NRA takes San Francisco to court over 'domestic terrorist' declaration
The National Rifle Association is asking a federal court to block San Francisco from denying government contracts to firms involved with the gun-rights organization, one of the penalties included in a resolution declaring it a domestic terrorist group.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco, the NRA accused the city and county, along with 11 members of the board of supervisors, of violating its constitutional rights to free speech and free association as well as seeking to impose censorship. Unchecked, San Francisco's measure would have a "chilling effect" on the organization and its members, the NRA said.
NRA chief Wayne LaPierre said on Twitter that the suit, which was attached to the tweet, “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,” LaPierre said. “We will always confront illegal and discriminatory practices against our organization.”
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors labeled the NRA a terrorist organization in a unanimous three-page resolution passed Sept. 3, calling for officials to "take every reasonable step to limit those entities who do business with the city and county of San Francisco from doing business" with the NRA.
A representative for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors did not immediately respond to FOX Business’s request for comment. The resolution was authored by Supervisor Catherine Stefani after a late July shooting spree at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, held in the Bay area, that left four people dead and more than a dozen injured.
The measure accused the NRA of misleading people about the dangers of firearm violence and promoting extremist positions. "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 resolution states.