One could legally attempt to punish LaPierre and other alleged malfeasant actors without literally dissolving the NRA. That is simply not healthy or prudent for a country as on edge as America. Whatever the financial sins of the NRA's leaders, the politics of this move against them will doubtless make many continue to see partisan control of government power as a near life-or-death issue, irrespective of whether one loves the NRA per se. According to, the NRA has lately been outspending GOA in lobbying by millions a year. That said, even such donors might justly wonder: why should all the momentum, resources, reputation, and relationships the NRA has built be tossed out the window entirely for these reasons? While many in the Second Amendment community have in the recent past seen rivals such as the Gun Owners of America (GOA) as a more reliable ally, the NRA still has more money and reputation to throw around lobbying for the gun rights cause than any other entity. Often, just one of these suspicious-seeming deals (and dozens are detailed) involved amounts larger than a typical NRA donor's likely annual income. You can be sure that many citizens and voters who consider themselves gun rights activists will see this as a political hit-whether or not they admire or support the NRA itself.Īny NRA donor of normal American income would likely get hot under the collar reading all the details in the NYAG's 164-page filing against the NRA, which is rife with detailed accusations that NRA bigwigs used the organization's money to help out relatives, close pals, and themselves. Trump Foundation.)īut absent a clear record of annihilating nonprofits, across ideological lines, being a regular practice, it would not be unreasonable to guess that New York's legal action today is motivated in part by politics. (One such effort in 2018 did lead to the death of the Donald J. The New York attorney general's office has not, as of posting time, replied to a question about how often they have previously sought the total destruction of a nonprofit organization over financial malfeasance on the part of officers, and how such past attempts have fared in court. Is this extreme response-dissolving it as a legal nonprofit entity-to misbehavior on the part of a nonprofit's officers possibly motivated by disdain toward the gun rights movement on the part of the Democratic attorney general? The NRA's board is similarly accused of being grossly negligent or complicit in the officers' alleged misuse of donor funds. As reported earlier today at Reason, New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking the complete legal destruction of the National Rifle Association (NRA) because of lengthy accusations of financial malfeasance on the part of some of its longtime officers, including current CEO and executive vice president Wayne LaPierre.