Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NRA have been going at it for months now, with the NRA suing the state of New York over their blacklisting of the organization and the threats and intimidation coming from the governor’s office that basically discourage anyone from doing business with the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.

When Cuomo appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, however, he basically made the NRA’s case for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrq9-_Ynq24

First, let’s address the Carry Guard insurance. The term “murder insurance” that Cuomo throws around is one anti-gun activists and the media latched hold of but isn’t remotely accurate.

What the insurance does is cover legal costs if I’m involved in a self-defense shooting (yes, I have Carry Guard). It doesn’t protect me from the repercussions of my actions if they’re illegal, nor does it cover fines and fees associated with a guilty conviction. In other words, despite Cuomo’s claim, it doesn’t insure an unlawful action. It’s legal insurance. That’s it.

Second, he claims the NRA doesn’t want any movement on “gun reform,” which is just a polite way to say new gun control laws. Of course, he says this like it’s a bad thing.

It’s not.

Of course the NRA doesn’t want to work with anti-gunners to create new gun control laws. They did that, the membership revolted, and now those days are over. We, the NRA members, got sick of that crap. We’ve given up and given up and what happened? Anti-gunners like Cuomo continue to demand more.

His claims of a “business line” for the NRA is just nonsense.

Then he then offers this defense of his actions:

Look, from my point of view, I do disagree with them politically. And if they have less money to bully and threaten politicians into irrational positions, you know, I’m not going to lose any sleep over that. And if they went away, you know, I would offer my thoughts and prayers, Joe. Just like they do every time we have another situation with innocents losing their lives.

The problem here isn’t that Cuomo disagrees with them. It’s that he’s put the screws to the financial industry in New York–where the financial industry is basically centralized and where New York has a massive influence on–to cut out the National Rifle Association. He makes it clear in the above quote that he wants to put the screws to them so they can be ineffective at their stated goal.

Unfortunately for him, that’s illegal.

No lawmaker can use his office to punish ideological opponents like the NRA. There’s a reason for that, and anyone with half a brain should be able to see it. If Cuomo can get away with this…well, The Truth About Guns’ Dan Zimmerman asks:

Who might be next on Cuomo’s ideological hit list? The NSSF? The Federalist Society? Chick-fil-A? Hobby Lobby? Take your pick. We’re sure there’s no shortage of targets Cuomo might take aim at if this move against the NRA is allowed to stand.

Perhaps more importantly from Cuomo’s perspective, if he’s allowed to get away with this, then why can’t his opponents get away with making it impossible for left-leaning organizations to do business?

Look, we know this is personal for Cuomo, but he’s barking up a tree he doesn’t really want to be barking up. Not really.

If he wins, it becomes open season on ideological organizations, further dividing the nation.

If he loses, well…he lost. Cuomo doesn’t seem the type who can handle not getting his way, so that might be worse in his mind.

Let’s just hope he gets the worst, for everyone’s sake.