Arms Lobby | Accused of fraud, the NRA escapes a dissolution in New York

(New York) Accused of financial fraud by the New York State prosecutor, the powerful American firearms lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA), cannot however be dissolved by justice, ruled on Wednesday a New York judge.

By contrast, in a 40-page ruling from the New York State Supreme Court’s Commercial Division, Judge Joel Cohen ruled that prosecutor Letitia James was justified in seeking to legally remove the historic leader of the NRA, Wayne LaPierre, suspected of misuse of corporate assets and corruption.

Although M.^me James uncovered in her investigation a “sinister case of greed, insider trading and lax fiscality”, she failed to prove that the NRA directly benefited from these alleged financial malfeasance, which which would justify a dissolution of the organization, according to Judge Cohen.

“The complaint (civil of the prosecutor) does not allege that there was public prejudice, the central element in law to impose the “death penalty on a company”, ie a dissolution, writes the New York magistrate.

But prosecutor James remains legally justified in attacking the leaders of the NRA, including its vice-president since 1991, Mr. LaPierre, accused by the courts of having “total contempt for corporate governance”.

In a press release, Mr.^me James was pleased that the New York Supreme Court recognized her “right to sue (her investigation) for fraud, abuse and profiteering that permeates the NRA and its leaders.”

However, she said she was “disappointed that the judge ruled against the dissolution” of the pro-arms lobby.

After 15 months of investigation, the prosecutor, an elected member of the Democratic Party, filed a complaint in August 2020 against the NRA and Mr. LaPierre, accusing them of misuse of corporate assets and demanding the dissolution of the conservative association and the withdrawal of the conservative leader.

He denies these allegations.

According to M^me James, Mr. LaPierre illegally used NRA funds to regularly take his family to the Bahamas for luxury vacations.

This powerful political lobby in the United States, which has injected millions of dollars into Republican Party election campaigns, had unsuccessfully attempted in May 2021 to move its legal and corporate headquarters from New York to Dallas, Texas, and to declare bankruptcy. The association actually has its offices in Virginia, a suburb of Washington.

For 150 years, the NRA has advocated a literal reading of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution on “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” of fire.