XPost: alt.politics.usa.constitution, alt.politics.guns, alt.california   
   XPost: sac.general   
   From: gp@dont-email.me   
      
   The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) came out in defense of   
   the National Rifle Association (NRA) on Friday, accusing   
   Governor Andrew Cuomo of violating the First Amendment by   
   targeting the group’s access to basic financial services.   
      
   ACLU legal director David Cole sided firmly with the NRA in its   
   ongoing legal battle against the Cuomo administration, which has   
   conducted a sustained campaign to deprive the Second Amendment   
   advocacy group of access to insurance and banking services.   
      
   “In the ACLU’s view, targeting a nonprofit advocacy group and   
   seeking to deny it financial services because it promotes a   
   lawful activity (the use of guns) violates the First Amendment,”   
   Cole wrote. “Because we believe the governor’s actions, as   
   alleged, threaten the First Amendment rights of all advocacy   
   organizations, the ACLU on Friday filed a friend-of-the-court   
   brief supporting the NRA’s right to have its day in court.”   
      
   The NRA sued the Cuomo administration in May, alleging the state   
   financial regulatory agency engaged in a “blacklisting campaign”   
   against banks and insurance companies contracted with the NRA,   
   infringing upon the group’s constitutional right to “speak   
   freely about gun-related issues and defend the Second Amendment.”   
      
   The suit was filed after insurance companies Lockton and Chubb   
   were fined $7 million and $1.3 million respectively for insuring   
   the NRAÆs Carry Guard program, which reimburses licensed gun   
   owners for legal expenses incurred after justifiably firing   
   their weapon.   
      
   NRA officials claim that they have been unable to replace the   
   sanctioned insurance providers, who revoked their services   
   following the fines, due to fear among their competitors that   
   they will be similarly targeted by the state’s regulator   
   apparatus.   
      
   After stipulating that the “ACLU does not oppose reasonable   
   restrictions on guns,” Cole argues that the court should allow   
   the NRAÆs suit against the Cuomo administration to proceed into   
   the discovery phase, despite the state’s motion to dismiss.   
      
   Cuomo, who routinely invokes his administration’s opposition to   
   the NRA, celebrated the group’s potential demise in a mailer   
   sent to voters this week.   
      
   “If the NRA goes bankrupt, I will remember them in my thoughts   
   and prayers,” the mailer read.   
      
   https://www.nationalreview.com/news/aclu-defends-nra-against-   
   andrew-cuomos-attempt-to-bankrupt-them/   
       
      
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