NRA declares bankruptcy, reintegrates in Texas

WASHINGTON – The National Rifle Association said on Friday it had filed for bankruptcy in a U.S. court as part of a larger restructuring plan to move to Texas after New York state requested the dissolution of the organization for allegedly embezzling funds.

The gun rights group has said it will restructure as a Texas nonprofit out of what it has described as “a corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York.” where it is currently saved.

“The plan can be summarized quite simply: we are DUMPING New York, and we are pursuing plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas,” wrote Wayne LaPierre, CEO and Executive Vice President of the NRA, adding that this decision will not ” no major changes. expected from NRA operations or personnel. “

In his statement on Friday, LaPierre said the NRA was not insolvent and that the move to Texas would strengthen the organization. “We are as strong financially as we have been years ago,” he said.

He added that the organization has no plans at this time to relocate the NRA headquarters from Fairfax, Virginia.

New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a statement that the state will review the NRA case, but added: “We will not allow the NRA to use this or any other tactic to evade the responsibility and oversight of my office. “

“The financial situation claimed by the NRA has finally reached its moral status: bankrupt,” she added.

Last year, James announced that the state was seeking to dissolve the NRA in a lawsuit that accused the organization’s leaders of embezzling millions of dollars for their own personal use, resulting in a loss of $ 64 million for the ‘organization.

“The influence of the NRA has been so powerful that the organization has gone unchecked for decades as top leaders funneled millions into their own pockets,” James said in August. “The NRA is full of fraud and abuse, which is why today we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law,” she added.

James asks the court to dissolve the NRA and demand that each of the current and former leaders named in the lawsuit pay full restitution.

Read more: New York AG seeks to dissolve NRA in lawsuit accusing executives of personal transactions, causing losses of $ 64 million

NRA President Carolyn Meadows said in a statement at the time that the lawsuit is “a baseless and premeditated attack on our organization and the Second Amendment freedoms it fights to defend.”

The lawsuit is another step in a long-standing battle between New York City and the gun rights group, which has been chartered to the state since 1871.

CNBC Tucker higgins contributed to this report from New York.