XPost: alt.politics.usa.constitution, alt.politics.guns, alt.california   
   XPost: sac.general   
   From: gp@dont-email.me   
      
   “If I could have put the N.R.A. out of business, I would have   
   done it 20 years ago,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said of   
   the National Rifle Association. The two sides are locked in a   
   legal battle in federal court.CreditCreditChang W. Lee/The New   
   York Times   
      
   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.   
      
   Last month’s amended complaint included more details about how   
   state regulators have squeezed the organization.   
      
   The N.R.A. said officials had discouraged banks and insurers,   
   including Lockton Companies and Chubb Group Holdings, from   
   working with it.   
      
   If insurers remain wary, the organization said, it could be   
   forced to shut down some of its programs, such as its online   
   video channel, NRATV.   
      
   “Defendants’ conduct indeed shocks the conscience,” the   
   complaint said.   
      
   Mr. Cuomo’s response on Friday was terse: “If I could have put   
   the N.R.A. out of business, I would have done it 20 years ago.”   
      
   While the complaint said the N.R.A. had “suffered tens of   
   millions of dollars in damages” because of New York State   
   officials, it did not make specific claims about the   
   organization’s current financial standing.   
      
   Much of the argument revolves around Carry Guard, an insurance   
   program started by the N.R.A. last year that was meant to cover   
   legal fees for people who fired a weapon in self-defense.   
      
   New York financial regulators began investigating the program in   
   October. That investigation was continuing when a gunman killed   
   17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,   
   Fla., in February.   
      
   Survivors of the shooting have led protests in support of   
   stricter gun control. Politicians have voiced their support,   
   including Mr. Cuomo, who stretched out on a sidewalk to   
   participate in a “die-in” with students in Lower Manhattan in   
   March. Several businesses including car rental services,   
   airlines, technology companies and insurers announced that they   
   were cutting ties with the N.R.A.   
      
   Three months after the Parkland shooting, the Department of   
   Financial Services announced that Lockton and an affiliate would   
   pay a fine of $7 million while Chubb and a subsidiary would pay   
   $1.3 million for underwriting Carry Guard.   
      
   According to the department, the program “unlawfully provided   
   liability insurance to gun owners for acts of intentional   
   wrongdoing.”   
      
   Days later, the N.R.A. filed its initial complaint, arguing that   
   the state’s aims went far beyond its opposition to Carry Guard.   
   “From the outset, it was clear that the investigation was meant   
   to advance Cuomo’s political agenda by stifling the N.R.A.’s   
   speech and retaliating against the N.R.A. based on its viewpoint   
   on gun control issues,” it said, claiming that its   
   constitutional rights had been violated through conspiracy and   
   implicit censorship.   
      
   Last month’s amendments added two more accusations: that state   
   officials had interfered with potential revenue and that they   
   had violated the N.R.A.’s freedom of association.   
      
   “Defendants seek to silence one of America’s oldest   
   constitutional rights advocates,” it said. “If their abuses are   
   not enjoined, they will soon, substantially, succeed.”   
      
   In announcing the filing to dismiss the suit, Mr. Cuomo said   
   that “while the N.R.A. tries to play the victim, New York stands   
   with the real victims — the thousands of people whose lives are   
   cut short by gun violence every year.”   
      
   The N.R.A. is a staunch, sometimes incendiary defender of the   
   Second Amendment with a long record of hobbling regulatory   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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