Dozens of GOP lawmakers back NRA in free speech challenge at Supreme Court

Dozens of congressional Republicans are supporting the National Rifle Association’s federal lawsuit against a New York state regulator who pushed finance firms to deny services to the gun rights advocacy group, telling the Supreme Court that free speech and Second Amendment rights are at stake.

Eighteen Republican senators and more than 60 GOP House members this week sent to the high court an amicus brief in support of the NRA’s case against Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services. The court is expected to hear the case in March or April.

“This campaign singled out the NRA’s financial relationships on account of the organization’s First Amendment-protected advocacy for gun rights, speech Vullo maligned as ‘promot[ing] guns that lead to senseless violence,’” the brief reads.