China Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 NRA's Tax-Exempt Status is in Danger as Donors Revolt A widening inquiry into the National Rifle Association (NRA) and multi-million dollar class-action litigation against its leadership have thrown the already beleaguered gun-rights group and its tax-exempt status into further peril. Among the recent developments that have ratcheted up the pressure: the New York State Department of Financial Services is reportedly opening a probe into the NRA's now-defunct Carry Guard insurance product, which purported to insure gun owners when they kill another individual. The NRA is believed to have pulled the product after inquiries by regulators in several states. Now New York's financial regulator is taking a second look, according to The New York Post. The inquiry reportedly involves kickbacks that the NRA is alleged to have received for facilitating the purchase of insurance policies. The NRA is not licensed to provide or market insurance policies and their involvement in the development of insurance services could run afoul of state law. A memorandum issued by the Department of Financial Services in 2006 concluded that a non-licensed entity can only provide insurance referrals "if there is no discussion of specific insurance policy terms and conditions" and if "compensation for the referral is not based upon purchase of insurance." It is unclear whether the NRA could be considered a referrer under their relationship with insurance companies. A 2018 consent order required insurers to stop offering Carry Guard to New York State residents on the basis that the NRA had no lawful role in the marketing or solicitation of insurance policies. The Post's report indicated that the NRA received $14 million dollars connected with their insurance marketing activities, which could constitute kickbacks and breach state law. New York regulators are also reportedly looking at the NRA's offering of inducements to prospective policyholders, which New York insurance rules forbid. New York's financial watchdog is not the only state entity broadening scrutiny of the NRA. According to The New York Times, the New York Attorney General's Office has sent subpoenas to nearly 100 current and former board members looking into potential financial misconduct after reports documented lucrative contracts given to NRA board members. These transactions could implicate strict conflict of interest rules that govern non-profit organizations. One NRA donor has taken it upon himself to launch a grassroots campaign to root out what he calls malfeasance on behalf of the group's leadership. David Dell'Aquila, who has donated around $100,000 to the NRA over the past four years, filed what could be certified as a class-action lawsuit against the organization, citing previous reporting as evidence of fraud and misconduct. Dell'Aquila also sent letters to the New York State attorney general, the Washington, D.C., attorney general—which has opened its own inquiry—and the NRA's board of directors, urging all three to take the reported financial misconduct at the NRA seriously. Click on the link for the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 It's amazing that the NRA was allowed to skirt the law for over a decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The 12th Commandment Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Name change to Church of the Celestial Second to be announced shortly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 2 hours ago, PleaseBlitz said: It's amazing that the NRA was allowed to skirt the law for over a decade. I'm surprised mainly because its unsure where their money/donations have been coming from. You have members but how many paid one-time lifetime membership fees decades ago and may be dead? Then who else? Gunmakers. Ok. Who else is giving them money? Orgs like Koch? More recently, foreign nations? For how long? Hopefully they are flat broke soon and drowning in lawsuits of their own members till the end of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySkinsFan Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 43 minutes ago, @SkinsGoldPants said: I'm surprised mainly because its unsure where their money/donations have been coming from. You have members but how many paid one-time lifetime membership fees decades ago and may be dead? Then who else? Gunmakers. Ok. Who else is giving them money? Orgs like Koch? More recently, foreign nations? For how long? Hopefully they are flat broke soon and drowning in lawsuits of their own members till the end of time. There is no way to verify this, but I strongly suspect that 80% of their funding comes from gunmakers. When 70% of your membership supports some common sense gun control measures, and you completely ignore that, it's pretty strong evidence that your real constituents are the gunmakers whose stock price would suffer if they couldn't sell guns to people that fail background checks. Separately, selling insurance to people so that they can shoot people is pretty ****ed up by itself, but at least do it in compliance with basic financial services law (i.e., get the appropriate license and don't take illegal kickbacks from the insurance providers). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 You know what we need right now? An email dump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llevron Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Just now, Renegade7 said: You know what we need right now? An email dump. Russia if you are listening.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 5 minutes ago, Llevron said: Russia if you are listening.... See, this is why I'd probably be a dangerous president, because I'd tell NSA to do it and dump it anonymously on the Washington Post doorstep like a crying baby in a basket. Ends justify the means... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 4 minutes ago, Llevron said: Russia if you are listening.... What happened to that online group that shall not be named? They used to handle stuff like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Hey, another bastion of conservatism turns out to be a money grubbing self serving and potentially traitorous fraud. About time some of you clinging GOP morons figure it out, don't you think? Everything you've been taught to believe is a lie. Every single thing. And they are laughing at you all the way to the bank. ~Bang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade7 Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 35 minutes ago, @SkinsGoldPants said: What happened to that online group that shall not be named? They used to handle stuff like this. Anonymous. They collapsed from infighting about what to do about Trump, some were so disgusted to let him be president and others said it was going too far to get that involved in our elections like that. I side with the later because of the precedent it would've set, God knows we would've completely turned on them if they started attacking our election system, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PleaseBlitz Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 If I were a rank and file donor, I'd be pretty pissed that Wayne LaPierre tried to have the so-called non-profit buy him this (to keep him safe from people with guns). https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/luxe-texas-mansion-nra-nearly-bought-wayne-lapierre/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma There Goes That Man Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 I'll say that i once worked at a company that mailed the NRA memberships (and cards) premium items and even the merchandise from the NRA Store. It was their biggest client and naturally a "good ole boys" conservative party. When Sandy Hook happened, the production team basically ran 24 hours a day to handle the increase in business. The owner of the company even built (maybe bought?) a new $1mil lake house afterwards which we all called "the house that Sandy Hook built" I hated my time there it was disgusting. They also had Mike Huckabee's store and Citizens United propaganda DVDs among their clients. Needless to say, I'm always happy when i see how poorly the NRA is doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooked Crack Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 8 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said: You see a mansion, I see an armory. How else is LaPierre supposed to store his thousands of guns? Look at this vantage point. If a bad guy with a gun comes charging from the golf course to the lake LaPierre will be ready to meet him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 My first “eh wtf” moment after joining the nra was them trying to sell me insurance. They pushed it pretty hard. Reminded me of the buy gold commercials on Fox News. (The second was when I started receiving their political letters. I wish I had saved one. It reads exactly the way you think. With all caps, colored red text, even enlarged text at times. If you were to make a template for sending letters to gullible idiots, you’d make one that looks like their letters...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FanboyOf91 Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Llevron said: Russia if you are listening.... Got you covered, Товарищ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Momma There Goes That Man said: When Sandy Hook happened, the production team basically ran 24 hours a day to handle the increase in business. The owner of the company even built (maybe bought?) a new $1mil lake house afterwards which we all called "the house that Sandy Hook built" This is one of the sickest things I've ever heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tshile Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 3 minutes ago, skinsfan_1215 said: This is one of the sickest things I've ever heard. Fears of strict gun control being passed after a mass shooting drove a lot of increased business to the gun industry. Over time its decreased because nothing was being done and eventually with Trump winning people don’t feel the need to be as concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 11 minutes ago, tshile said: Fears of strict gun control being passed after a mass shooting drove a lot of increased business to the gun industry. Over time its decreased because nothing was being done and eventually with Trump winning people don’t feel the need to be as concerned. Yeah I get why, just saying the owner referring to his house that way is ****ing perverse. Dude should have some ****ing shame in what he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma There Goes That Man Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 3 minutes ago, skinsfan_1215 said: Yeah I get why, just saying the owner referring to his house that way is ****ing perverse. Dude should have some ****ing shame in what he is. To be fair, he didn’t call it that. The employees did since we all knew what it was. The whole vibe was weird though. NRA membership exploded and this company was making money hand over fist. From my perspective it was hard for them to conceal the delight over the business while acknowledging the cause of the surge. I think at one point a reporter got wind of this or something and wanted to interview people about it and the employees were told not to speak to anyone from the news about the NRA or business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoodBits Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Momma There Goes That Man said: To be fair, he didn’t call it that. The employees did since we all knew what it was. The whole vibe was weird though. NRA membership exploded and this company was making money hand over fist. From my perspective it was hard for them to conceal the delight over the business while acknowledging the cause of the surge. I think at one point a reporter got wind of this or something and wanted to interview people about it and the employees were told not to speak to anyone from the news about the NRA or business. Ah my bad I got lazy reading your post and thought you said "he called it his Sandy Hook house." Which was horrifying to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooked Crack Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share Posted August 17, 2019 How ugly do you have to be to need tens of thousands of dollars in hair and makeup? It can't fix ugly on the inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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