The National Rifle Association said Friday that it has filed for bankruptcy and is moving to Texas, where the organization claims to have 400,000 members. The NRA is currently based in New York, where the state Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit alleging financial crimes on the part of its main employees and is trying to dissolve the organization.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection stops all judicial and judicial proceedings relating to debt or collection, while an organization restructures its debts. In May 2020, the NRA, which claims to have 5 million members, laid off dozens of employees and ended fundraising and its national convention amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The pause in fundraising and the lack of a national convention in a presidential election year was a major financial setback for the organization, although Americans bought a record number of weapons in 2020.
The NRA said it is “restructuring” in a state that “values NRA contributions, celebrates our law-abiding members and will join us as a partner in the defense of constitutional freedom”. The NRA has been based in New York since its inception in 1871.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted the news and wrote “welcome to Texas – a state that safeguards the 2nd Amendment”.
Meanwhile, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, one of the largest organizations dedicated to reducing armed violence, called the NRA’s action an “attempt to escape legal guilt over years of financial mismanagement and illegal self-dealing”.
“This desperate maneuver is a real admission of guilt,” said Joshua Feinblatt in a statement.
James filed a lawsuit in New York in August that alleged that the NRA and four of its top executives mismanaged funds and violated state and federal laws, resulting in the loss of more than $ 64 million to the organization over a three-year period. years. Senior leaders, says James, have abused millions of NRA coffers on trips to the Bahamas, private jets, luxury hotels and fine restaurants.
The NRA president denied the allegations at the time, calling the process “a premeditated and baseless attack on our organization”.
The NRA said on Friday that there would be “no immediate changes in NRA operations or workforce”.
Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.