Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN Legal & Legislation

Florida Alert! It's Comical That Some Folks Don't Even Know What They Don't Know

Friday, November 5, 2021

 

DATE: November 5, 2021
TO: USF & NRA Members & Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
  USF Executive Director
  NRA Past President

 

When people who are uninformed try to write about subjects of which they know nothing, it gets comical.  Such is the case exposed in the article below concerning the NRA's funding of academic research on the Second Amendment. 

Many organizations, on both sides of the issue, fund academic research. Unlike manufactured disinformation and propaganda that is often quickly written, legitimate fact-based research takes time and must be funded. 

The article below explains it well. 

https://armedamericannews.org/bloombergs-child-propagandists-discover-amicus-briefs-and-other-cool-legal-stuff/

 

Bloomberg’s child propagandists discover amicus briefs and other cool legal stuff

By Lee Williams 

I’m guessing the kids working at the Trace don’t get out much. They don’t seem to have a lot of life experience. 

The Trace is, of course, the propaganda arm of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Astroturf (not grassroots) anti-gun empire. The Trace describes itself as the “only newsroom dedicated to reporting on gun violence,” but a newsroom it is not. The Trace supplies propaganda for Bloomberg’s other anti-gun groups, which include Everytown and Demanding Moms, as well as any members of the media willing to cut and paste their stories. 

Reporters at the Trace are activists, not journalists. They advocate for more gun control. That’s why Bloomberg pays them. 

One of their young’uns must have learned about amicus briefs in school recently, because he penned a breathless piece of agitprop, titled: “The NRA Paid a Gun Rights Activist to File SCOTUS Briefs. He Didn’t Disclose it to the Court.” 

“The NRA Foundation has paid an attorney and Second Amendment activist to write favorable briefs in Supreme Court cases, suggests a hacked document released on the dark web last week,” the Trace story claims. “Interest groups, including those fueled by dark money, seek influence at the Supreme Court in a range of ways, one being the production of amicus, or friend-of-the-court, briefs, which often extend and amplify the arguments of one side in a case.” 

The author, Will Van Sant, wrote that amici authors must disclose who paid for their work, and he claimed that a brief written by David Kopel on behalf of NRA Foundation “makes no such admission.” 

Kopel, I should point out, is a distinguished Second Amendment scholar with the Independence Institute.  He has written amicus briefs in scores of legal cases involving the right to keep and bear arms. He has also written law school curriculum, dozens of scholarly articles and op-ed columns about every aspect of firearm policy in America and worldwide. It was his recent brief for what could be the most significant gun-rights case ever to come before the Supreme Court, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which drew the Trace’s ire. 

There are more than 80 amicus briefs filed with the court for this landmark case, from both sides. I wonder whether the Trace activist bothered to check the bona fides of the briefs submitted by his boss or the other gun prohibitionists. In fact, I wonder why this even became a story. Amicus briefs are certainly nothing new, regardless of whether Van Sant just learned about them in a Law 101 class. (Trust me, Will, they’re actually used quite often.) 

As to the dark webdark money and hacked Russian documents allegations, while they sound nefarious and add a certain James Bond-type tone to the story, the NRA Foundation’s support for Kopel and his employer is a matter of public record. The info is right there in the Foundation’s tax documents, which are posted online and available for the whole world to see – no undercover trips to Moscow needed. 

I reached out to NRA for comment and they directed me to Marion Hammer, former NRA president and a current board member who also serves as NRA’s Florida lobbyist.  She laughed at the secret-squirrel tone of the Trace’s story. 

“For decades, and even before I was NRA President, the National Rifle Association and The NRA Foundation have carried out their nonprofit charitable missions by funding Second Amendment scholarship and education. This has never been a secret,” Hammer said. “NRA funds academic research and fact production because NRA wants the truth, not fake propaganda deliberately manufactured by Second Amendment haters for the purpose of deception.” 

The funding provided by The NRA Foundation to the Independence Institute was not for Kopel to write any particular brief or other work, and the Independence Institute didn’t receive NRA Foundation funding during the period when the brief was written and filed, she explained. 

“The article suggests that Mr. Kopel needed to disclose past NRA Foundation funding in his briefs. Well, what’s good for the goose should be good for the gander,” she said. “Perhaps a follow-up article by the Trace will discuss briefs written by people who received funding from Michael Bloomberg or the many anti-Second Amendment groups he funds, and what disclosures were made there. 

"When will we see an article about how the billions from Bloomberg or other billionaires are spent on gun control?  How about a simple display on their site stating who funds them and what their agenda is?  I’m not holding my breath.” 

Neither am I.

 

TRENDING NOW
Trump’s DOJ Will Participate in Oral Arguments in Illinois Semi-Auto Ban Case

News  

Monday, September 15, 2025

Trump’s DOJ Will Participate in Oral Arguments in Illinois Semi-Auto Ban Case

Within six months of the landmark United States Supreme Court decision of NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022), Illinois disregarded the Court’s clear directives and enacted into law H.B. 5741, the Protect Illinois Communities Act (PICA). 

Armed Citizens: Not Just an American Concept

News  

Monday, September 15, 2025

Armed Citizens: Not Just an American Concept

We frequently post stories about law-abiding citizens who, by exercising their rights protected under the Second Amendment, bring an end to violent criminal assaults.  

New York Law Imperils U.S. Olympic Target Shooting, Favors China’s Dominance

News  

Monday, September 15, 2025

New York Law Imperils U.S. Olympic Target Shooting, Favors China’s Dominance

As U.S. shooting sports athletes prepare for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, New York law is burdening target shooters in the Empire State.

Third Circuit Strikes Some New Jersey Carry Restrictions in NRA Case

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Third Circuit Strikes Some New Jersey Carry Restrictions in NRA Case

Yesterday, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Siegel v. Platkin, striking some of the carry restrictions New Jersey enacted in response to the NRA’s landmark Supreme Court victory, New York State Rifle & ...

Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

Pure gun control. As in disarmament and banning of firearms. It’s rare that anti-gunners get straight to the exact point that we have been warning of for decades. 

“Sensitive Places” Embolden Criminals and Threaten the Law-abiding

News  

Monday, September 15, 2025

“Sensitive Places” Embolden Criminals and Threaten the Law-abiding

A beyond horrific murder flashed before our eyes in recent weeks, and a nation collectively mourned Iryna Zarutska after the sickening attack that took her life on a public train in Charlotte, North Carolina

California: Legislature Adjourns with Anti-Gun Bills Headed to the Governor's Desk

Monday, September 15, 2025

California: Legislature Adjourns with Anti-Gun Bills Headed to the Governor's Desk

On Friday the California State Legislature adjourned the 2025 legislative session in typical California fashion, advancing anti-gun legislation to Governor Newsom's desk. Contact Governor Newsome today and urge his veto of AB 1078, AB 1127, AB ...

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

Close observers of the gun debate often see references to due process.

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) may have thought he had scored against President Donald Trump in a recent war of words over rampant crime and the deployment of federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-led cities

Colorado: CSSA Files Suit Challenging "Polis Permission Slip" Permit-to-Purchase Law

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Colorado: CSSA Files Suit Challenging "Polis Permission Slip" Permit-to-Purchase Law

Last week, the Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA), the official state affiliate of NRA, filed a lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 25-003...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.