Supreme Court Upholds NRA's Rights
Landmark Ruling Protects Free Speech Against Government Coercion
The U.S. Supreme Court has come out with an opinion in favor of the NRA, protecting the organization’s First Amendment and rights of commerce. The case, NRA v. Maria Vullo (former superintendent of the NY Department of Financial Services). The Court found that Vullo was violating the rights of the NRA by coercing banks and insurance companies to stop doing business with the NRA. This decision is a huge win for free speech, regardless of what you may think of the content of that free speech or the organization presenting it.
Even the ACLU found Vullo’s actions reprehensible. In August 2018, ACLU Legal Director David Cole wrote that “…they [New York public officials] cannot use their regulatory authority to penalize advocacy groups by threatening companies that do business with those groups. And here the state has admitted, in its own words, that it focused on the NRA and other groups not because of any illegal conduct, but because they engage in ‘gun promotion’ – in other words, because they advocate a lawful activity.” The ACLU wrote that dismissing the NRA’s case “would set a dangerous precedent for advocacy groups across the political spectrum. Public officials would have a readymade playbook for abusing their regulatory power to harm disfavored advocacy groups without triggering judicial scrutiny.”
Hopefully, this ruling will end public officials taking action against organizations and individuals simply because they are exercising their rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. Americans have had enough of the government squelching their rights, and we can reverse innumerable regulations and tyrannical government attempts to control the marketplace of ideas and this is a first step back to a truly limited government that respects the freedom of the individual and organizations.
