UNLIKELY ALLIES

A.C.L.U. to Defend National Rifle Association in Free-Speech Case

The two organizations have put aside their differences for the time being.

The National Rifle Association is seeking to take a New York government official to task, and it has found an unusual ally for the impending Supreme Court fight: the American Civil Liberties Union. The N.R.A. accused Ex-New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo of violating the First Amendment when it urged companies to sever ties with the gun rights advocacy group in the wake of the 2018 Parkland school shooting. Despite years of the A.C.L.U. and N.R.A. battling it out in court, the two organizations have put aside their differences for the time being to go to bat for First Amendment freedoms, both organizations told The New York Times. “The A.C.L.U. does not support the N.R.A. or its mission,” the A.C.L.U. said in a statement to the Times. “We signed on as co-counsel because public officials shouldn’t be allowed to abuse the powers of the office to blacklist an organization just because they oppose an organization’s political views.”