Over the weekend an NRA lawsuit was filed against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
On Monday, Cuomo issued a rather dismissive response. The NRA is suing Governor Cuomo “…both individually and in his official capacity,” as stated by the lawsuit which was filed on July 20, 2018.
“In April, Cuomo directed state regulators to ‘urge insurance companies, New York State-chartered banks, and other financial services companies licensed in New York to review any relationships they may have with the National Rifle Association,’” reported O’Brien. This references a letter that Governor Cuomo issued back in April in which he urged insurance companies associated with the NRA to reconsider their association with the organization.
“This case is necessitated by an overt viewpoint-based discrimination campaign against the NRA and the millions of law-abiding gun owners that it represents. Directed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, this campaign involves selective prosecution, backroom exhortations, and public threats with a singular goal – to deprive the NRA and its constituents of their First Amendment rights to speak freely about gun-related issues and defend the Second Amendment,” as stated in the lawsuit.
The NRA alleges that this letter put out by Governor Cuomo not only infringes on their first amendment rights, but has also significantly hurt them financially.
Earlier today, Governor Cuomo tweeted on the issue.
I am calling on other governors to join New York in blocking the sale of the @NRA's Carry Guard insurance program. Too many lives have been lost to guns in this country to let the NRA continue to market illegal products that promote violence. pic.twitter.com/lCfOdxF211
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 6, 2018
Too bad. https://t.co/9m1OnWaT6m
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 6, 2018
Townhall reached out to the NRA for comment.
“The NRA’s legal action raises concerns about the material impacts to the NRA as a result of the actions of Governor Cuomo and DFS. Our client is suffering setbacks with respect to the availability of insurance and banking services – as a result of a political and discriminatory campaign meant to coerce financial institutions to refrain from doing business with the NRA. The actions of defendants are a blatant attack on the First Amendment rights of our organization The actions of defendants, if left unchecked, will further harm the NRA, chill the commercial activities of institutions regulated by DFS, and penalize law-abiding New York insurance consumers,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and counsel to the NRA told Townhall in a statement.
“We believe the filing is a misguided attempt to deflect from the fact that defendants overstepped their legal and regulatory authority – to the detriment of the Constitution and New York insurance consumers,” Brewer says. “We believe there is little question that the actions taken by these public officials reflect pure viewpoint discrimination,” said Brewer.