Judge Harlin Hale dismissed the NRA bankruptcy case Tuesday, setting the organization up for a likely even tougher fight in the state of New York. The move would have re-incorporated NRA in gun-friendly Texas, and away from litigious-minded New York State Attorney General Letitia James. But Hale’s dismissal, for now, puts an end to any court-ordered reprieve from litigation in New York and elsewhere.
Judge Dismisses NRA Bankruptcy Case
James filed a lawsuit in August seeking to dissolve the NRA. The NRA countered by seeking bankruptcy protection and re-organization in Texas. Hale’s ruling centers on NRA’s recent much-publicized failings and apparent lack of fiscal responsibility or control. For example, one recent discovery described a long-time staffer misappropriating $40,000 for a family wedding.
“The mission and function of he NRA is focused on gun safety, and the NRA asserts it is ‘the nation’s foremost defender’ of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution,” he wrote in his ruling, reported The Reload. “In recent years, however, it has become apparent that the NRA was suffering from inadequate governance and internal controls.”
Now the NRA fails to obtain the protection it desperately sought against James’ war on the association. While her attack reeks of anti-gun motivation, it, and the accompanying circus, uncovered a litany of misdeeds and seemingly inappropriate behavior by NRA executives. NRA leadership put us here.
“The question the court is faced with is whether the existential threat facing the NRA is the type of threat that the Bankruptcy Code is meant to protect against,” Hale wrote, reported Reuters. “The court believes it is not.”
Above all, the latest ruling heaps more negative press on the NRA. It further underscores the long-overdue need for reform and reorganization. An alleged weak Board of Directors and questionable spending long pushes past unethical. It hovers instead on potentially illegal. So now all eyes turn back to New York, where James wants LaPierre’s head on a pike. Sadly, our greatest gun rights ally might just go with him.
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