Good morning, Bulletin readers. A new development in the NRA’s legal fight with New York financial regulators leads your Monday roundup.
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WHAT TO KNOW TODAY
There’s a new twist in the legal clash between the National Rifle Association and New York State, our NRA beat reporter Will Van Sant tells us. On Friday, federal District Court Judge Thomas McAvoy agreed to consider an NRA request that he block the state’s Department of Financial Services from continuing an enforcement action against the gun group. In early February, the DFS charged that the NRA deceptively — and illegally — sold insurance products in the state, subjecting the gun group to fines that could hit $42 million. In a separate federal case, which McAvoy is also hearing, the organization alleges that a politically motivated Governor Andrew Cuomo used the DFS to undermine and tar the NRA. With that charge still being weighed in court, the NRA is arguing that it’s wrong to allow the DFS to press ahead with its enforcement action. McAvoy has set a March 23 hearing date to consider the injunction.
Meanwhile, Wayne LaPierre gave a fiery speech at CPAC. At the annual conservative gathering in Maryland, the NRA’s chief executive said Governor Cuomo and New York Attorney General Letitia James are “willing to use and abuse the full power of government in an attempt to crush us like something that you would see in communist China.” In a statement to The New York Post, Cuomo replied, “If the NRA goes away, I’ll remember them in my thoughts and prayers.” You can watch LaPierre’s full speech here.
The latest on the Molson Coors gunman. The 51-year-old man who carried out last week’s mass shooting was a firearms enthusiast who assembled weapons with parts he ordered through the mail, neighbors told The Journal Times. Police have not said if the guns used in the rampage were homemadqe. Meanwhile, the AP reported that the gunman had been accused of pointing a firearm at a motorist during a road rage incident in 1991, resulting in disorderly conduct charges that were later dismissed. Four years later, he was charged with misdemeanor battery for punching a woman, which was also ultimately dismissed.
D.C. has a ghost gun problem. In 2017, police in the District seized three ghost guns; in 2019, they recovered 116. Those stats were shared at a Friday news conferences at which Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a proposal to prohibit the import of kits and parts to build untraceable weapons. “Ghost guns are real guns… They will kill you,” she said.
A convicted felon is accused of possessing a homemade arsenal. According to an indictment unsealed last week, a 40-year-old Washington State man, who previously served time for gun charges, was found with several machines used to make guns, including a 3D printer and a “ghost gunner” milling machine; 17 pistols and 24 rifles, most of them homemade; 10 silencers; and 300 pounds of ammunition.
New Mexico sheriffs agree on one thing: The state’s red flag law will end up in court. A majority of sheriffs in the state oppose the law, which goes into effect on May 20. But even those that support it say the legislation has issues that need to be ironed out. “It’s groundbreaking legislation,” said Sheriff Kim Stewart of Doña Ana County. “It will be challenged in court and probably it should be. I think some of it hopefully will be clarified.” Read the full story in the Las Cruces Sun-News.
DATA POINT
Accidental shooting injuries rose 81 percent in Florida from 2011 through 2018. Over the same period, the number of Floridians with a concealed carry permit quadrupled. — WFTV
