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 The announcement came amid court action
https://www.reuters.com/
legal/transactional/nras-unabated-corruption-justifies-shutting-it-down-new-york-says-2021-08-17
brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James seeking to
dissolve the NRA, accusing the nation's leading firearms lobby of
failing to root out rampant internal corruption.
The NRA's yearly Meeting & Exhibits event typically draws tens of
thousands of attendees from across the country, primarily members of
the gun rights organization, to several days of social gatherings,
assemblies and firearms displays.
The 2021 event had been scheduled to run from Sept. 3 through Sept.
5 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.
But the beleaguered organization said in a statement it had decided
to indefinitely postpone the annual meeting "after analyzing
relevant data regarding COVID-19 in Harris County, Texas," which
encompasses the city of Houston.
Texas, like much of the United States, has seen COVID-19 infections,
hospitalizations and deaths climb sharply in recent weeks as the
highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus spread swiftly
through the population, especially among the unvaccinated.
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 "The NRA's top priority is
ensuring the health and well-being of our
members, staff, sponsors and supporters," the
group said in its statement. "We are mindful
that NRA annual meeting patrons will return home
to family, friends and co-workers from all over
the country, so any impacts from the virus could
have broader implications." The
NRA, embroiled in allegations of graft and mismanagement, had sought
to use Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reincorporate in
Republican-dominated Texas and escape what it called a corrupt
political and regulatory environment in New York, where it was
founded in 1871.
But a federal bankruptcy judge in Dallas dismissed the Chapter 11
filing in May, calling it an improper effort to avoid the lawsuit
brought by James.
In an amended complaint filed last week, James said the NRA's
concealment of millions of dollars in questionable transactions,
awarding perks to longtime Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre and other
insiders, had "continued unabated" since she first sued the
nonprofit last August.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Karishma
Singh)
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