NRA’s Bankruptcy Filing Ruled “Not In Good Faith.”

Andrew Donaldson

Born and raised in West Virginia, Andrew has since lived and traveled around the world several times over. Though frequently writing about politics out of a sense of duty and love of country, most of the time he would prefer discussions on history, culture, occasionally nerding on aviation, and his amateur foodie tendencies. He can usually be found misspelling/misusing words on Twitter @four4thefire and his food writing website Yonder and Home. Andrew is the host of Heard Tell podcast.

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15 Responses

  1. Oscar Gordon says:

    The fact that Wayne has been able to loot the organization for 3 decades, and did not have the foresight 25 years ago to move the org to a friendlier state, tell you all you need to know about the state of the org and it’s membership.Report

    • JS in reply to Oscar Gordon says:

      Well, the vast bulk of their membership are paper members. last I checked, they gave away NRA memberships with purchases, and I know several people personally that haven’t been members in decades that can’t seem to get themselves removed from the rolls, although only one tried more than a few times.

      I’ve just pretty much assumed they were a front for gun manufacturers money. Although their spending and habits since at least 2016 indicate they’re sucking in foreign money and interest as well (I mean they did have a Russian spy using them as a vehicle, and no one has adequately explained their sudden surge in political spending by their political arm. And by “not explained” I mean “I have literally no idea where the money is coming from, as it’s not from members dues or anything”).

      Since the vast bulk of the “members” aren’t actually members, and the money flows from corporate donations at best, as long as Wayne there keeps threatening to send it’s phantom members after Congressmen for whatever, their donors probably don’t care if he enriches himself. They undoubtedly expect it.

      Honestly, the NRA looks a lot like a real world equivalent of a corporate-created influence, complete with bot-army to push their messaging.Report

      • Dark Matter in reply to JS says:

        Honestly, the NRA looks a lot like a real world equivalent of a corporate-created influence, complete with bot-army to push their messaging.

        If NY destroys it, it will instantly be recreated in Texas. It has true believers and it has money. Charlton Heston may be dead but they’ll find someone like that to head it up.

        They’ll make the head guy fall on his sword and they’ll move on. All we’re deciding here is whether they’ll also need to change their name from NRA to NNRA (New NRA).Report

        • Kazzy in reply to Dark Matter says:

          True believers, yes. But how many members signed up a long time ago and just never cancelled? If they lose those folks, can they get them back? What will that do to their cash flow?Report

          • Dark Matter in reply to Kazzy says:

            Not sure how an organization still charges someone who signed up long ago. Credit cards expire and need to be renewed every few years.

            Now you’re right in that a “new and different” organization wouldn’t auto-magically have the old ones membership lists… unless someone from the old organization copies stuff.

            Also it’s not clear that the NRA is funded by members as opposed to by industry. Easy to picture Industry being cool with NNRA, i.e. same addenda as the NRA just without the top guy’s scandals and baggage.

            Much more importantly, the choice in this thought experiment would be between NNRA and nothing. Destroy the NRA and that leaves a power vacuum.Report

            • Carry them on the rolls whether they are up to date or not in order to claim you’re a million-member grassroots organization.

              I seem to recall that when NY dissolved the Trump Foundation, they took control of the assets and disposed of them in what they deemed to be appropriate ways. I’ve been assuming that they will seize and seal the NRA membership lists. Lack of access to those will at least slow the NNRA’s efforts to appear to be a grassroots organization rather than a gun manufacturers’ lobbying firm.Report

              • Chip Daniels in reply to Michael Cain says:

                I’ve heard a theory that the NRA, regardless of its origin, became a “heat shield” for the gun manufacturers, a public face that would absorb criticism while allowing the manufacturers to remain hidden.

                I think this has truth to it- I mean, everyone knows Wayne LaPierre, but without Googling, can you name the president of Ruger? Remington? Colt?Report

              • Somewhat but the NRA is a secondary organism to the wider gun culture. It’s parasitic lifeform, not the host, as recent gun sales will show.Report

  2. Kazzy says:

    Seems as if the testimony offered by the organization itself seemed to undermine their efforts in this case AND the case they were seeking to avoid by the bankruptcy filing.

    That’s impressive!Report

    • Philip H in reply to Kazzy says:

      You saw the Trump campaign’s lawyers right? Same crop of folks i appears. Entitled old rich white men don’t really believe in accountability – hence why LaPierre kept pi$$ing off the judge by not directly answering questions.Report

    • JS in reply to Kazzy says:

      Lawyers can’t really spin certain facts away.

      It’s pretty clear the folks at the NRA involved in this decision thought they’d come up with an amazing and brilliant scheme, never before conceived of by man, and ran with it openly. They’d found the clever loophole in the Constitution that means Ohio isn’t a state and thus they’re free travelers who don’t have to pay income tax.

      Since what they did was a transparent con that is older than the NRA itself, it was of course blatantly not going to fly, and their lawyers couldn’t do much about that. Just like SC’s don’t actually end up not paying taxes.Report

  3. Rufus F. says:

    Let me just point out here that *guns* don’t declare bankruptcy in bad faith…Report