Ahead Of Annual NRA Convention, A Member Says It’s Sacrificing His Rights
Tim’s an NRA life member, but he’s not happy . . .
The National Rifle Association’s annual meeting begins Friday in Dallas, and some members of the organization plan to voice their discontent with the positions the NRA has taken in the past year.
Lifetime member Tim Harmsen, the owner of Copper Custom Gun Shop in Valparaiso, Ind., and the creator and host of the Military Arms Channel on YouTube, says he’s bringing boxes of T-shirts that reflect his disappointment.
“The shirts say ‘NRA: Not Real Activists.’ So, we’re not happy with the direction that [NRA leaders] Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox have taken,” Harmsen says. “They think that the resolution to all that ails the country is constant compromise on our constitutional rights, and there’s a growing number of us who are dissatisfied with that.”
US Banks and Credit Card Companies Are Reportedly Looking Into Monitoring Gun Purchases
What could possibly go wrong? . . .
Sources familiar with the discussions tell the Journal that the companies have researched the possibility of creating a credit card purchase code for firearm vendors (the same way the companies code a restaurant or retail purchase). Another possibility would be creating a provision that requires retailers to report information on what gun-related products customers are buying. …
A Citigroup spokesperson told the Journal that the policy would not affect customers’ abilities to use Citi’s cards to legally purchase firearms. TPG also reached out to Citi, and a representative provided this additional statement: “We are focused on implementing our firearms policy and not on conversations around identifying gun purchases.”
TPG also reached out to Chase, which declined to comment on the reported discussions.
‘WTF!!’ South Florida @SunSentinel runs gun show ad below stories of mass shootingshttps://t.co/yGMSd1XeSk pic.twitter.com/7zH2WW3KVE
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) May 2, 2018
‘WTF!!’ South Florida paper runs gun show ad below stories of mass shootings
Unfortunate, but let’s not get the vapors, OK? . . .
After a Parkland school victim’s dad sounded the alarm, the publisher of a major South Florida newspaper that circulates in the city, where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting, apologized for running a gun show ad at the bottom of Wednesday’s front page that featured two stories about shooting rampages.
The Fort Lauderdale Gun Show ad at the bottom of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s front page stood out because of its presentation — a dark semiautomatic pistol and red letters on a yellow background — and because of its juxtaposition. The front page featured a large centerpiece photo of mourning teens titled “Remembering Alyssa” that referred to a story about the birthday of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School murder victim Alyssa Alhadeff. She would have turned 15 on Tuesday.
New York Officials Weaponize Regulatory Power Against the NRA
Othering guns, gun owners and the organizations that represent them . . .
Do you need another demonstration of how dangerous regulatory power can be when it’s weaponized by politicians? Look no further than New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s recent directive to financial regulators. Cuomo wants them to pressure private companies to break ties with the National Rifle Association (NRA). The “or else” is just a hair from being overt.
“I am directing the Department of Financial Services to urge insurers and bankers statewide to determine whether any relationship they may have with the NRA or similar organizations sends the wrong message to their clients and their communities who often look to them for guidance and support,” the governor wrote in a statement.
The Department of Financial Services, which regulates the banking and insurance industries in New York, followed up with guidance letters to insurance companies and banks.
ACLU national director calls NRA tactics “model worthy of emulation”
They still can’t manage to count to two . . .
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has planned to spend $25 million on ballot measures in the 2018 midterm elections and the organization’s national political director Faiz Shakir insisted Thursday that ACLU is “not a partisan organization.” Its focus is building the ACLU brand similar to how the National Rifle Association (NRA) has done with its members in creating a large voting bloc.
Shakir said the “NRA voter” model could be something ACLU mimics and he called it “wonderful” during an interview Thursday night on CBSN’s “Red & Blue.” He said “we have much to learn” from the NRA and they have “set a model worthy of emulation” — despite not agreeing on many issues.
“I think that is what the NRA has done well … building an affinity with its brand, their own members … they have built the idea of the ‘NRA voter,'” Shakir said. “I hope in the next few months you’re going to see the building and the flex of ACLU members.”
Nearly 40 shot over three days in Chicago, including young mother, 4-year-old girl, teen on CTA bus
This year’s casualty total in Chicago had been down, and the the weather improved . . .
A young mother. A 4-year-old girl. A 15-year-old boy riding the bus home from school.
They are among the nearly 40 people shot in Chicago over just three days this week, days when the temperature reached into the 80s and drew more people into the streets. In fact, this level of violence on weekdays is usually not seen until the middle of summer, according to data kept by the Tribune.
On the first warm day Monday, at least one person was killed and nine others were wounded, according to Chicago police. On Tuesday through early Wednesday, 12 people were hit by gunfire over 12 hours, including a 4-year-old girl shot in the shoulder as she sat on a porch on the South Side with her parents. There were also two double-shootings.
Wednesday was the worst of the week so far: At least 14 people hit by gunfire in the city over nine hours. They included a 21-year-old mother of a toddler killed in a West Side drive-by that wounded four teens, and a 15-year-old boy grazed in the head as he rode a CTA bus home from Walter Payton High School.
This Democratic congressman wants to take your guns away. At least he’s honest https://t.co/mqEhG8e1Oi
— Thomas Paine (@Thomas1774Paine) May 4, 2018