Everytown’s Obfuscation & Misdirection Over NRA’s 501(c) Status

Ammoland ^ | 29 April, 2019 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Editors Note: Much of the NRA family's dirty laundry we are seeing aired in public these last weeks are a direct result of the organization making updated disclosures to be in full governmental compliance ahead of the legal fight with New York state.

The NRA is under attack for its financial practices. You might shrug, and ask, what else is new? Complaints about how the NRA structures its finances go back at least twenty years. Neal Knox was forced out of the NRA board, at least in part, for complaining about the influence of fundraising organizations at the NRA.

The difference this time is the NRA is being attacked by the Michael Bloomberg funded Everytown group. In the Everytown complaint against NRA Tax-Exempt status, they claim the NRA has been involved in “gratuitous payments, sweetheart deals, and opaque financial arrangements.”

While that may be true, it is hard to know if it rises to the level of criminal conduct. Non-profits are notorious for paying executives substantial salaries and expending vast amounts on fundraising.

This effort is coordinated with New York Governor Cuomo directing New York state agencies to discriminate against the NRA because he disagrees with the NRA's political message. From aclu.org:

But in a lawsuit the NRA filed against Cuomo this spring, the organization contends that he did more than criticize it. The NRA alleges that Cuomo and top members of his administration abused their regulatory authority over financial institutions to threaten New York banks and insurers that associate with the NRA or other “gun promotion” groups,

[marktwain]

Large, powerful, wealthy organization attract people who want some of that money. It was ever so.

[griswold3]

Same as it ever was. Sometimes a good housecleaning is in order.