The National Rifle Association may have handed ammunition to its critics when it filed bankruptcy as part of an effort to defend itself from New York regulators and others and reincorporate in Texas, Bloomberg News reported. Sometime in the coming weeks, the group, known for its aggressive political and legal tactics in defense of gun rights, will be forced to release a detailed list of cash payments it has made to insiders in the last year and any unusual property transfers it has made to anyone within two years. And if the NRA had a stake in any other business of 5% or more in the last six years, that information must be made public as well. Before then, the U.S. Trustee, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, will set up an official committee of unsecured creditors with the power to launch new investigations into the NRA’s spending. “Each bit of information in that filing can open the door for more inquiries and discovery,” Dallas bankruptcy attorney John Penn said. The NRA filed for bankruptcy last month as part of a strategy to resolve many of the lawsuits it faces in one location and to reincorporate in gun-friendly Texas. The association claims it is the subject of a political attack by regulators in New York.
