NRA says it may no longer exist as non-profit due to Cuomo’s onslaught, Twitter erupts
RT.com
4 Aug, 2018
A recent lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Organization (NRA) argues that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s crusade may force it to cease to exist as a nonprofit. The news sparked a frenzy on Twitter.
The amended version of the lawsuit, originally filed by the NRA in May, was released in full by Rolling Stone. It was claimed that the powerful lobby group is “in deep financial trouble” and “may be ‘unable to exist.'”
In its lawsuit, which lists Gov. Andrew Cuomo, both individually and his official capacity, as well as Maria T. Vullo, superintendent of the department of financial services (DFS), among the defendants, the NRA argues that Cuomo has gone on the warpath against the organization. It apparently involves “selective prosecution, backroom exhortations and public threats with a singular goal – to deprive the NRA and its constituents of their First Amendment rights to speak freely about gun-related issues and defend the Second Amendment.”
At the core of Cuomo’s “vendetta,” according to the NRA, are threats of regulatory reprisals to financial institutions that do not sever their relationship with the NRA under pressure from the New York City authorities.
The NRA says that if it fails to obtain security insurance, it won’t be able to hold rallies, annual conferences, and other events that require insurance. So far, its long-time business partner, Lockton Companies, and an unspecified corporate carrier, have refused to renew their policies. The latter refuses to do so “at any price,” the NRA stated, laying the blame squarely on Cuomo. In May, Lockton Companies was fined $7 million by the DFS after it ruled that the NRA ‘Carry Guard’ insurance program “unlawfully provided liability insurance” to legal gun owners “for certain acts of intentional wrongdoing.”
The lawsuit says that if the state does not roll back its crusade, the NRA “will suffer irrecoverable loss” and “will be unable to exist as a not-for-profit or pursue its advocacy mission.”
The potential restructuring implied in the complaint has already seen liberals on Twitter enthusiastically mourning the NRA.
Many offered the organization their “thoughts and prayers,” mocking a frequent response by GOP politicians to mass shootings.
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