I have said before that I’ve avoided covering the NRA’s issues. I do not trust anybody (except a very small handful of people) to report on those issues accurately and fairly. The small handful of people I do trust, I do not have permission to quote here.
That being said:
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But on Wednesday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen tossed the claim to dissolve the NRA, finding that there were ways to reform it — such as potentially removing the top executives.
“In short, the complaint does not allege the type of public harm that is the legal linchpin for imposing the ‘corporate death penalty,’” Cohen’s decision reads. “Moreover, dissolving the NRA could impinge, at least indirectly, on the free speech and assembly rights of its millions of members.”
“The remedy of dissolution is, in the court’s view, disproportionate and not narrowly tailored to address the financial malfeasance alleged in the complaint, which is amply covered by the Attorney General’s other claims,” the decision reads.
I think this is the right decision, for the right reasons. If the NRA leadership is committing fraud against the membership, there are remedies for this that don’t involve dissolving the organization, as the judge said. My only disappointment is that the judge did not start the process of disbarring New York Attorney General Letitia James for malicious prosecution and overreach.
I sent this around yesterday to a small group, including two bloggers I know. One blogger agreed with me that it was shocking to see a sensible gun-related ruling from a judge in New York.
The other blogger commented that they had just sent back their NRA board election ballot: they voted for Frank Tait, wrote “Wayne Must Go” in four out of five write in slots, and “Fire Wayne Now” in the fifth.
(If those bloggers want to out themselves in comments, they’re welcome to.)
On a semi-related note:
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But wait! I thought “military-style semiautomatic weapons” were illegal in New York!
Also:
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Blakeman told The Post he’s setting up a four-day gun collection to run Friday through next Monday, even though he has yet to find a way to ship the guns overseas to the war-torn country.
He said he’s asking individuals to drop off or buy and then donate firearms at a licensed gun store, SP Firearms Unlimited, in Franklin Square, New York.
He said he’s also raised around $20,000 for the effort, as of Wednesday.
“I will be the first to buy a gun and donate it to the Ukrainian people.”
This sounds like a giant sting operation, whether intentional by Blakeman or unintentional but inadvertent.
Also, how is this going to work? Is it like a Lend Lease thing? Will people get their guns back after the war?
(I know this didn’t happen with most of the Lend Lease guns. But I have a very vivid memory – which I can’t back up now – of seeing a target rifle that a prominent marksman sent to the UK during WWII. It had a brass plaque attached to the stock with his name and a short explanation on it: after the war, the rifle found its way back to him. It may be in the NRA museum in Springfield, but again, I’m not sure.)