In a recent fundraising letter, the National Rifle Association said it was in such serious trouble, it could shut down “very soon.”
“[R]ight now we’re facing an attack that’s unprecedented not just in the history of the NRA, but in the entire history of our country,” the letter begins. “And if this attack succeeds, NRA will be forced to shut down forever.”
The letter, which was delivered in early March and signed by the group’s executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, blamed New York’s Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo for pressuring banks and insurance companies to stop doing business with gun rights organizations, the Daily Beast reports.
“Cuomo’s tactics are already working. One by one, more and more banks and insurance companies across the country are knuckling under to Cuomo’s threat — and telling NRA they won’t do business with us — because they don’t want to be targeted and crushed by Cuomo’s strong-arm tactics and the vast power of thousands of New York bureaucrats,” LaPierre said in the letter to NRA supporters.
[Read more: NRA assails Hollywood, Ocasio-Cortez, CNN’s Acosta over gun rights]
Although the threat could be real, it’s a common fundraising tactic for organizations to claim they’re close to shuttering.
The group says it has lost tens of millions of dollars in its litigation against Cuomo and argues in the letter that losing access to banking services could force it out of business.
“I’m counting on your financial support to keep us in operation while we fight in the courts to prevent a total NRA shutdown,” LaPierre said.
