NRA Says It’s Facing Bankruptcy & May Be “Unable To Exist”

The National Rifle Association (NRA) could soon “be unable to exist as a not-for-profit or pursue its advocacy mission.”

According to a recent court filing, the NRA is suing New York governor Andrew Cuomo and the state of New York, claiming the NRA has been subject to a state-led “blacklisting campaign” that has inflicted “tens of millions of dollars in damages.”

The NRA may need to close its headquarters, shut down its online media presence and stop holding rallies and conventions. The group’s most recent financial disclosure shows it overspent by nearly $46 million in 2016. Unless the courts step in and stop New York, “the NRA will suffer irrevocable loss and irreparable harm if it is unable to acquire insurance or other financial services,” the NRA wrote in a complaint.

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New York State has pushed insurance companies and banks to cut its ties with the NRA. The Department of Financial Services (DFS), which regulates banks and insurance companies doing business in New York, acted after the public backlash against the NRA following the massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida, back in February.

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The DFS halted the sale of an illegal, NRA-branded insurance policy “Carry Guard” that reimburse members for legal costs incurred after firing a legal gun. According to The Rolling Stone, the State of New York found that Carry Guard “unlawfully provided liability insurance to gun owners for certain acts of intentional wrongdoing.” The NRA’s insurance companies stopped selling the policies and payed a fine of $7 million. Cuomo said that he is “working with other states” to make sure the sale of the Carry Guard program ends around the country.

The NRA claims that “abuses” by Cuomo and the New York State DFS “will imminently deprive the NRA of basic bank-depository services and other financial services essential to the NRA’s corporate existence.”

Cuomo’s ironic response came on Monday. He told CNN, “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.'”

Article by Steven Abendroth