With the country at a critical juncture in the gun debate, a normally routine meeting of the National Rifle Association has taken on greater significance as its board of directors gathers near the nation’s capital this week.

President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are weighing stricter gun measures in the aftermath of mass killings in Texas and Ohio. Democratic presidential candidates in their debate Thursday were relentless in their pursuit of harsh gun restrictions, punctuated by former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s vow that, “hell yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15, your AK-47.”

Corporate America also has been increasingly pushing back against the NRA. The gun organization’s legal battles and internal strife have deepened since the last time the NRA board met at a tumultuous April gathering. It’s even been labeled a domestic terrorist organization by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, a move that prompted a lawsuit from the NRA.

Even the location of the fall meeting, an annual affair that is usually under-the-radar, ended up being controversial. The NRA originally planned to hold the gathering, which is not open to the public or to most rank-and-file NRA members, in Alaska. That far-flung location drew criticism among some NRA members for being an unnecessary expense and a way to avoid scrutiny.

Then just weeks ago, at a cost of about $100,000, it was switched to metro Washington as the NRA said it was critical to be close to Congress where gun control measures are gaining some momentum.

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Marion Hammer, a former NRA president and one of its most prominent board members, acknowledged that the metro Washington location will make it easier to gain access to leaders during this pivotal time in the gun debate.

“If they are in Alaska, it would make it impossible for NRA’s officers and senior staff to be engaged in the fight for your rights in the nation’s capital,” she wrote in a post on an NRA website.

The meeting began on Wednesday but the board won’t formally gather until Saturday. It’s not clear what action, if any, the board could take.

At its annual meeting this past spring, former board president Oliver North — and several vocal NRA members — had sought a review of the NRA’s finances and operations. But North stepped down from his role as president and, in recent weeks, a handful of the board’s 76 members have resigned after publicly calling for greater scrutiny of its operations.

NRA members have been especially critical of CEO Wayne LaPierre’s spending habits as he racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for clothing and travel. The organization has also been accused of straying too far from its original mission and taking radical political stances, prompting the NRA to eliminate its TV network.

Top NRA donor David Dell’Aquila filed a lawsuit this summer against the NRA claiming it has misused donations. Dell’Aquila has donated about $100,000 to the NRA and pledged the bulk of his estate, worth several million dollars. He also has created a website that calls for wholesale changes in NRA leadership, including the ouster of LaPierre.

In addition to the internal divisions, the NRA has had to contend with growing backlash from corporate and Democratic leaders after the shootings in El Paso, Dayton and Odessa.

Just as the NRA meetings were to begin, top executives at nearly 150 U.S.-based companies sent a letter to members of the U.S. Senate urging an expansion of the nation’s background check system and “red flag” laws.

“Doing nothing about America’s gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety,” they wrote. “Gun violence in America is not inevitable; it’s preventable. There are steps Congress can, and must, take to prevent and reduce gun violence. We need our lawmakers to support commonsense gun laws that could prevent tragedies like these.”

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The Senate returned from recess this week and some are pushing to require background checks for private gun sales. Several key senators made a fresh pitch to Trump, a longtime NRA supporter, to help break the gridlock over gun-control.

Rob Pincus, a longtime NRA member and firearms instructor who is among the leaders of Save the Second, a group calling for LaPierre’s resignation, traveled to attend the meetings but told The Associated Press that he was kicked out as it went into executive session. He is part of a growing group of ardent gun supporters who are critical of the NRA’s operations and believes the gun lobby has been squandering member donations.

“If there is a bright side to this for the gun community, it’s realizing that there is no easy button,” he said recently. “You can’t just send your $50 to one organization and assume that they’re handling it well for you, and people are having to take a little bit more accountability and a little bit more action on their own.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

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A student recently received a beautiful surprise from two schoolmates after suffering through relentless bullying during the first few weeks of high school.

Micheal Todd, a 15-year-old freshman at Martin Luther King Jr. College Preparatory School in Memphis, Tennessee, found himself the subject of cruel teasing from other students after he wore the same clothes to school several days in a row.

These comments were nothing new for the teen, who told WHBQ-TV in Memphis, “I’ve been bullied my entire life.”

“I really don’t have clothes at home. My mom can’t buy clothes for me because I’m growing too fast,” he said.

Micheal wasn’t the only one in the neighborhood struggling with this issue. A representative from the school, Erica Williams, told People, “Unfortunately, situations that show students in need are not unique within our school because we serve a demographic where the household income is well below the state and national average.”

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Still, during the school day, his classmates‘ actions made Micheal feel like he was all alone.

However, one of the students who had joined in the laughter while the freshman was being teased soon felt his poor behavior weighing on his conscience. Kristopher Graham, a football player at the school, knew that what he did was wrong, and not long afterward, he decided to make amends.

“When I saw people laugh at him and bully him, I felt like I needed to do something,” Kristopher said.

The teenager called up his friend and teammate, Antwain Garrett, and together the two boys raided their own closets for shirts, shorts and shoes. They gathered up a good collection of clothes, stuffed them into a bag and headed to school.

When the two football players approached Micheal in the hallway, he had no idea what to expect.

“He wasn’t smiling, and I was like, yeah, I think this is gonna make him smile,” Kristopher said. “I told him, ‘We’re in the same third period and I apologize for laughing at you and I want to give something to you to make it up.’”

Another student recorded the special moment they gave Micheal the bag of clothes, as the stunned 15-year-old took them in disbelief.

“I was very happy, I was shocked completely,” he said, thankful not only for the clothes but for two new friends to sit with in the cafeteria.

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“At lunch he told me, he was like, ‘You know, you two are the only two that actually ever gave me a gift,’” Kristopher said. Now, the teens are being applauded for their response to the bullying, as they chose to spread kindness instead of contempt.

“Antwain, Micheal and Kristopher are overwhelmed by the outpour of support from our community and people from across the country,” Williams said.

The school is supporting the students’ gesture and has a donation site set up for anyone who wants to help students in need: http://fraysercs.org/give/

“Some good deeds don’t go unnoticed. We are so proud of these students who didn’t expect their kind gesture that was caught on camera to go viral,” the school wrote in a Facebook post.

Micheal is still thrilled, enjoying his new wardrobe to the fullest.

It was “the best day of my entire life,” the teen said.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Would you have this much self control in the same situation?

Angel Mom Mary Ann Mendoza, who heads the Angel Families organization, has had her posts raising awareness about illegal immigrant crime removed from Facebook as “hate speech.”

Mendoza’s son, 32-year-old police officer Brandon Mendoza, was killed in May 2014 by a drunk illegal alien who was driving the wrong way down a highway in Mesa, Arizona.

This week, Mendoza had two of her Facebook posts from her personal page removed, with the tech platform claiming that she had violated the “Community Standards on hate speech.”

Mayor Pete Buttigieg criticized some gun owners on Friday, suggesting it was sad that their “sense of manhood” depended on owning a gun.

In an interview with TMZ Live on Friday, Buttigieg was asked about the Twitter feud between former Congressman Beto O’Rourke and Texas Republican Representative Briscoe Cain.

After O’Rourke told gun owners that “Hell, yes, we’re gonna take your AR-15″ during the Democrat debate on Thursday, Cain dared Beto O’Rourke on Twitter to come and take his AR-15.