Cuomo, who is positioning himself for a possible 2020 presidential run, has seized on the issue in the wake of subsequent mass shootings. | AP Images
ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pushing governors in other states to target the National Rifle Association, which says it has suffered “tens of millions of dollars in damages” because of financial sanctions imposed in New York.
The gun-rights group sued[2] Cuomo and his financial services superintendent in May, saying fines by the state Department of Financial Services were exacting a “political vendetta” by the Democratic governor that was having a chilling effect on its advocacy.
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On Monday, Cuomo urged leaders in other states to take similar actions against the NRA’s Carry Guard insurance program, which covers legal costs stemming from self-defense shootings, something New York argues is unlawful. The Department of Financial Services has also pushed firms not to do business with the NRA, the NRA contends, under threat the firms could lose their license to operate in New York.
The effect of these moves and Cuomo’s public statements has been to “coerce insurance agencies, insurers and banks into terminating business relationships with the NRA that were necessary to the survival of the NRA as a charitable organization,” the NRA said in an amended
