CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has joined a 16-state effort to protect those who cherish the Second Amendment to choose whether they wish to assemble as members of the National Rifle Association.
The recent brief supports the NRA’s efforts to reorganize and, likewise, opposes an attempt by New York Attorney General Letitia James to dismiss the organization’s chapter 11 bankruptcy petition.
It represents the latest in a continuing effort by the coalition to oppose a New York lawsuit that seeks to dissolve the NRA and undermine the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
“The Second Amendment is a bedrock principle,” Morrisey said. “We remain fervent in defending the right to bear arms for all West Virginians as well as their First Amendment right to assemble as law-abiding citizens who cherish self-defense and the freedom to live their lives as they choose.”
The coalition’s brief details New York’s history of retaliating against the NRA for the organization’s defense of a fundamental constitutional right. It further argues there is nothing improper about the NRA seeking to leave New York when the state has sought to dissolve it for advocating for Americans’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
In August 2020, James filed suit in state court seeking to dissolve the NRA. Separately, the District of Columbia’s attorney general filed an action against the non-profit organization NRA Foundation, but the District of Columbia lawsuit tellingly did not seek dissolution.
Subsequently, the NRA responded by suing James in federal court, claiming her dissolution lawsuit violated the First Amendment by seeking to punish the NRA for its constitutionally protected Second Amendment advocacy.
The coalition supported NRA’s countersuit in December 2020.
West Virginia joined the recent Arkansas-led brief with Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.