Over 80 congressional Republicans back NRA in Supreme Court free speech lawsuit

Dozens of congressional Republicans are urging the Supreme Court to side with the National Rifle Association in its lawsuit against a New York state regulator accused of pressuring financial institutions to blacklist the Second Amendment rights organization. 

Sen. Ted Budd and Rep. Richard Hudson, both North Carolina Republicans, led 79 other GOP lawmakers in filing a brief Monday in support of the NRA's lawsuit against former New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo. 

"Congress previously passed legislation for the express purpose of protecting the First Amendment rights of gun manufacturers, sellers, and their trade associations. Those rights are at stake in this case," the lawmakers argued in the brief. "The power of one State to drive policy across the entire country is also at issue here."

The NRA filed the case against Vullo in 2018 after she allegedly violated the First Amendment when she urged banks and insurance companies to deny basic services to the NRA and other Second Amendment activist groups.

The American Civil Liberties Union is representing the NRA in the case, even though the two groups have been at odds politically. 

"While the ACLU disagrees with the NRA’s advocacy, we are proud to defend its right to speak," ACLU Legal Director David Cole said last week. "Public officials cannot be allowed to abuse their regulatory powers to blacklist an organization just because they oppose its political views. If New York is allowed to do this to the NRA, it will provide a playbook for other state officials to abuse their authority to target groups they don’t like."

Vullo's attorney Neal Katyal said in a statement provided to Just the News that the case focuses on the question of whether "the government be allowed to govern" and that the NRA is asking the court "to empower virtually limitless claims against any government official based on an extreme and unworkable interpretation of the First Amendment." 

Katyal argued that the NRA's position runs against decades of Supreme Court precedent and pointed out that the Second Circuit unanimously ruled that Vullo "not engage in any coercive or otherwise improper behavior at any point" while her agency regulated insurers.

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