NRA targets Cuomo, N.Y.
Lawsuit over ‘blacklisting’ firms
ALBANY — The National Rifle Association is firing back at what it calls a Cuomo administration “blacklisting campaign” of banks and insurance companies in New York that have ties to the gun industry.
The NRA on Friday filed a federal lawsuit against Cuomo and the state Department of Financial Services that claims the administration is violating the gun group’s First Amendment rights.
“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,” says the suit, which was filed in New York’s northern district.
“Directed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, this campaign involves selective prosecution, back room exhortations, and public threats with a singular goal — to deprive the NRA and its constituents of their First Amendment right to speak freely about gun-related issues and defend the Second Amendment.”
The suit comes a month after Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo, the state’s top financial services regulator, sent a letter to banks and insurers following the Parkland, Fla., mass school shooting that warned of the “reputational risk” they face by doing business with the NRA and gun industry.
The letter does not threaten sanctions on those that continue their ties with the gun industry.
But the suit notes that several weeks after the DFS letter was sent, at least two companies were fined by the agency for underwriting NRA-endorsed insurance policies in violation of New York law. As part of the settlements, two companies agreed to no longer participate in the carry guard program or anything similar in New York.
“As a direct result of this coercion, multiple firms have succumbed to (the state’s) demands and entered into consent orders with DFS that compel them to terminate longstanding, benefitial (sic) business relationships with the NRA, both in New York and elsewhere,” the suit says.
The lawsuit also has a section titled “Cuomo’s political vendetta against the NRA” that accuses the governor of being for decades a “political opportunist who has consistently sought to gin political capital by attacking the NRA.”
William Brewer III, the lawyer representing the NRA in the lawsuit, said that “political differences aside, our client believes the tactics employed by these public officials are aimed to deprive the NRA of its First Amendment right to speak freely about gun-related issues and in defense of the Second Amendment.
“We believe these actions are outside the authority of DFS and fail to honor the principles which require public officials to protect the constitutional rights of all citizens,” he said.
Cuomo ripped the NRA’s lawsuit as a “futile and desperate attempt to advance its dangerous agenda and to sell more guns.”
Citing New York’s tough firearm laws, Cuomo said he’s proud of his “F” rating from the NRA while the gun group “ignores students across the nation who are saying enough is enough.”
"In New York, we won’t be intimidated by frivolous court actions from a group of lobbyists bent on chipping away at common-sense gun safety laws that many responsible gun owners actually support,” Cuomo said. “We have an obligation to protect New Yorkers, and this sham suit will do nothing to stop that. “
Vullo called it incumbent upon her agency to “supervise and guide regulated entities to mitigate the risks to their safety and soundness that may derive from a variety of sources, including reputational risk.”
“It is equally as important that DFS enforce New York law and take appropriate enforcement action when necessary to protect consumers and ensure the integrity of our financial markets,” she said.