The National Rifle Association has announced it is filing for bankruptcy and moving to Texas.
But according to Erin Douglas, reporter for The Texas Tribune, this relocation may be more on paper than one involving moving vans.
“The NRA was chartered in New York in the 1970s and the organization’s headquarters and much of its operations are in Fairfax, Virginia,” Douglas explained. “So experts tell me that the move to Texas will likely be on paper, and it’s not a done deal yet.”
The NRA’s look to Texas happened in the midst of a New York lawsuit. The attorney general there, Letitia James, sued the NRA last August, claiming decades of fraudulent use of the group’s funds.
“She has threatened to dissolve the organization for violating its nonprofit status, alleging it has used millions of donor dollars to enrich executives,” Douglas said.
That suit prompted the NRA to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and that action effectively halts pending litigation. According to bankruptcy experts, that also means the New York lawsuit will now be battled in a Dallas federal bankruptcy court, which changes the whole nature of the case.
The NRA, while it has said it will seek to reincorporate in Texas, will need court approval to do that. The nonprofit group was originally chartered in New York.
