The National Rifle Association has filed Chapter 11 protections and plans to reincorporate their organization in Texas.
“The plan can be summed up quite simply: We are DUMPING New York, and we are pursuing plans to reincorporate the NRA in Texas. To facilitate the strategic plan and restructuring, the NRA and one of its subsidiaries have filed voluntary chapter 11 petitions” in Dallas, Texas, reads a letter posted Friday on the NRA’s website.
The letter, from NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, says the organization is “as financially strong as we have been in years.” Chapter 11 is part of the U.S. bankruptcy code and allows entities to continue operating while working out plans to repay creditors.
The organization is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, and has “no immediate plans to relocate,” however it is looking into “strategic options.”
He says the NRA is filing for Chapter 11 protections as they reorganize to “streamline costs and expenses, proceed with pending litigation in a coordinated and structured manner, and realize many financial and strategic advantages.”
He specifically calls out protection from “abuse of legal and regulatory power” from New York’s attorney general and governor.
Last year, New York Attorney General Letitia James said the state was looking to dissolve the NRA, and accused the organization's leadership of diverting millions for their personal use.
“The NRA’s claimed financial status has finally met its moral status: bankrupt. While we review this filing, we will not allow the NRA to use this or any other tactic to evade accountability and my office’s oversight," James said in a written statement Friday following news of the NRA filing Chapter 11.
The National Rifle Association has been chartered in the State of New York since 1871.
