UPDATE: Oct. 2 ― The mayor of San Francisco said in a Sept. 23 memo that the board of supervisors’ resolution declaring the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization will not change city policy. The announcement came after the NRA filed a lawsuit alleging the city was violating the gun group’s First Amendment speech rights.
Previously:
A resolution passed unanimously in San Francisco this week declares the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization.
The city’s board of supervisors passed the resolution on Tuesday, accusing the NRA of inciting gun violence and arming people who commit acts of terror across the U.S.
“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 reads in part. “Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the City and County of San Francisco intends to declare the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization.”
The board also cited gun violence statistics in its decision.
“The United States is plagued by an epidemic of gun violence, including over 36,000 deaths, and 100,000 injuries each year,” the document notes. “Every day approximately 100 Americans are killed with guns and ... there has been more than one mass shooting per day in the United States in 2019.”
The NRA ― which is facing collapse amid financial mismanagement and legal fees ― dismissed the resolution, calling it “ludicrous.”
“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,” NRA spokesperson Amy Hunter told KQED.
The resolution calls on other cities and states, as well as the federal government, to join San Francisco in designating the group a domestic terrorist organization.