Teen anti-gun activism is killing the profitability of NRA TV

The NRA admitted in a recent court filing that it’s hurting financially thanks to activism by the teenage survivors of the Parkland school massacre. And the financial blow is severe enough that the gun extremist group’s propaganda outlet, NRA TV, might be forced to shut down.

The NRA is currently suing New York governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York Department of Financial Services. The NRA alleges that a recent order by Cuomo, inspired by campaigning by Parkland survivors, has hurt the NRA’s bottom line and may even make it legally impossible for the group to operate as usual.

Cuomo’s April order directed the Financial Services department to urge New York insurance and financial companies to evaluate any relationships they have with the NRA, and to “consider whether such ties harm their corporate reputations and jeopardize public safety.”

“New York may have the strongest gun laws in the country, but we must push further to ensure that gun safety is a top priority for every individual, company, and organization that does business across the state,” Cuomo said at the time.

In its legal filing, the NRA complains that Cuomo’s actions have made it impossible for the group to renew its media liability insurance. Without that policy in hand, the NRA now says that it may be forced to shut down NRA TV or its print publications.

The NRA also says that without the insurance, it “cannot maintain” its physical premises or “convene off-site meetings and events.”

The teenage shooting survivors, working together as part of the March for Our Lives movement, pushed for changes like the one Cuomo implemented. The Trace notes, “Cuomo’s order came in the midst of a wave of activism following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.”

New York also handed out $8 million in fines against Chubb and Lockton Affinity, insurance companies that soon stopped doing business with the NRA. The companies previously underwrote the NRA “Carry Guard” program, which was supposed to cover legal fees and liabilities stemming from self-defense shootings.

The NRA was reportedly relying on the money from the insurance program to help make up for revenue it would no longer be able to bring in with Trump in the White House as its ally.

Under President Barack Obama, the NRA used fearmongering about gun confiscation and legislation that was never proposed, let alone implemented, to get flush with cash from donations made by its fearful members.

The news about NRA TV is the latest in an ongoing sequence of negative stories for the gun extremists.

Maria Butina, an NRA member and gun activist, was recently charged with spying on behalf of Russia while trying to infiltrate American politics.

At the same time, the connection between the NRA and Russian money, donated to influence the 2016 election in the hopes of helping Trump win, is being investigated.

The NRA even attempted to hurt retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods, which decided to stop selling military-style assault rifles — but that effort backfired. Instead of the losses the NRA predicted, Dick’s actually beat earnings estimates.

Enabling mass shootings by opposing gun safety legislation isn’t working out so well for the NRA.

Activists, led by the Florida teenagers, are making it toxic to do business with the NRA — and that’s having a real effect on the group’s bottom line.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.