“It’s over,” CEO and Executive Vice President Doug Hamlin told Secrets. “We want it behind us so that we can do the business of the members again; we can focus on the business of our members.”

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On Wednesday, New York Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen ended New York Attorney General Letitia James’ punishing corruption case against the NRA, setting some stipulations already agreed to by the 153-year-old group based in Fairfax, Va.

She had hoped to destroy the group and won several legal battles, including forcing former Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre to pay over $4 million in fines for misspending funds on his wardrobe and travel.

But her larger plan failed and Cohen, in ending the case, called for better transparency and had a few other changes the NRA said it was ready to impose.

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🚨 BREAKING: NRA Successfully Resolves Longstanding Legal Battle with New York Attorney General

👉 https://t.co/9aetSDNLFf pic.twitter.com/pTus580G5E

— NRA (@NRA) December 11, 2024

In our interview, Hamlin, who replaced LaPierre who resigned in January, said now the NRA can use money set aside to fight legal battles to invest in its education programs. He said the NRA has also decided to stay in Virginia and not relocate to Texas and it might even sublet open space in its sprawling campus just off Interstate 66.

“I’m not sure if it’s winning or losing, is the way I would put it. I would just say it’s over,” said Hamlin of the New York legal case.

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NRA President Bob Barr added, “The NYAG sought to shut us down and then appoint outsiders to oversee management of this historic organization. Fortunately for freedom lovers everywhere, this politically motivated attempt failed. This was the ultimate stand at our moment of truth — defeating an unprecedented attack from the highest levels of New York government. The NRA remains strong, safe, and independent — continuing to protect freedoms.”

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Ending the case gives Hamlin a chance to put his mark on the NRA, and he is moving quickly to do just that, focusing on the millions of new gun owners, especially minorities, with training programs. He also plans to work to allow Americans to carry their firearms across state lines with a push for national concealed carry reciprocity.

“As far as the NRA’s health, there’s more optimism here than we’ve had in years,” Hamlin said.

“We were just going through our 2025 budget, and we’re adding staff for the first time since pre-COVID. We’re investing in our programs and services. We’re investing in our competitive shooting, our education and training. We’re investing in our clubs and associations, our grassroots programs. We’re investing in our Eddie Eagle, youth safety, our Women on Target, our women’s Refuse to be a Victim” programs, he said.

“These are huge programs that have suffered because we’ve been mired in litigation,” added Hamlin.

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On the political front, he said that the group was pleased with the election of President-elect Donald Trump and a Republican Congress and hopes that it can win support for stalled national concealed carry reciprocity legislation.

“We’ll be active. We’ll be very active on the Hill and talking to the leadership and pursuing our agenda,” Hamlin pledged.