People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is offering to donate $100,000 to the National Rifle Association if it promises to stop admitting trophy hunters into its membership and if it ceases promoting assault-style weapons for hunting.
“To help your floundering organization get out from under the gun and come closer to today’s ideals, we would be willing to help you if you reject as members those who engage in the cruel practice of hunting wild animals — such as Cecil the lion — for pure entertainment,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk wrote in a letter to NRA CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre dated Tuesday.
“To put this in your crosshairs, PETA aims to give the NRA $100,000 if you make this your immediate target,” she continued.
PETA’s claim comes amid a legal battle launched in May by the NRA against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his state’s financial services agency.
The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York alleges that Cuomo, the New York State Department of Financial Services, and NYDFS Superintendent Maria Vullo conspired to blacklist the gun rights group so that it could not obtain insurance.
The NRA’s problems stem from its Carry Guard policy, which compensates members for legal costs they incur after firing a weapon.
NYDFS slapped insurance company Lockton Cos LLC with a $7 million fine earlier in May over the Carry Guard policy because it was deemed to have been unlawfully providing liability cover to gun owners who may be charged with a crime involving firearms. Chubb Ltd., another insurance company, and Illinois Union Insurance Company, its subsidiary, were also fined $1.3 million for underwriting the program.
“If the NRA is unable to collect donations from its members, safeguard the assets endowed to it, apply its funds to cover media buys and other expenses integral to its political speech, and obtain basic corporate insurance coverage, it will be unable to exist as a not-for-profit or pursue its advocacy mission,” the NRA’s lawsuit claims, according to multiple news outlets.
The NRA is seeking millions of dollars “in damages to redress harms inflicted by the [Department of Financial Services] campaign,” according to its court filings.
[Also read: PETA wants plant-based drinks to ditch ‘four-letter-word’ milk]
