Brewer News Release: NRA Files Lawsuit Against State of New York, Seeks Gun Stores to be Designated “Essential” in Wake of Shutdown
New York, NY…April 3, 2020 – Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors announced today that its client, the National Rifle Association of America (“NRA”), filed suit against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the New York State Department of Economic Development, and New York State Department of Economic Development Acting Commissioner, President, and CEO Eric Gertler in response to the state’s attack on the rights of New York citizens and residents to exercise their Second Amendment freedoms.
The lawsuit focuses on Executive Order 202.8, issued by Gov. Cuomo on March 20, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 health crisis. According to the lawsuit, that order “effectively and indefinitely suspended a key component of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution – shutting down all gun stores in the State of New York, including federally licensed gun stores, by deeming them ‘non-essential’ businesses.” Under the order, “essential” businesses are permitted to remain open. According to the NRA, the order had the intended effect of eliminating the only way of legally purchasing firearms in the state.
“There isn’t a single person who has ever used a gun for self-defense who would consider it nonessential,” said Wayne LaPierre, NRA CEO & Executive Vice President. “This is clearly another assault by Gov. Cuomo on the NRA, on the rights of New Yorkers to defend themselves and their families, and on our Second Amendment freedoms. The NRA will continue to fight all such attacks until Gov. Cuomo recognizes that constitutional rights are for every New Yorker and every American – and not just for politicians and their privileged friends.”
Filed on April 2, 2020, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, the lawsuit states, “Reasonable steps to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus do not include the suspension of the Second Amendment. Plaintiff asks the Court to declare that the Second Amendment right to bear arms requires that citizens and residents of New York be afforded reasonable access to purchase firearms and ammunition, and to prohibit Defendants from needlessly forcing gun stores to remain closed.”
“The right to keep and bear arms is enshrined in the Constitution, in part, to give Americans the ability to defend themselves and their families,” said William A. Brewer III, counsel for the NRA and partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors. “The current public health emergency does not justify the complete elimination of this right, especially during a time when many New Yorkers have valid concerns about their physical safety and welfare. Our client believes that Gov. Cuomo is again weaponizing the power of his office – to prevent gun owners from exercising the rights to which they are entitled.”
The NRA has approximately 5 million members.
As stated in the lawsuit, on March 28, 2020, the United States Department of Homeland Security issued a list of critical infrastructure “intended to help State, local, tribal and territorial officials as they work to protect their communities, while ensuring continuity of functions critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and national security.” This list of critical infrastructure includes: “Workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.”
In the wake of this guidance, a litany of states and municipalities clarified that gun stores are “essential.” For example, on March 30, 2020, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced that gun stores will be classified as “essential businesses” and allowed to reopen.
Gov. Murphy stated, “In accordance with the guidance released over the weekend by the federal Department of Homeland Security, we will allow firearms sellers to operate.”
Unfortunately, New York refused to clarify or reexamine its position as it relates to gun stores. However, liquor stores remain “essential businesses” under the governor’s order last month.
National Review Publishes Editorial in Support of NRA’s Legal Advocacy
On January 8, 2020, the National Review published an editorial by legal writer Walter Olson that supports the legal advocacy of the firm and its client, the National Rifle Association.
In the editorial, “Progressive Governments’ Economic War on the NRA Fails in Court,” Olson addresses efforts by government officials in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York to "take down the hated National Rifle Association by targeting its pocketbook."
Olson observes that San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York are "facing a legal reckoning in court, based not on the Second Amendment but on the First. Without needing to even consider the issue of gun rights, federal courts are recognizing that boycotts enforced by government power can menace free speech and free association."
Olson places particular emphasis on the NRA’s advocacy against Governor Cuomo and New York State regulators. He observes, “While Cuomo was of course free to express his own views, the Constitution would have something to say about it if he or his appointees had made veiled threats against banks and insurers to encourage them to disassociate from the NRA.”
New York Law Journal Reports on New Documents Obtained in Case Against State of New York
On December 23, 2019, the New York Law Journal published the report, “NRA Secures New Documents in Bid to Revive Selective Enforcement Claims Against NY Officials.” The report states that the NRA "says it’s obtained new information that proves state officials in New York acted deliberately, and unlawfully, to strangle the gun lobby group of its financial resources because of its positions on gun control measures."
“The NRA has troubling new information that underscores the true motives of the State’s actions,” said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and lead counsel for the NRA. “Our client is determined to bring this evidence to light – to expose the backroom meetings and communications that were essential to Defendant’s scheme to silence and harm the NRA by any means necessary.”
According to a December 20 legal filing, documents obtained by the NRA show the state singled out its insurance products for sanctions while ignoring other policies with similar violations.
The Journal reports that evidence from those documents was included in a new version of the NRA’s lawsuit against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the state Department of Financial Services, and Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of that agency.
New York Times Magazine Profiles NRA, Firm Advocacy
A New York Times Magazine profile story from December 22, 2019, “Inside Wayne LaPierre’s Battle for the NRA,” reports about various lawsuits and investigations being successfully managed by the firm’s client, the National Rifle Association.
Since March 2018, the firm has represented the NRA on a broad range of legal and regulatory issues, including a well-publicized First Amendment case against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Financial Services. The article provides an in-depth look into a myriad of important matters, and features interviews with NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre and firm Managing Partner William Brewer.
NRA Achieves Victory in San Francisco
As chronicled in various media reports, Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) achieved a victory in San Francisco, after Mayor London Breed formally disavowed key provisions of a municipal resolution that signaled the blacklisting of contractors linked to the gun group.
On September 3, 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution that called for the City to investigate ties between its contractors and vendors and the NRA. The city declared the NRA was a "domestic terrorist organization."
On September 9, 2019, the NRA filed a lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco and members of the Board of Supervisors. The lawsuit alleges violations of the NRA’s First Amendment rights, along with other related constitutional claims.
Rather than await a decision from a court, on September 23, 2019, San Francisco Mayor London Breed issued a formal memorandum to City officials, declaring that "no [municipal] department will take steps to restrict any contractor from doing business with the NRA or to restrict City contracting opportunities for any business that has any relationship with the NRA."
"The memo serves as a clear concession and a well-deserved win for the First and Second Amendments of the United States Constitution," says William A. Brewer III, the NRA’s outside counsel. "It is unfortunate that in today’s polarized times, some elected officials would rather silence opposing arguments than engage in good-faith debate. The NRA is America’s oldest civil rights organization – and won’t stand for that."
Brewer Client NRA Sues City of San Francisco
The New York Times reported that Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors client the National Rifle Association (NRA) sued San Francisco on September 9, 2019, for allegedly violating the NRA’s First Amendment speech rights after the city’s board of supervisors declared the NRA a terrorist organization.
William Brewer, the NRA’s outside counsel, called the city’s action “an assault on all advocacy organizations across the country.”
The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court in San Francisco. The Times reported that the suit alleges that the city moved to “blacklist anyone linked to the N.R.A.” The suit also called the designation a “frivolous insult” but contended that “San Francisco’s actions pose a nonfrivolous constitutional threat.”
“In the face of recent, similar blacklisting schemes,” the lawsuit continued, “financial institutions have expressed reluctance to provide bank accounts for disfavored political groups, and city contractors fear losing their livelihoods if they support or even work with the N.R.A.”
The Washington Post also reported on the lawsuit, noting that the NRA alleges the resolution is “obviously unconstitutional.”
Brewer Client NRA Takes Step Forward in New York Lawsuit
An article from the New York Law Journal, “NRA Could Obtain Internal State Documents in Lawsuit Against Cuomo, DFS, After US Judge’s Review,” dated August 9, 2019, reports that a “series of documents that state officials from New York have wanted to withhold from the National Rifle Association in its lawsuit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a state agency will be reviewed by a federal judge in the coming weeks and could ultimately be disclosed to the gun lobby group.”
“For months, Gov. Cuomo and DFS have tried to conceal from the public, and the court, documents demonstrating the state’s internal rationale for its blacklisting campaign against the NRA,” said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and lead counsel for the NRA. “The NRA will aggressively pursue all the facts and press every advantage in this important advocacy.”
Brewer added, “This decision is a positive development for the NRA and its millions of members.”
The article states that the NRA is suing Cuomo, the Department of Financial Services and its former Superintendent Maria Vullo over claims that they “deliberately infringed on the group’s First Amendment rights through state actions.”
NRA Allowed to Depose Former DFS Superintendent - New York Law Journal
The New York Law Journal reports that the National Rifle Association will be allowed to depose former New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo in the group’s lawsuit against the state over what it has argued was a violation of its free speech rights and selective enforcement of the state’s insurance regulations. The article, “NRA Allowed to Depose Former DFS Superintendent Vullo in Lawsuit Against NY,” explained that the decision from U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian Hummel is significant. The article states, “It’s rare that high-ranking state or federal officials are required to testify as part of any litigation. They’re often granted immunity from testimony as a high-ranking government official.”
“Today’s ruling is gratifying, and correct. As the head of a major financial regulator, Ms. Vullo singled out the NRA to suppress its speech. She should answer questions regarding this conduct,” said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and lead counsel for the NRA. “This is a significant development for the advocacy of the NRA. We are anxious to discover all the facts and bring them into open view—to the benefit of the Association and the First Amendment.”