“David, this article is the first article I have read that mentions the GiveSendGo account for DeStefano and I’m pretty sure I read everything posted here or emailed to me by Lee The Gun Writer Williams,” AmmoLand comment poster DIYinSTL noted. “I’m sure it will grow as word spreads. Currently at $650. I’d like to know more about … who will receive the funds.”
He’s referring to a GiveSendGo Account established to “Help Lawrence DeStefano Fight Unjust Charges,” one trying to raise a substantial amount of money for the extradited IndieGuns owner who is essentially alone defending himself against the unlimited power of a vindictive New York State looking to make an example of him. As a brief synopsis, DeStefano is facing 521 years in prison for shipping gun kits to New York customers. Unlike the other companies targeted by State Attorney General Letitia James, DeStefano has refused to turn over customer lists, and thus has been singled out for total destruction as an example to any who might defy the orders of the violence monopolists.
See the AmmoLand archive of filed reports for more details but as summarized by a source:
Attorney General Letitia James sued 10 national gun distributors for violating state and local laws by selling, trafficking, and shipping illegal ghost gun parts into New York, marking a major use of state public nuisance laws. Indieguns is still the only company that refused blanket customer data
The point of this article is not to go through those reports again (or to broach why “pro-gun” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not fight the extradition, something that merits investigation) but to assist in the fundraising, especially since of the substantial amount being sought, only a mere fraction has been collected to date. Some of this is no doubt due to gun owner apathy, a phenomenon this correspondent has been decrying for years, but the posted comment reflects another concern: Why send our hard-earned money to an unknown quantity?
To address that, AmmoLand has reached out to friends of DeStefano, who must remain anonymous due to legal considerations. New York is going after everyone associated with the man they think they can tack a charge on to, and there is a gag order on the case constraining what everyone can say that raise criminal liability issues. Behind-the-scenes colleagues are not beyond the reach of Letitia James to pursue for any on-the-record comments they make. As with the Operation Fast and Furious whistleblowers who provided information to Mike Vanderboegh and myself, which made breaking the story possible, such reasoning has valid precedent and I have committed to protecting my sources. The bottom line is I know who I’m dealing with, have confidence in the integrity of this effort, and will not break faith with them in the face of legal demands.
What follows are questions and answers relevant to the fundraiser:
DC: How did you arrive at the $620,000 goal? How do you envision the money being disbursed and spent, and what oversight can you provide to assure contributors that their donations and your expenses will be properly accounted for?
We are offering full transparency of this fundraiser and will post updates for every dollar spent; honestly the goal amount is severely understated for what we wish to do for Lawrence to have a fighting chance at this case. We arrived at this figure when Lawrence told us he vows to repay each and every donator’s dollar figure amount upon his release and he had approximately $620,000 seized in cash/gold alone, not including the unfathomable value of stock seized.
DC: You’d initially tried to set the fundraiser up on GoFundMe. What happened?
It was shut down by GoFundMe, for violations of supporting a “violent criminal.”
DC: Have you applied for assistance from any of the national gun groups? If so, have any shown interest or promised to help?
Yes, we have sought out resolves from multiple groups to little assistances as most are currently scared of the case and losing major donators.
DC: This next question doesn’t really deal with fundraising, but I think it’s necessary to put the importance of this in perspective: What, in your opinion, makes this significant and deserving of support from not just gun kit customers, but from all gun owners?
The reason this case is so important is this will set president for future cases in disarming the populace. Even though they have done nothing wrong federally in the arms of state overreach.
I just can’t give readers more than that because I am convinced the reluctance to of my contacts to come forward is well-founded. There’s also an issue of personal liability for refusing to disclose sources.
My longstanding position is that I never ask readers to do anything I’m not already doing myself. I donated $10 early on—it doesn’t have to be much, but if every reader here did the same—and went the important extra mile of spreading the word and sharing the link to this article along with your personal thoughts to those within your spheres of influence, it would go a long way toward helping a man who will not be broken to save himself by selling others out.
There is an object lesson that should not be lost on any of us: If the government can destroy us for not surrendering our rights and bending a knee when ordered, and turn the screws when we don’t betray our countrymen, how confident are we, when it’s our turn in the barrel, that we can count on our brothers in arms to come to our aid?
If you’d like to help, start here, where regular updates show how money collected is being expended, and then go the extra mile and tell your friends.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
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