NRA sues: Guns are essential

Gov sez he’ll take unused breathing

Gun shops are an “essential business” during a pandemic, just like your neighborhood grocery store, according to a new lawsuit filed by the NRA that argues a pandemic can’t overturn the Second Amendment.

On March 20 Gov. Cuomo issued an order shuttering all retail businesses not deemed essential, including gun stores, to prevent spread of coronavirus.

“As a result of the government’s overreach, most New Yorkers have no legal way to exercisetheconstitutionalright to purchase arms or ammunition,” the NRA argues in the lawsuit filed Thursday in the Northern District of New York.

“Moreover, a core purpose of that right is self defense. The current public health emergency does not justify impeding the exercise of Second Amendment

rights, especially during a time when many New Yorkers have valid concerns about the ability of the government to maintain order — and criminals are being prematurely released.”

The suit seeks to overturn Cuomo’s declaration. The gun industry successfully lobbied the White House to declare gun stores essential businesses, prompting New Jersey to reverse its policy and allow firearm vendors to remain open.

“There isn’t a single person who has ever used a gun for self-defense who would consider it nonessential,” said NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre. “This is clearly another assault by Gov. Cuomo on the NRA, on the rights of New Yorkers to defend themselves and their families, and on our Second Amendment freedoms.” tors? No, I’m claiming excess equipment to save lives.”

The move came as the respiratory illness claimed the lives of 562 New Yorkers overnight, the worst one-day total since the outbreak began and bringing the state total to 2,935.

Almost 15,000 people in the state are currently hospitalized due to coronavirus, the most critical of whom rely on ventilators to breathe.

The Greater New York Hospital Association, which represents over 160 hospitals and health systems around New York and in other states, said Cuomo was “pursuing lifesaving measures in real-time during an unprecedented public health emergency.”

The influx of COVID-19 patients is straining the ability of already overburdened hospitals in the city and surrounding suburbs, Mayor de Blasio warned at a news conference rife with wartime references.

De Blasio called on President Trump and the federal government to put more boots on the ground to deal with the onslaught of cases that will are expected in the coming days.

“Our military has not been brought into the fight in any way near the way they could be,” the mayor said. “It’s time for the commander-in-chief to give the order. We’re fighting a war.”

The five boroughs will need 45,000 new medical personnel in traditional hospitals and in the makeshift medical centers like those that have popped up in Central Park and at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, he said.

De Blasio described Sunday as D-Day and said the city