The National Rifle Association (NRA) has had some internal restructuring as of late and liberals and the mainstream press have not wasted the opportunity. They immediately pounced on what they perceive as an opportunity to drive this protector of the Second Amendment from their cities and towns once and for all.
The leadership shakeup inside the NRA has unfortunately played out in the public eye. While it’s obvious CEO Wayne LaPierre and former president Oliver North didn’t get along, the dust up between these two was minor. Liberal’s determination to silence the organization is not.
At the root of the NRA’s problems with progressives is their gnawing fear the potential reelection of President Trump and Republicans recapturing the House in 2020 could mean an end to their plans to deny the group its constitutional rights.
Tom King, President of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association notes, “Progressives will stop at nothing … Just look back over the past 2.5 years at the attempt to destroy President Trump; charges of collusion, obstruction, sex and sexual abuse … His family was supposed to be falling apart, his kids were crooks, and some even suggested the First Lady was a prostitute … There are too many others whose lives were ruined through innuendo, false claims and coerced confessions to name [and] …. fake news posted their names all over the United States.”
Knowing they face an uphill battle in silencing the NRA on a national stage, several liberal municipalities have made it their aim to drive the group out of their cities.
Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine and New York State Attorney General Letitia James have joined together to issue subpoenas to the National Rifle Association and now its NRA foundation.
The Washington D.C. effort seeks to prove the gun rights organization violated its Nonprofit Act. Targeting the NRA’s nonprofit status comes as no surprise. Should it lose its nonprofit status, its membership would be disbanded, and its assets liquidated. It would cease to exist in Washington, D.C.
Racine told reporters, “The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia has issued subpoenas to the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and the NRA Foundation, Inc., as part of an investigation into whether these entities violated the District’s Nonprofit Act.”
The subpoena looks to reveal financial records, payments to vendors, and payments to director and officers of the two entities.
William A. Brewer II, attorney for the NRA made it plain that the “NRA has nothing to hide from the city.” He reminded reporters the association’s financials are audited and tax filings verified by “one of the most reputable firms in the world.”
This follows New York’s filing in April that alleges financial mismanagement involving executives and vendors receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal payouts.
The harassment against the NRA hasn’t stopped at legal action, however. New York State is pressuring insurance providers and banks to sever ties with the NRA’s Carry Guard program.
Carry Guard is an insurance policy by the NRA for gun owners who want to be prepared should the occasion to shoot someone ever arise. Carry Guard covers the legal costs of subscribers who claim self-defense in a shooting.
On the national scene, liberals were bound to find a way to connect the NRA with the already debunked Russia collusion narrative. Senator Ron Wyden (D–OR) is now investigating the NRA for the ludicrous claim of alleged ties to Russia. He is looking for financial connections between the organization and the Putin regime.
These attacks are not veiled but rather advertised openly. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has made it plain that advocacy for the Second Amendment has “no place” in his state.
Harold Hutchison of Ammoland sees these attacks, not as isolated incidents but as an “effective long-term strategy to address likely reverses that will come as President Trump’s judicial nominees are confirmed and rule on cases.”
The plan is simple: deny Second Amendment groups access to financial services, and they will no longer be able to operate. No money, and they can’t rent or own property, pay employees, lobby Congress, or advertise.
As Hutchison observed — if Cuomo and his like succeed, “no Second Amendment group will be safe.” It’s not enough to disagree with your opponents, stamp them out of existence. That’s the American way.
At least in the eyes of America’s liberals.
