(AFP) – A judge in New York banned Wayne LaPierre Monday from serving in any role at the NRA for 10 years after the former director was found guilty of financially mismanaging the powerful gun lobby organization.
Back in February, LaPierre and a senior executive of the National Rifle Association were ordered to pay a penalty of $6.35 million for that behavior. During his civil trial, LaPierre was accused of using the National Rifle Association as a personal piggy bank to fund a lavish lifestyle that allegedly included private jets, expensive meals, and family trips to the Bahamas.
On Monday, New York state attorney general Letita James announced the judge’s new ban on LaPierre. “As a result of this case, Wayne LaPierre will be banned from the NRA for 10 years for spearheading this fraud, and the court called for additional proposed reforms to the NRA,” James wrote on X. “After years of corruption, the NRA and its senior leaders are finally being held accountable,” she added.
LaPierre said in January he would step down as president of the NRA, citing unspecified health reasons. James brought a lawsuit against LaPierre and top NRA leaders in August 2020, leading to the first verdict in February.
The 150-year-old NRA is the leading promoter of gun rights in the United States and has focused its efforts since the 1970s on battling gun restrictions. Polls have showed time and again that the majority of Americans want greater gun control, in a country where mass shootings occur regularly, schoolchildren are subjected to routine shooter drills, and there are more guns than people.
But politicians have repeatedly failed to reform gun laws. From 2000 to 2012, the NRA and its allies in the firearms industry combined to pour $80 million into US congressional and presidential races, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. In the 2016 presidential election, the NRA spent about $20 million for ads attacking Democrat Hillary Clinton and another $10 million for ads supporting Republican Donald Trump.
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