(Reuters) – The National Rifle Association filed for bankruptcy on Friday, a sudden development that could help the gun advocacy group escape a New York Attorney General’s lawsuit seeking its dissolution.
The NRA filed Chapter 11 protection in federal bankruptcy court in Dallas and said it plans to rejoin Texas to escape a “corrupt political and regulatory environment” in New York, where it is now incorporated.
“Texas values ANR contributions, celebrates our law-abiding members, and joins us as a partner in defending constitutional freedom,” Wayne LaPierre said in a letter to members. “We seek protection against New York officials who illegally abused and armed the powers they exercised against the ANR and its members.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James accused the NRA in August of accusing LaPierre and other senior leaders of self-management and mismanagement, and said the group’s activities violated state laws governing organizations. non-profit.
James said NRA officials diverted millions of dollars to fund luxury lifestyles, including vacations and private jets, and to buy the silence and loyalty of former employees, costing the group $ 64 million in three years. .
“The claimed financial situation of the ANR has finally reached its moral condition: bankruptcy,” James said in a statement Friday. “We will not allow the ANR to use this or any other tactic to evade accountability and oversight of my office.”
In its own statement, the ANR did not commit to making immediate changes to its operations or staff and said it was not insolvent, and LaPierre added that it was “as strong financially as we have been in years. “.
The group said it would continue to defend the constitutional rights of its members under the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to maintain and bear arms.
Critics say the NRA is a facilitator of armed violence.
In his lawsuit, James said the incorporation of the NRA as a nonprofit into New York gave him the authority to seek its dissolution. The NRA filed a lawsuit in federal court in Albany, New York, accusing her of violating her rights to free speech because she disliked her policy.
The ANR accused James, a Democrat, of seeking a “corporate death sentence” in a partisan push to meet a “professional goal.”
Sixteen Republican attorneys general filed a writ in support of the ANR case.
Friday’s decision is likely to put New York’s lawsuit on hold and a reinstatement in Texas could deprive James of his power to dissolve the group.
Report by Jan Wolfe and Jonathan Stempel; Edited by Rosalba O’Brien and Jonathan Oatis