The Myth of WA Gun Rights Groups: Adina Hicks and Alan Gottlieb
By Zach Stone
In the ongoing fight for gun rights here in WA, many pro-gun folks have decided to throw their support behind a coalition called WAFLAG. The Washington Firearms Leadership Advocacy Group is an organization made up of many of the groups who claim to fight for gun rights, including the Second Amendment Foundation (run by Alan Gottlieb), and Protect Our Gun Rights WA (run by Adina Hicks). These people campaign and fundraise like mad; Gottlieb, in fact, is known as one of the most effective fundraisers in the nation outside the DC beltway. But are these groups actually working FOR gun rights? And are people aware of who Hicks and Gottlieb really are? We do, and we are bringing readers that data so that they can make informed decisions about who they support and what they’re really about.
“To fight something effectively, you have to know what you’re up against. More importantly, you have to know what you’re fighting for, who you’re fighting with, and who has your back.” — Anonymous
Adina Hicks is the executive director of Protect Our Gun Rights WA. She is also intimately involved with WAFLAG, and by extension Second Amendment Foundation. She first came to real prominence last year in WA while fighting I-594. POGR was created, in fact, specifically and ostensibly to fight that voter initiative. But who is Adina Hicks, and where did she come from?
Until December 18, 2014, Adina Hicks was legally Adina Atwood (although she did use both names for a short period last year before her name change was finalized). She graduated from law school and was a licensed attorney until September of 2004, when she was disbarred for a host of offenses, including defrauding her clients and worse (The IRS listed her on “indefinite suspension” as of February 2005). In 2000, she was sued but the court sealed the records and allowed her to keep practicing. Judging from the disciplinary action she received later, she took full advantage of that.
In 2002, a client paid Ms. Atwood $3,000 to represent her in a dissolution matter. The client directed Ms. Atwood to obtain a temporary restraining order because she feared that her husband would physically harm her. Ms. Atwood obtained an ex parte restraining order that failed to include a provision preventing the husband from entering the family residence. Consequently, Ms. Atwood was obliged to request an amended order that included such a provision. At a hearing on the entry of temporary orders at which the client was not present, Ms. Atwood agreed to a provision allowing the husband to have access to the family home to remove certain property. Ms. Atwood failed to notify the client of this provision. The client did not learn of the provision until the husband appeared at her home with a copy of the order. When the client terminated Ms. Atwood’s services, the client requested an itemized bill and a refund of the remaining balance. Ms. Atwood never responded to these requests, never contacted the client, and did not file a notice of withdrawal. The client obtained a default judgment against Ms. Atwood in small claims court for $3,036.
She also stole $14,000 from another client, failed to take action as paid to do by other clients, and then when the Bar Association finally stepped in and performed an inquiry as to her actions, she failed to respond or even show up to the deposition regarding her misconduct. The Bar Association had no choice but to take her law license, and she was disbarred in 2004; the details of her offenses are listed here in the official disciplinary action. After reading that it’s no wonder why she changed her name.
Atwood/Hicks later went on to host a radio show, work for the NRA-ILA as a field rep, and become politically involved in the 2A fight. When I-594 was revealed, Atwood/Hicks jumped on the bandwagon. Interestingly enough, the announcement of her promotion to Executive Director of POGR listed her law degree from Seattle University School of Law…but forgot to mention that she was disbarred. They did, however, remember to include a plea for donations.
That brings us to another interesting point. The donations page for POGR has an address listed:
Checks may be mailed to:
Protect Our Gun Rights
12500 NE 10th Pl.,
Bellevue, WA 98005
This is significant because it also happens to be the address of Second Amendment Foundation, owned and operated by Alan Gottlieb. In fact, research showed that several of the gun rights groups in WA are also in that same building. Interestingly enough, POGR is NOT listed as being there…and neither is WAFLAG—even though all donations for both go to the Bellevue address. In several locations on Facebook, commenters claiming to be close to Atwood/Hicks told people that they should contact her directly by calling Second Amendment Foundation and asking for her. Are POGR and WAFLAG even real groups? Or are they simply fronts for SAF? WAFLAG is not listed as registered with the State of Washington, according to the Secretary of State’s website. Granted, it’s a “coalition” of existing groups, but then where are its donations going? Are they split equally among the groups claiming to be part of WAFLAG? Or are they going to SAF?
Well, according to the Secretary of State, POGR may be run by Adina Atwood Hicks…but its registered agent is Alan Gottlieb. Guess that answers that question.
And what about SAF and Alan Gottlieb? In 1994, Eastsideweek magazine did the first part of a multi-part series on Alan Gottlieb’s background, including in-depth interviews with Gottlieb himself. They did not paint a flattering picture…and somehow the second part of their series never got published. Instead, the magazine went under. Meanwhile, Gottlieb keeps creating gun groups, lists himself as the registered agent (or puts himself in their leadership), gives these groups (that HE runs) office space in the building he owns, and then charges the groups rent, which he then pays to himself. (Did we mention that he also served federal time for tax fraud?)
Our friend Mike Vanderboegh over at Sipsey Street Irregulars has written extensively on the fact that Gottlieb is actually for gun control, including universal background checks and other infringements. He helped author the Manchin-Toomey Agreement, and even lied to a roomful of people about what the agreement entailed….then went and campaigned against gun registries—even though that was basically what Manchin-Toomey was. He even stood up I-591, a sneaky piece of tripe that claimed to protect gun rights, but in reality simply opened the door for FEDERAL control…an even more oppressive means of gun control.
As Gottlieb himself has said, “The devil’s in the details.”
More recently, Gottlieb pulled what seemingly amounts to a takeover of the Jewish Foundation for the Preservation of Firearms. Former employee Claire Wolfe spelled out the whole sordid mess right after resigning in protest. Naturally, he now owns that too. Gottlieb takes in a lot of money; last year’s Form 990 showed income for SAF of nearly $6 million in donations…and yet his own salary is listed as less than $40K. As Mike Vanderboegh asked, then who paid for the “fun” trip to Hong Kong?
Let’s recap. The two driving forces behind “gun rights” in Washington State are…a fraud, and a fraud. The next logical question is whether other groups such as Gun Rights Coalition were aware of all of this before hitching their wagon to Atwood/Hicks and Gottlieb. If they were, then it would seem they are complicit in the defrauding of gun owners. If they were innocently ignorant, then they’re simply guilty of not doing their homework, and I’m certain we’ll see a statement distancing themselves from these two.
Patriots in Washington are not willing to be represented by the likes of Adina Hicks and Alan Gottlieb.
We will stand uncompromising, and we will hold.
We will not comply.
http://www.arms-expo.com/?p=298
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