NRA Wayne LaPierre
(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

In a lengthy opinion, United States Bankruptcy Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale has dismissed the Chapter 11 petition filed by the National Rifle Association.  The case was dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning the NRA could theoretically refile it.

From the conclusion of the opinion:

There are several aspects of this case that still trouble the Court, including the manner and secrecy in which authority to file the case was obtained in the first place, the related lack of express disclosure of the intended Chapter 11 case to the board of directors and most of the elected officers, the ability of the debtor to pay its debts, and the primary legal problem of the debtor being a state regulatory action. The Court agrees with the NYAG that the NRA is using this bankruptcy case to address a regulatory enforcement problem, not a financial one.

The Court finds that the NRA did not file the bankruptcy petition in good faith because this filing was not for a purpose intended or sanctioned by the Bankruptcy Code. Therefore, cause exists under section 1112(b) to dismiss this case, which the Court finds is in the best interests of creditors and the estate.

The Court is not dismissing this case with prejudice, but should the NRA file a new bankruptcy case, this Court would immediately take up some of its concerns about disclosure, transparency, secrecy, conflicts of interest of officers and litigation counsel, and the unusual involvement of litigation counsel in the affairs of the NRA, which could cause the appointment of a trustee out of a concern that the NRA could not fulfill the fiduciary duty required by the Bankruptcy Code for a debtor in possession.

TTAG legal guru LKB is analyzing the judge’s ruling and will be reporting further.

ADDED: The NRA has issued this statement . . .

 

 

 

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82 COMMENTS

  1. I have given The Lincoln Project some mad money this past year.

    My Cabelas Black MasterCard are up to $1002.82.

    Should I also donate to the NRA?

      • “The NRA will keep fighting as we have done for 150 years.”

        Negative. The NRA wasn’t fighting at all, really, until 1991 when Wayne took over. Then the NRA displaced the “FUDDS” with people willing to tell the government they were “jack-booted government thugs” (spoken by Wayne) resulting in FUDD wacker George Herbert Walker Bush to tear up his lifetime NRA card (Thank you – good riddance, FO).

        So should Wayne hang up his coat and retire? Probably. He is getting very elderly. His recent actions in trying to maintain control over the organization that he himself resurrected from the ashes of FUDDOM has left a lot of resentment from members towards him who are doubting his resolve for gun rights.

        But make no mistake, you wouldn’t have any fucking guns right now if it weren’t for Wayne and company! So he is welcome to his expensive suits and yachts in my opinion. And people who think he should leave should do so in a politeful and respectful manner, because he deserves it.

        • I suppose he ought to have fought. He was paid well enough for it, out of the wallets of middle class America. The NRA Board was laughing like hyenas, giving away hard-working members dues to Wayne. NRA, go broke and go away.

          Go GOA.

    • Since you gave to the Lincoln Project I would imagine that your monthly NAMBLA donation is due.

    • No but keep giving to the Biden campaign and the DNC. That should keep you feeling special and protected. You don’t deserve your firearms rights as you are helping to take them from others.

    • Yeah, that’s not me. Fake Post. Probably Debbie DubYuh again.

      And no way I’ll donate to the NRA so long as Wayne LaPayMe! and his cronies have control of the place.

      And if you folks continue to push that lunatic Trump for another run at the Presidency, I would once again support a ham sandwich or a crack addled chimpanzee before I’ll support Trump.

      • You didn’t support a ham sandwich or a crack addled chimpanzee. You supported the destruction of the 2nd amendment, the imposition of critical race theory on government and schools (indoctrination of children into self hate and Marxism, an order of magnitude more reckless spending and money supply inflation than Trump, the destruction of small businesses and maybe even legal pronoun mandates it your guy’s handler can get to it. Trump was an asshole but he did very little other than say inflammatory things, imposed some dumb tariffs, helped make his cronies richer, and just maybe, appointed some conservative judges. When the progressive fruits ripen and you are being beaten to the curb buy those you empowered you can plead with them – “but I am one of you!”

        • Agreed. Any gun owner who voted for Biden intends to turn his guns in to the commissars when the time comes and will happily rat out fellow gun owners.

          The dumbest part of all this is, if Biden really does crash the economy and usher in the Democrat Socialist dictatorship they so desperately want.. they’re so far gone into double-think and TDS that it will still, somehow, be Trump’s fault.

        • Seriously, Enuf. We get that you despise Trump. You’re entitled to your opinion because this is still – I would like to believe – a free country. But why vote for Biden when you can actually, literally write “Ham Sandwich” or “crack addled chimpanzee” on your ballot? You aren’t merely expressing your dislike of Trump at that point, you’re just willfully supporting an agenda that is totally at odds with your stated opinions about the second amendment and many other things. It baffles me that you would do this.

          Anyway, since it wasn’t enough to simply protest with a solid, honorable, and even admirable “ham sandwich” vote, thanks instead for saddling us with the stellar legal representation of Psaki, Harris, Biden, and Kind of a Doctor Biden. Those of us in the sane parts of America are eagerly anticipating the outcomes of “dismayed citizens v. children in filthy, overcrowded border cages,” “ordinary commuters v. gasoline shortages resulting from provocatively weak and feckless foreign policy,” and “people who pretty much like the US constitution v. people who don’t and have stopped pretending because shut up peons.”

        • A baboon’s backside deserves a bit more respect than that, Deborah.

          P.O.S. ‘enuf’ isn’t worth what that anus emits… 😉

    • enuf…you need to be up front. Never mind your spins, distractions, finger pointing, etc. It’s the free ride you took to the guns and ammo you wanted all off the backs of those who defeated hilliary rotten clintoon and elected POTUS DJT.
      You contributed nothing whatsoever but slander and libel all while you boasted about your stash of ammo, etc. Then to top it off you contributed to Jim Crow Gun Control joe and the ho…despicable.

    • Hey enuf, you got any more mad money.
      You could donate to the possum project and help me get my
      UniverseEndingPerpetualFusionNuetrinoBlomb up and running a little faster. Right now I need a new spark plug for the Briggs&Stratton 5hp that powers my washing machine centrifuge, and if you’ve got any spare refrigerator magnets I could use a bunch of them. And some lead, I need some lead to keep the neutrinos in the box, a bunch of lithium batteries would be nice too. And a fuse, about 3 inches of cannon fuse.
      I’ll put you down as a contributing member of the possum project. For $75 bucks you get a sticker, it’s real pretty, gold, picture of nothing with black background.
      Of course once the blomb is built there will be no one around to see it, but what the hell. Just send me some money 👍😊

      • Oh and a wedge belt that fits the spin around on the go faster, I just about forgot that.
        Semper fiesta

      • “Of course once the blomb is built there will be no one around to see it, but what the hell. Just send me some money 👍😊 ”

        The One, the Only, Possum for President, 2024… 😉

        • Got my vote. I might even donate, too. Sounds like the Possum Project could deliver a lot of bang for the buck.

    • I wouldn’t admit to giving to the Lincoln Project. Large a bunch of losers who sucked up a lot of money and put a lot in their own pockets. Lincoln would be appalled his name was so maligned.

      Don’t waste your money on the compromising NRA. They signed off on Clinton’s “assault weapon” ban. That’s the piece of garbage they are. They compromised in the 1930s and in the critical 1960s. Effectively, they have helped bring gun control to America. They cannot go bankrupt fast enough for me.

    • Won’t even pass Constitutional Carry, so it’s hardly a “sanctuary” for any gun organization.

    • Why on earth would they do that. WLP’s performance during this bankruptcy hearing has confirmed the worst fears of every NRA member. Let it die already. There are other organizations ready to carry on the mission. The NRA deserves it’s fate at this point.

      • “The NRA deserves it’s fate at this point.”

        Yeah disagree. The NRA was reborn as an organization finally useful to gun owners seeking protection and to fight the good fight, out of the ashes of FUDDtards like George Herbert walker bush SR, who happily passed 922R regulations on firearms with a smile. It can be reborn again.

      • Amen. Let it die. Go look for their history on their website. There is really none. Know why? They have compromised for decades on top of decades and they don’t want to say so on their own website. Die and not soon enough!

  4. Yet another F’d up NRA “executive decision” that blows up. What a sheet show.

  5. Like anybody with an IQ above 25 didn’t see this coming. Filing bankruptcy to avoid monetary liability has never passed muster in the Courts. The only way to save the NRA now is to let it burn down and rebuilt from whats left. If it’s worth rebuilding? It has been a feckless machine run by money grubbing Elites for decades. Who were more interested in their own monetary and Elite class pursuits than in their members 2A Concerns/Rights. I am a Life Member only because I paid for my membership in a lump sum. Have Not and Will Not offer monetary support until WLP and BOD are gone and Never allowed to represent or lobby for the NRA for monetary gain or reimbursement for life. My money and time is used at the local and state level where “We the People” of Iowa have made great strides in deregulating Our 2A Rights over the last decade. Keep Your Powder Dry.

    • Well said. For $5 you can have my life membership, not many people can claim that!

      • I wouldn’t pay $5 for a lifetime membership to the most compromising gun organization in America. For decades, they sold our rights out the window.

  6. I’ll continue to support GOA and VCDL. The NRA can go pound sand until they fire that sh*thead Wayne LaPierre.

  7. My interpretation of the Judge’s statement: “Mr. LaPierre, the only way this bankruptcy is going forward is under a trustee. I’m going to give you a chance to go home re-think whether that is what you really want.”

    • I think a trustee and an investigator were both within the authority of the judge to appoint. I think this means, “go home and don’t come back until you have a legitimate reason for filing bankruptcy”

  8. I don’t even care anymore. It serves the NRA right for selling us out on bump stocks and red flag laws (Chris Cox is on video endorsing red flag laws).

    The reasons why the NRA is filing bankruptcy in the first place are twofold:

    1) Wayne spent all their money on expensive custom suits and all-expense-paid vacations.

    2) Donations are drying up because people don’t want to buy new suits and vacations for Wayne.

    The NRA is dead to me, and they have been for a very long time.

  9. This is my shocked face. Millions paid to prominent legal scholar Bill Brewer, and the result is nothing other than his personal enrichment and maybe a kickback to Wayne. Maybe they should hire a lawyer that specializes in non-profits to figure out how to legally get the out of New York, or at least how to keep James from seizing the NRA assets and giving them to anti-gun groups that claim to be safety groups. Of course, Wayne won’t do that because he cares more about diverting funds to himself and his cronies than protecting guns. I’m still willing to help pay for new suits for Wayne if they’re prison blues or orange.

  10. Good. Screw ’em. WLP, Ackerman-McQueen, the whole board – send the lot of them to prison or fine them into bankruptcy. Long overdue and richly deserved.

    However with the NRA’s demise it’s time for everyone here to join the following gun rights organizations:

    Gun Owners of America
    Second Amendment Foundation
    Firearms Policy Coalition
    American Suppressor Association
    Your state’s top Gun Rights Organization

    The NRA has been useless for a long time, but with them officially out of the picture we need other voices in Washington speaking for us. We need to make sure all our eggs never wind up in one basket again.

  11. We need representation at the state level. The Senate does not have a liberal majority and probably never will. The states is where the lobbying has to be. Calif needs to boot Newsom and the other 3 families, and vote in people that actually care about the middle class, the people that work, pay taxes and buy the expensive homes to live in a beautiful place. We need to send the homeless home, to mental hospitals and “dry out” clinics to get them clean.
    The problem with Cali is not the people that grew up here, it is the transplants from other states and countries that expect California to support them.

  12. If a ship has a bad Captain it doesn’t make us dislike the Navy. If wrong doing has been done, let the individual that did the wrong doing be held accountable in your thoughts. What the NRA stands for is bigger than one person. The NRA has board members and they should have something to say as too the direction of the NRA. We know the ultimate goal of anti-gun extremist. Don’t fall into their trap. Find out all the facts. Let our system work this out. I remain a supporter of what the NRA stands for and wish them success and hope something can be learned from this experience.

    • We did find out all the facts. We found out in this bankruptcy hearing that the Board is in on it too. It’s not just WLP. It’s the entire board. They’re ALL enriching themselves at the expense of the organization.. it’s just most egregious on the part of WLP. The Board has little to no authority against WLP, and they’ve been aiding and abetting his actions.

      We’re not talking about a rogue captain making us dislike the Navy. We’re talking about the top brass and all the officers engaging in dereliction of duty and self-enrichment.
      In which case, yes, you hate the entire organization. Every board member with a spine and a moral compass is long gone.

      Think about all the wasted money that could have been spent engaging in some good old fashioned lawfare instead of playing a 100% defensive game against the left. The NRA has been a useless paper tiger for years. Midway USA should change it’s “round up” donation options to GOA or FPC – any organization that has actually fought for the second amendment.

      WLP needs prison. The board should be evaluated and fined. It’s time to let it die.

      • While I’m not familiar with New York State law, most states have a nonprofit corporations act that makes the Board of Directors personally liable for the disbursements of the organization.

        That means each individual board member can be sued personally for expenditures by the NRA that were not authorized by its mission statement or charter, as well as any disbursements that were made in bad faith or as a result of a corrupt or unlawful arrangement.

    • “If a ship has a bad captain that doesn’t make us dislike the Navy”

      That’s true, but if the top brass of the Navy were to give warships to our enemies while simultaneously purging their ranks of anyone who disagreed, while also changing the rules to make it impossible to boot out the corrupt leadership, all while demanding we give them cash and support and claiming they are fighting for us, well… disliking the Navy would be a very reasonable reaction now wouldn’t it?

  14. Some day in a planet far far away, when the NRA gets rid of Wayne. I renew my membership. But no money for you, until you do.

  15. I was an NRA member for more than fifty years. Dedicated. Donated regularly. Supported them through thick and thin. Until the revelations about Wayne LaPierre. Then the purge of good board members and officers who demanded spending investigations. Then board members being stripped of their oversight rights. Board members that I voted to represent me. Mostly, Wayne LaPierre’s abuse of member trust with his personal expense accounts, travel, his paid rent for a honeypot intern, and paying family members incredible amounts for nothing. He is the highest form of corrupt. No more. So incredibly sad. Sadder still that people defend him in the face of what he has brought down on a wonderful organization. May he rot in prison.

    • “May he rot in prison.”

      Yeah – he’s not going to prison. The State of NY isn’t going after Wayne, they are going after the NRA.

      • Actually, I think the NYAG has a problem since the bad behavior isn’t by the membership, any reasonable judge is going to ask her why she has not attempted to prosecute LaPierre and co-conspirators rather than attack the organization. Then again, New York so corruption and brain dead leftists abound.

  16. I paid about half of a lifetime and quit sending them money after I got deluged by promotional materials asking for more money. It was easy to see the NRA was a money making machine under the guise of 2A and still sold us out when it had the chance.

  17. Wayne reminds me of me. Trying to get out of trouble and just keeps digging the hole deeper.
    I guess your going to find out about a whole lot of things,,, celly.

  18. Yeah, NRA and Republicans failed to pass the Hearing Protection Act, failed to secure rights while they had a majority in both House and Senate and a Republican President, failed, failed, failed.

    Then they continued frolicking around until they lost everything when the Dems blew them out of the water.

    Until they can articulate a real plan to start protecting the POTG rather than just shaking them down for cash, they get nothing. Not a dime. Their “BE SCARED!” tactics are from ten years ago. Blue states have already made everything illegal. Red states have already declared their Second Amendment Sanctuary status. Lines are drawn. People are waiting for a decent plan that doesn’t include either violence or throwing money down the Wayne rathole. Tell us how NRA will become effective again.

    If their plan is to let Wayne LaPierre continue frolicking and being ineffective, then it is off to the other entities who will actually litigate cases and push politicians.

  20. There sure are a lot of tools of the left on here. Carrying thru the prog #1 objective of destroying the NRA. You morons think there is ANYTHING the progs/dems won’t say or do to advance their antigun agenda?? The NRA had/is the only significant org standing in their way.

    Stop with all the butthurt BS. PERHAPS you could actually get involved in the political process. Get you snowflake but to the local central committee monthly meeting, go see your rep/senator, call, stop whining with the CNN talking points.

    • “the prog #1 objective of destroying the NRA“

      The current legal situation of the NRA has very little to do with the progressive agenda, and everything to do with the corrupt actions of Wayne Lapierre and the Board of Directors.

      Sorry boys, y’all own this one. And it’s a stellar example of the honesty and integrity of the gun community.

      The NRA is going to go the way of another corrupt organization chartered in New York State, the Trump Foundation.

      Hmmm, i’m detecting a pattern here…

    • If people ceased farming out the work why would we need the mercs at the NRA?

      That’s what they are. Guns for hire so that you don’t have to get your hands dirty at the local level. You know, maybe do a citizen’s duty of oversight?

  22. to Strych9 , good song. to the others. yes Wayne is the brains behind the fighting. and even if he has to go, that doesn’t mean the whole org. has to go. we still need them. and yes donate. they are the biggest group fighting for us. and the others while good to have are not as big and don’t have as much clout. right now we need ALL the gun rights groups we can get. these are COMMUNIST in the white house. they don’t believe your rights are absolute rights, and the we the people means we the people and not we the gov’t. we have a big fight on our hands. don’t listen to the commie plants on this site telling you to not donate to the NRA . they are trying to get rid of the biggest gun rights group going. and once they do that kiss our rights ( all of them ) good bye. donate to all the gun rights groups. including the NRA. right now they are being watched, so even if they did do some wrong thins I doubt they are now. they have to show where everything is going. we need them and all the others.

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