NRA Spies and Lies

KALISPELL - The last time Bryan Faehner talked to Mary was a couple weeks ago, “and I was giving her advice on a hike to Iceberg Lake, in Glacier National Park.”

Whether Mary might pack a gun on that hike could depend upon whether she was traveling as Mary McFate, or as Mary Lou Sapone.

“I guess Mary kind of lived two lives,” Faehner said.
Faehner is a legislative representative for the National Parks Conservation Association, a group that advocates on behalf of America's parks. Most recently, the group has been the center of opposition to a Bush administration proposal that would allow visitors to carry loaded guns in national parks.

The Missoulian, August 10, 2008 READ ARTICLE

CeaseFire PA's board of directors expelled fellow member Mary McFate yesterday after giving her a week to refute allegations that she was a paid spy for the National Rifle Association.

The gun-control advocacy organization's 16 members voted unanimously, by teleconference and by proxy, to remove McFate, who had been with the organization since its inception in 2002.

McFate was identified last week in a Mother Jones article as Mary Lou Sapone, named in a 2005 civil trial as a paid operative for the NRA.

"The fact that the NRA feels compelled to plant spies in organizations like ours borders on paranoia," CeaseFire PA president Phil Goldsmith said in a statement. "It reminds me of the days when General Motors spied on Ralph Nader when he was trying to make automobiles safer."

Goldsmith said he tried to contact McFate by e-mail and registered letter over the last week, but received no response.

Philadelphia Inquirer, August 9, 2008 READ ARTICLE

Listen Now

Weekend Edition Saturday, August 9, 2008 · Mother Jones magazine has reported that a gun control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade is suspected of spying for the National Rifle Association.

NPR by Scott Simon Weekend Edition Saturday, August 9, 2008 LISTEN TO BROADCAST

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on the National Rifle Association (NRA) to respond to recent news reports that it paid a consultant to infiltrate gun violence prevention groups.

Mother Jones magazine recently reported how Mary McFate, who also went by her married name Mary Lou Sapone, spent years inside a number of gun violence prevention groups, such as CeaseFire PA, to learn of their plans and strategies for combating gun violence. According to the Mother Jones story and subsequent reports, McFate/Sapone was a paid consultant for the NRA at the same time that she joined and achieved leadership positions with the gun violence prevention groups.

“I hope that we can agree that the gun violence prevention debate should be based upon an open and honest exchange of ideas, not on underhanded tactics,” Sen. Lautenberg wrote to NRA President John C. Sigler. “In light of these serious charges, I call upon you to immediately admit whether these charges are true or false.”

Press Release, August 7, 2008 READ PRESS RELEASE

PHILADELPHIA — A gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two anti-violence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs.

The suggestion that Mary Lou McFate was a double agent is contained in a deposition filed as part of a contract dispute involving a security firm. The muckraking magazine Mother Jones, in a story last week, was the first to report on McFate's alleged dual identity.

The NRA refused to comment to the magazine and did not respond to calls Tuesday from The Associated Press. Nor did McFate.

The 62-year-old former flight attendant and sex counselor from Sarasota, Fla., is not new to the world of informants.

By Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press Writer August 6, 2008 READ ARTICLE

Why won't the NRA speak? The National Rifle Association is not known as an organization run by people who are shy with the media. Yet the most powerful player in the gun lobby--and one of the most powerful political organizations around--still won't say anything about Mary Lou Sapone (a.k.a. Mary McFate).

Last week, Mother Jones broke the story of Sapone, who for about fifteen years was a gun lobby mole within senior levels of the gun control movement. Sapone was a self-described "research consultant" who had also penetrated the animal rights movement and environmental groups. But none of her operations--as far as is known publicly--were as extensive as her infiltration of various gun control organizations. And for at least some of the time that Sapone (as Mary McFate) worked at various gun violence prevention groups she had the NRA as a client, according to the deposition of a former business associate (as we explained in our story on her). Other evidence suggests a years-long relationship between Sapone and the NRA or gun rights advocates connected to the NRA.

Mother Jones, August 5, 2008 READ ARTICLE

Mother Jones magazine has revealed a well-known activist in the gun control movement is actually a secret spy for the National Rifle Association and the gun lobby. Over the past decade, the woman, Mary Lou Sapone, managed to become active in almost every single major gun violence prevention organization. Sapone, who went by her maiden name Mary McFate, helped organize the Million Mom March in 2000 and oversaw the lobbying efforts of States United to Prevent Gun Violence. We speak with investigative journalist James Ridgeway, who helped break the story, and Barbara Hohlt of States United to Prevent Gun Violence, who knew and worked with Sapone. [includes rush transcript]
Democracy Now!, August 4, 2008
Read the full posting here.

Click here for YouTube posting.

Mary McFate was the kind of volunteer the gun-control movement in Pennsylvania prized. By all accounts, she was dedicated and diligent, humble enough to stuff envelopes yet bold enough to lobby U.S. senators.

Now it seems that the CeaseFire PA board member may have been more versatile than anyone could have imagined. According to Mother Jones magazine, she was a spy for the National Rifle Association.

Philadelphia Inquirer, August 1, 2008 By Jeff Shields READ ARTICLE

"Obama's Ten Point Plan to 'Change' the Second Amendment…Ban use of firearms for home defense."

National Rifle Association on Friday, August 1st, 2008 in direct mail piece

In a hard-hitting direct-mail piece to its members, the National Rifle Association detailed an alleged plan by Sen. Barack Obama to transform gun-ownership regulations.

Obama's "plan" appeared on a section of the mailer designed to be cut out and carried around in a wallet. The front of the wallet card said, "Barack Obama's Ten Point Plan to 'Change' the Second Amendment." The reverse listed the 10 parts of the alleged plan, starting with, "Ban use of firearms for home defense."

An NRA spokeswoman confirmed the authenticity of the mailer, which first appeared in early August 2008, but would not provide details of what its claims were based on. For that, she referred us to various NRA Web sites.

We could find no support on any of them for the allegation that Obama has a plan to ban the use of firearms for home defense. What we did find, and what we suspect is the root of this allegation, was information about a vote Obama cast as an Illinois state senator in May 2004. (See this essay by NRA executive vice president officer Wayne LaPierre.)

PoliFact.com (CQ/St. Petersburg Times) August 1, 2008 READ ARTICLE

(Begins at about 1:34.)

There's Something About Mary: Unmasking a Gun Lobby Mole

NEWS: Mary McFate was a prominent gun control activist. Mary Lou Sapone was a freelance spy with an NRA connection. They are the same person. A Mother Jones investigation.

By James Ridgeway, Daniel Schulman, and David Corn July 30, 2008 READ ARTICLE