Complaint Filed by Everytown Last October Led to New York Department of Financial Services Probe into Shaky Legal Ground for NRA Carry Guard Insurance
Moms Demand Action, Everytown Filed Similar Complaints with Regulators in Five States about Legality of Carry Guard
Settlement Comes a Day before the NRA Holds Its Annual Convention in Dallas; Carry Guard Was Spotlighted at Last Year’s Convention
NEW YORK – Everytown for Gun Safety responded today to Lockton Affinity settling a case with New York state regulators for $7 million over 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 New York investigation “found the NRA ‘Carry Guard’ insurance program unlawfully provided liability insurance to gun owners for certain acts of intentional wrongdoing, and improperly provided insurance coverage for criminal defense for any act of self-defense covered under the policy for gun owners and their resident family members who may be charged with a crime involving a firearm.”
The development comes one day before the NRA begins its annual convention in Dallas. At the NRA’s last convention in Atlanta, ads for Carry Guard were displayed prominently across the convention center and the product was aggressively marketed to attendees.
The settlement comes after the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, and seven months after an Everytown complaint led the New York Department of Financial Services to investigate the legality of the NRA’s promotion of its Carry Guard insurance product, including investigating the role of Chubb Insurance and Lockton Affinity. After the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, both Chubb and Lockton Affinity announced plans to sever business ties with the dangerous Carry Guard product. Since Parkland, dozens of companies have publicly defected from the NRA and its agenda.
Everytown and Moms Demand Action began filing complaints against Carry Guard with regulators in multiple states last year. The New York settlement followed an investigation and legal analysis of NRA Carry Guard by Everytown, which was shared with law enforcement and regulators in New York and elsewhere.
STATEMENT FROM JOHN FEINBLATT, PRESIDENT, EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:
“This settlement shows that partnering with the NRA comes at a steep price to both your bottom line and your reputation. Now that Carry Guard is falling apart, the big question is whether the NRA has developed a new legally questionable product to push on their members at this year’s convention in Dallas.”
STATEMENT FROM ERIC TIRSCHWELL, LITIGATION DIRECTOR, EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY:
“We brought this issue to the attention of regulators in New York and across the country because we believe that selling insurance for people who shoot someone and later claim self-defense is a dangerous product that may encourage a shoot first, ask questions later mentality, and because we believed the NRA was engaged in illegal insurance practices. We applaud the New York Department of Financial Services for investigating and acting to hold the NRA and its business partner accountable for illegal conduct, and we urge regulators in other states to do the same.”