Complaint Filed by Everytown Last October Led to New York Department of Financial Services Probing Shaky Legal Ground for NRA Carry Guard Insurance
Moms Demand Action, Everytown Filed Complaints with Regulators in Six States about Legality of Carry Guard
In Wake of Mass Shooting in Parkland, Florida, a Wave of Companies Are Distancing Themselves from the NRA and Its Dangerous Agenda
NEW YORK – Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown, responded today to a report Chubb is dropping NRA Carry Guard insurance, which promises to provide insurance coverage for legal and other costs for gun owners who shoot someone and claim self-defense. The move comes days after the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, and four months after Everytown shared its investigation and legal analysis demonstrating that the NRA may be violating state law, which led the New York Department of Financial Services to investigate the legality of the NRA’s marketing and fees in connection with Carry Guard, including investigating the role of Chubb Insurance and Lockton Affinity. The latest move part of a wave of corporate defections from the NRA and its dangerous agenda.
According to Reuters, Chubb notified regulators that it was dropping Carry Guard three months ago. Everytown and Moms Demand Action began filing complaints against Carry Guard with regulators in six states four months ago. The New York investigation followed an Everytown investigation and legal analysis of NRA Carry Guard, which was shared with law enforcement and regulators in New York and elsewhere.
STATEMENT FROM JOHN FEINBLATT, PRESIDENT, EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:
“We applaud Chubb for dropping this dangerous product and urge Lockton Affinity to follow suit. Carry Guard is a dangerous and troubling product that risks encouraging those who carry guns to shoot first and ask questions later. For years, the NRA has pushed to allow guns for anyone, anywhere, anytime – no questions asked. With Carry Guard, the NRA has figured out how to profit from gun owners who are concerned about being accused of murder. Carry Guard is a danger to the American public, pure and simple.”
STATEMENT FROM SHANNON WATTS, FOUNDER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:
“Moms Demand Action volunteers have asked Chubb for months to drop its affiliation with Carry Guard and finally, it has. This wave of NRA boycotts will not stop — Americans have had enough of NRA lobbyists and their deadly agenda. Companies don’t want to do business with the gun lobby, and lawmakers shouldn’t either.
Just in the days since the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, corporations have been publicly distancing themselves from the NRA and its dangerous policies. This week, First National Bank of Omaha announced that it was no longer issuing its NRA Visa card, as well as announcements that Enterprise Holdings, the parent company of National Car Rental, Alamo and Enterprise, ended their discount program for NRA members. Symantec, the software company behind LifeLock and Norton AntiVirus, has also cut ties with the NRA today.
Also today, Moms Demand Action announced a new #DumpNRATV campaign calling on Apple, Amazon, AT&T’s DIRECTV, Google and Roku to stop including NRATV on their streaming platforms.
The Everytown investigation into Carry Guard shared with regulators showed:
- Beginning last year, the NRA has been aggressively using the internet, emails, commercials and videos to promote NRA Carry Guard, a training and insurance program that purports to provide comprehensive insurance for gun owners who shoot someone and claim self-defense.
- There is past legal precedent suggesting that organizations that are not licensed to sell insurance should use extreme caution in soliciting people to buy “affinity” insurance plans.
- Based on the analysis of a recent federal appeals court decision (Friedman v. AARP) and Everytown’s investigation, the NRA may be violating California Insurance and Unfair Competition law – and possibly the insurance law of other states, including New York – by actively soliciting the purchase of Carry Guard insurance without being licensed to do so.
- Examples of the explicit solicitation language the NRA has been using include “Get Carry Guard,” “Join Today,” “Sign up for NRA Carry Guard Today!,” “If you carry a gun you need this,” “I urge you to close this critical gap in your insurance coverage today,” and “Join the ranks.”
- It is also possible the NRA is improperly receiving commissions and/or excessive compensation in connection with this insurance product.
- For a one-year Bronze policy, the total annual charge is $154.95, with an “Administrative/Membership Fee” that goes to the NRA of $69.45, or about 45 percent of the total annual charge.
- While that fee includes an annual NRA membership and some other minor perks, questions remain about whether the NRA is receiving an improper commission or excessive compensation.