On May 30, 2024, the United States Supreme Court issued a 9-0 decision in the NRA v. Vullo decision, a big win for the NRA in a 1st Amendment case. Yes, you read that right, a 1st Amendment case — that had everything to do with the 2nd Amendment.
In a lawsuit, the NRA had claimed that Maria Vullo, New York State’s former superintendent of the Department of Financial Services (DFS), had violated the gun group’s 1st Amendment rights “by coercing DFS-regulated parties to punish or suppress the NRA’s gun-promotion advocacy,” according to the decision written by Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Yes, you read that right, Justice Sotomayor wrote the decision.
More from the decision: “The NRA contracted with DFS-regulated entities — affiliates of Lockton Companies, LLC (Lockton) — to administer insurance polices the NRA offered as a benefit to its members, which Chubb Limited (Chubb) and Lloyd’s of London (Lloyd’s) would then underwrite. In 2017, [then-superintendent] Vullo began investigating one of these affinity insurance policies — Carry Guard — on a tip passed along from a gun-control advocacy group. The investigation revealed that Carry Guard insured gun owners from intentional criminal acts in violation of New York law, and that the NRA promoted Carry Guard without the required insurance producer license. Lockton and Chubb subsequently suspended Carry Guard. Vullo then expanded her investigation into the NRA’s other affinity insurance programs.”
On February 27, 2018, Vullo met with senior executives at Lloyd’s, expressed her views in favor of gun control, and told the Lloyd’s executives “that DFS was less interested in pursuing” infractions unrelated to any NRA business “so long as Lloyd’s ceased providing insurance to gun groups, especially the NRA.” Vullo and Lloyd’s struck a deal: Lloyd’s “would instruct its syndicates to cease underwriting firearm-related policies and would scale back its NRA-related business,” and “in exchange, DFS would focus its forthcoming affinity-insurance enforcement action solely on those syndicates which served the NRA.”
This is straight out of Atlas Shrugged. An official puts the strong arm on one business so the government can put another business it doesn’t like out of business.
Then, on April 19, 2018, Vullo issued guidance letters that “encourage[d]” DFS-regulated entities to: (1) “continue evaluating and managing their risks, including reputational risks, that may arise from their dealings with the NRA or similar gun promotion organizations”; (2) “review any relationships they have with the NRA or similar gun promotion organizations”; and (3) “take prompt actions to manag[e] these risks and promote public health and safety.” Vullo and Governor Cuomo also urged all insurance companies and banks doing business in New York’ ” to join those “ ‘that have already discontinued their arrangements with the NRA.’ ”
The court held that a government entity’s “threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion” against a third party “to achieve the suppression” of disfavored speech violates the First Amendment. That is great news, and kudos to the NRA. They won the battle. However, New York State officials won the war by shutting down what critics called “murder insurance.” Once the underwriters bailed in New York, NRA had no choice but to kill Carry Guard across the country.
— Todd Woodard
