The National Rifle Association has filed suit against the city of Los Angeles after the city passed a law requiring “contractors disclose their ties to the gun rights group as a condition of obtaining business from the second most-populous U.S. city.”
The purpose of this law is to weaken the NRA by encouraging contractors to abandon support of the gun rights group. The ordinance took effect on April 1 of this year.
The NRA suit claims the law is unconstitutional.
The NRA said the law is unconstitutional because it violates its First Amendment right to free speech and association, and its 14th Amendment right to equal protection. It sued in Los Angeles federal court.
Mayor Eric Garcetti, also named as a defendant, signed the contracting law on Feb. 18 following passage by the Los Angeles City Council.
Los Angeles claims that “public funds to NRA-linked contractors undermines efforts to promote gun safety in Los Angeles, which has about 4 million people.”
Absolutely ridiculous. What the LA city council is implying here is that the Second Amendment is a threat to “gun safety.” Los Angeles’ idea of gun safety is a gun ban.
“The Ordinance has nothing to do with awarding contracts to the best candidates, fiduciary stewardship of public resources, or providing equal and open opportunities,” according to the lawsuit. “Instead, it is about discriminating against a lawful organization and its members and supporters because the City does not approve of their political speech.”
Los Angeles is not the only government to attack and try to damage the NRA.
The lawsuit was filed 11 months after the NRA sued New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, accusing him of threatening its survival by pushing insurers and state-chartered banks to stop doing business with gun rights groups.
New York has denied the NRA’s “blacklisting” accusations.
The NRA has political clout because it has a large, politically active membership. The group represents the interests of gun owners, but the left treats it like it is an independent body pushing political positions. How far up the legal chain will this lawsuit go? It could go the Supreme Court.