LOADED QUESTIONS
Wacky NRA asks N.Y. candidates if they back guns in parks — and even sends Cuomo survey
ALBANY — In the midst of its fight with Gov. Cuomo, the National Rifle Association has sent out a New York candidate questionnaire taking aim at many of the state’s pro-gun control measures.
The NRA is asking candidates if -they support such things as allowing the carrying of concealed weapons in New York — including in state parks — and the repeal of Cuomo’s 2013 SAFE Act gun control law.
Other questions include whether candidates support the NRA in opposing measures preventing individuals on the terrorist watch list from buying guns and removing guns from domestic abusers.
The answers, a letter accompanying the questionnaire says, will help determine the candidates’ NRA ratings.
“If you choose not to return a questionnaire, you may be assigned a ‘?’ rating, which can be interpreted by our membership as indifference, if not outright hostility, toward Second Amendment-related issues,” NRA state director Darin Goens wrote.
Amazingly, one of the candidates who received the 22-question survey is Cuomo, who has been warring with the group over a lawsuit in which the NRA claims actions taken by the governor’s administration could lead the organization into financial ruin.
“I imagine it was sent to me in error or some twisted joke,” Cuomo wrote back to the NRA in a letter obtained by the Daily News.
Cuomo in the letter highlighted his gun control record, said he’ll again accept the NRA’s “F” rating “with pride,” and emphasized “I will not be vying for your endorsement.”
He also vowed to push more gun control measures, including a “red flag” bill that would give teachers, school officials, family members and police officers the ability to petition judges if they believe someone is dangerous and has access to guns.
Tom King, an NRA board member from New York and president of the state Rifle & Pistol Association, said he’d be surprised if a gun organization actually sent Cuomo the questionnaire.
“Somebody must have given it to him,” King said. “I just don’t think it would be possible for him to receive that. I think someone would probably lose their job over that.”
Cuomo campaign spokeswoman Abbey Collins shot back: “It looks like someone needs to lose their job then because they sent it to us via snail mail.”
The NRA has worked to block gun control legislation not just in Congress, but also in statehouses across the country by electing pro-gun Republicans.
The News previously reported that the group’s tax filing shows it gave $176,350 in 2016 to the Republican Governors Association, $135,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee and $110,675 to the Republican Attorneys General Association.
In New York, the NRA since 2010 has contribute about $177,000 to candidates and political parties, records show.
An NRA questionnaire goes out every two years for the state elections in New York, King said.
The NRA and the state Rifle & Pistol Association will make their endorsements sometime in September, probably sometime after the Sept. 13 Democratic primaries, he said.
Among the other topics the NRA questionnaire tackles are whether candidates support any additional “restrictive” gun control legislation and if they would back legislation repealing the law requiring gun owners to register their firearms.
Saying that firearm storage standards could greatly restrict access for self-defense purposes, the group asks candidates if they would oppose such requirements and would rather see schools teach about gun safety as part of their curriculum.
Other issues asked about in the questionnaire include the NRA’s opposition to raising the legal age to purchase firearms to 21.
The NRA in recent court papers said it is facing financial ruin after Cuomo’s Department of Financial Services blocked an NRA program that provides liability insurance in certain instances, and warned banks and insurers following the Parkland, Fla., mass school shooting that they face “reputational risk” by doing business with the NRA and gun industry.
The state has filed papers to toss the NRA lawsuit as frivolous.
While neither Cuomo nor his Democratic primary challenger Cynthia Nixon will be getting the NRA’s backing, it’s expected Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro will.
Molinaro recently told a Buffalo crowd that “I have, I am and I will defend Second Amendment rights. Period.”