Speaking on MSBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) slammed the national Rifle Association, calling them “the bad guys.”
As The Washington Free Beacon reports, Cuomo is currently fighting the NRA over its insurance policy Carry Guard, which offers legal protection for gun owners legally utilizing a firearm for self-defense. The insurance is not currently available in New York.
Host Mika Brzezinski asked if New York is “blacklisting the NRA,” prompting Cuomo to insist to cohost Joe Scarborough that the insurance insures gun owners for committing an “intentional bad act,” which is illegal in New York. Cuomo continued, “But, look, from my point of view, I do disagree with [the NRA] politically, and if they have less money to bully and threaten politicians into irrational positions, you know, I’m not going to lose any sleep over that. And if they went away, you know, I would offer my thoughts and prayers, Joe. “
In May, the NRA sued the New York State Department of Financial Services and Cuomo, claiming the NRA’s First Amendment rights had been violated. The suit charged:
Directed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, this campaign involves selective prosecution, backroom exhortations, and public threats with a singular goal—to deprive the NRA and its constituents of their First Amendment right to speak freely about gun-related issues and defend the Second Amendment. The foundation of Defendants’ selective-enforcement and retaliation campaign is a series of threats to financial institutions that DFS, an agency created to ensure the integrity of financial markets after the 2008 credit crisis, will exercise its extensive regulatory power against entities that fail to sever ties with the NRA. To effect their sweeping agenda, Defendants issued public demands that put DFS-regulated institutions on notice to “discontinue their arrangements with the NRA” and other “gun promotion organizations” if they planned to do business in New York.
But on Morning Joe, Monday morning, Cuomo boasted he would reach out to other states to target the NRA’s insurance program, asserting:
When they said that loss of this insurance product is going to make such a significant difference on their revenues, I am now reaching out to the other states because I believe this insurance product is going to be illegal from a public policy point of view in most states and now that the NRA said this is a major source of revenue, I’m going to pursue it nationwide.
Cuomo referenced the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013, which he signed into law, adding, “Look, I think these guys are bad guys, and it started from the Clinton administration with the SAFE Act that could have done great work, that the gun manufacturers supported until the NRA came in and literally pressured the gun manufacturers not to make an arrangement.”