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.@NRA sues San Francisco over terrorist declaration kxan.com/news/national-…
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses city officials of violating the gun lobby’s free speech rights for political reasons and says the city is seeking to blacklist anyone associated with the NRA.
It asks the court to step in “to instruct elected officials that freedom of speech means you cannot silence or punish those with whom you disagree.”
Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a (utterly preposterous) resolution calling the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization,” contending the group spreads propaganda that seeks to deceive the public about the dangers of gun violence.
“This action is an assault on all advocacy organizations across the country,” said William A. Brewer III, NRA lawyer. “There can be no place in our society for this manner of behavior by government officials. Fortunately, the NRA, like all US citizens, is protected by #1A ”
San Francisco Supervisor @SupStefani said she drafted the resolution after the Gilroy shooting. “I had enough,” she told The Associated Press.
“They continue to stand in the way of gun violence reform and people are dying because of it,” she said.
“They continue to stand in the way of gun violence reform and people are dying because of it,” she said.
Irrelevant to the domestic terrorist designation, Stefani also criticized NRA leadership for how it spends dues from its self-proclaimed 5 million members.
The NRA would rather go to court than tackle the “epidemic” of gun violence in the U.S., said @johnwcote, San Francisco City Attorney’s Office spokesman.
“The American people would be better served if the NRA stopped trying to get ‘weapons of war’ into our communities and instead actually did something about gun safety,” Coté said.
LaPierre statement: “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.”
“Some politicians forget that all 5 million of us in the NRA stand for freedom and that we believe it is a cause worth fighting for. We will always confront illegal and discriminatory practices against our organization and the millions of members we serve.”
The designation has received some pushback from those who believe it amounts to “virtue signaling.” An editorial in the LA Times written by Michael McGough argued that although the NRA should be criticized..., it’s not accurate to label it a “domestic terrorist organization.”
“Police shootings and gun violence understandably inspire strong emotions, and elected officials are no exception. But they need to watch their words, especially when those words are contained in legislation or, in this case, pseudo-legislation,” McGough wrote.
