(Reuters) – The National Rifle Association on Friday filed petitions in a U.S. bankruptcy court to seek protection from creditors through a restructuring, the gun rights group announced.
The NRA filed Chapter 11 petitions in U.S. bankruptcy court in Dallas, it said in a press release.
The ANR said it would restructure as a Texas nonprofit to get out of what it said was a state “a corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York,” where it is currently registered.
The influential group said in a statement that there will be no immediate changes in its operations or workforce, and that it will “continue the future progress of the company, facing activities against the Second Amendment, promoting security and firearms training and advancing public programs in the United States. “
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to bear and bear arms.
Last August, New York State Attorney General Letitia James demanded the dissolution of the ANR, alleging that senior leaders of the nonprofit group diverted millions of dollars for personal use. and that they bought the silence and loyalty of former employees.
The lawsuit filed by James in a Manhattan state court alleges that ANR leaders paid for family trips to the Bahamas, private jets and expensive meals that contributed to a $ 64 million reduction in the balance sheet. ‘ANR in three years, turning a surplus into a deficit.
The ANR responded by suing James, a Democrat, in federal court, saying he had violated the ANR’s right to freedom of expression and was trying to block his investigation. The litigation is still pending.
The ANR in recent decades has been one of the main voices opposing proposed or existing arms control measures.
The ANR’s actions are likely to put the attorney general’s lawsuit on hold, and a reinstatement could deprive it of the group’s ability to seek dissolution. In his lawsuit, James had said that the incorporation of the NRA as a nonprofit in New York gave him the authority to dissolve it.
Report by Jan Wolfe and Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Leslie Adler, Rosalba O’Brien and Jonathan Oatis