Our country is not as free as the Founders intended if its citizens cannot openly speak, write, peaceably assemble, or petition their government as the First Amendment mandates. Such has effectively been removed in New York State, and other blue states will likely copy if permitted.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights authored by James Madison, were ratified in whole on December 15, 1791, as a list of things the federal government could never do to its people. The first eight were listed in order of importance to the Founders, with Amendment 1, freedom of expression, first.
The First Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
New York made laws targeting corporations' freedom of political expression that it opposed. Democrats learned that they could regulate an unwanted political corporation out of business, in this case, the National Rifle Association.
Then Governor Andrew Cuomo conspired with Maria T. Vullo, then superintendent of the New York State Dept. of Financial Services, to "suppress the NRA's pro-Second Amendment speech." Vullo "sent a chilling message to every bank and insurance company in America. She threatened them, saying that if they did business with the NRA, they could suffer 'reputational risks.'" Officials "threatened banks and insurers doing business with the NRA to part ways" or else, thus causing "financial institutions to 'drop' the NRA."
In 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, "If I could have put the NRA out of business, I would have done it 20 years ago." Both Cuomo and Vullo "knew that without a bank account or insurance, NRA couldn't remain in operation. We couldn't write checks. We couldn't accept membership dues or contributions. In short, our very existence would be in serious jeopardy." Threatened supporting banks and insurance companies felt that they too could be regulated to extinction if they supported the NRA ("SCOTUS To Hear First Amendment Case," By Wayne LaPierre, America's 1st Freedom, January 2024, p. 8).
The NRA sued in 2018, and four years later, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit agreed with Cuomo and Vullo, ruling that in "'an era of enhanced corporate social responsibility' it is permissible for state officials to use regulatory powers to single out and harm those with whom they disagreed."
On February 7, 2023, the NRA appealed to the US. Supreme Court, which granted review on November 3, 2023. The question, "Does the First Amendment allow a government regulator to threaten regulated entities with adverse regulatory actions if they do business with a controversial speaker, as a consequence of (a) the government's own hostility to the speaker's viewpoint or (b) a perceived 'general backlash' against the speakers's advocacy?" ("The NRA will not Be Silenced," By Frank Miniter, America's 1st Freedom, p. 27).
But the effect of this single Supreme Court ruling, if it does not correct the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling, "will have far-reaching implications for every citizen, advocacy group, company, and political institution in America" ("SCOTUS To Hear First Amendment Case," By Wayne LaPierre, America's 1st Freedom, January 2024, p.8). It would allow the government to regulate its opposition away.
This will not stand! This is the Supreme Court that had the guts to return abortion to the state level because there is nothing in the Constitution that supports its existence on the federal level. This is the most constitutionally sensitive Supreme Court in my lifetime.
The NRA's case is good and essential to liberty. "Without the NRA -- without our ability to assemble, associate freely, speak freely, and amplify the voices of our millions of members and the tens of millions more who believe in our cause -- no one in this country would be allowed to keep their guns, except government officials and criminals" (Ibid.).
In my study of the Constitution for more than 50 years, I do not recall a single Supreme Court decision that could simultaneously destroy two amendments at once -- the First and Second -- and thus freedom. We've already covered the First, which begins: "Congress, [or any state], shall make no law respecting ... The Second is: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The two amendments are the most government-off-limit Amendments or sentences in the Constitution. Why? A country cannot remain truly free without both. Distortion of either Amendment is not permitted.
The Second Amendment is our first freedom because it protects the First Amendment. Without the gun, we would not have won the American Revolution, nor have the Constitution to limit those who rule. New York's laws, if left standing, would destroy both Amendments. Without the NRA protecting both, freedom in America would have been extinguished decades ago.
We need to look no further than in Israel on October 7, 2023, for why we need the Second Amendment. Only 2% were allowed to own a gun in Israel legally, and 98% were not. When "Hamas death squads flew in on paragliders" executing over 1,200 "people in their beds, murdered infants, burned down homes and massacred nearly 200 "Israelis in Far Aza and Be'eri alone," in a third city, Nir-Am, also bordering Gaza, the terrorists were stopped cold, and no Israeli lost their lives. The difference, "a 25-year-old woman named Inbar Lieberman opened the armory, distributed guns to residents, and set up ambushes against the attackers. Together, over a four-hour siege, they killed 25 Hamas terrorists before they could carry out their grizzly plans" ("No One Should be Forced to Confront Evil with Empty Hands," Americas 1st Freedom, January 2024, p. 10).
Harold W. Pease, Ph.D., is an expert on the United States Consitution and a syndicated columnist. He has dedicated his career to studying the writings of the Founding Fathers and applying that knowledge to current events. He taught college-level history and political science from this perspective for more than 30 years. To read more of his weekly columns, visit www.LibertyUnderFire.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.