The National Rifle Association is suing its own charitable wing in federal court, alleging that the nonprofit NRA Foundation, which it founded in 1990, is unfairly using the NRA logo to attract a rival donor base and undercut it.
The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court, marks the latest strife for the gun rights group, which has been trying to balance its books and rebuild its reputation after years of misspending, allegations of corruption and internal conflict.
The suit alleges that the NRA’s official charity was “seized by a disgruntled faction of former NRA directors who lost control of the NRA’s Board.”
The filing accuses the foundation’s leadership of misleading donors by suggesting that they were supporting the NRA, when in fact the funds were going to a charity that the NRA alleges had been transformed into “a vehicle for personal reprisal.” It also says the NRA Foundation was using the NRA’s trademark without permission.
The NRA Foundation did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit early Tuesday.
“This is a disappointing day, and it should not have come to this,” NRA CEO Doug Hamlin said in a statement published by the Outdoor Wire. “A foundation established to support the National Rifle Association of America has taken actions that are adversarial at a time when the NRA is rebuilding and focused on its long-term mission,” he said, describing the lawsuit as a “last resort.”
In the lawsuit, attorneys for the NRA ask a judge to prevent the foundation from unfairly competing with the NRA, as well as order the foundation to stop using the NRA’s trademarks and pay an unspecified sum in damages.
Monday’s court filings marked the latest explosion of internal warfare at the group, whose finances have been ravaged in recent years. According to campaign data tracker OpenSecrets, the NRA spent $11 million in the 2024 elections, one-third of its 2020 spending and less than one-fifth of its 2016 spending.
In February 2024, a jury in New York found that Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s longtime leader who resigned on the eve of the trial, had squandered funds on vacations, private jets and designer clothes and was liable to pay $5.4 million in damages. Former CFO Wilson “Woody” Phillips was ordered to pay $2 million in damages.
Some weeks later, the NRA avoided a second trial by reaching a settlement with the D.C. district attorney, agreeing to reform how the NRA Foundation distributed money. That lawsuit had accused the charity of funneling millions of dollars without proper oversight back to the NRA. The NRA did not acknowledge any wrongdoing in the settlement and had denied the lawsuit’s claims in court filings.
According to the lawsuit, the foundation’s chairman and the majority of its trustees are former NRA board members who were allied with LaPierre.
The group has since been trying to turn a new leaf on a painful chapter in its 155-year-old history. In recent years, many of the group’s former critics have joined the NRA’s 76-member board, which likes to call itself “NRA 2.0.” In November, it announced plans to furlough more than 30 staff members in a bid to save about $16 million.
It was not immediately clear how Monday’s lawsuit would affect the link between the NRA and the NRA Foundation. The NRA’s website continued on Tuesday to prominently promote a link to “Friends of NRA,” the foundation’s main fundraising program.
The NRA Foundation’s annual report for the 2024 calendar year, its most recent, listed net assets exceeding $200 million and annual revenue of $41 million.
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