On September 3rd, the National Rifle Association (NRA) was officially declared a domestic terrorist organization by the city of San Francisco. This action followed multiple shootings, one of the most recent being the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting on July 28th, in which three people died. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors then unanimously voted to declare the NRA a domestic terrorist organization, citing multiple reasons for the passage of this motion. The city of San Francisco is currently assessing the financial and contractual relationships that local businesses have with the NRA and how it may discourage those in the city from working with the organization. San Francisco officials are encouraging their counterparts in other cities to take the same action.

The National Rifle Association is now retaliating with a lawsuit filed against the city of San Francisco on the grounds that it is a constitutional violation to ban the organization, because of the basis of the first and second amendments. NRA leaders have  also claimed that being labelled a terrorist organization is a “frivolous insult” and should be removed. They have also argued that discouraging and even preventing business from associating with the NRA is against both the first and second amendments. The issue will be argued in a court of law in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on an upcoming, but yet-to-be-released, date.