NRA meeting aftermath

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The NRA’s Annual Meeting is over.

Ollie North is out as President. Carolyn Meadows was voted by the Board to take over.

Wayne LaPierre and key executives appear to have survived (for now). The “No Confidence” resolution against him looks to be buried in committee.

Some thoughts:

  • NRA looks to have real problems with cronyism and corruption at the executive level that cannot be swept under the rug.
  • The vast majority of the Board are useless and should resign.  They either knew or should have known about these problems and made an effort to correct them.
  • Nothing the Board did this weekend is going to help the NRA with respect to Tish James’ investigation.
  • Carolyn Meadows is unfit to be President.  She is way to old and her performance at the Member’s Meeting shows it.  No way she will actually be the one in charge.
  • Trump standing up for the NRA should be a message all candidates, especially Republicans, that being pro-gun is mainstream and beneficial to their campaigns.
  • If serious reform does not happen the membership will revolt.  Not like the 70s as that was ideological.  This would be broad-based centering around having competent executives running the NRA as a business and having independent Directors free of interest conflicts.

Trump and Cuomo on NRA’s problems

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Newsbits

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Sunday’s Newsbits:

Armed Citizen:

Jurisprudence:

NRA:

Politics:

New York Attorney General investigates NRA

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The NRA Annual Meeting is underway.

It was announced at the start of the member’s meeting that Oliver North resigned.  I watched the broadcast and the membership is upset over accusations of impropriety.

The behavior of current and former NRA Directors in trying to shut down debate was disgraceful.

Now it has come out that New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened up an investigation of the Association’s tax status.  Nothing good will come of that.

A-7355, imitation weapons bill

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“Imitation weapons” bill S-35, which passed the Senate back in March, now has a companion in the Assembly, A-7355.

Out of the goodness of his heart

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CNBC reports, “NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to open his formidable fundraising network to Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign“:

“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has raised millions of dollars during his campaigns over the years, has indicated to associates in recent days that he will be opening his vast and powerful fundraising network exclusively to Joe Biden, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter … Cuomo’s support could be a game-changer for Biden. While the former vice president has consistently led Democratic primary polls, he has been aggressively courting donors in a bid to catch up to an already crowded primary field … Cuomo has raked in $100 million in campaign contributions since he first ran for governor in 2010. At least 80 percent of his backers have given him $10,000 or more …”

Cuomo obviously expects something in return for helping Biden, the VP slot, cabinet position, etc.

What is disturbing is that, compared to the current crop of Democrat candidates, Cuomo looks competent and sane.

Antigun lobby day

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New Yorkers Against Gun Violence will be holding their annual lobby day in Albany on May 7.

They’re busing in children again from the City.  I expect some sort of spectacle will take place in The Well of the LOB.

Newsbits

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Wednesday’s Newsbits:

Elections:

Jurisprudence:

Politics:

Ulster Co. special election recommendation

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There will be a special election for Ulster Co. Executive on Tuesday, April 30th.

The choice is between Democrat Pat Ryan and Conservative Jack Hayes. The Republicans could not put up their own candidate and are backing Hayes.

Ryan is an antigun ideologue.

Hayes does not have a record on the issue that I am aware of. He was rated ? by NRA for his previous bid for State Assembly in 2016.

Considering Ryan’s public statements on 2A, Hayes is the better choice for gun owners although I expect Ryan is going to walk all over him in the election. Hayes does not have a functioning website and has not filed any fundraising paperwork with the BoE.  Turnout will be low so an upset is not inconceivable.

Better not be true

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There is an ongoing controversy within the NRA that I have not felt the need to comment on here as it does not relate to the purpose of this blog.

Then there’s this:

“… I had a call out of the blue late this afternoon from a person on the NRA Board. It was off the record and not for attribution. This person thinks that the lawsuit might be a smokescreen to protect the NRA from New York State. It gives the impression that they are taking their fiduciary and financial duties seriously. As both the lawsuit notes and I mentioned above, the State of New York revised their statutes to require not-for-profits to do more due diligence and to pay more attention to where members and donors money is being spent. The rationale behind this being a smokescreen to protect the NRA is that, according to this person, the NRA had not been requiring any sort of invoices or other detailed record-keeping for services rendered in years gone by. In other words, Ack Mc said here is how much we want and please send us a check. God forbid that they were that slack but I believe it.”

This better not be true.