The National Rifle Association mounted a legal challenge against New York's coronavirus restrictions on Thursday, arguing the mandates are unconstitutionally vague and have required the closing of gun stores.

The federal lawsuit comes nearly two weeks after Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued sweeping orders that mandated "nonessential" workers stay home, a move that forced many businesses to close statewide and wreaked financial havoc on certain industries.

The executive order carved out an exception for essential workers and guidance from the state government classified a range of businesses under that definition.

The guidance did not explicitly list firearm and ammunition retailers as essential and officials interpreting the executive order have required "the closure of substantially all retailers of firearms and ammunition," according to the lawsuit.

It argues the executive order is overbroad and the closures are a pretextual attack on New Yorkers' Second Amendment rights.

"By closing federally licensed dealers, Defendants have cut off the only way of legally purchasing firearms in the State," the lawsuit argues. "As a result of the government's overreach, most New Yorkers have no legal way to exercise the constitutional right to purchase arms or ammunition."

New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement saying everyone must follow the law and all New York executive orders.

"We will aggressively defend the state against yet another legal assault by the NRA," she said in a statement.

The lawsuit is perhaps the most publicized challenge to Cuomo's sweeping order requiring nonessential workers to stay home. The order is aimed at limiting in-person interactions that can spread of the coronavirus, which state officials say has infected more than 92,300 people statewide and led to upward of 2,300 deaths. 

New York remains the epicenter of the nation's coronavirus as the state marches closer to the virus' expected peak.

In the past, New York's three-term governor has highlighted that his efforts to control the spread of the disease have come without wide legal trouble.

Empire State Development, which issued the guidance on what would be classified as essential business, is listed as a defendant in the federal lawsuit, along with Cuomo.

The guidance from ESD listed a broad array of companies as essential, including grocery stores, laundromats and shipping services. The NRA lawsuit says sales of pizza, liquor and donuts have also been classified as "essential" by state officials. 

"Yet, in the face of contrary federal guidance and ample constitutional authority, Governor Cuomo refuses to extend the same dispensation to firearm retailers," the lawsuit states.

The litigation points to a list of critical infrastructure from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The list included workers supporting "firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges."

According to the lawsuit, other states with coronavirus restrictions have signaled that gun stores can stay open.