San Francisco backs off blacklisting NRA as ‘national terrorist organization’ after gun group takes city to court

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has scored a big win over San Francisco, forcing the city to “clarify” a recent resolution dubbing the group a homegrown “terrorist organization” and urging businesses to cut ties.

The city did its best to present the U-turn as anything but a victory for the NRA, arguing the resolution was never a “blacklist,” and that the request to contractors to refrain from doing business with the group was not intended to be legally binding.

Passed in early September by the City and County Board of Supervisors, the inflammatory resolution sought to stop state contractors from doing business with the gun rights group, which has faced a wave of liberal rage over a spate of recent mass shootings in the US.

The NRA immediately condemned the move as “obviously unconstitutional,” and filed a legal complaint against the city citing “government action adversely affecting” the group’s free speech rights, and slamming what it called a “blacklist” measure.

The complaint seems to have proved effective; last week the city threw in the towel before the case could even see a courtroom, with Mayor London Breed assuring in a formal memo that “no [municipal] department will take steps to restrict any contractor from doing business with the NRA or to restrict City contracting opportunities for any business that has any relationship with the NRA.”

The gun lobbying group took a victory lap following the decision, declaring the outcome “a well-deserved win for the First and Second Amendments of the United States Constitution.”

The communications director for the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, John Cote, denied that the city made any “concession,” however, telling Fox Business “If the NRA thinks this is a win, it’s only because their lawsuit completely distorts what the resolution actually does.”

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