The National Rifle Association suffered a setback on Thursday as a state supreme court justice ruled against the organization's motions to dismiss, delay, or transfer a lawsuit seeking the group's dissolution.
The lawsuit, brought by New York attorney general Letitia James, aims to dissolve the group—a nonprofit organization incorporated under New York law—because it allegedly defrauded donors.
The NRA was hoping to convince the judge to dismiss the trial or move the venue from gun-skeptical Manhattan to more friendly political territory in Albany.
The ruling comes six days after the Second Amendment organization filed for bankruptcy and announced its plan to reincorporate in Texas. New York state supreme court justice Joel M. Cohen ruled that while the NRA filed for bankruptcy, it wasn't "the exclusive province of the bankruptcy court" to decide the case. The bankruptcy court could still weight in on the case. In many instances, bankruptcy proceedings put lawsuits on hold.
