New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t been shy about making his disdain for the National Rifle Association public. During this past election, Cuomo’s campaign even sent out a mailer shouting in bold letters: “If the NRA goes bankrupt, I will remember them in my thoughts and prayers.”
But when Cuomo decided to use state regulators to threaten financial institutions that do business with gun manufacturers and gun-rights associations, he opened a new front that could have far-reaching consequences on First Amendment-protected speech.
The NRA filed a lawsuit last spring after it became known that Cuomo ordered the state’s Department of Financial Services to tell the banks, insurance companies, and other financial firms it oversees “to review any relationships they may have with the National Rifle Association and other similar organizations. Upon this review, the companies are encouraged to consider whether such ties harm their corporate reputations and jeopardize public safety.”
Despite this direct attack on First Amendment-protected freedom of association, Cuomo won reelection easily, in part because even a rebuke by the liberal American Civil Liberties Union on this issue didn’t get mainstream news outlets to investigate and report the consequences if Cuomo wins in court.