Calling the NRA a Civil Rights organization not only is a joke it insults real Civil Rights organizations. the N.R.A. is just fooling it's members throwing out Red Meat. The N.R.A. is actually working on behave of the Gun Industry and Gun Manufactors.
I have my Issues with Gov. Cuomo but here i hope he does bankrupt the N.R.A.
10
The powerful gun-rights group... argu[ed] that if Mr. Cuomo prevails, the N.R.A. could be left “unable to exist.”
More socio-political dog whistling from one of the most hated, insufferable groups of corporatists in the world.
Its worth pondering who, exactly, the NRA is hoping will empathize with their faux lamentation.
12
@lowereastside
Oh, probably just that overwhelming majority of Americans who tend to view political corruption with distaste, and who regard corrupt powerwhores such as Cuomo as dangerous to our country.
It's worth pondering just who would approve of a corrupt politician abusing the power of the state to attack his political foes.
Wannabe totalitarians, perhaps?
4
An upcoming battle on the north side of Hillside. May the man who hasn't forgotten his roots and has no reason to be ashamed of his father win. How can our great country not realize that there is more to its biggest city than a fat ego with no morals.
1
So would you rather have Cynthia Nixon working this plan?
2
New Yorks 1,000,000 new illegal gun owners..
REFUSED TO REGISTER THEIR MEDIA LABELED ASSAULT WEAPONS....
One million plus new felons, all armed with scary, high capacity, media labeled assault weapons! The deadline for New York residents to register their so called "Assault Weapons" and "High" (read standard) Capacity Magazines came and went. An estimated million plus, formerly law abiding, gun owners have refused to comply with Cuomo and down state Democrat's naive belief that the NY Safe Act, passed in a so called emergency session of the New York legislature, could force free people to register their hard earned property.
And who can blame these once lawful gun owners, with a president that picks and chooses which laws he will follow or enforce, as well as an Federal Attorney General that operates daily with a Contempt of Congress charge and gun running scandal, "Fast & Furious", hanging over his head. Why should the average New York joe, bother to follow the law, especially when it is in direct conflict with the Constitution of the United States, the one true law of the land.
3
I read many comments about NRA members disapproving of how the executive leadership is running the organization, and lamenting the supposed abandonment of the historical gun safety/training roots.
Like organizations that no longer represent what I believe, leave. Stop finding what you don’t agree with. Form another organization that does what the NRA used to do.
10
Andrew Cuomo he is using the power of his office to suppress a civil rights organization. While you may disagree with their interpretation of the Constitution, the NRA has 5 million members who self identify as fighting to preserve their Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Incidentally, this organization dwarfs other civil rights organizations like the NARAL (1.2MM), NOW (500k), NAACP (300k), and GLAAD (15k).
In the end this is just another small escalation in the greater social conflict between Red and Blue America. Both sides seem to have taken the gloves off and are using any and all available means (short of violence) in their battle.
It's unfortunate because the terms of the conflict seem absolutist, they demand the imposition of one side's values on the other, which undercuts the safety valve of States' rights and assortive living. When Blue state leaders seek to control the lives of Red state citizens (and vice versa) it reads as an existential threat.
If you doubt that restricting assault weapons feels like an existential threat then imagine a world where preemies become viable at 12 weeks (on the way with biobag artificial wombs) and suddenly that becomes the cut off for legal abortion. It's only effects 20% of abortions, not a big deal right?
5
The NRA is a "Civil Rights organization"? Ain't enough gunpowder in China to connect those words to such a terror organization.
12
There was a sound bite on the radio recently regarding this subject --
When told by reporters that the NRA had accused him of trying to shut them down - Governor Cuomo replied--
"That's ridiculous -- If I could actually shut down the NRA I would have done it twenty years ago." --
Too bad his integrity and grit doesn't extend to complete honesty and transparency in his administration...
3
State of Emergency in Charlottesville this weekend.
Police are prepared.
They've banned poles, sticks, axes, mace..
However GUNS are ok because they can't be restricted.
Huh?
What could possibly go wrong?
For all the sportsman, hunters, skeet shooters, and other bona fide gun owners - your NRA card has a whole new meaning. You should be embarrassed carrying it?
7
Use the government to get rid of the NRA = liberals happy. Use the government to get rid of planned parenthood? Well we like that organization go away govenment.
It works both ways, liberals.
4
Bravo, Governor Cuomo. And congratulations on the "F" report card from NRA. Clearly you are more qualified to govern than 100% of anyone in the Republican party and many in the Democratic party that continue to accept contributions and pay-offs from these racketeers. To equate the NRA to a "civil rights organization"... come on, really?
7
@Chris Hunter Are you an avowed communist who does not believe in the Bill of Rights? How about Cuomo removing your right to post?
1
Colorado, where they don't bother to yell fire in a theater, they shoot and ask questions later.
3
My sincere congratulations to our Governor for taking a principled stand against an organization that has the blood of children on its hands. You have my vote in the next election.
7
I am pleased with his NRA stance; I am not so pleased with his
dedication to his ethics bill that vanished in a blink of Sheldon Silver's baby blues never to appear again. But as we have all learned ethics has nothing to do with being the leader of the free world, and if you elect him president he will put a gun law with teeth before congress sometime around the first of never.
Governor Cuomo and Governor Brown give me hope for this country. Time for other brave men to join them.
7
@kay You prefer a socialist welfare state?
2
Don't be fooled. If Cuomo's for it, it's only because it's expedient. If the winds turn, he'll be against it if that brings him a bigger win in someway. he has no core. He's a purely transactional person and keeps very corrupt company.
3
@Arthur You'd prefer leaders who are not responsive to the public?
1
Most of us in Canada whole heartedly support Governor Cuomo. Your gun laws are backward. A buddy of mine was traveling to Southern California in his RV on New Years Eve this year, a bullet shot, perhaps in celebration in the Sacramento area came through the roof as he slept at 2am and embedded itself in the floor 4feet away from his head...another bore witness to a guy in BLM wilderness campsite cooking on his coleman at a picnic table his family thought he died spot on of a heart attack on closer inspection it was bullet out of nowhere that nuked him and a neighbour broke his foot running from the Vegas mass murder. Yep does the NRA feel guilty, its an obvious right that now needs to be denied, the majority of the population does not have the intelligence to safely handle a firearm. We have many friends that refuse to go to the US for two reasons Trump and Guns.
5
I am proud of our governor for inciting the ire of the NRA. May it continue.
8
Good for Cuomo. At least someone has the guts to take on the feeble arguments of the NRA. The beginning of the end.
11
@Agnes Fleming
I heard this in 1977. The NRA is still here, and thanks to people like Cuomo, still growing.
3
Why do gun owners need insurance for using their weapons to shoot people in a lawful manner? If they are responsible citizens, don't they have faith the law will protect them for their legal actions? Methinks something is amiss here.
4
@Safe upon the solid rock
Because 1) first the police will investigate and that requires a lawyer to safeguard your rights; 2) if there is doubt, you may be charged- lawyer; 3) even when you're acquitted of any wrongdoing- you've just spent tens of thousands of dollars, and you can't just turn around and collect a check from the govt for trying to convict you for self-defense.
Then comes the civil suits- even if you had been charged and acquitted. Even just getting those dismissed requires a lawyer and thousands of dollars.
Then there are the medical bills; most people tend to react very badly to having to shoot someone. Therapy is almost always required- again, expensive.
And aren't anti-2nd Amendment people always demanding the gun owners carry insurance?
4
I am not a gun owner but I have nothing against recreational gun ownership as long as there are rigorous regulations. All right, I will even accept much less regulations. What about as many regulations as driving a car? This is a common sense position that consistently have broad support of everyone. However, N.R.A. poorly represents their members by taking the most extreme possible positions and endangers everyone. As a dangerous political organization, Mr. Cuomo is right to oppose it with all political tools available.
15
Cuomo isn't fooling anyone with his re-election ad campaign for a third term as governor. What Cuomo is really doing is a tryout for his presidential campaign in 2020. He's experimenting with what works and what doesn't. Cuomo needs a cause to rally everyone around and the NRA is the perfect target of his fledging presidential bid. Is America ready for President Andrew Cuomo?
4
@sharon5101: Anytime over Trump! Cuomo has the guts to give the NRA, Trump and craven Republicans the middle finger and that he may be trying out things for a presidential bid is what politicians do. But I think he is not "trying out" his NRA opposition just for opportunistic reasons - he has opposed the NRA for decades, remember, even if it cost him upstate votes.
7
@sharon5101 I don't think America is ready for Cumos's socialist welfare state.
3
Sure Sharon, if Andrew Cuomo is the one guy to take on the NRA at a national level, America is more than ready.
2
They fight with weapons and archaic beliefs. You can't say please and thank you in these all encompassing, life and death laws we will live with. Do live with. Smart men and women must come forward and accomplish what all the senseless shootings haven't done. Reason , emotions, deaths don't phase people who will march with all bravado afraid their deadly weapons will be taken away. We need to circumvent (legally) laws that let this country's streets run with blood from victims of guns. I lived in a state that didn't allow every buddy to carry guns, I drove out at night, by myself. Went to malls, lived in a rural area I wouldn't do it down here. And have to have home security system even though my community is considered good. Too many guns. NRA like Trump have had their way over our lives for too long.
6
I am missing comments from "Socrates" these days. I hope all is well with him - he would have a lot of interesting things to say about this article.
On this issue alone Cuomo gets my vote.
29
I doubt that "carry guard" would be compelled to pay if a person is found guilty of a gun crime, just like your fire insurance will not pay you for committing arson on your own house. In this sense, it may be somewhat harmless.
The NRA, like many bureaucracies, is a victim of its own success. Gun ownership is protected, and that is what many of its members used to care about. To justify its machinery and continued donations, it has to keep pushing the edges into zanier and zanier proposals to invent "political controversies", and lobby for these proposals with increasingly fanciful reasoning.
The fallacy that if you are not loosening regulations you are tightening them can invent a lot of faux controversies. We see this in many regulatory areas. Thankfully, our courts value precedent and our regulations have not often flip-flopped wildly. The NRA cannot collect many donations with the motto "the status quo is perfectly fine for gun owners", but that does not make it any less true.
10
The NRA was once a good organization dedicated to safe gun use and safe hunting practices. They have been bought and paid for by the gun corporations and as it appears the Russian Government. They no longer represent the American people or the American gun owners. Unfortunately many have no clew that they are now pawns for the rich and the corrupt.
19
@Roger
You make such an excellent point about the true motivations of the NRA. The NRA is no longer an ideologically motivated organization, but rather one entirly driven by financial interests. It represents exclusively the interests of firearm manufacturers, and, like all corporate entities, their interests are firmly tethered to their bottom lines. I find it fascinating and terrifying how greed has the capacity to push the ideological needle further into the fringe than any political or religious belief ever could.
5
Cuomo is only pushing people on an issue with emotion rather than logic and especially reality.
As especially seen in the George Zimmerman vs. Trayvon Martin fight, even though Martin had broken Zimmerman's nose and had no intention of stopping the beating while on top of Zimmerman, prosecutors went after Zimmerman in what proved a slam dunk case in Zimmerman's favor. Regardless, Zimmerman has a $2.5 Million dollar lawyer bill that can't be recovered from Martin.
A few friends have had to use firearms in self defense. One pulled a firearm on a burglar in his own house in the 1980s Miami and was charged. He ran up a legal bill of $7000. No one else I know has ever been charged for using a firearm in self defense. It's up to politics and what cops and prosecutor gets the case.
Carry Guard might be a good buy if you regularly travel to or live in a lousy neighborhood. This is none of Cuomo's business and he's just trying to burn an emotional flame.
4
You may have missed the news but Zimmerman is not the best choice as a model for any group except the looser group. He has been involved in a number of violent episodes and your description of the horrific event that brought him to national attention is inaccurate.
7
@mrmeat: Zimmerman had no business approaching Martin in the first place. Martin was minding his own business, did nothing even remotely suspicious, and Zimmerman should have minded his own business too, as he was instructed.
4
@Tears For USA
Martin was caught looking in the windows of homes. He also had burglary tools along with Skittles in his backpack.
I do think Zimmerman and Martin each are to blame for what could have just been chasing away a prowler to a shooting.
1
I agree with the writers who point out that in these times we need a tough and savvy political operator. That is what Cuomo is. Of course he cuts some backroom deals and pushes the envelope regarding issues. The Dems have to learn that the real world is about dealing with some major creeps. Surely that should be self evident at this point. Ms. Nixon is fine, but I am not confident she has the deep connections and the personal info on the enemies of the Dems in NY to use to pressure a result. None of these folks are saints and what is found out or allowed to legally publish is limited. But a good politico with some depth can use it far more effectively. We can't take one chance if we are to save the nation. I really believe we have one chance, as it wasn't the midterms. A writer says that Cuomo's "using mafia tactics to pressure banks and such to sever ties with the organization. The man is as crooked as can be." Note the word Mafia, leave it out and I totally agree that's it's a great idea when it comes to an organization like the NRA. No one says you can't own a gun only we need to talk about what kind. It interesting that as hunting has gone out of popularity the more people are buying guns. Why?
15
The NRA, like many people and regions of this country, are a surprise to this gun owning white guy.
What used to be an organization of gun owners interested in gun safety, shooting sports, hunting and mild second amendment advocacy has morphed into a radical influence group whose membership of preppers, white supemists and machine gun radicals has crushed my grandfathers NRA.
Unfortunately, like any advocacy group that is reliant on voluntary donations, the NRA pursues the most engaged members because they pay the bills- and salaries.
As people like me, who left the organization years ago over armour piercing bullets and assault rifles, end our dues- guess who fills the financial void?
I hope your readers understand that the NRA and the radicals who now control it are nothing more than a corrupt cabal of the worst gun owners. They don't look like me.
I'll be deer hunting this fall. I'll be licenced, ethical, careful and reverent of both the game and the mighty wilderness my quarry lives in.
I wont be wearing an NRA patch. They left me and people like me a long time ago.
47
Yes, this is the same governor that is stealing $2 Billion from the Catholic Church and he wants us to believe he is on our side. This is a power play. He is surrounded by armed guards but makes it almost impossible to get a license in this state.
The Safe Act was run through four weeks after Sandy Hook with no debate, done in a typical back room deal.
This guy is a crook.
6
Your Catholic Church comment has zero bearing upon this topic, a grasp at straws to say the least.
4
Liberals want to ban all privately owned guns so they can more easily impose their Marxist desires onto the American population.
5
@Jon W. Nothing could be further from the truth but it makes for a good scare tactic.
3
Neo-Russian-Americans NRA
The new NRA? Hey Comrade Trump, what’s your NRA (Neo-Russian-Americans) rating? Most certainly an A, mine’s an F. Most officials of the National Rifle Association (the old NRA) get an A for being upstanding members of the new, Neo-Russian-Americans (NRA). Nothing wrong with better U.S.-Russian relations – something very wrong with the new NRA as well as with the old NRA.
8
I hope you win Cuomo, this is a battle worth fighting for!
33
As a left wing guy I have had some concerns about our Governor but after a year and change with Commandant Bone Spur attacking pretty much every aspect of our government that I hold dear.....I am a big Cuomo supporter.
43
The NRA as a civil rights organization? How about the tobacco lobby? While the Second amendment enshrines some gun rights regarding ownership, it does not protect gun users from shooting those guns. The NRA, despite their PR attempts, is a lobby for gun and ammunition manufacturers, pure and simple. So kudos to Gov. Cuomo for giving them a dose of their own medicine.
36
When liberals say "reasonable common sense gun regulation," they mean a de facto ban.
8
@Jon W. that is correct. Reasonable gun control would be close to a ban, because there is very little reason for anyone in NY to have a gun. Or they can have a gun but need a reason, and a license, and training, and insurance, and registration of that weapon, and a measure to control access including a gun safe, and be part of routing checks on use of that gun safe. So because most of those wanting a gun wouldn't submit to the same controls as we use for cars, it would be a defacto ban. But whats the problem with that apart from less accidental deaths of gun owners and their families, and less fear in the community about the number of guns floating essentially uncontrolled through the nation?
35
@Jon W.
Nah - I'll just take "Smart Guns", 6 week training (people still can't lock them up right can they?) and strict licensing with a photo i.d. before you can have one. Exactly like a car thanks. Too much to ask?
13
@Jon W... No we don't... when we say "reasonable common sense gun regulations" what we mean is "reasonable common sense gun regulation." How do you establish a "de facto ban" on a Constitutional right? Your comment is a perfect example of why the NRA is so hated.
15
Thank you again, Governor. Your clear-eyed courage in taking on this domestic terrorist organization is inspiring. Americans are sick and tired and bought off, cowardly politicians continuing to allow this out of touch lobbying to degrade our lives and make our children unsafe. The NRA is a sickness.
You are an inspiration.
23
Careful NRA. This is New York.
We're MORE than your match!
And we do not need a gun to do it!!
32
So the NRA is supporting Cynthia Nixon. This is weird.
5
I guess the NRA really doesn’t like Cynthia Nixon. Who knew?
2
Agreed gun rights would still exist if the NRA would go out of existence tomorrow. What might lessen would be the hyper paranoia it disseminates. It is a lobbyist for the gun industry & the premise it deserves a nonprofit status is a joke. I grew up in 50s and 60s and still have NRA marksman badges when it had a more benign role of teaching gun safety. Funny how in that Cold War era w/ “commie” scare everyplace there was no over riding call for Americans to arm themselves to the ridiculous point it has evolved to now. I don’t recall hearing the NRA railing then that the Communists were coming for our guns. No need for perverse logic employed resulting in twisted legislation such as Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws. I guess as a nation we had more self confidence and could understand and deal w/ change without resorting to deadly force instead. The NRA is just has bad Karma at it’s core now. Good riddance if it should go bankrupt- something else will pop up to take its place soon enough. Maybe something not run by such a bunch of hateful and scared people.
8
“They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred.”
FDR said this is 1936, and Cuomo should say it now. Bring an enemy of the worst lobby in Washington should be worn as a badge of honor.
27
I wish I could get behind Cuomo. I just can't get over how he treats the mayor of NYC, not that I'm all in for DeBlasio, just that its weird, weird. Cuomo's childishness in his spats with DeBlasio were revealing.
6
Someone needs to let our illustrious Governor that he will never be President.
6
@Nycpol... Governor Andrew Cuomo for President in 2O2O... what a great idea.
10
Carry Guard insurance results in a mentality of less restraint in the use of firearms against people. Anything that increases the risk to others does not belong in the world of insurance.
36
The NRA continues to funnel money from Russian sources to Trump and the Republican Party. They oppose any moderate gun reform. They represent a very noisy minority who feel their right to own a gun, is more important than people having the right not to be shot, at a rate more than ten times that in comparable advanced nations.
I would be proud and vindicated, if the NRA opposed my views.
41
Wouldn’t it be great If a carry guard policy was mandatory for each and every gun owned? Wouldn’t it be great if the rates were higher for those that did have an active healthcare policy meeting ACA standards? Suddenly owning many guns would become unaffordable.
18
Whoops - Higher rates for those that don’t have healthcare
Higher rates for higher blood pressure and diabetes and slower reflexes.... and on and on
5
@Deirdre
High blood pressure and diabetes affect only the person with those conditions, and do not kill third parties.
5
@Garak High blood pressure and Diabetes has lead to many heart attacks behind the wheel my friend. Pray it's not someone driving your kids in a schoolbus or you in an uber with no meds or health insurance (widespread).
When will people realize that societies are organisms and unhealthy parts effect all parts?
1
"a protection against legal fees that could arise from firing a weapon in self-defense."
No mention of treatment fees for gunshot victims that is passed on to the unarmed public adding to the out of control costs of healthcare.
An automobile owner is required by law to carry liability insurance to cover injuries inherent in driving as well as uninsured motorist insurance to cover liability of "illegal" drivers. These costs are not passed on to pedestrians that do not own cars.
15
I don't like this at all. The NRA makes our country worse off by blocking virtually all gun control legislation - including reasonable, centrist proposals favored by large majorities of Americans - but the appropriate way to defeat them is through organizing and elections, not an assault carried out by a state's executive branch. Precedents break both ways.
@Matt What "reasonable" proposals have the NRA opposed? Anything you name I can explain why it's not reasonable.
@Matt
As the article pointed out, anti-abortion states have long used the same tactic. After the Supreme Court in the Heller case twisted the 2d Amendment to create an individual right to possess firearms, no amount of organizing and elections will change that. This perverted reading is a huge propaganda coup for the NRA. Only a change in the Supreme Court can defeat the NRA.
@Matt Too bad.
NRA is a defender of a constitutional right. Cuomo does not like this right. And many Americans do like the right. Under our democracy, you can try to change it by arguing and convincing others. But, that is not what Cuomo is doing. He is using his power to suppress the organization. He is acting like a dictator. He may say Trump is dictator for tweeting his opinion, but Cuomo is not expressing his opinion, but using his power to oppress the opinions of others. It won't work in America.
10
@Alex E "Under our democracy, you can try to change it by arguing and convincing others." Or you can try to change it by doing what the NRA does: lobbying, mounting aggressive ad and PR campaigns and giving millions of dollars to influential politicians. I guess how reprehensible you consider one approach or the other depends heavily on whether you consider your constitutional right to own a gun absolute and inviolable.
11
@Alex E
Sorry Alex, but the NRA morphed into nothing more than a shill for the arms manufacturing years ago. Once upon a time they were the strongest advocates for the safe use of firearms. As they say, that was in a galaxy far, far away from where they are today. Today they fight any and all attempts to implement common sense gun laws, laws supported by the vast majority of the country. Laws supported by this well armed, well trained, licensed to conceal carry, gun owner.
22
Unfortunately this "right" was only recently conveyed by SCOTUS. In reality it's only in the moneyed, partisan era of today that the right to bear arms has been extended outside of the "militias" as called for in the constitution. And let's face it, all of the strict constructionist out there refuse to acknowledge that the founders never envisioned AR-15's and the like as defensive weapons. No one is against hunters and sportsman but let's regulate weapons of this nature in a sensible fashion. Not Everyman for himself!
2
Cuomo is slandering the NRA as "insuring against criminal activity," in a bid to position himself as the premiere anti-gun-nut hero for the 2020 presidential race. When he's not committing outright slander, he's using mafia tactics to pressure banks and such to sever ties with the organization. The man is as crooked as can be.
9
@Mario
I agree. The current President is a mafia Don and crooked as can be.
5
@Mario He's a national treasure. We must protect this man at all costs. The NRA has blood on its hands.
8
@Mario, Given the gun problem in the us, "anti-gun nut" is a meaningless designation. We rank with 3rd-world nations on that account and that can't be good.
9
Sending my thoughts and prayers to the NRA. LOL.
85
The beauty of this is the NRA's shtick won't work in New York State.
They are totally out of their depth here.
There is a rational basis for the State of New York's commitment to reasonable and appropriate gun control measures, designed to protect its residents from the scourge of gun violence.
The NRA has demonstrated itself to be an extremist, far right political advocacy group with what traction it has in rural and deep-red areas of the country.
Add to that their penetration by the Russian intelligence services, and the fact that their current board is likely fatally compromised for taking foreign money and undermining the independence of our elections and stick a fork in the NRA . . . you're toast baby!
102
@MCW Another NYC liberal who thinks that New York State consists of nothing more than the city. Gun bans are very unpopular upstate. In any event, New York's gun control laws are not reasonable and appropriate, and they are not designed to protect anyone from gun violence. They're intended to harass and inconvenience law abiding people.
7
Jon W.,
I live in the country and lived my whole life in the country. I believe that responsible gun owners go to a gun safety class and learn how to handle the gun. Many NRA types have forgotten U.S. Supreme Court case -D.C. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, Pp. 54-56 (2008). Writing for the 5-4 majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said, " Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner and for whatever purpose..."
Heller understood that States can and will regulate guns. Read that portion of the Scalia written decision. The late Justice said that other limitations can be imposed. And he was supportive of the 2nd Amendment, but knew certain limitations can be placed by the States under 10th Amendment police powers - public safety, public health, and public welfare.
7
@MCW
Have you ever actually been north of Westchester?
6
“If this campaign that has been orchestrated by Governor Cuomo and his colleagues was mounted against any other civil rights organization,” Mr. Brewer continued, “you’d like to hope that everyone would get the point.”
Your reporter didn't note if this guy called the NRA a civil rights organization with a straight face.
22
@J Actually, you skipped Brewer's funniest line: “The N.R.A. is not running for office any place. The N.R.A. has no political motivation.”
Clearly if you're going to be an NRA spokesperson you need to be able to deliver lines like this with total sincerity.
7
Extremely dangerous precedent being set here. Fining private businesses and threatening them with licence forfeiture just because they do business with an entity that doesn't agree with your politics is a very disturbing transgression of 1st Amendment rights.
What's next the abolishment of publishing rights for conservative or ultra left wing media.
9
@mbrody
"just because they do business with an entity that doesn't agree with your politics"
No, read the article. The issue is that it is illegal to insure someone who then carries out "intentional wrongdoing."
The wording of the contracts appears to be an issue.
Suppose someone feels empowered, by insurance, to take out an AR15 and attack a car during a road rage incident. Will he claim that the insurance company should cover all damages? Remember the recent parking lot murder in Florida operating under the "stand your ground" get out of jail free card.
"the state’s Department of Financial Services began investigating whether several insurance companies that had offered or underwritten Carry Guard were violating state law by offering coverage for acts of “intentional wrongdoing.”
25
@Lynn Don't you liberals always say that liability insurance should be mandatory for gun owners? Now that people are buying policies, you're saying they're illegal. Which is it?
1
@Lynn
I guess the next step is insurance for opioid dealers.
Isn't this the same Cuomo who rushed through the NY SAFE Act firearms bill into law so fast in 2013 that they totally forgot to exempt police officers from the bill's legal requirements, thereby criminalizing them?
Yep, some model all right.
6
@Gideon Strazewski At least he is taking action against the NRA, that alone deserves to be celebrated.
8
Thank you Governor Cuomo! NRA needs to go!
60
Pretty interesting. The toughest gun control laws in the country??? Yet we have nearly a murder a day in NYC. What's that all about ? Is the governor just an opportunist
6
@Patrick
"What's that all about?"
NY can't control the flow of guns from other states across our border. These guns flow in illegally after straw purchases and batch purchases in other states. That's why it has to be handled at the Federal Level. But, in the interim, we can do our best within the limits of the Republican/NRA/Russian money.
In fact, let 'er rip states have much higher levels of gun deaths, including many toddlers accidentally killing each other.
You can follow the carnage here
https://www.thetrace.org
22
@Patrick "Yet we have nearly a murder a day in NYC." Which, by the way, makes New York the safest big city in the United States.
9
NYC has one of the lowest murder rates in the country.
The NRA does not have any power. The people do. We're the people who recognize the obvious reality that Democrats want to completely ban the civilian ownership of firearms. We recognize this, and as such stand in the way. The pro-gun side has the Constitution, facts, and evidence on its side. The anti-gun left has deceit, lies, intellectual dishonesty, and appeals to emotion on its side.
9
1) The left in general is NOT opposed to all civilian gun ownership. This is an NRA lie.
2) The US has much higher rates of gun violence than other similar countries. There is both domestic and international evidence that well-designed gun regulation works to reduce violent crime.
3) The 2nd amendment, especially post-Heller, protects civilian gun ownership. So even if the left wanted to end civilian gun ownership it could not. This means regulation is not a slippery slope.
4) The 2nd amendment allows for gun regulation--it's mentioned directly in the text. Plus, 19th century legal precedent shows that gun regulation is allowable.
5) Paranoia is not an argument.
75
@Z
1) Yes, it is.
2) When you account for our demographics, it does not.
3) Leftists constantly say that the Supreme Court needs to be packed so that the 2nd Amendment can be "reinterpreted." This is your obvious goal.
4) Yes, SOME regulation (and no, it is not mentioned in the text. "Well regulated" does not refer to government regulations, and you know it), but not ALL regulation.
5) It's only paranoia if they're not really out to get you. The left is intent to seize all privately owned guns.
1
@Jon W. The NRA does have immense power. The most obvious reason for this is your blind support for a lobbying organization. There are thousands more, just like you, that give power to this criminal organization. The NRA does not have the Constitution on its side. The NRA utilizes and manipulates the interpretation of the Constitution and invokes fear, which is clearly demonstrated in your words. If you actually based your opinions on facts, you would not be defending an organization that kills children and easily puts military grade firearms in the hands of civilians. The NRA only cares about your money. You don't recognize anything, unfortunately.
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Get rid of the NRA. This organization stopped being legitimate years ago. The safety programs they used to run were great. If this was still their focus, they would be fine, however they have morphed into a far right political group. I own firearms including, assault rifles, but I believe I am sufficiently protected by the US Constitution, and I'm not concerned that the democrats are going to come take firearms away from me or anyone else. The NRA should be more worried about the Russian mob money they funneled, illegally, to the Trump campaign. Mr Cuomos actions will pale in comparison to the Justice Departments actions when they prove the money situation. Well maybe the next Justice Department.
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It’s long past time a politician stood up to the extortion of the gun industry shills that is the nra. Their tax exempt status should be revoked.
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Any politician that does not have a F rating from the nra would ever get my vote.
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In general, I don't think Cuomo is trustworthy or honorable----unlike his father, one of the greatest progressives in my lifetime. He is definitely not Presidential material. I will, however, give him very high marks if he manages to shut down one of the most dishonest and dangerous trade organizations in our nation.
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I think The Times has it backwards, but that is part of the bias of The Times. I think Cuomo declared war on the NRA so that he could score some political points in his campaign against Cynthia Nixon. The NRA is just responding. This may be one fight I hope Cuomo wins, but it would still be nice if The Times did not wear its bias in its news columns. After all, the news is not supposed to be an opinion piece.
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The fact that you read bias in this news piece exposes your bias. I see it as a straight up news reporting.
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@Tony
hmmmm, Cuomo's Safe Act from 2013 and his 2000 agreement with Smith&Wesson are facts that demonstrate your theory incorrect.
It would appear your comment is an opinion piece.
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