MASSIVE WIN FOR REPUBLICANS: As The National Rifle Association Scores A Victory Over The New York Attorney General

It was reported by ConservativeBrief that the National Rifle Association scored a major victory in a case that could have far-reaching implications for the future of the Second Amendment.In a ruling on Wednesday, New York Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen said that Attorney General Letitia James could not attempt to dissolve the National Rifle Association, CNN reported.

New York Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen said the attorney general’s suit paints a “grim” picture of “greed, self-dealing, and lax financial oversight” at the highest levels of the NRA. But, Cohen writes in his opinion, the attorney general also describes the NRA as a victim of its executives’ schemes to siphon millions of dollars away from the organization’s legitimate operations.

Cohen said that, if that’s proven, New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office can address the harm done to the NRA and its members and donors with “targeted, less intrusive” relief. He denied the attorney general’s claim to dissolve the NRA, stating in part that James’ office had failed to prove that the alleged mismanagement of the organization’s funds has created public harm.

“The Complaint does not allege that any financial misconduct benefited the NRA, or that the NRA exists primarily to carry out such activity, or that the NRA is incapable of continuing its legitimate activities on behalf of its millions of members,” the judge said. “In short, the Complaint does not allege the type of public harm that is the legal linchpin for imposing the ‘corporate death penalty.’”

He also said that dissolving the NRA could affect the right to free speech of its members.

James said that the judge’s decision still allowed her office’s to pursue its claims that “fraud, abuse, and greed permeate through the NRA and its senior leadership.”

“While we’re heartened that the judge rejected the NRA’s attempts to thwart most of the claims in our case against the NRA, we are disappointed that the judge ruled against the dissolution portion of the case,” she said. “We are considering our legal options with respect to this ruling. We remain committed to enforcing New York law regardless of how powerful any individual or organization maybe.”

The NRA and its attorneys celebrated the victory.

“We applaud the court’s recognition that dissolution is neither appropriate nor justified,” Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors attorney William A. Brewer III, who represented the NRA said to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We look forward to continuing the defense of the NRA – and proving that it acts in the best interests of its members and the Second Amendment freedoms in which they believe.”