New York Charges NRA Over Illegal Insurance Sales

New York’s financial regulator on Wednesday filed civil charges accusing the National Rifle Association of offering insurance to its members without a license and concealing how it routinely kept some of their premiums for itself.

The state Department of Financial Services plans to seek civil fines and other remedies from the gun rights group at an April 6 hearing.

It announced the charges even as it defends against a May 2018 NRA lawsuit accusing the regulator and Governor Andrew Cuomo of “blacklisting” the group and threatening its survival by pressuring banks and insurers to stop doing business with it.

“Today’s announcement is about politics, not protecting consumers,” William Brewer, a lawyer for the NRA, said in a statement. “The NRA acted appropriately at all times.”

Wednesday’s charges focus mainly on the group’s alleged ties since 2000 to insurance broker Lockton Cos, including the sale of 28,005 policies to New Yorkers and the NRA’s receipt of more than $1.8 million in associated royalties and fees.