WASHINGTON _ San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday naming the National Rifle Association a domestic terrorist organization and encouraged other cities to do the same.
Supervisor Catherine Stefani introduced the resolution after a mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California in July killed three people, including two children, and injured 17. Citing recent mass shootings as well as a rise in hate crimes, the resolution accuses the country's most influential gun lobbyist group of spreading "propaganda that misinforms and aims to deceive the public about the dangers of gun violence," promoting extremist positions and arming "individuals who would and have committed acts of terrorism" through its advocacy.
Following the attack in Gilroy, 22 were killed in a shooting in El Paso, Texas, nine in Dayton, Ohio, and seven in Odessa, Texas.
"People are dying every day in this country," Stefani said in an interview with KTVU-TV on Tuesday. "Doing nothing is not an option. And that's what the NRA continues to do."
The resolution called for labeling the NRA a domestic terrorist organization and asking San Francisco's city and county governments to limit any business relationships its vendors and contractors may have with the organization. It also called on San Francisco leaders to encourage other jurisdictions, including cities, states and the federal government, to adopt similar positions on the NRA.
In response, the NRA said in a tweet that the decision is a reckless assault on "a law-abiding organization, its members, and the freedoms they all stand for."
"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, to name a few. The NRA will continue working to protect the constitutional rights of all freedom-loving Americans," the organization said in a statement to KTVU.
