gun registration failures and logic failures

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member



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if you feel threatened by a screened teacher being armed,
why are you not terrified by the fact, that there is most likely now,
and has been for decades, hundreds of well armed police,
randomly roaming your area in any major city

 
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It’s the N.R.A. versus NRATV.

The National Rifle Association sued one of its largest and most enduring contractors late last week and raised concerns about the contractor’s relationship to the association’s own president, Oliver North, in a stunning breach within the normally buttoned-up organization.

The suit was filed late Friday by the N.R.A. in Virginia, where it is based, against Ackerman McQueen, the Oklahoma ad firm that operates NRATV, the group’s incendiary online media arm. The suit asserts that Ackerman has concealed details from the N.R.A. about how the company is spending the roughly $40 million that it and its affiliates receive annually from the association.

The suit creates uncertainty about Mr. North’s future at the organization. And it leaves the future of NRATV in doubt, given the new acrimony in the Ackerman relationship.

Since Ackerman created NRATV in 2016, it has often been “perceived by the public as the voice of the N.R.A.,” according to the rifle association’s complaint. It has also taken on an apocalyptic tone, warning of race wars, calling for a march on the Federal Bureau of Investigation and portraying the talking trains in the children’s show “Thomas & Friends” in Ku Klux Klan hoods.

The New York Times reported this year that two prominent N.R.A. board members were among those voicing alarm inside the association that NRATV was often straying beyond gun rights. The Times article also revealed that Ackerman had a previously undisclosed financial relationship with Mr. North.

The association is untangling broader problems as well, including a legal fight in New York with the administration of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo over an insurance program the N.R.A. offers to gun owners. The new state attorney general, Letitia James, has also repeatedly threatened to investigate the tax-exempt status of the organization, which was incorporated in New York
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Facing this regulatory backdrop, the association began a review of its financial relationships with hundreds of vendors in August to ensure that it was in compliance with best practices.

The N.R.A. complaint alleges that Ackerman refused to turn over a number of financial records, including those detailing out-of-pocket expenses “that lacked meaningful documentation of N.R.A. approvals, receipts or other support.” The association also wants documents that it says could allay its concern that it was being invoiced for the full salaries of Ackerman employees who also did work for other Ackerman clients. In addition, the complaint alleges that Ackerman has refused to provide data about NRATV’s unique visitors and various other performance measures.

“The N.R.A.’s patience has run out,” the suit says.

Ackerman, in a statement, sharply disputed the contentions in the lawsuit, whose filing was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal.

“During a three-week review, an N.R.A. forensic auditing firm received every single piece of information they [the N.R.A.] requested,” the statement said. “Further, the N.R.A. has had consistent access to any and all documents regarding NRATV analytics. Despite the representation set forth in their lawsuit, the N.R.A. had the personnel contract they claim AM withheld last week before they filed their lawsuit.”

The complaint details a peculiar standoff with Ackerman over Mr. North, who took over as president last year. The N.R.A. claims it was aware that Mr. North had a contract to act as the host of a web series for Ackerman, but that Ackerman has refused to provide a copy of the contract for nearly six months. Additionally, Mr. North’s counsel told the N.R.A. that “he could only disclose a copy of the contract” if Ackerman said he could, the suit says.

Subsequently, Ackerman allowed the N.R.A.’s general counsel to view the contract but not keep a copy; the viewing added to N.R.A. concerns that it had not previously received an accurate summary of the document. The association was also concerned that Mr. North’s relationship to Ackerman could “supersede his duties to the N.R.A.”

A standoff persists over additional details about the relationship, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit is further complicated by family ties. The N.R.A.’s outside lawyer, William A. Brewer III, is the son-in-law of Angus McQueen, a co-chief executive of Ackerman, and the brother-in-law of Revan McQueen, its chief executive. Ackerman called the relationships an “irreconcilable conflict of interest” and said some kind of family dispute “pervades the Brewer firm’s dealings with Ackerman McQueen.”

Travis Carter, a spokesman for Mr. Brewer’s law firm, said “the familial relationship” had “no bearing whatsoever on the N.R.A.’s litigation strategy.” He added, “Any suggestion to the contrary is contrived and a red herring.”

The suit culminates the fracturing of a more than three-decade relationship between Ackerman and the N.R.A., going back to the shaping of such memorable lines as Charlton Heston’s proclaiming that his gun would have to be pried “from my cold, dead hands.” Wayne LaPierre, the longtime chief executive of the N.R.A., had previously been a steadfast champion of the Ackerman relationship.

“I think it says something about Wayne’s character, even though he’s had a long-term working business relationship with a vendor, he’s willing to do what is right and necessary for the N.R.A. and its members,” said Todd Rathner, a board member of the rifle association.

Joel Friedman, another board member, said he was dismayed that the documents had not been turned over.

“It leaves you questioning, and you can come up with all these potential different scenarios as to why, but none of them are good,” he said.

“My mind goes to: Are they overcharging us? That’s one,” he added. “Two, are there things charged to us that were not part of the contract? Then, No. 3, has there been a misallocation of personnel?”





https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/b...login=facebook
 
NRA Suspends Two Leaders Amid Accusations of Coup Attempt


Polly Mosendz, Neil Weinberg and David Voreacos
June 20, 2019


The National Rifle Association suspended its top lobbyist and one of his deputies, adding further turmoil to the gun-rights group’s leadership ranks as it wages legal battles on multiple fronts and prepares for a bruising 2020 election cycle.

The NRA confirmed Thursday that it had suspended Chris Cox, the lobbying chief who was viewed widely as a future leader of the group, and his deputy chief of staff, Scott Christman.

The moves came after Oliver North, the former NRA board president, was ousted from the organization in April after it accused him of leading an attempted coup against Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the NRA who has long served as the organization’s leader. North alleged that LaPierre used the group to enrich himself. As part of the infighting, the NRA sued Ackerman McQueen Inc., its longtime advertising firm, and in turn Ackerman cut ties with the group.

On Wednesday night, the NRA filed a lawsuit against North arguing that he didn’t have the right to legal fees from the NRA. The lawsuit says that Cox, described as a “likely successor” to lead the organization, participated in the failed bid to oust LaPierre.

The leadership struggle came to a head on April 24, according to the lawsuit. That’s when North talked to a LaPierre aide by phone and threatened to reveal unflattering details about LaPierre’s travel and clothing expenses unless he resigned and supported “North’s continued tenure as president,” according to the complaint, which calls the exchange an extortion.

North also promised to arrange an “excellent retirement” for LaPierre through Ackerman McQueen if he resigned, the NRA claims.

The NRA filed its suit against Ackerman McQueen in mid-April, claiming it refused to turn over details about North’s contract with the advertising firm. Last month, the NRA sued again, claiming Ackerman McQueen engineered the failed coup attempt by leaking damaging information to undermine NRA leaders.

The firm fired back with a breach-of-contract countersuit, claiming that the NRA was just trying to get out of its service agreement with the firm and that it had provided all the information sought by the gun group.

North was aided in his efforts against LaPierre by NRA board member Dan Boren, a former congressman who’s now a top executive for Chickasaw Nation, a major Ackerman McQueen client, according to the NRA complaint filed on Wednesday. Boren “helped to choreograph the ultimatum they presented to Mr. LaPierre,” it said.

In emails obtained by the NRA, Boren “admitted his knowledge that Ackerman may have been invoicing the NRA for full salaries of employees who were actually working on the Chickasaw Nation account.” Those emails also show that Cox was an “errant fiduciary” who “participated in the Ackerman/North/Boren conspiracy,” the NRA claims.

The complaint asks a judge to declare that the NRA shouldn’t be required to cover North’s legal fees for subpoenas arising from its litigation with Ackerman McQueen and from a Senate Finance Committee request for information. North’s attorney had demanded that the NRA cover his legal fees for the congressional probe and for “any other inquiries” that he “may receive” in the future, it said.

Cox’s suspension was reported earlier by the New York Times. Cox’s spokeswoman told the Times that he played no role in the coup attempt.

The suspensions throw the group’s political operation into turmoil just days after President Donald Trump announced his re-election bid. The NRA spent heavily to support Trump during the 2016 race, and Cox has met with the president multiple times during his tenure. Speaking at the NRA’s annual meeting this year, Trump was introduced by Cox rather than LaPierre.

A lawyer for North, Brendan Sullivan, declined to comment and said he would respond in a court filing.

As the group’s chief lobbyist, Cox oversaw nine different divisions, including federal, state, and local government affairs. “Cox develops and executes independent political campaigns and legislative initiatives. He also serves as the Association’s principal contact with the United States Senate and House of Representatives, the White House and federal agencies,” the NRA Foundation wrote on its website in a profile of Cox.




https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...g-coup-attempt
 
NRA Suspends Two Leaders Amid Accusations of Coup Attempt


Polly Mosendz, Neil Weinberg and David Voreacos
June 20, 2019


The National Rifle Association suspended its top lobbyist and one of his deputies, adding further turmoil to the gun-rights group’s leadership ranks as it wages legal battles on multiple fronts and prepares for a bruising 2020 election cycle.

The NRA confirmed Thursday that it had suspended Chris Cox, the lobbying chief who was viewed widely as a future leader of the group, and his deputy chief of staff, Scott Christman.

The moves came after Oliver North, the former NRA board president, was ousted from the organization in April after it accused him of leading an attempted coup against Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the NRA who has long served as the organization’s leader. North alleged that LaPierre used the group to enrich himself. As part of the infighting, the NRA sued Ackerman McQueen Inc., its longtime advertising firm, and in turn Ackerman cut ties with the group.

On Wednesday night, the NRA filed a lawsuit against North arguing that he didn’t have the right to legal fees from the NRA. The lawsuit says that Cox, described as a “likely successor” to lead the organization, participated in the failed bid to oust LaPierre.

The leadership struggle came to a head on April 24, according to the lawsuit. That’s when North talked to a LaPierre aide by phone and threatened to reveal unflattering details about LaPierre’s travel and clothing expenses unless he resigned and supported “North’s continued tenure as president,” according to the complaint, which calls the exchange an extortion.

North also promised to arrange an “excellent retirement” for LaPierre through Ackerman McQueen if he resigned, the NRA claims.

The NRA filed its suit against Ackerman McQueen in mid-April, claiming it refused to turn over details about North’s contract with the advertising firm. Last month, the NRA sued again, claiming Ackerman McQueen engineered the failed coup attempt by leaking damaging information to undermine NRA leaders.

The firm fired back with a breach-of-contract countersuit, claiming that the NRA was just trying to get out of its service agreement with the firm and that it had provided all the information sought by the gun group.

North was aided in his efforts against LaPierre by NRA board member Dan Boren, a former congressman who’s now a top executive for Chickasaw Nation, a major Ackerman McQueen client, according to the NRA complaint filed on Wednesday. Boren “helped to choreograph the ultimatum they presented to Mr. LaPierre,” it said.

In emails obtained by the NRA, Boren “admitted his knowledge that Ackerman may have been invoicing the NRA for full salaries of employees who were actually working on the Chickasaw Nation account.” Those emails also show that Cox was an “errant fiduciary” who “participated in the Ackerman/North/Boren conspiracy,” the NRA claims.

The complaint asks a judge to declare that the NRA shouldn’t be required to cover North’s legal fees for subpoenas arising from its litigation with Ackerman McQueen and from a Senate Finance Committee request for information. North’s attorney had demanded that the NRA cover his legal fees for the congressional probe and for “any other inquiries” that he “may receive” in the future, it said.

Cox’s suspension was reported earlier by the New York Times. Cox’s spokeswoman told the Times that he played no role in the coup attempt.

The suspensions throw the group’s political operation into turmoil just days after President Donald Trump announced his re-election bid. The NRA spent heavily to support Trump during the 2016 race, and Cox has met with the president multiple times during his tenure. Speaking at the NRA’s annual meeting this year, Trump was introduced by Cox rather than LaPierre.

A lawyer for North, Brendan Sullivan, declined to comment and said he would respond in a court filing.

As the group’s chief lobbyist, Cox oversaw nine different divisions, including federal, state, and local government affairs. “Cox develops and executes independent political campaigns and legislative initiatives. He also serves as the Association’s principal contact with the United States Senate and House of Representatives, the White House and federal agencies,” the NRA Foundation wrote on its website in a profile of Cox.




https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...g-coup-attempt
 
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