New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Monday defended his state's action against the National Rifle Association's Carry Guard insurance program that provides funds for people to defend themselves if they are charged with firing their weapons in self-defense.
"There states regulate insurance, as you know," Cuomo told CNN's "New Day."
"The NRA, in essence, is selling an insurance product called carry guard.It was designed for people who carry weapons, and the insurance policy essentially insured them for intentional bad acts. Intentional wrongdoing."
This "violates the law in New York and many other states," the Democratic governor said, adding that the state took action against the actual insurance company, which paid a fine and agreed to stop selling the product.
The NRA has filed a federal lawsuit against the state, saying it is suffering "grave financial harm" that is threatening its mission because of a "blacklisting" campaign by Cuomo and regulators in his state.
The NRA says without the liability coverage, it can't maintain its office or operate its programs or rallies. The organization filed its amended complaint in late July in federal court in northern New York, naming Cuomo, the state Department of Financial Services and its superintendent, Maria Vullo as the defendants.
Cuomo ridiculed the NRA's claims of loss through a tweet Saturday:
"The NRA was involved basically as their broker, getting a commission and advertising, and that violates the law," Cuomo said Monday. "Their complaint is, well, we lost money. Too bad. You violated the law and it's not a defense to say 'well, I was committing illegal activity but I was making money from it, and now I'm upset that I lost the revenue.'"
States regulate their own laws, said Cuomo, and he plans to contact other states, as "it would be highly unusual for a state to allow an insurance company to reimburse for an illegal activity. They call it murder insurance. There is no public policy in saying if you commit a crime or do an intentional wrong act we will in essence pay you for doing that."
Attorneys for the NRA said their client is suffering setbacks with respect to the availability of banking services because of a "political and discriminatory" campaign against it, and that the NRA considers the action an attack on their First Amendment rights.
"On the insurance that they are selling, I don't think there's any question but that is illegal and violative of public policy," said Cuomo.
He did say he would "plead guilty" to being a longtime opponent of the NRA, however.
"I believe the NRA represents an extremist group," said Cuomo. "I believe they've been counterproductive for gun owners in this country. and I believe their politics seeks them to stop any common-sense gun reform because then they would be out of business. Most gun owners support some type of reasonable gun control."
The governor also appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," where he called the NRA's lawsuit "frivolous."
"I am sure they lost revenue from losing the sale of this insurance product," he said. "I did not know that it was such a significant portion of their revenue. I'm not sure that it is, by the way, but they're crying poverty.
"Now, it is true that they rely on the money because the way they bully the politicians. . . they need millions of dollars to run those ads to keep the politicians in line."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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