On Its Way to Texas, NRA Files for Bankruptcy Protection

New York is seeking to break up the organization
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 15, 2021 4:35 PM CST
On Its Way to Texas, NRA Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Members of the Virginia Gun Violence Prevention Coalition protest outside National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax in 2015.   (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via AP)

The National Rifle Association asked a federal court for bankruptcy protection from its creditors on Friday, saying it plans to restructure as a nonprofit in Texas. The organization now is registered in New York, Reuters reports. In a statement, the NRA said it's leaving "a corrupt political and regulatory environment." Letitia James, New York state's attorney general, filed a lawsuit last summer seeking the dissolution of the NRA, saying its misspending, much of it on its executives, amounted to widespread fraud. Reincorporation in Texas could protect the NRA from that fate; James' suit said she had the power to break up the NRA because it was a nonprofit incorporated in New York. Congressional Democrats have asked the IRS to review that tax-exempt status.

CEO Wayne LaPierre posted a letter to members Friday saying, "The plan can be summed up quite simply: We are DUMPING New York." He called Texas "a state that values the contributions of the NRA, celebrates our law-abiding members, and will join us as a partner in upholding constitutional freedom." The organization has no money problems, LaPierre said. "We are as financially strong as we have been in years," he wrote. There are no plans at the moment to move out of its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, LaPierre said, or make any staff or operational changes. More than 400,000 NRA members live in Texas, per the Hill, and the NRA had already planned to hold its annual meeting in Houston this year. (President Trump had suggested this move to the NRA.)

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