The city that is a liberal bastion in the People Republic Of California, Los Angeles is retreating on its ordinance that targeted the NRA.
Approved almost a year ago, Ordinance No. 186000 took effect on April 1, 2019. The ordinance required that any contractor that wished to do business with the city of Los Angeles had to disclose any ties they had with the National Rifle Association (NRA). On April 24, 2019, the NRA filed a lawsuit against the city claiming that the ordinance would cut off “revenue streams necessary for the NRA to continue engaging in protected speech and association by hindering membership and stigmatizing business relationships.”
US District Court Judge Stephen V. Wilson agreed and gave the NRA a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the ordinance, saying that the NRA likely can prove the law violated their rights and would cause irreparable harm.
The city council voted 12-0 to repeal the law and would only cite pending litigation as to the reason why.
The NRA Institue for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) executive director was pleased.
“The same city officials who vowed to defend this ordinance are on the run,” said Jason Ouimet, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “In addition to the NRA members they wronged, city officials must now answer to voters and taxpayers for their failed experiment, and explain why they recklessly subjected the city to legal and financial exposure.”
Los Angeles is not out of the woods yet because the NRA is intending to hold the city accountable.
“Facing a trial where they’ll have to account for the unconstitutional ordinance, city officials are trying to mitigate the consequences of their illegal misbehavior,” says Chuck Michel, California counsel to the NRA. “This is another decisive victory for the NRA, which stood and fought for its members’ rights.”
Los Angeles isn’t the only city to target the NRA, San Francisco and the state of New York are also facing legal action for ordinances that have been put in place to target the NRA.
Outside counsel to the NRA William A. Brewer III, said, “Coast to coast, the Association has demonstrated its resolve to hold government actors accountable for their attempts to transgress against the rights of NRA members. The NRA will never stop defending its members and the freedoms they hold so dear.”
