New York Attorney General is Moving to Destroy the NRA

The state of New York is working to dissolve the National Rifle Association.

The current New York Attorney General Letitia James is accusing the gun rights organization and its leadership of perpetuating largescale fraud against its donors.

In a lawsuit, James accused the NRA of diverting charitable donations to enrich the organization’s leaders for a number of years. Such action was in violation of laws regulating nonprofits. In addition, James is also pressing for millions of dollars in penalties and restitution.

This is the latest chapter of instability that has been rocking the NRA over the past year. BLP previously documented some of the internal controversy that has negatively impacted the organization. There was a notable internal feud between former NRA president Oliver North last year. According to a probe that the state of New York conducted, organizational malpractice led to the NRA losing over $64 million over the last years.

“We are seeking an order to dissolve the NRA in its entirety,” James during a press conference in Manhattan. The organization for years has been “operating as a breeding ground for greed, abuse and brazen illegality,” she stated.

Newsmax reported that the lawsuit filed in Manhattan alluded to the “NRA’s pattern of conducting its business in a persistently fraudulent or illegal manner, abusing its powers contrary to public policy of New York and its tax exempt status, and failing to provide for the proper administration of its trust assets and institutional funds.”

NRA President Carolyn Meadows described the lawsuit aa a baseless, politically motivated attack on the Second Amendment. She called attention to the lawsuit’s timing which came around election time.

“It’s a transparent attempt to score political points and attack the leading voice in opposition to the leftist agenda,” Meadows declared in a statement. “This has been a power grab by a political opportunist — a desperate move that is part of a rank political vendetta. Our members won’t be intimidated or bullied in their defense of political and constitutional freedom.”

At the White House on August 6, 2020, President Donald trump criticized the lawsuit as a “very terrible thing.” The NRA has been “absolutely decimated by the cost of that lawsuit, and it’s very sad,” Trump declared. He encouraged the group to move its operations to Texas. “It would be a great place for the NRA,” he commented.

The state of New York said in a statement that its investigation discovered multiple cases of misconduct, including the handouts of lucrative deals to family members and close partners and the granting of “no show” contracts to former employees to allegedly “buy their silence and continued loyalty.”

James alleges that LaPierre spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of NRA money for luxurious trips. Additionally, he spent millions more on “unwarranted travel expenses” which included luxury black-car services, according to James’ allegations.

“LaPierre has undertaken a series of actions to consolidate his position; to exploit that position for his personal benefit and that of his family; to continue, by use of a secret ‘poison pill contract,’ his employment even after removal and ensuring NRA income for life; and to intimidate, punish, and expel anyone at a senior level who raised concerns about his conduct,” the 164-page complaint asserted.

“The effect has been to divert millions of dollars away from the charitable mission, imposing substantial reductions in its expenditures for core program services, including gun safety, education, training, member services and public affairs,” the state claimed.

On top of dissolving the NRA, James revealed that she’ll be pursuing a court order for LaPierre and other parties involved in order to subject them to penalties and have them pay restitution in full for illegal profits and salaries.

“The NRA has a long history of thwarting the rules that govern not-for-profits in New York state,” Governor Andrew Cuomo remarked during a media conference call. “The state has been very generous and somewhat lax in the number of not-for-profits that we have granted, and they forget that they are taxpayer subsidized.”

Although the NRA’s dedication to promoting the Second Amendment has been questioned by staunch pro-gun advocates, this decision by the state of New York should worry gun owners nationwide.

By dissolving this group, the state of New York is opening up the precedent for harassment of other Second Amendment organizations.

States like New York are laboratories for these schemes, which will inevitably be exported to other states.

The U.S. already has enough gun control as it is. Once Second Amendment organizations’ free speech rights are gutted, future gun grabs will be much easier to carry out.

 

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