N.R.A. could be “unable to exist”
The National Rifle Association to a pressing concern among of the protection against legal fees that could arise from firing a weapon in self-defense.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s long-running clash with the N.R.A., as he seeks to ban Carry Guard not only in New York but across the nation. The powerful gun-rights group, in turn, has sued New York State, casting the battle in life-or-death terms and arguing that if Mr. Cuomo prevails, the N.R.A. could be left “unable to exist.”
That existential lamentation created a ready-made political opportunity — and Mr. Cuomo seized on it.
He has made the rounds on the morning news shows, mounting a national campaign to encourage other governors to follow his lead in banning Carry Guard. He has rolled out campaign ads promising to take the N.R.A. “to the brink.” He has posted a torrent of pithy posts on Twitter sending his “thoughts and prayers” to the supposedly beleaguered organization.
He even sent a letter to President Trump on Tuesday, asking him to tell the N.R.A. to discontinue the insurance program.
There is little question that Mr. Cuomo has had a longstanding ideological commitment to gun control. In 2000, as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, he brokered an agreement with Smith & Wesson, then the country’s largest gun manufacturer, to introduce a host of new safety features; other gun makers were poised to follow suit, he said, until the N.R.A. torpedoed the deal.
In 2013, Mr. Cuomo successfully fought for passage of the Safe Act, making New York the first state to enact more stringent gun regulations after the Sandy Hook massacre. He has proudly touted his “F” rating from the N.R.A.
But it is also undeniable that in a year when he is facing an aggressive challenge from the left in his bid for re-election, and staving off an increasingly demanding Democratic base, he has recognized — far from for the first time — the potential payoffs of playing up his war on the N.R.A.
He has also made no secret of his belief that his actions on gun control have made his state a model for the nation — a handy argument for a politician who has garnered some mention as a possible 2020 presidential candidate.
“Use New York as a test case,” Mr. Cuomo said in an interview of his gun control measures, including the Safe Act. “The state is a laboratory of democracy where I can say, ‘We passed the law five years ago. Come look at our state.’”
The long-running battle between Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York and the National Rifle Association, which says it has lost millions of dollars because of state officials’ political agenda, entered another round of legal wrangling and public posturing this week.
Mr. Cuomo announced on Friday that the state was moving to dismiss a lawsuit the N.R.A. filed in federal court in May, which he called “frivolous.” The lawsuit, which accused state officials of “blacklisting” the gun rights organization, was amended with sharper language last month.
At issue is whether New York regulators violated the constitutional rights of the N.R.A. by preventing financial institutions and insurers in the state from doing business with the organization.
In the lawsuit, the N.R.A. accused Mr. Cuomo, as well as the New York State Department of Financial Services and its superintendent, Maria T. Vullo, of discrimination that violated the organization’s right to free speech.
During the 2016 presidential election cycle, the N.R.A. spent $20 million to persuade voters to reject Hillary Clinton and another $11 million in support of Donald J. Trump. Public records from that year showed that the organization’s expenses exceeded revenues by about $46 million.
Donations to the organization spiked after the Parkland shooting, according to records from the Federal Election Commission.
William Brewer, a partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors who is lead counsel in the organization’s lawsuit against the New York officials, said on Saturday that the N.R.A. is growing and “in good financial standing.”
