The weapons are displayed inside a store on June 17, 2016 in Lake Barrington, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
WASHINGTON – The National Rifle Association said on Friday that it filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. court as part of a larger restructuring plan aimed at moving to Texas after New York State called for the organization to be dissolved by supposedly misappropriation of funds.
The arms rights advocacy group said it would restructure itself as a Texas non-profit organization out of what it described as “a corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York”, where it is currently registered.
“The plan can be summarized in a very simple way: we are DUMPING in New York and we are looking for plans to reincorporate NRA in Texas,” wrote NRA CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, adding that the change “will not have major changes , expected for NRA operations or workforce. “
In his statement on Friday, LaPierre said that the NRA is not insolvent and that the move to Texas would make the organization stronger. “We are as financially strong as we have been in recent years,” he said.
He added that the organization has no plans at this point to move the NRA headquarters from Fairfax, Virginia.
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Lucas Jackson | Reuters
Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that the state was trying to dissolve the NRA in a lawsuit that accused the organization’s leadership of embezzling millions for personal use, resulting in a loss of $ 64 million to the organization.
“The NRA’s influence was so powerful that the organization was out of control for decades, while top executives channeled millions into their own pockets,” said James in August. “The NRA is full of fraud and abuse, so today we seek to dissolve the NRA, because no organization is above the law,” he added.
James is asking the court to dissolve the NRA and demand that each of the current and former executives mentioned in the lawsuit pay the full refund.
New York State Attorney General, Letitia James
Lucas Jackson | Reuters
NRA President Carolyn Meadows said in a statement at the time that the process is “an unreasonable and premeditated attack on our organization and the Second Amendment freedoms it fights to defend”.
The lawsuit is another step in a long battle between New York and the arms rights advocacy group, which has been licensed in the state since 1871.
CNBC’s Tucker Higgins contributed to this New York report.