(image from nra.org)
By Richard H. Levey
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has sued its grantmaking arm, the National Rifle Association Foundation (NRA Foundation). In the complaint, the NRA alleged the NRA Foundation is “passing itself off to donors and the public as the NRA or an authorized NRA affiliate and misappropriating the many millions of dollars that NRA supporters contributed to fund the NRA’s educational and other charitable activities.”
The NRA is a 501(c)(4) organization that advocates on behalf of Second Amendment rights and gun-related education and training. The NRA Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that provides a wide spectrum of grants, including those for educational and public service programs relating to shooting sports, capital/range improvements and one annual $10,000 “Frontline Heroes Scholarship,” which provides the funds to a currently serving, retired, disabled or deceased full-time first responder.
The NRA’s lawyers claimed in the complaint that “the Foundation has been seized by a disgruntled faction of former NRA directors who lost control of the NRA’s Board following revelations of financial improprieties, mismanagement, and breaches of fiduciary duty and member trust.
It is alleged in the complaint that “booted out of power by the NRA’s members, they now seek to reclaim it through the Foundation,”
The complaint was filed on January 5, 2026, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
As part of the alleged power grab, individuals within the NRA Foundation “sought to sever the relationship between the NRA and the Foundation by attempting to strip the NRA of its right to appoint the Foundation’s directors and seizing that power for themselves,” the NRA alleged in the complaint.
“And now they seek to jettison the Foundation’s historic purpose of supporting NRA’s charitable programs and transform the Foundation into a vehicle for personal reprisal, against the reformers who displaced them at the NRA, and for their self-aggrandizement, by building up the Foundation as a competitor to the NRA,” the complaint continued. “They seek to achieve those ends through hijacking the NRA’s trademarks, including the ‘NRA’ name, and repurposing millions of dollars that were contributed to support the NRA’s charitable programs.”
The NRA Foundation acknowledged the lawsuit via a statement to The NonProfit Times. “The Foundation has retained counsel and intends to mount a vigorous defense and pursue all available remedies and relief,” official wrote to The NonProfit Times.
“The Foundation’s trustees and leadership take their fiduciary obligations to the Foundation seriously,” the NRA Foundation’s statement continued. “Notwithstanding the NRA’s allegations and actions over recent months, the Foundation has continued to provide appropriate funding for qualifying (c)(3) programs of the NRA and other organizations that are consistent” with its charitable mission.
“Following conclusion of the District of Columbia v. the NRA and NRA Foundation lawsuit in 2024, a lawsuit initiated by the DC Attorney General, the Foundation has ensured that it is in strict compliance in all material respects with the Consent Judgment,” the NRA Foundation’s statement continued. “The Consent Judgment is a court-approved framework that requires the Foundation, as it had done in the past, to exercise independent judgment, protect donor intent, and ensure that all grants, shared services, and financial decisions are made in the Foundation’s best interests and in full compliance with the law.”
The NRA Foundation’s statement added: “The Foundation has also worked steadfastly to strengthen internal controls and corporate governance, as well as continuing to require transparency and accountability from the NRA.”
“While litigation is unfortunate, the Foundation remains confident in the propriety of its governance, its stewardship of charitable assets, and the strength of its legal position. The Foundation has acted in good faith and consistent with its legal and regulatory obligations at every step,” the NRA Foundation’s statement continued.
In April 2024, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb’s office announced litigation charging both the NRA and the NRA Foundation with misusing nonprofit funds and other violations of the District’s Nonprofit Corporation Act was resolved. The settlement terms included “thorough oversight and extensive operational changes to ensure that the Foundation operates independently from the NRA and fully complies with District nonprofit laws,” according to a statement put out by Schwalb’s office at the time.
“Donors are entitled to know that their charitable contributions will be used in furtherance of a nonprofit organization’s stated charitable mission. The NRA Foundation — the charitable arm of the NRA — violated this sacred public trust, allowing the NRA to use them as an unchecked piggy bank,” Attorney General Schwalb said in the statement. “Caving to pressure from the NRA, the Foundation diverted millions of dollars to the NRA in grants and risky loans that were repaid only after [the Office of the Attorney General] filed its lawsuit. Tax-exempt nonprofits are a form of public trust — abusing that trust as the NRA did violates both the public interest and District law. Today’s outcome builds on our longstanding commitment to safeguarding nonprofit donors’ money and ensuring that all nonprofits operating in the District of Columbia follow the law.”
As part of the NRA’s current complaint against the NRA Foundation, the NRA alleged “federal trademark infringement, unfair competition, and trademark dilution” by the NRA Foundation through its unauthorized use of NRA trademarks, and further claimed the “Foundation’s ongoing and threatened misuse of approximately $160,000,000 raised by or with the NRA and through solicitations representing to donors that their contributions would be used to support NRA’s charitable activities, including its educational programs and financial support of mission-aligned local nonprofit organizations (‘NRA Charitable Activities’).
“The use of these ‘NRA-Restricted Funds’ for other purposes violates the law of charitable trusts, well-established equitable doctrines binding nonprofits to their solicitations and representations to donors, and the rights of the NRA as the party that raised these funds and is, with respect to the NRA Charitable Activities, their intended beneficiary,” the NRA complaint alleges.
The NRA is seeking “preliminary and permanent injunctive relief on its trademark-related claims; declaratory and injunctive relief concerning the permissible use of funds contributed to the Foundation to support NRA Charitable Activities; and declaratory and injunctive relief concerning the validity of the Foundation’s attempted amendments to its governing documents.”
During the year ending December 31, 2024 the Foundation had total assets of more than $212.1 million, generated just under $35.4 million and reported just under $20.4 million in program expenses (including $17.1 million in grants and education) as part of around $31 million in total expenses, according to the most recent annual report for the NRA Foundation.
