Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Lucas Jackson | Reuters
WASHINGTON – The National Rifle Association said Friday that it has filed for bankruptcy in U.S. court as part of a larger restructuring plan aimed at removing its footprint in New York to Texas.
The gun-rights advocacy group said it would restructure as a Texas nonprofit to exit from what it described as “a corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York,” where it is currently registered.
“The plan can be summed up quite simply: We are DUMPING New York, and we are pursuing plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas,” wrote NRA CEO and executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, adding that the move will have “no major changes are expected to the NRA’s operations or workforce.”
Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that the state was seeking to dissolve the NRA in a lawsuit that accused the organization’s leadership of diverting $64 million dollars for their own personal use.
“The NRA’s influence has been so powerful that the organization went unchecked for decades while top executives funneled millions into their own pockets,” James said in August. “The NRA is fraught with fraud and abuse, which is why, today, we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law,” she added.
James is asking the court to dissolve the NRA and require each of the current and former executives named in the suit to pay full restitution.
New York State Attorney General, Letitia James
Lucas Jackson | Reuters
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