A Texas judge on Tuesday tossed the National Rifle Association’s bankruptcy filing, calling into question the beleaguered advocacy group’s attempt to move to the state.
Judge Harlin Hale of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas dismissed the group’s Chapter 11 filing, writing that CEO Wayne LaPierre was using the filing “to gain an unfair litigation advantage” and “to avoid a state regulatory scheme.”
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Hale wrote in his opinion that the organization has strayed from its original intended purpose, which was to advocate for a broad reading of the Second Amendment.
“The mission and function of the 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 recent years, however, it has become apparent that the NRA was suffering from inadequate governance and internal controls.”
The Tuesday ruling comes just months after New York Attorney General Letitia James claimed that the NRA had filed the lawsuit in bad faith. James sued the nonprofit group last year, accusing LaPierre of corruption and attempting to dissolve the organization. LaPierre has denied those accusations.
James has jurisdiction over the NRA, which was founded in New York. Its headquarters are in the Washington, D.C., suburbs.
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The NRA, when it filed for bankruptcy in January, claimed that the move was “to exit what it believes is a corrupt political and regulatory environment in New York” and move to Texas, which it viewed as more friendly.
Hale’s ruling strikes a blow at the attempt, although the judge did leave open the possibility for the group to file for bankruptcy in Texas a second time. The NRA, which has suffered from a series of scandals in the past few years, has spent millions of dollars in its bankruptcy legal battle.
