The National Rifle Association is blaming Gov. Andrew Cuomo for its financial troubles amid a lawsuit over an insurance product it tried to offer in New York. It's a fight Cuomo welcomes.

“The nation is paralyzed. We're doing nothing. No reasonable reform that we know we could agree to if we didn't have politicians scared to death of the NRA,” said Cuomo.

The NRA is suing New York after regulators blocked the organization from allowing it to sell liability insurance, even for acts of wrongdoing. Cuomo has called the suit "frivolous."

“He's chosen the NRA because it's good for him. The people who are pro-gun in this state aren't going to vote in this state. But the people who are pro-gun control will vote for him,” said Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe.

Sharpe says Cuomo's fight with the NRA and push for gun control is misguided, even if it's politically convenient.

“It's a very good wedge issue that he can issue that he can use that takes away the rights of New Yorkers, punishes a private organization, it's a smart move on his part, but I think the wrong move,” said Sharpe.

Cuomo has long pushed for stricter gun laws. In 2013, he won passage of the SAFE Act, a gun control package the NRA has opposed.

“The NRA hates that. They hate letting people know you could actually have reasonable gun control that most gun owners support,” said Cuomo.

And underscoring just how good an issue this has been for the governor, his reelection campaign has already turned it into an ad.

“I'm tired of hearing the politicians say we'll remember them in our thoughts and prayers. If the NRA goes away, I'll remember them in my thoughts and prayers,” Cuomo said in the ad.

The campaign of Cuomo's Democratic primary rival Cynthia Nixon pointed out that his Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul had an A-rating from the NRA when she was in Congress.