'This Is A Historic Moment': NRA Secures MASSIVE Win At The Supreme Court

On Thursday, the Supreme Court handed down a massive First Amendment victory to the National Rifle Association (NRA) in its dispute with the former superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services (DFS), Maria Vullo, who used her position to encourage companies to no longer invest in the gun advocacy organization.

In the 9-0 decision, the justices sided with the NRA by allowing the organization to continue its case in lower court after an appeals court threw out their arguments. In the court's opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the court "holds that the NRA plausibly alleged that [then-New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria T.] Vullo violated the First Amendment by coercing DFS-regulated entities to terminate their business relationships with the NRA in order to punish or suppress the NRA's advocacy." 

The NRA's lawsuit, first filed in 2018, stemmed from the New York DFS, a government regulator, blacklisting the organization following a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The move by the state regulatory agency forced banks and insurance companies to sever ties with the organization after Vullo sent letters demanding that the firms end their relationship with the organization. The blatantly unconstitutional actions prompted the NRA to file a lawsuit and fight for its First Amendment right to advocate for the Second Amendment.

"Six decades ago, this 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," the Supreme Court's opinion states. "Today, the Court reaffirms what it said then: Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors. Petitioner National Rifle Association (NRA) plausibly alleges that respondent Maria Vullo did just that."

The case, which the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued, will now head back to the lower courts, given that the Second Circuit's ruling is now nullified. "This victory is a win for the NRA in the fight to protect freedom," NRA President Bob Barr said in a statement. "This is a historic moment for the NRA in its stand against governmental overreach. Let this be clear: the voice of the NRA membership is as loud and influential as ever. Regulators are now on notice: this is a win for not only the NRA but every organization who might otherwise suffer from an abuse of government power."

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