Surrender: City of San Francisco Suddenly Figures Out They Can't Win Their Latest War Against the NRA

Last month, streiff wrote about a resolution passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors that formally declared the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization.”

The resolution was inspired by the mass shooting in Gilroy, CA on July 28th that killed 3 and wounded 17. Though the NRA had nothing to do with the shooting, the Second Amendment-defending organization is a frequent whipping boy for Democrats when mass shootings happen.

They responded to the resolution by suing the city, county and the supervisors on First Amendment grounds:

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the city and county of San Francisco and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. It accuses city officials of violating the gun lobby’s free speech rights for political reasons and claims the city is trying to blacklist anyone associated with the NRA from doing business there.

A few weeks later, we find out that the city has decided to back down in its war on the group:

Mayor London Breed issued the advisory on Sept. 23, a few weeks after the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution labeling the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization” and calling on the city to take steps to assess possible ties between its contractors and the organization.

In a memo co-written by the city attorney, Breed wrote that the board can only enact new contracting requirements by ordinance. Resolutions have no legal weight.

In a desperate bid to save face, city officials say the NRA misinterpreted what the resolution actually said:

John Cote, spokesman for the city attorney’s office, said the resolution was never intended to change any laws.

“If the NRA thinks this is a win, it’s only because their lawsuit completely distorts what the resolution actually does,” he said.
[…]
[Supervisor Catherine Stefani] said Tuesday that the resolution did not direct the city to assess contracting practices.

Cote and Stefani are both being dishonest (surprise). The resolution clearly states what the objective was:

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the City and County of San Francisco should take every reasonable step to assess the financial and contractual relationships our vendors and contractors have with this domestic terrorist organization; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the City and County of San Francisco should take every reasonable step to limit those entities who do business with the City and County of San Francisco from doing business with this domestic terrorist organization; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the City and County of San Francisco should encourage all other jurisdictions, including other cities, states, and the federal government, to adopt similar positions.

Resolutions are indeed typically more symbolic than binding, but this one was not written like that.

It’s not clear the NRA knew the resolution by its nature was essentially toothless. But what is clear is that any attempt the city makes in the near future to pass an actual ordinance on this matter will likely be met with the same response.

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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –