The National Rifle Association is suing the city and county of San Francisco after lawmakers unanimously voted to designate the pro-gun group as a domestic terrorist organization.
Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted on the bill, which was introduced two days after three people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured at a garlic festival in Gilroy, California.
Supervisor Catherine Stefani, who introduced the resolution, said the NRA conspires to "limit gun violence research, restrict gun violence data sharing and block every piece of sensible gun violence prevention legislation proposed at local, state and federal levels,” The New York Times reported.
“The N.R.A. exists to spread pro-gun propaganda and put weapons in the hands of those who would harm and terrorize us,” Stefani said in a statement. “Nobody has done more to fan the flames of gun violence than the N.R.A.”
The resolution urges the city to "take every reasonable step" to limit any contractors and vendors who also do business with the NRA.
Though the resolution has no practical effect, Stefani told The Times that she believes it is a “step in fighting the negative impact of the NRA.”
NRA sues:
Though the bill has yet to be signed, the NRA filed a lawsuit accusing San Francisco of violating free speech laws. The suit calls the resolution a “frivolous insult” that poses a “nonfriviolous constitutional threat.”
The suit accuses the Board of Supervisors of using “McCarthyist elements” and says the resolution "would chill a person of ordinary firmness from continuing to speak against gun control, or from associating... with the NRA."
"This lawsuit comes with a message to those who attack the NRA: We will never stop fighting for our law-abiding members and their constitutional freedoms,” said NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, according to NPR.
Resolution accuses NRA of ‘inciting gun violence’:
The resolution passed by San Francisco accused the NRA of using its money and political clout to “promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence,” adding that the organization "spreads propaganda that misinforms and aims to deceive the public about the dangers of gun violence."
Stefani, a former prosecutor who is now a leader in the gun control group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said the NRA fits the description of a terrorist group.
"When they use phrases like, 'I'll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands' on bumper stickers, they are saying reasoned debate about public safety should be met with violence," Stefani told KQED.
