Supreme Court appears receptive to NRA free-speech lawsuit against a former New York state official
Supreme Court justices appeared receptive Monday to National Rifle Association claims that a former New York state official violated its free-speech rights by pressuring banks and insurance companies to blacklist the group after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Former NRA chief Wayne LaPierre misspent gun rights group's money, owes more than $4M, jury finds
The longtime head of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, misspent millions of dollars of the organizationโs money, using the funds to pay for an extravagant lifestyle that included exotic getaways and trips on private planes and superyachts, a New York jury determined Friday, ordering him to repay almost $4.4 million.
Trial over lavish NRA spending nears jury, Wayne LaPierre's lawyer calls it a political witch hunt
A New York state lawyer said in closing arguments at a civil trial claiming a former National Rifle Association executive wildly misspent millions of dollars on private flights and other lavish perks that the group and its ex-CEO were caught โwith their hands in the cookie jar.โ.
NRA chief Wayne LaPierre takes the stand in his civil trial, defends luxury vacations
Outgoing National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre has testified in the New York civil trial over allegations that he violated the trust of the groupโs 5 million members by enriching himself and close associates.
Proposal would lower gun-buying age in Florida from 21 to 18
A House Republican from Northeast Florida on Thursday renewed an attempt to lower the minimum age from 21 to 18 for people to buy rifles and other long guns in Florida, potentially reversing part of a law that passed in the aftermath of the 2018 mass shooting at Parklandโs Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The Supreme Court will hear an NRA appeal in a dispute with a former New York state official
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from the National Rifle Association over comments from a former New York state official who urged banks and insurance companies to discontinue their association with gun promoting groups after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
In gun law push, Tennessee governor's office memo says NRA prefers to 'round up mentally ill people'
Documents obtained by The Associated Press show Tennessee Gov_ Bill Leeโs administration accused the National Rifle Association of wanting to use involuntary commitment laws โto round up mentally ill people and deprive them of other liberties."
NRA stages big gun show in Texas days after school massacre
The National Rifle Association begins its annual convention in Houston on Friday, and leaders of the powerful gun-rights lobbying group are gearing up to โreflect onโ โ and deflect any blame for โ the deadly shooting earlier this week of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Judge blocks NY's bid to shutter NRA, but lawsuit continues
A judge has rejected an effort by New Yorkโs attorney general to put the National Rifle Association out of business, but will allow her lawsuit accusing top executives of illegally diverting tens of millions of dollars from the powerful gun advocacy organization to proceed.
โGhost gunsโ: 2 Florida lawmakers want to make manufacturing your own firearm illegal
Guns made from 3D printers or manufactured by a person are legal in Florida and the U.S., but those in the business of manufacturing firearms are required to apply for a serial number and register the firearm. Two Florida lawmakers now want to make manufacturing your own gun illegal.
Lawsuit: NRA illegally funded Trump, other GOP candidates
A federal lawsuit accuses the National Rifle Association of violating campaign finance laws by using shell companies to illegally funnel up to $35 million to Republican candidates, including former President Donald Trump, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and others.
Blocked Boulder assault-weapons ban renews gun law questions
The ruling came under a Colorado law that bars local officials from making their own gun laws. Congress has not passed any major gun control laws since the mid-1990s, leaving most significant gun legislation in states' hands. The NRA has called the Boulder ordinance counter-productive, and argued it was a clear violation of Colorado's preemption law passed in 2003. โฆ Do you think (the shooter) cares that the city of Boulder had an assault rifles ban? The 2018 Boulder ordinance banning the possession of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was in effect for more than two years before enforcement stopped with the March 12 ruling.
Blocked Boulder assault-weapons ban renews gun law questions
The ruling came under a Colorado law that bars local officials from making their own gun laws. Congress has not passed any major gun control laws since the mid-1990s, leaving most significant gun legislation in states' hands. The NRA has called the Boulder ordinance counter-productive, and argued it was a clear violation of Colorado's preemption law passed in 2003. โฆ Do you think (the shooter) cares that the city of Boulder had an assault rifles ban? The 2018 Boulder ordinance banning the possession of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines was in effect for more than two years before enforcement stopped with the March 12 ruling.
Dana Loesch, seeking Limbaugh fans, dislikes 'angry radio'
FILE - Dana Loesch, spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), at National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 22, 2018. Radio America announced Tuesday that it had signed Loesch to a multi-year contract extension. She's been doing a show in the same afternoon time slot that Limbaugh occupied since 2014, and is now on about 200 radio stations. On her show, which airs in nearly 200 radio stations, Loesch said she didn't want listeners to feel like they're being lectured to or yelled at. AdRadio America says it has added a handful of stations for Loesch since Limbaugh's death.
NY data show nursing home deaths undercounted by thousands
Andrew Cuomo's administration confirmed Thursday that thousands more nursing home residents died of COVID-19 than the state's official tallies had previously acknowledged, dealing a potential blow to his image as a pandemic hero. โFamilies like mine knew these numbers were not correct.โCuomoโs office referred all questions to the state health department. Zucker's figure of 12,743 nursing home resident deaths included for the first time 3,829 confirmed COVID-19 fatalities of those residents who had been transported to hospitals. Her investigators looked at a sample of 62 of the stateโs roughly 600 nursing homes. They reported 1,914 deaths of residents from COVID-19, while the state Department of Health logged only 1,229 deaths at those same facilities.
Judge: NY lawsuit seeking NRA's dissolution can go forward
(AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)NEW YORK โ A New York judge on Thursday denied the National Rifle Associationโs bid to throw out a state lawsuit that seeks to put the powerful gun advocacy group out of business. Judge Joel Cohenโs ruling will allow New York Attorney General Letitia Jamesโ lawsuit to move ahead in state court in Manhattan, rather than dismissing it on technical grounds or moving it to federal court, as the NRAโs lawyers desired. Jamesโ lawsuit, filed last August, seeks the NRAโs dissolution under state nonprofit law over claims that top executives illegally diverted tens of millions of dollars for trips, no-show contracts and other expenditures. Cohen also rejected the NRAโs arguments that Jamesโ lawsuit was improperly filed in Manhattan and shouldโve been filed in Albany, where the NRAโs incorporation paperwork lists an address. The NRAโs lawyers said at a bankruptcy court hearing on Wednesday in Dallas that they wouldnโt use the Chapter 11 proceedings to halt the lawsuit.
NRA declares bankruptcy, plans to incorporate in Texas
The NRA's bankruptcy filing listed between $100 million and $500 million in assets and between $100 million and $500 million in liabilities. Sea Girt LLC made a separate bankruptcy filing Friday, listing few assets and fewer than $100,000 in liabilities. In an interview, NRA board member Charles Cotton made clear that the bankruptcy filing was motivated by litigation and regulatory scrutiny in what he called โcorrupt New Yorkโ โ not financial concerns. Going forward, the NRA said a committee will study opportunities to relocate segments of its operations to Texas and elsewhere. The NRA sued the company in 2019, alleging overbilling, and said in Friday's bankruptcy filing that the debt owed is disputed.
Gun restrictions face uphill battle even under Biden
Years ago, gun politics crossed party lines, and it was easier for Republicans and Democrats to find common ground. In the first years of his tenure, Americans amassed firearms amid fears about new gun measures following mass killings. Gun control groups also are more aggressively underscoring the fears they have about the abundance of guns in homes of Americans. And there are likely significantly more after this year, which consistently smashed monthly records for federal background checks. While it remains a force in the gun arena, itโs unclear what influence it will be able to muster during the Biden administration.
Air traffic is down, gun seizures up at US airports
With air traffic nearing a five-month high, airport security is finding guns in passenger carry-on bags at three times the rate recorded before the pandemic. The discoveries at airports comes at a time when U.S. gun sales are surging, and analysts believe many of those purchases are being made by first-time buyers. โFear drives a lot of gun sales,โ he said. National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said higher gun sales were due to widespread concern that, first because of the pandemic and later because of protests and riots, police might be slower to respond to emergency calls. It was the first time checkpoint traffic in U.S. airports has topped 800,000 since March 17.
NY attorney general seeks to dissolve NRA
The organization went from a nearly $28 million surplus in 2015 to a $36 million deficit in 2018. The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law.A message seeking comment from the NRA about the lawsuit was left Thursday. While the lawsuit accuses all four men of wrongdoing and seeks fines and remuneration, none of them have been charged with a crime. The advertising firm would pick up the tab for various expenses for LaPierre and other NRA executives and then send a lump sum bill to the organization for out-of-pocket expenses, the lawsuit said. He accused LaPierre of exerting dictatorial control.
Florida Supreme Court blocks assault weapon ban from ballot
A group called Ban Assault Weapons Now sponsored the proposed constitutional amendment, inspired by the mass shooting at a Parkland high school that left 17 people dead. While the ballot summary purports to exempt registered assault weapons lawfully possessed prior to the Initiatives effective date, the Initiative does not categorically exempt the assault weapon, only the current owners possession of that assault weapon. The ballot summary is therefore affirmatively misleading, the court wrote in its opinion. But since the petitions used the language the court says is invalid, the group cant simply tweak the ballot summary. Attorney General Ashley Moody opposed the ballot initiative, as did the National Rifle Association, which hired a legal team to fight it.
Judge scraps mediation in gun lawsuit
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. The National Rifle Association and Florida officials will avoid mediation in a lawsuit challenging a 2018 state law that prevents people under age 21 from purchasing firearms, under an order issued this week by a federal judge. The law raised the age from 18 to 21 to purchase long guns, such as rifles and shotguns. Accordingly, the issues involved in this case are not amenable to mediation. Mediation would not be a productive exercise, nor would it be a worthwhile use of the parties, or the courts, resources, the lawyers wrote. In Mondays order granting the request, Walker wrote this court finds good cause has been shown why the mediation requirement should be waived.
Gun rights groups, Moody target assault weapons ban
The Supreme Court is poised to decide whether the wording of the ballot proposal meets legal requirements. "Words such as assault weapons' that inflame and advocate have no place on the state's official ballot," Bardos wrote. The Ban Assault Weapons NOW proposal emerged last year after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. To reach the ballot, Ban Assault Weapons NOW would need the Supreme Court to sign off on the wording. The proposal also "exempts and requires registration of assault weapons lawfully possessed" at the time the measure would go into effect.
Arguments set in Jane Doe' gun case
Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Dec. 10 in a legal battle about whether two young adults can remain anonymous in a challenge to the constitutionality of a Florida gun law. The arguments will be heard in Atlanta, where the appeals court is based, according to information posted last week on a court docket. The appeals court had previously indicated the case would be heard in December but had not specified a date. The NRA later sought to add an Alachua County resident as a plaintiff and identify her as Jane Doe. It also sought to add to the case allegations related to another young adult identified as John Doe.
Jane Doe' gun case to be heard in December
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A federal appeals court is expected to hear arguments in December in a dispute about whether two young adults can remain anonymous in a challenge to a 2018 Florida gun law. The National Rifle Association filed the appeal last year after Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker rejected an attempt by two 19-year-olds, identified in court papers as Jane Doe and John Doe, to take part anonymously in the challenge to the gun law. But opponents have argued that allowing them to remain anonymous would hinder public access to court proceedings. The NRA later sought to add an Alachua County resident as a plaintiff and identify her as Jane Doe. It also sought to add to the case allegations related to another young adult identified as John Doe.
Florida Senate resolves gun lobbyist complaint
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After correcting four years of compensation reports for one of the entities she represents, Florida's top gun lobbyist Marion Hammer has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Florida Senate. Sen. Perry Thurston, a Fort Lauderdale Democrat, had filed the complaint against Hammer, accusing her of violating Senate lobbying rules for failing to report her compensation for more than a decade. Senate Rules Chairwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto, a Fort Myers Republican, forwarded the complaint to Audrey Moore, general counsel for the Office of Legislative Services, which oversees lobbyist registration. The complaint was based upon reports by the Florida Bulldog, which stated Hammer claimed not to be a lobbyist for the NRA and failed to disclose payments since at least 2007. Short-circuiting that obligation leaves in high doubt the findings that we are presented with today.News Service of Florida