Category: Grumpy’s hall of Shame
Or how to talk a classic design and make it look like it has a factory mistake on its front sight. Grumpy
Letitia James has demanded documents and testimony related to The Trace’s 2021 investigation into the LaPierres’ travel and the NRA’s employment of their niece.
Wayne LaPierre and his wife, Susan LaPierre, pose for a photo at the 18th Annual Larry King Cardiac Foundation Gala in 2012. Paul Morigi/Getty
The attorney general of New York State issued a subpoena last week to Susan LaPierre — the wife of National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre — in connection with its lawsuit that seeks to dissolve the NRA for an alleged pattern of self-dealing.
The subpoena, dated January 5th, is lengthy and wide-ranging, and covers revelations first reported in The Trace’s 2021 investigation into the LaPierres, published in partnership with The New Yorker. The development shows that the attorney general, Letitia James, is following evidence into new areas, despite indications that the judge may be skeptical of her bid to dismantle the NRA.
Two of The Trace’s stories concerned a 2013 hunting trip in Botswana, where LaPierre was captured on video repeatedly shooting an elephant at close range and failing to kill it, forcing the contractor whose company paid for the excursion — Tony Makris — to step in and fire the fatal shot. The footage, which had been hidden from public view for eight years until it was obtained by The Trace, also showed Susan shooting an elephant. After killing the creature, she cut off its tail, held it in the air, and shouted, “Victory!”
Later, the LaPierres secretly shipped the elephants’ front feet, along with other animal parts, back to the United States. A taxidermist converted the trophies into decorations for the couple’s home, including leather-topped stools made from the feet. The articles showed that the costs associated with the shipping and taxidermy were covered by Makris’s company, Under Wild Skies, Inc., in seeming violation of the NRA’s rules regarding conflicts of interest and gifts from contractors.
The final installment of the series focused on misleading and possibly false statements LaPierre made under oath during the NRA’s bankruptcy proceedings last year. LaPierre testified that, in the wake of the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, he had used a vendor’s yacht, for free, as a “security retreat” in the Bahamas — a place to be safe when he was facing threats to his life. The Trace revealed that the first of six such trips, in July 2013, coincided with the wedding of Wayne and Susan’s niece, Colleen Sterner. The LaPierres attended the wedding, held at the Atlantis Resort, on Paradise Island, and they traveled the Caribbean on the boat with Sterner and her husband.
Two years later, the NRA hired Sterner to work under Susan at the Women’s Leadership Forum, a program within the NRA that cultivates wealthy female donors. She received expensive travel perks that were not available to her colleagues. In testimony, Wayne LaPierre said Sterner was an integral employee and that the costs carried a legitimate business purpose. But former staffers, who worked on WLF events and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the niece occasionally performed menial tasks, but was otherwise not around.
In its subpoena, the Attorney General’s Office demanded all documents concerning the owner of the yacht, David McKenzie, and his wife, Laura Stanton, who, The Trace’s series showed, both have stakes in multiple entities that do business with the NRA. Moreover, James has requested all records “relating to safaris or international trips” taken by the LaPierres that were paid for in full or in part by, among others, the McKenzies, Makris, or Under Wild Skies, Inc.
Additionally, James wants all “documents relating to the NRA’s decision to hire and use the services of Colleen Sterner,” as well as all “documents and communications relating to the business purposes and actual activities undertaken by you, Wayne LaPierre, Colleen Sterner, or your family members during travel paid for or reimbursed at any time” by the NRA.
The subpoena orders Susan LaPierre to furnish the documents by January 31 and to appear for a deposition at NRA headquarters, in Fairfax, Virginia, on February 4.
Neither the NRA nor the Attorney General’s office responded to requests for comment.
The bill would also ban anyone younger than 21 from having a permit to carry their gun concealed and would require all permit holders to have more training, including on how to safely store and transport guns.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to limit where people can carry concealed guns after multiple mass shootings left dozens dead across the state in January, calling for more restrictions in a state that already has some of the nation’s toughest gun laws.
He endorsed legislation Wednesday that would ban people from carrying concealed guns into churches, public libraries, zoos, amusement parks, playgrounds, banks and all other privately owned businesses that are open to the public. The rule wouldn’t apply if the business owner puts up a sign that says concealed guns are allowed.
Democratic state Sen. Anthony Portantino, the bill’s author, called that exception “a legal nuance that I think helps it with constitutional muster.”
“This is not window dressing. This is to put a strong bill on the governor’s desk to withstand a legal challenge that is sure to come,” Portantino said.
It would also ban anyone younger than 21 from having a permit to carry their gun concealed and would require all permit holders to have more training, including on how to safely store and transport guns.
California and half a dozen other states previously had laws that required people to give a reason if they wanted to carry a concealed gun in public — like citing a direct threat to their public safety.
But a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year struck down those laws, making it easier for people in those states to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
California Democrats tried to pass new rules last year — and they would have succeeded, had it not been for a strategic blunder requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature so the bill could take effect immediately. Democrats could not round up enough support, and the bill died.
“That’s not going to happen this year,” Newsom said. “I will be signing this legislation.”
Newsom and legislative Democrats vowed to double down on passing a new law this year. Their cause came with renewed urgency, after mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay left 18 people dead and 10 others wounded. In total, the state had six mass shootings in January and at least 29 people were killed.
When asked by a reporter if there is evidence that recent mass shootings are linked to the state’s concealed carry process, Newsom said investigators are still analyzing the specifics of the shootings.
“None of us came up here today asserting that this was in response to them,” Newsom said of the concealed carry proposal.
“Then what’s the point?” said Republican Assemblyman and former Riverside Deputy District Attorney, Bill Essayli. “He’s pandering, this is all politics and we’re tired of politics, we want solutions for Californians.”
Essayli and other Republicans have said the state needs to do a better job of enforcing gun and public safety laws already on the state’s books.
“This bill goes after law-abiding concealed carry weapons owners who we know are the safest and most responsible gun owners in society, we need to be going after the people who should not be having guns,” Essayli said.
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Here is a look at some firearm-related bills state lawmakers will consider this year:
AB 97: Makes possession of an unserialized, or ghost gun, a felony.
SB 2: Sets new limits for concealed carry permit holders
AB 303: Requires the state attorney general to create an online database for the state’s Armed and Prohibited Persons System.
AB 328: Would reinstate harsher penalties for those who use a gun in the process of committing a violent crime.
AB 28: Creates a new tax on firearms and ammunition to fund gun violence protections.
–KCRA 3’s Ashley Zavala contributed to this story.
- Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were formally charged on Tuesday
- They have vowed to fight the case and face up to five years in jail if convicted
- Halyna Hutchins, 42, died on October 21, 2021, after being shot by Baldwin
Alec Baldwin was formally charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter for shooting dead Halyna Hutchins on the set of their movie Rust in October 2021.
Prosecutors in Santa Fe, New Mexico, stated he was ‘distracted’ during firearm training and shortly after the incident admitted to officers he had fired the weapon – something he would later vehemently deny.
Mary Carmack-Altwies, the Santa Fe district attorney, reported that the Oscar-nominated actor and producer of the film was not present for firearms training prior to the start of filming – and when an hour-long training session was scheduled, he appeared uninterested and was on his cell phone.
Her team found ‘reckless deviation from known standards and practice and protocol’, noting that Hutchins was killed during an unscheduled rehearsal, during which the standard two safety checks were not carried out, and for which a plastic gun should have been used.
‘Today we have taken another important step in securing justice for Halyna Hutchins,’ said Carmack-Altwies in a statement. ‘In New Mexico, no one is above the law and justice will be served.’
Baldwin, pictured on Tuesday outside his New York City home, has vowed to fight the charges
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter
Baldwin has vowed to fight the charges. He has stated repeatedly he never pulled the trigger, and said it was a tragic accident – emphasizing that he relied on the firearms experts hired to be on set.
If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison. Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has also been charged.
Among the papers filed on Tuesday is a ten-page probable cause affidavit – divided into two sections. One notes Baldwin’s actions as the lead actor, and another explores his role as the film’s primary producer.
Prosecutors note that Baldwin was absent from an initial firearms training session.
Gutierrez-Reed set up an hour-long subsequent session for Baldwin, but they only completed 30 minutes.
‘According to Reed, Baldwin was distracted and talking on his cell phone to his family during the training,’ the prosecutors stated.
The affidavit claims Baldwin gave ‘inconsistent accounts’ about how the shooting happened – first telling police he ‘fired’ the gun, then insisting he did not pull the trigger.
Prosecutors state that ‘photos and videos clearly show Baldwin, multiple times, with his finger inside the trigger guard and on the trigger.’
They add: ‘Baldwin approached responding deputies on the day of the shooting, wanting to talk to them because he was the one who ‘fired’ the gun.’
Among the documents filed with the court on Tuesday are a ten-page probable cause affidavit that describes Baldwin putting his finger ‘inside of the trigger guard and on the trigger’ on the day of the shooting, and moments beforehand
Baldwin and his wife Hilaria in New York City on Tuesday. He will not have to travel to New Mexico for his first court appearance
Hilaria Baldwin wrote on Instagram: ‘I hope you understand how much your support and kindness to Alec and our children mean,’ before going on to thank Baldwin himself
The impassioned post featured a photo of 64-year-old Alec with the couple’s seven school-aged kids, and accompanied with a heartfelt caption that hailed the A-lister for his parenting
They state: ‘Photo and video evidence from inside the church on the day of the shooting show some of the rehearsal up to and including moments before the shooting.
‘The photos and videos clearly show Baldwin multiple times with his finger inside of the trigger guard and on the trigger, while manipulating the hammer and while drawing, pointing and holstering the revolver.
‘Baldwin knew the first rule of gun safety is to never point a gun at someone you don’t intend on shooting,’ the document continues.
Baldwin claimed in interviews after the shooting that he did not pull the trigger.
He believes the fault lies with the armorer, who he says should have checked the gun was safe before it was handed to him.
Yet the probable cause statement against Baldwin referred to the FBI’s previous analysis of the firearm, which ‘clearly showed that the weapon could not ‘accidentally fire.’
The document also said Baldwin failed to demand ‘at least two (2) safety checks between the armorer and himself’ prior to the shooting.
Prosecutors said: ‘If Baldwin had not pointed the gun at Hutchins and Souza, this tragedy would not have occurred.
‘This reckless deviation from known standards and practice and protocol directly caused the fatal shooting.’
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot and killed on the movie set on October 21
Baldwin’s attorney said the decision to charge his client was deeply misguided.
Speaking earlier this month, when the charges were announced, he said: ‘This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice.
‘Mr Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set.
‘He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.’
SAG-AFTRA, an organization that represents approximately 160,000 actors and other professional entertainers, also objected to the charges.
‘The death of Halyna Hutchins is a tragedy, and all the more so because of its preventable nature. It is not a failure of duty or a criminal act on the part of any performer,’ the group said in a statement.
‘The prosecutor’s contention that an actor has a duty to ensure the functional and mechanical operation of a firearm on a production set is wrong and uninformed.
‘An actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert. Firearms are provided for their use under the guidance of multiple expert professionals directly responsible for the safe and accurate operation of that firearm.
‘In addition, the employer is always responsible for providing a safe work environment at all times, including hiring and supervising the work of professionals trained in weapons.’
Mickey Rourke, 70, was among those who sprung to Baldwin’s defense, insisting he should not have been charged.
Mickey Rourke (left) insisted Alec Baldwin (right) should not be charged over the October 2021 shooting of camerawoman Halyna Hutchins
Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old married mother of a young son, died in hospital in New Mexico after the accidental shooting
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Rourke, who appeared on Baldwin’s podcast in 2016, said it was wrong to prosecute the Oscar-nominated actor.
‘I usually never put my 2 cents in about what happens on someone’s movie set,’ he wrote on Instagram.
‘It’s a terrible tragedy what happened to a cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
‘But no way in hell actor Alec Baldwin should be charged with any negligence whatsoever.’
Rourke claimed it was wrong to expect Baldwin to manage the gun safety aspects of the set.
The gun from the set of Rust, which was accidentally fired, killing Hutchins
She was shot just moments after the crew entered a church set to rehearse a scene (above)
Alec Baldwin is seen on October 21, 2021, after speaking to investigators about the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin’s phone is now being sought by the team probing Hutchins’s death
A devastated Baldwin is pictured bent over outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office after speaking to investigators
‘Most actors don’t know anything about guns especially if they didn’t grow up around them,’ he continued.
‘Alec didn’t bring the gun to the set from his house or his car, when weapons are involved on a movie set, the guns are supposed to he handled only by the ‘weapon armor’.
‘In some cases the 1st AD might pass a gun to an actor, but most of the time the gun is handed to the actor directly by the ‘gun armor’.
‘There’s what ‘armor’s job is on the set. To have an expert around any type of dangerous weapon.’
Rourke said actors could then either ‘dry fire the gun’ or check the barrel themselves.
He said the decision to charge Baldwin was ‘terribly wrong.’
‘I am sure Alec is already suffering enough over what happened. But to lay a blame on him is terribly terribly wrong.’
The set of Rust, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch outside of Santa Fe
Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (center) died after being shot by Baldwin during a rehearsal on October 21, 2021 in New Mexico
An aerial view of the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, where the movie was being filmed
Alec Baldwin, 63, spoke to George Stephanopoulos for an interview which aired in December 2021
Baldwin in December 2021 gave a televised interview to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, and insisted he was not responsible for Hutchins’ death.
He said that the gun just ‘went off’ while in his hands.
‘I let go of the hammer, bang. The gun goes off. Everyone is horrified. They’re shocked. It’s loud,’ he said.
He also revealed he didn’t know she’d died until hours later at the end of his police interview, when he was photographed in the sheriff’s parking lot in Santa Fe.
And he said that he had been told by people ‘in the know’ that it was ‘highly unlikely’ he would face criminal charges.
‘Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who it is, but it’s not me,’ he said.
‘Honest to God, if I thought I was responsible I might have killed myself. And I don’t say that lightly.’
The financial institution abruptly closed both the business and personal accounts of Brandon Wexler over the Christmas holidays. Wexler is a longtime customer of the bank, having had personal accounts for over 25 years and business accounts for at least 14 years.
In a letter to the dealer, obtained by The Reload, Wells Fargo claims a review of the account deemed Wexler’s business “too risky.”
Wells Fargo performs ongoing reviews of its account relationships in connection with the banks responsibilities to manage risks and its banking operations. We recently reviewed your account relationship and as a result of this review we will be closing your above referenced account. The accounts are expected to close by February 9, 2023 or you may contact the bank to initiate closure at an earlier date. The bank’s decision to close your accounts is final. Please note the bank reserves the right to close the subject accounts sooner than February 9, 2023 if circumstances arise that warrant an earlier closing. Also be aware that some circumstances may delay the closure of your accounts to learn more refer below to what may delay account closure
A Wells Fargo representative gave a statement to The Reload and denied the bank closed Wexler’s accounts because of his industry.
Jennifer L. Langan, Head of communications for CSBB & Consumer Lending at Wells Fargo, disputed Wexler’s claim that the closures were due to his work as a gun dealer.
“Based on our analysis of the risk associated with this customer, we made a decision to close the accounts,” she told The Reload. “Our decision is not based on the industry.”
However, a second letter from Wells Fargo to Wexler indicates that isn’t a completely honest statement. The banking giant explicitly says the reason for yanking the business account is because their guidelines prohibit them from “lending to certain types of businesses.”
Wells Fargo performs ongoing reviews of account relationships in connection with the company’s responsibility to oversee and manage risk and its business operations. We have reviewed your relationship with Wells Fargo and have determined at this time to close your account, effective 12/23/22. As of the date of this letter you may no longer make purchases or take cash advances. The reason for this action is:
Banking guidelines excludes lending to certain types of businesses
The Wex Gunworks owner isn’t an unknown quantity in the industry or business in general. Wexler has been a go-to industry source for media over the years, including The New York Times, CNN and ABC. Given the longstanding relationship with Wells Fargo, Wexler feels certain this is a case of industry discrimination.
“I’ve been with them for 25 years,” he told The Reload. “I’m a professional fireman. I do everything the right way. It’s messed up.”
Wells Fargo has indicated in the past they intend to pull away from banking relationships with gun dealers and pro-second amendment organizations like the NRA.
Wexler says he is currently weighing his legal options.
“I don’t care about the money. It’s more about making a point here. The public really needs to know about this. It’s not right.”
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — With the stroke of his pen, Governor JB Pritzker made Illinois the ninth state to ban assault-style weapons.
The governor and supporters of the measure say the passage is long overdue.
“Today, I couldn’t be prouder to say that, ‘we got it done,’” Pritzker said. “We got this done for all the victims. The spouses, the children, parents, friends, and loved ones who are no longer with us, and for those who have survived mass shootings.”
Passing gun legislation is never easy. After a private battle that lasted for days, Democrats, who control the legislature, moved forward. Pritzker’s signature comes after the Illinois House voted to pass an assault weapon ban. The 68 to 41 vote took place after the Senate approved an amended bill on Monday that bans the sale, delivery, and purchase of assault-style weapons.
Owners of such guns can keep them, but they must register them with state police by Jan 1. Failure to do so is a misdemeanor and then a possible felony for subsequent offenses.
Also, the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines — more than 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns — are banned.
Illinois State Police will be allowed to update the ban list periodically.
Before the vote, Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch claimed victory.
“It’s time that we protect Illinois communities. It’s time that we protect Illinois families,” he said.
Republicans rallied against the measure calling it unconstitutional.
“Unfortunately, this bill again is not going to stop gun violence. It is not going to protect our most vulnerable neighborhoods or our most vulnerable children,” said Illinois Rep. Toni McCombie.
“We have constitutional rights in our country. They protect our freedoms from the government. They are not rights that are given to us by the government,” added Illinois Rep. Patrick Windhurst.
The lone Republican ‘yes’ came from outgoing House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, who said he hoped his vote would honor the mass shooting victims at Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade.
