The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution last week declaring the nation’s most influential pro-Second Amendment advocate, the National Rifle Association (NRA), a “domestic terrorist organization” and urged the federal government to do the same. On Monday, the NRA filed a lawsuit against the far-left city for violating the organization’s free speech rights for political purposes.
In a resolution passed Tuesday, the board of supervisors “declared the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization.” The City and County of San Francisco “should take every reasonable step to assess the financial and contractual relationships our vendors and contractors have with this domestic terrorist organization,” the resolution states, and they “should take every reasonable step to limit those entities who do business with the City and County of San Francisco from doing business with this domestic terrorist organization.” The resolution also states that the municipalities will “encourage all other jurisdictions, including other cities, states, and the federal government, to adopt similar positions.”
“The National Rifle Association musters its considerable wealth and organizational strength to promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence, and the National Rifle Association spreads propaganda that misinforms and aims to deceive the public about the dangers of gun violence, and the leadership of National Rifle Association promotes extremist positions, in defiance of the views of a majority of its membership and the public, and undermine the general welfare, and the National Rifle Association through its advocacy has armed those individuals who would and have committed acts of terrorism,” the resolution charges. “All countries have violent and hateful people, but only in America do we give them ready access to assault weapons and large-capacity magazines thanks, in large part, to the National Rifle Association’s influence.”
The NRA immediately fired back, blasting the “ludicrous stunt” and calling out the city’s leaders for failing to protect its residents by allowing rampant crime and homelessness. “This ludicrous stunt by the Board of Supervisors is an effort to distract from the real problems facing San Francisco, such as rampant homelessness, drug abuse and skyrocketing petty crime, to name a few,” the NRA said in a statement reported by KTVU. “The NRA will continue working to protect the constitutional rights of all freedom-loving Americans.”
On Monday, the NRA took its response further, filing a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California accusing San Francisco officials of violating the organization’s First Amendment rights and blacklisting those associated with the group, ABC News reports.
“This action is an assault on all advocacy organizations across the country,” said NRA lawyer William A. Brewer III in a statement. “There can be no place in our society for this manner of behavior by government officials. Fortunately, the NRA, like all U.S. citizens, is protected by the First Amendment.”
ABC notes that the NRA “has been battling a number of challenges to its operations in recent months, including an investigation by the attorney general in New York, where its charter was formed, and the attorney general in Washington, D.C., where authorities are questioning whether its operations are in violation of its non-profit status.” The group has also faced national boycotts targeting companies associated with the group organized by gun control activists.
Related: HAMMER: San Francisco Has Beclowned Itself By Labeling The NRA A ‘Domestic Terrorist Organization’