You’re right, that is a weird gun; the barrel is so long it looks like something out of a cartoon. Seems popular for “huntin’ varmints”.
In the case of an organization like the Boy Scouts, members have access to significant property that they in small part (often very small) helped build, and stand to lose that. But if that’s even the case here, I expect it’s much smaller.
Although I’m not certain “punish” is the right word, regardless.
At one time, at least, NRA membership automatically came with a certain amount of free insurance coverage for your guns ($2500, I think), which covers fire, theft, and a few other common losses, and you can still buy firearms insurance for more valuable collections. Since a lot of homeowner/renter policies have very low limits on firearms, this can be attractive. For the worried/paranoid, there’s also perhaps less anxiety about telling the NRA’s insurer how many and what guns you own than in telling State Farm or American Family. Their insurer also offers specialty liability insurance for gun stores, shooting ranges, swap meets, and the like.
I will leave the benefits of the NRA Cigar Club for others to assess.
BUMP.
Just stumbled upon this. I don’t think I’ve seen it mentioned on this Board yet.
NRA Bankruptcy trial began today, Monday April 5 2021.
News article:
The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a yacht.
It might be that the best way to stop a guy is with his own mouth, tho:
The US bankruptcy trustee has opined that the NRA’s bankruptcy petition should be dismissed and/or an external monitor appointed.
Lisa L. Lambert, a lawyer in the United States Trustee’s office, which is part of the Justice Department, said the “evidentiary record clearly and convincingly establishes” that Wayne LaPierre, the longtime N.R.A. chief executive, “has failed to provide the proper oversight.” For a number of years, she added, “the record is unrefuted that Wayne LaPierre’s personal expenses were made to look like business expenses.”
“The N.R.A. is in real trouble,” said Adam J. Levitin, a professor specializing in bankruptcy at Georgetown University. “The U.S. Trustee rarely gets involved in this sort of motion, much less urges dismissal, a trustee or an examiner. I cannot see an outcome where the N.R.A. comes out unscathed. I think the real issue is what remedy the judge grants.”
Somewhat correct. Chapter 11 is (very simplistically) a way to make things fair and more beneficial to everyone. If you have an ongoing concern, like a business that employs many people, and has debts to pay, while at the same time owing others money, it does society no good to tear down the business and start selling assets to the first to rush to the courthouse— IF and only IF that business or organization can be restructured, the business saved, the debts paid more than they otherwise be, and the people who are owed money get more than they would otherwise get. Chapter 11 puts every stakeholder in a process, monitored by a US Trustee, with disputes settled by a judge. It is a far better way than having wolves come to get scraps.
Chapter 11 is a very specialized practice for attorneys, but the first step in the process is the organization itself gets to propose a restructuring. It seems the impetus for this filing by the NRA was the lawsuit by the NY AG which could disrupt the organization, get first dibs on its debt, and disrupt the benefits that five million people have paid for. Without reading any filings it seems as if the NRA’s proposal was objected to by many parties because it was allegedly mismanaged by Wayne LaPierre and others and, according to interested stakeholders, will continue to be mismanaged if the NRA’s proposal is adopted. That’s where the judge comes in.
But even if the judge rules against the NRA, that doesn’t mean the organization will be ground into powder, and the powder salted so no gun rights organization can grow again. Whether one agrees or not, advocating for a particular policy on the legality of guns is not a crime or against anything this country stands for. The NRA will survive; the only question would be the continuing structure of it.
Oh.
What would mean that?
If you are serious, the answer is “nothing” as we do have a First Amendment. I guess the bankruptcy judge could determine that the verdict against the NRA would be so massively huge that it could never operate again in a way that would possibly repay the state of NY for all of the harm done because of the purported fraud, but I don’t think that there is precedent for that. I stand to be corrected though.
Also the trustee (little t) that the U.S. Trustee (big T) wants appointed to run the NRA has a fiduciary duty to the NRA and therefore cannot be just an anti-gun zealot that will destroy the organization.
Dang.
Could it be a zealot who’s anti-NRA without being anti-gun?
Right. It would seem the position right now is they’ve figured that the various corporate maneuvers being made are an attempt to preserve current leadership in charge, and in their opinion, that cannot be so and satisfy the purpose of the reorganization because those guys are the cause of the problem. So, name a trustee who’ll take control so the various cases and processes can be dealt with on their merits as opposed to for the sake of saving LaPierre from consequences.
If the current corporate creature has to end up scrapped and sold for parts, one of those parts on the block will be the NRA Brand itself and there would be no real guarantee of who ends up with it if anybody.
It is a fiduciary position to the corporation itself, as mentioned. IF after everyone laid their cards on the table, it turns out you get the greater utility from selling it for parts than from getting it back into running their business well, then so be it – but you do not appoint to trustee a zealot who starts from a “delenda est” position.
I’ve said already in earlier posts, that if the NRA goes down in the NY case and/or the bankruptcy, there may be in the end a split so that the PAC we’ve known in our lifetimes goes one way while the centenarian safety-and-training outfit goes the other way, or the organization spins off any number of activities leaving itself with a pared down core; then it can be that either or all of what’s left in the end may stand alone, or be further acquired, merged or absorbed by yet some other PAC or shooting-sport or citizen-self-defense organization. And of all those players, any, or none, may end up holding the NRA Brand.
But for the foreseeable future, there will be something that fills the same niche. And y’know what? That niche needs filling. We want the gun nuts to feel they have men in nice suits that they can count on to wheel and deal in their name peacefully and lawfully, instead of getting told it’s time to grab their ARs and come fix things themselves the hard way.
Right. That is certainly possible but from my limited bankruptcy knowledge very unlikely if the cause of the NRA’s woes is because of LaPierre and his alleged henchmen. You just get rid of those guys, change the policies that allowed it and get back to work and pay NY its damages.
And, this is where my knowledge gets even more limited, but IIRC from my bankruptcy classes, this bankruptcy filing stays the NY AG’s civil action and instead of being heard by a jury in New York which might be filled with left wing progressives and return a $25 bajillion verdict, it will be determined in an adversarial proceeding in bankruptcy court where the actual harm is determined (and then allocated based on a fair reorganization plan), which will be a much lesser amount. Is that correct?
You will be thrilled to know that your organization is safe. The bankruptcy has been thrown out as a rather blatant attempt to hide assets from the State re: the fraud case. The NRA is solvent!
More info from Reuters:
U.S. judge dismisses NRA bankruptcy in victory for New York (msn.com)
Here’s the AP story:
Time to throw a steak on the grill and have a celebration!
And here is the NRA’s response:
NRA Moving Forward (nraforward.org)
“During a 12-day hearing that occurred over approximately four weeks, the NRA established that it had adopted new policies and accounting controls, displaced many “insiders” who had allegedly abused the Association…”
One name NOT on the list of insiders who abused the system?
NRA CEO & EVP Wayne LaPierre.
More spin than a DJ competition, eh.
The NRA has clearly won! Just look at their response!
They sought to dismiss the NRA’s bankruptcy filing with prejudice or, in the alternative, appointment of a court-appointed trustee, to take control of the Association’s business and financial affairs. Importantly, a United States Bankruptcy Court in Dallas did not appoint a Trustee or examiner, even as it ruled the Association may not proceed with the chapter 11 case. The court dismissed the bankruptcy filing without prejudice, meaning the NRA does have the option to file a new bankruptcy case.
Aha! So they didn’t get a trustee and they can file again for bankruptcy! Clearly it will work the next time! 
The legal proceedings revealed the NRA’s commitment to good governance and efforts to follow the “principled path” with respect to its management practices, board oversight, and member obligations under Mr. LaPierre’s leadership. Mr. LaPierre remains at the helm of the organization, directing political affairs, grassroots activities and other functions essential to the defense of the Second Amendment.
Yeah, that’s what the trial revealed. The trial clearly vindicated the NRA.
Ruling after a 12-day trial that ended on May 3, Hale said some details that came out about the NRA were “cringeworthy.”
He singled out LaPierre for criticism, including the “surreptitious manner” he used to obtain sole authority to put the NRA into bankruptcy in January.
“Excluding so many people from the process of deciding to file for bankruptcy, including the vast majority of the board of directors, the chief financial officer and the general counsel, is nothing less than shocking,” Hale wrote.
Yes, indeed, the NRA has been vindicated.