“This was a baseless, premeditated attack on our organization and the Second Amendment freedoms it fights to defend. You could have set your watch by it: The investigation was going to reach its crescendo as we move into the 2020 election cycle. It’s a transparent attempt to score political points and attack the leading voice in opposition to the leftist agenda. As evidenced by the lawsuit filed by the NRA today against the New York attorney general, we not only will not shrink from this fight—we will confront it and prevail.” –NRA President Carolyn Meadows
To feel deep in your American spirit what this New York State attorney general’s political move to disband the National Rifle Association is all about, do this: Imagine a rogue district attorney (DA) targeting you with outrageous, politically motivated charges. Picture this DA calling a news conference with the mainstream media. Now see this public official, who should know better, on the steps of a government building in front of the cameras, unjustly, unfairly and with partisan opportunism on their breath and in their power-hungry eyes, accusing you of fake charges, charges designed to shut you up, to harm your reputation and to cost you everything.
To fight back, even though you are right, you know you’ll need to spend a fortune on attorneys and to navigate a mainstream media bias that is mostly prejudiced against you and all you stand for.
As you struggle in this fight for justice, because you must, you know they really aren’t trying to win a legal argument. They are trying to drain your resources and attempting to stall and distract you at a critical time.
Now realize this is exactly what they’re doing to your NRA. For political reasons before an all-important election, they are attempting to bleed to death our nearly 150-year-old civil-rights association. They hate and fear the NRA because the NRA is made up of millions of like-minded Americans from all demographics who have all chosen to stand shoulder to shoulder for American freedom. They hate and fear the NRA because its many members vote.
This can’t be overstated. This is a blatant and political assault on American freedom. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit is literally calling for the dissolution of the NRA. This is happening a mere three months before an election, an election in which your Second Amendment rights will be on the ballot.
These New York officials are openly trying to neuter the NRA, a major political force that stands opposed to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D) stated desire—and, in fact, the official positions of Joe Biden and even the official 2020 Democratic Party Platform—to ban and/or regulate our Second Amendment-protected rights out of existence.
“As stated in the complaint, I was privately warned by then-NY AG Eric Schneiderman that Governor Cuomo was engineering an attack on the NRA,” said New York NRA Board Member Tom King. “I was told Cuomo would use every resource to pursue his lifelong dream of defeating the NRA, and an ‘investigation’ of our Association was on the horizon. I always expected better of the governor, and hoped he would rise up to honor the principles under which he was elected. I feel compelled to share this story today for all who hoped this state would put its people first—not use them as pawns to advance Cuomo’s partisan agenda.”
The background of this partisan agenda is also important to note, as New York Attorney General James has a record of attacking the NRA. In a 2018 interview with Ebony magazine, for example, James called the NRA a “terrorist organization.” Also in 2018, James actually vowed to “target the NRA” and “investigate the legitimacy of the NRA as a charitable organization.” She said this while on the campaign trail before spending even one day in office and without any evidence of any compliance failures.
This is why the NRA quickly counter-filed a lawsuit against New York Attorney General James in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. This lawsuit notes that, under the guise of protecting New Yorkers and enforcing state nonprofit law, the NY’s AG has weaponized its regulatory and legal powers to harm the NRA because they see the NRA as a political adversary.
The NY AG undertook an investigation of the NRA immediately after assuming office and, not surprisingly, just a few months before an election she has filed an outrageous legal action against the NRA.
“To be clear, the NYAG’s actions are an affront to democracy and freedom,” says NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. “This is an unconstitutional, premeditated attack aiming to dismantle and destroy the NRA, the fiercest defender of America’s freedom at the ballot box for decades. The NRA is well governed, financially solvent and committed to good governance.”
“We’re ready for the fight. Bring it on,” says LaPierre.
Right now, many in the mainstream media are treating the NY AG as a hero for “standing up” to the NRA. What they won’t say out loud is the reason the NRA has influence is because it brings millions of American citizens together to stand together for their hard-won freedom, as protected in the U.S. Bill of Rights.
This is to say, you are the NRA and we need you now.
