted service of a subpoena to the board that relates to the production of documents and information.”

He added: “Such a request was expected and, as we have said many times, the N.R.A. will cooperate with any reasonable, good faith request for information given the organization’s commitment to good governance.”

This is making the decision by Tim Knight, Sean Maloney, and Esther Schneider to resign from the board and the decision by Adam Kraut to turn down an appointment to the board seem all that much more wiser.

I’ve heard numerous reports that the NRA’s Directors and Officers liability insurance was either dropped by their current carrier due to its issues or that the premium was so high that it was decided it wasn’t economically feasible. This has been denied. I tend to agree with what Dan Zimmerman of TTAG had to say about it.

The Times report says the NRA denied that their D&O coverage has been cancelled. That’s what the NRA’s Andrew Arulanandam told TTAG over the weekend, too. With the latest news of the NY AG’s widening fishing expedition, that coverage is more important than ever.

I would not be surprised to see a number of resignations by the celebrities – singers, actors, former athletes – from the board on the advice of their personal attorneys. They have deep pockets and if there is any suggestion of the absence of D&O liability insurance it would be risk management 101 to head for the doors.

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Adam Kraut’s “Other Exciting Opportunities”

August 5, 2019 by 1 Comment

Adam Kraut in his open letter explaining why he was declining the opportunity to serve on the NRA Board of Directors said he wouldn’t have time to adequately devote to the position. This was “because of the magnitude of time, work, and attention these exciting and important new endeavors that I am currently involved in require.” We now know what those endeavors entail. Adam will be the new Director of Legal Strategy for the Firearms Policy Coalition.

The announcement from the FPC is below. Also joining Adam will be attorney Joseph Greenlee as Director of Research and attorney Matthew Larosiere as Director of Legal Policy.

August 5, 2019 – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today the addition of three constitutional law attorneys with significant research, briefing, litigation, and scholarly experience to the FPC legal team.

“Recent news and presidential debates make clear that those who oppose freedom and the Constitution’s Second Amendment are gearing up to further infringe on fundamental human rights today and in the years to come, so building a unique, mission-focused team of scholars and experienced advocates is important to the future of our rights and liberties,” said FPC President Brandon Combs.

Joseph Greenlee, an attorney, researcher, and Second Amendment scholar, has joined the FPC Family’s legal programs team as its Director of Research. Mr. Greenlee, who formally joined the FPC Family two months ago in June, has already developed groundbreaking new research that has been central in three recent legal briefs filed in a federal appeals court, and other important briefs in state supreme courts and the United States Supreme Court, including one brief in support of the right to carry filed at the United States Supreme Court last week.

Matthew Larosiere, an attorney, scholar, and constitutional policy expert with a background in both firearms and taxation, has joined the FPC Family’s legal programs team as its Director of Legal Policy. Larosiere comes to FPC from the Cato Institute, where he conducted research, authored important legal briefs, and produced scholarship as a member of Cato’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies. He has written extensively on the subject of firearms and taxation both in print and online in outlets including National Review, Forbes, The Federalist, the Wall Street Journal, and The Truth About Guns.

Adam Kraut, an attorney, Second Amendment litigator, and educator, has joined the FPC Family as its Director of Legal Strategy. Mr. Kraut has a long track record of successfully litigating and representing clients in important firearm-related issues in both state and federal matters. In addition to his litigation background, Kraut, who once managed a licensed firearm retailer, has written for firearm-related publications including Recoil, a firearms lifestyle magazine, and writes and hosts the popular “The Legal Brief” video program.

“Each of these extraordinary attorneys has a deep commitment to individual liberty, freedom, and first principles. They are already hard at work in many areas of our key programs, including strong research, policy efforts, and legal action. Especially in light of recent demands for gun control, we look forward to their contributions and forming strategic coalitions with other liberty-promoting organizations,” concluded Combs.

As retired law professor and former NRA Board member Joe Olson commented on Facebook, “Beats a position (1 of 76) on the NRA Board.
Been there, done that, still have a flat spot on my head from bashing Marion.”

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Red Flag Laws Are Getting Trump’s Support

August 5, 2019 by

In his remarks today on the mass murders in El Paso and Dayton, President Trump called for the passage of red flag laws.

Fourth, we must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms, and that, if they do, those firearms can be taken through rapid due process. That is why I have called for red flag laws, also known as extreme risk protection orders.

If a person is such a danger, they need to be confined. Mentally disturbed individuals as well as terrorists have used many other instruments besides firearms to kill large numbers of innocent people. Little more than two weeks ago, an disturbed individual killed 33 people in an anime studio in Japan by setting it in fire. This followed an earlier stabbing rampage in May that left one schoolgirl dead and 16 more injured. Islamofascists in Europe have used cars and trucks to run down people attending street fairs. They have attacked and killed people in New York City using rented trucks. So why just guns when flammables, knives, and vehicles have all been used in mass attacks in recent times?

Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned brings up an interesting point. Now that Chris Cox has left or been ousted from the NRA, it is left to Wayne LaPierre to try and control Trump’s worst impulses regarding firearms. I doubt Wayne is up to the task.

You can be sure that the gun prohibitionists will laugh in Trump’s face as they rush to pass more gun control without the quid pro quo that he thinks supporting it will get.

The Firearms Policy Coalition released a statement which I will quote in part below. I think they have a very good understanding of what these calls for more restrictions on our freedoms and liberties mean for us as individuals and as a nation.

It is disingenuous and immoral to ratify and incent evil acts of the very few by responding in kind with broad restrictions on the fundamental human rights of the People that pre-exist government itself. We will not accept this as a means of affecting change in a free society. The loss of human lives will always affect and change us, but they must never be allowed to alter our fundamental principles, freedoms, and commitment to individual liberty.

To be sure, our Constitution and society are at an unprecedented crossroads. Politicians and presidential candidates now openly call for a fundamental transformation of our system of laws: from a constitutional republic of free men and women founded in federalism and individual liberty, to a nation-state of subjects ruled with an iron fist from ivory towers and Washington, D.C.

Protecting the People and their human rights and property from the tyranny of mob rule and capricious political winds is a unique feature of our Republic—one that we fiercely defend even when doing so may be unpopular.

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Stabbed In The Back Again

August 5, 2019 by

Eight years of Obama brought no new gun control at the federal level. Three years of President Trump has brought an unconstitutional ban on bumpstocks, no Hearing Protection Act, no national reciprocity, and now a call for more gun control in the wake of the murders in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

If he thinks that Democrats will trade gun control for funding a “the wall”, he is sadly mistaken. They will do a bait and switch saying they will support “the wall” after passing red flag laws and universal background checks (and other gun control) but then do nothing about funding the wall.

Right now I don’t give a big rat’s ass about a wall along the border that would have marginal effectiveness. I do care about any denigration of the Second Amendment and gun rights.

By the way, all indications are that virtually every mass murderer in the last 10 years has gone through a NICS check. These bills would do nothing to have prevented them from obtaining the firearm in question.

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Not Even 24 Hours

August 4, 2019 by 1 Comment

Do we have all the facts – the real facts and not just suppositions – on the murders in El Paso or Dayton yesterday?

Of course the answer is no.

But does that stop the gun prohibitionists from dancing in the blood of the victims and from raising money?

Again, a big no.

This email was received less than 24 hours before the murderer started his rampage in El Paso.
Our
chapters are the heart and soul of our efforts and the ‘boots on the
ground’ in this battle against the epidemic of gun violence. If you’re
already involved, please forward this to a friend and ask them to join.

I am reminded of the response that attorney Joseph Welch gave to Sen. Joe McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings.

Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

The answer for the Brady Campaign and others of their ilk is a resounding NO!

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No Adam Kraut On The NRA Board

August 3, 2019 by 5 Comments

When I reported that Tim Knight, Sean Maloney, and Esther Schneider resigned from the Board of Directors I mentioned that it would put Adam Kraut in line to fill their positions. I also reported a comment from Rob Pincus to the effect that Adam wouldn’t take the seat under the current circumstances.

From an open letter posted by Adam it looks like the NRA did follow procedure and reached out to him about serving. He declined. I have posted his letter below.

Another issue that surfaced today is that the NRA will no longer have Directors and Officers liability insurance for the Board of Directors. I have heard it from four different sources. As I understand it, the new premium given all the turmoil and the multiple investigations was so high that the decision was to go without insurance. I am going to speculate that you may start to see more resignations from the board due to this. I know if I was the attorney for one of the well-heeled celebrities or well-to-do business people on the board that I’d advise to give it strong consideration as a matter of risk management.

The letter from Adam explaining his decision is below:

August 2, 2019


In 2016, I began a campaign to run for the NRA Board of Directors by petition of the members.
The idea to run for the Board started with a conversation between myself and two Board
Members at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg that February. Those two Board
Members were amongst those who recently resigned. After many phone calls, questions, and a
lot of thought, I decided the pursue a seat, in the hopes that I would be able to lend some new
ideas and a different take on issues of the Organization.


Much to my surprise, my well-documented (and freely available) ideas and proposals met severe
institutional resistance. In spite of that, this past year, I hesitantly pursued a seat again, for a third
time, at the encouragement of friends and many NRA members who believed that I could add
value to the Organization. Once I received the results of the mail ballot, I opted to not pursue the
76th Seat at the NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, as I had done the two years prior. While I
gave my best efforts over the past three years’ election cycles, I respect and have accepted the
choice of the voting members.


After the learning that I was not elected to the Board during this year’s election and coming to
understand that my role would have been reduced to simply ‘filling a chair’ even were I to have
been elected, I began to focus my time and energy on other exciting opportunities to accomplish
my genuine personal desire and goal to advance the Second Amendment, individual liberty
generally, and continuing to help educate and inform gun owners about important issues and
challenges.


Between the time I began to collect petition signatures in 2018 and the election results being
returned this year, news about the NRA began to emerge from a variety of sources. Since these
claims and allegations have been the focus of much discussion within the firearms and Second
Amendment community for the past several months, I need not recount them here.


Based on my review and understanding of the by-laws, the recent resignations of the three
directors would potentially allow me to serve until the adjournment of the next Annual Meeting
in Nashville, Tennessee. Just prior to the release of this statement, I was contacted by the NRA
and informed that there was a vacancy on the Board which I would be able to fill. Prior to
receiving the phone call, I devoted time to consider the possibility of accepting the position,
based on the news that three directors had resigned and my understanding of the by-laws.


After careful thought and consideration, and because of the magnitude of time, work, and
attention these exciting and important new endeavors that I am currently involved in require, it
would not be possible for me to provide the NRA Board of Directors, the Organization, and the
Members with the significant time, work, and attention a board of directors role – especially in
the current climate – would require. Further, I am not willing to put the NRA into a position
where my new position and role in our community could even potentially create a conflict, or
even a bad optical light that could be leveraged against it by the media and its enemies. Thus, I
cannot in good conscience accept a position as an NRA director.


It has been my honor to have your support these past few years. It is humbling to know that so
many share my passion for liberty and supported my proposals to improve our NRA. And I
sincerely hope that the Board and the Executive staff of the NRA will do what is right and
necessary to create a healthy, strong, and positive force for our rights.


I am excited to support the NRA’s good work, and that of many others, from my new position
through coalition building, hard work, thoughtful strategy, and undertaking those efforts that
will, I hope, result in a more free America and restored Republic. I am eager to continue
promoting the advancement of liberty and hope that you’ll continue to join me in doing do.


Yours in Liberty,


/s/Adam Kraut

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What A Classy Broad

August 2, 2019 by 2 Comments

In reading the various stories that covered the resignation of NRA Directors Tim Knight, Sean Maloney, and Esther Schneider, I missed this little tidbit in the Washington Post until just a few minutes ago.

Board member Marion Hammer, who lobbies on behalf of the NRA in Florida, on Thursday wrote in a text message to The Post her reaction to the departing board members: “Don’t let the door hit you in the back on your way out.”


She said the trio “made a treacherous attempt to overthrow leadership and lost, now they’re unhappy nobody trusts them and doesn’t want them on committees where they can continue to disrupt the organization.”

What Marion the Cat Lady really means when she says “treacherous attempt to overthrow leadership” is that their call for an independent investigation into the finances of the NRA was a threat to her quarter million dollar annual payment for “consulting and lobbying services.” According to the report submitted by NRA Secretary John Frazer at the 2019 NRA Meeting of Members, the amount for 2018 was $270,000. This was in addition to the $110,000 she was paid by the Unified Sportsmen of Florida to serve as their executive director.

“Don’t worry Fluffy. Mama Marion will protect your catnip money”

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Three NRA Directors Resign Effective Immediately

August 1, 2019 by

Three members of the NRA Board of Directors resigned today effective immediately. They are Tim Knight, Sean Maloney, and Esther Schneider. The leadership had made it so that they could not effectively serve as members of the board. Tim Knight told me yesterday he couldn’t even get the Board of Directors’ counsel to return emails from him.

I don’t know Esther that well but she has raised large amounts of money for the NRA. However, I do know Tim and Sean. They were stalwarts of the grass roots and had devoted immense amounts of time before and after being elected to the board to grass roots efforts. Both Tim and Sean packed their bags and headed to Colorado to help with the recall movement which succeeded in removing Senate President John Morse and Senator Angela Giron from office.

In normal times, the next three people who were not elected in April would be appointed to fill those empty Director slots. The three would be Dave Butz, Adam Kraut, and Richard Figueroa.  However, these are not normal times. Rob Pincus reports on Facebook that Adam Kraut has “said that he will not take a seat under the current circumstances.” That would move Paul Babaz, President of the Safari Club International, into the third spot.

I know their resignation from the Board of Directors won’t stop their activism on behalf of the Second Amendment and gun rights. Expect them to remain in the forefront of the fight. It just won’t be as directors of the NRA Board.

The resignation letter is reprinted below:

August 1, 2019


President Carolyn Meadows
The National Rifle Association of America
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030


Secretary John Frazier
The National Rifle Association of America
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030


The National Rifle Association of America Board of Directors
The National Rifle Association of America
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, VA 22030


Ladies and Gentlemen:


It is with profound disappointment that each of us hereby tenders our resignation from the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association, effective immediately.


We proudly agreed to serve as board members of the NRA because of our steadfast belief in the Association’s core mission of protecting the Second Amendment and its leadership’s commitment to serving its members with honesty, integrity and transparency. While our belief in the NRA’s mission remains as strong today as ever, our confidence in the NRA’s leadership has been shattered.


As Board members, we are duty bound to act with care and in the best interests of the NRA and its mission. Proper discharge of that duty compels us to speak up and take action when we become aware of matters within the Association that run counter to its mission, governing principles, policies, or the law. Over the past several months, there have been numerous, highly-publicized allegations of impropriety leveled against the Association and certain members of its executive leadership team. In exercising our oversight responsibilities as Board Members, we have sought information and requested certain actions be taken with respect to these allegations, only to be rebuffed at every turn. We had expected – or at least hoped— that the executive leadership team would recognize the seriousness of these allegations and work with us in a constructive and transparent manner to address our concerns and minimize any further harm to the Association. Instead, we have been stonewalled, accused of disloyalty, stripped of committee assignments and denied effective counsel necessary to properly discharge our responsibilities as Board members.


As a result of the foregoing, we are left with no other choice but to resign as members of the Board of Directors. In doing so, however, we hope that our action will serve as a catalyst for much needed reform within the NRA so that it can return its focus to the mission which we remain unwaveringly committed — protecting the Constitution of the United States and especially, the Second Amendment.


Sincerely,


Esther Schneider
Sean Maloney
Timothy Knight