Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-842_6kg7.pdf
Page Number: 7

Cite as:  602 U. S. ____ (2024) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

insurance producer license.  By mid-November, upon find-
ing out about the investigation following DFS information
requests,  Lockton  and  Chubb  suspended  Carry  Guard. 
Vullo then expanded her investigation into the NRA’s other 
affinity  insurance  programs,  many  of  which  were  under-
written  by  Lloyd’s  and  administered  by  Lockton.  These 
NRA-endorsed  programs  provided  similar  coverage  and 
suffered from the same legal infirmities.

In  the  midst  of  the  investigation,  tragedy  struck  Park-
land, Florida.  On February 14, 2018, a gunman opened fire
at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, murdering 17 
students  and  staff  members.    Following  the  shooting,  the 
NRA and other gun-advocacy groups experienced “intense
backlash” across the country.  49 F. 4th, at 708.  Major busi-
ness  institutions,  including  DFS-regulated  entities,  spoke 
out against the NRA, and some even cut ties with the or-
ganization.  App. to Pet. for Cert. 244.  MetLife, for exam-
ple, ended a discount program it offered with the NRA.  On 
February  25,  2018,  Lockton’s  chairman  “placed  a  dis-
traught telephone call to the NRA,” in which he privately
shared that Lockton would sever all ties with the NRA to 
avoid “ ‘losing [its] license’ to do business in New York.”  Id., 
at 298, Complaint ¶42.  Lockton publicly announced its de-
cision  the  next  day.  Following  Lockton’s  decision,  the 
NRA’s  corporate  insurance  carrier  also  severed  ties  with 
the  organization  and  refused  to  renew  coverage  at  any
price.  The NRA contends that Lockton and the corporate
insurance carrier took these steps not because of the Park-
land  shooting  but  because  they  feared  “reprisa[l]”  from
Vullo.  Id., at 210, ¶44; see id., at 209–210, ¶¶41–43. 

Around that time, Vullo also began to meet with execu-
tives  at  the  insurance  companies  doing  business  with  the 
NRA.  On February 27, Vullo met with senior executives at 
Lloyd’s.  There, speaking on behalf of DFS and then-Gover-
nor Andrew Cuomo, Vullo “presented [their] views on gun
control and their desire to leverage their powers to combat