It could make you rich soon.
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There is a chance the NRA is the subject of a RICO investigation.
Now get those legal documents churning!
I guess you guys really do want a revolt.
Link: https://www.nraila.org/articles/20070523/get-ready-for-rico-2
Hold those guns close tonight, Ned.
This all sounds like bluster, though. I'll wait and see if Lance's predictions come true, but I won't be holding my breath. I kind of hope he's right, though. This would totally set up Trump. There are a lot of Dem gun owners.
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Just found this when I was googling to see what Lance was talking about. I haven't fact checked it, but it rings true from what I do know.
Can the RICO laws be used to rein in the power of the NRA?
This question shows that the person asking it does not understand what the NRA actually IS at all.
First, the NRA is not an industry lobby, it is a membership organization, acting in the interests of its 5 million members. Applying RICO laws to a membership organization whose mission is to defend the Constitution and whose members WANT to see the Constitution upheld? I don’t think so…
The NRA (including the NRA-ILA) is ENTIRELY funded by small contributions from its membership (currently standing at appx. 5 million members), of under $1,000 each. There is no "gun industry money." If there were, it would have to be disclosed, and the FEC filings show nothing at all.
And as far as the "NRA money", the NRA isn't even in the top 500 donors to candidates most years. In fact, taken together, individuals and political organizations and lobbyists explicitly advocating for and supporting gun control, give more than 100 times as much money to Democrats and the Democratic party, as the NRA and NSSF combined give to BOTH parties and their candidates combined.
The average donation the NRA gives to any specific candidate or officeholder is just $2,000 per year. That’s chump change to a candidate spending over a million dollars on his campaign. What the candidates want are the VOTES of the NRA membership.
For the 2016 federal election cycle, the NRA and all its affiliates was 488th in donations to parties or candidates... donating just $1.1 million dollars total for all 470-ish federal races in 2016, with their single largest donation to any candidate being $9,900... and 159th in money spent on lobbying for or against issues or candidates, at just about $3.2 million TOTAL for all federal issues, legislation, or candidates.
Just as a comparison, ONE SINGLE INDIVIDUAL, Michael Bloomberg, whose primary cause is gun control, donated more to anti-gun activities, ($36 million in 2016) including contributions to congressmen and senators, and spends more on anti-gun lobbying every year, than the entire NRA and all its affiliates. And the Democratic party has a couple dozen of these individual megadonors, and a couple hundred "bundlers" who bundle up anti-gun money. from individuals every year. Another one of their individual megadonors spent 78 million, though he has TWO issues, climate change and gun control, not just the one.
The average member of congress, both house and senate, spends about $2 million a year on campaigning and other partisan political costs. The $9,900 they get from the NRA isn't what sways their votes, it's the FIVE MILLION NRA members who call their offices several times a year, or send letters, postcards, and emails.
The NRA sends a lot of postcards and emails to its members, asking them to call their congressman or senator about specific issues and legislation.
The NRA gives FAR less money total each year, than just as an example, the National Dairy Farmers Association, the National Realtor Association, or pretty much ANY industry lobby, never mind the unions which dwarf all industry lobbies COMBINED. Why is this?
Because, ONCE AGAIN, the NRA is not an industry lobbying group, it is a membership organization promoting proficiency and safety in the shooting sports. The vast majority of the NRAs money, about 80%, goes to its actual core mission of promoting firearms proficiency and safety. About 5% goes towards fundraising.
The specific legislative action arm, the NRA-ILA, accounts for less than 15% of the NRA’s spending annually. The NRA-ILA gives less in TEN YEARS than any of the top 100 donor groups give in a single year, and again, they don't lobby for the firearms industry, they lobby for individual rights.
The NRA-ILA lobby for laws and regulations, federally, and in all fifty states, which respect and protect the fundamental, inherent, and pre-existing, individual right to keep and bear arms, for all lawful purposes.
That's not the NRAs language by the way, it's the Constitution's, and the Supreme Court's. Read DC v. Heller if you're confused.
Oh and by the by, the NRA are non-partisan, and historically speaking, in any given year, about 15-20% of their contributions go to Democrats. [If more Democrats were not anti-gun, more Democrats would get money. The NRA does not give a damn about party affiliation. They only care about the Second Amendment, and the safe and legal use of firearms.]
Link: Can the RICO laws be used to rein in the power of the NRA?
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anti-gun advocates - naming the ACLU, Janet Reno, Chuck Schumer, Mike Bloomberg, HRC, Barack Obama and the US gov't as a whole all attacking the lowly American gun enthusiast. And all the article really states, is the RICO Act COULD Be used against gun owners, dealers and makers in America. A conspiracy of national importance.
Great.
And like LanceH notes - thinking this conspiracy up and warning the US gun enthusiast the US Gov't is evil, they, the NRA and LaPierre decided it's good to go with the Russians.
PS: but now that they have been noted for money laundering - their conspiracy could come true. Lets hope so.
Weird.
How long will we have to wait for the RICO action to be filed?
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Probably plenty of skeletons in their as well.
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If it did manage money, I would hope that it was doing so lawfully and would not have an issue with it being held accountable if it were not. Maybe I'm idealistic.
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