NRA: We're in Deep Trouble

The NRA is crying foul in its legal battle with New York state and says it may have to close up shop, Rolling Stone reports. Battling New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state's financial regulators since May, the NRA blames a state-championed "blacklisting campaign" for draining the organization of "tens of millions of dollars," inflicting "irrecoverable loss and irreparable harm"—and forcing it into a position where it may "be unable to exist." Specifically, the group's recent court filing says New York has pressured financial service providers like banks and insurance companies to abandon the group, per TPM. "Insurance coverage is necessary for the NRA to continue its existence," reads the complaint.

Without it, the "NRA cannot maintain its physical premises, convene off-site meetings and events, operate educational programs … or hold rallies, conventions and assemblies." The NRA filed suit in May after New York stopped the NRA from selling its "Carry Guard" insurance policy, designed to reimburse members' legal costs after firing a legal weapon. New York deemed the policy illegal and fined the NRA's insurance partners $7 million, but the NRA claimed New York wasn't just blocking "Carry Guard"—it was severing the group's ties with financial service providers in general. Meanwhile, the NRA overspent by almost $46 million in 2016. Cuomo has dismissed the NRA's suit as "a futile and desperate attempt to advance its dangerous agenda to sell more guns." (More NRA stories.)