By Adolfo Jimenez for The Liberty Block
In 2018, New York Attorney General Letitia James called the NRA a terrorist organization and vowed to shut them down. This is not the first time that a radical anti-freedom Democrat has referred to the NRA in such a way. Now, it looks like she’s now trying to make good on her promise.
In the lawsuit announced Thursday, she referred to the NRA’s “charitable mission.” Perhaps she was just using the accepted term for how an organization with the NRA’s tax status describes what it does, but I do not think that she deserves the benefit of the doubt. Are they charitable (non-profit) or are they terrorists? Not sure the line between the two is a fine one. It would seem that Ms. James is flexible in her terminology. She’s an attorney and as such, language is the bat she swings, but there should at least be some consistency in her messaging. Wouldn’t you agree?
The lawsuit alleges that NRA leadership, including long-time chief executive, Wayne Lapierre misused the organization’s funds. In the press release, there is mention of specific acts such as funds being spent on lavish vacations and staffers receiving outrages compensation packages. It all sounds so familiar. The NRA seems to have a government complex.
The timing of the lawsuit is more than convenient; it’s perfect. New York City and many big cities in America are burning. There is civil unrest. There have been shootings. Would anyone care to take my bet that not a single one of those shootings was committed by a card-carrying member of the NRA?
Is it possible that James has seized this opportunity to improve her own political profile? We are, after all, in an election year and while we don’t know who Joe Biden will choose as his running mate, we know the candidate will be a black woman. In fact, no one who wasn’t a black woman has been considered. While Ms. James meets the standard, she is a longshot and brings little to the ticket. Not that this would matter, the mention of your name would be enough to give your political career a considerable boost, and being the eventual nominee for governor of New York would be a fine consolation prize.
It’s important to note that I am not now, and have never been, a member of the NRA, nor am I a supporter of the organization. I am not opposed to their existence or to their stated mission. In fact, I support what they claim to support. Although a quick scan of the NRA website, which I had never visited before today, didn’t turn up a “mission statement,” there was a little corner of the first page displaying the following:
“The National Rifle Association is America’s longest-standing civil rights organization. Together with our more than five million members, we’re proud defenders of history’s patriots and diligent protectors of the Second Amendment.”
They seem to have left out the part about the NRA supporting gun control. The NRA has become to the GOP what labor unions are to the DNC. If the NRA was true to its stated mission, they would have more forcefully denounced President Trump’s bump stock ban and would have howled with indignation when he talked about taking guns before going through due process. It seems the NRA turns a blind eye when it’s convenient.
The entertaining part of all this is that the NY AG is trying to nail the NRA for behavior that the government of New York has perfected. If one looked back to the old Tammany Hall days, you could say that NY has always been the cutting edge of government waste and corruption. Government waste should be considered a crime, because the government takes money from citizens under threat of violence, ostensibly to ensure we live in a civilized society, then wastes it on bureaucracy and cronyism, not to mention corruption and incompetence. And one need do nothing more than turn on the TV to know we ain’t living in a civilized society.
The NRA, although well known, is a private organization. The money in the NRA’s coffers was put there voluntarily by citizens who support the organization’ stated charitable mission. An audit may very well be needed. Perhaps there was criminal behavior, but to go after their very existence seems heavy handed and political in the extreme. After all, if the state of New York shut down all corrupt organizations operating within its borders, they’d have to board up the windows on every government building from Albany to Yonkers. Assuming that the radical attacks against gun owners continue until November, pro-gun voters will energetically come to the polls to defend their rights. And that can’t be what James and the New York Democrats want.
