“It’s not just what the governor did 20 years ago when he was at Housing and Urban Development,” Mr. Brewer said. “He continues to harbor great animus toward the N.R.A.

“For him to pretend that this is not politically motivated by his anti-N.R.A. agita,” Mr. Brewer said, “we just don’t believe it.”

Mr. Brewer conceded that the N.R.A. was “large and successful” and in no immediate danger of dissolution. But he said that could change if Mr. Cuomo were left unchecked.

The regulatory approach bears similarities to the tactics some conservative states have adopted to limit access to abortions, albeit on the opposite side of the ideological spectrum. Twenty-six states restrict coverage for abortions in insurance plans bought through their public exchanges, and 11 of those states restrict it in private plans as well.

Mr. Cuomo denied that there was political gain to be had from taking on gun owners. His stance on gun control has, in fact, cost him before, especially among upstate voters: After passing the Safe Act in 2013, his job-approval ratings plunged 15 points, a drop from which he has never fully recovered.

“Politically the issue has hurt me. There’s no doubt,” Mr. Cuomo said.

But his gun-control record has also given him a ready talking point in fending off Cynthia Nixon, his opponent in the Democratic primary for governor, who, despite repeatedly accusing Mr. Cuomo of chasing the political tailwinds leftward, has shied away from calling him weak on gun safety. The Safe Act, while unpopular in parts of Western and Central New York, tracks far more positively in much of the rest of the state, with a recent poll finding that three-quarters of Democrats supported it and about half of Republicans.

And for all his protestations about the political risks of gun control, the governor is no stranger to jostling for the limelight the topic can bring as well. As Mr. Cuomo took a victory lap after the 2000 Smith & Wesson deal, Eliot Spitzer, then New York’s attorney general, accused him of excluding him from the negotiations in order to keep the credit for himself. (Mr. Cuomo said that he still keeps a pen from the Smith & Wesson signing on his desk.)