Despite my best efforts, I have yet to succeed in having Sallie Mae recognized as a domestic terrorist organization. But apparently, the NRA, another institution worthy of that title, has been properly categorized as such by officials in San Francisco, Calif.
From the Hill:
San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution declaring the National Rifle Association (NRA) a “domestic terrorist organization” following the shooting in Gilroy, Calif., where four people, including the gunman, were killed.
The resolution, which local Fox affiliate KTVU reported passed on Tuesday, declares the gun rights group to be a terrorist organization and calls on other cities and government entities to make similar declarations. The resolution itself has no legal weight.
“All countries have violent and hateful people,” the resolution reads. “But only in America do we give them ready access to assault weapons and large-capacity magazines thanks, in large part, to the National Rifle Association’s influence.”
The resolution also asserts that the organization “musters its considerable wealth and organizational strength to promote gun ownership and incite gun owners to acts of violence.”
Sounds about right to me.
Our very own Michael Harriot broached this subject previously, writing:
The NRA’s complicity in thousands of deaths every year is directly related to the amount of money it funnels from gun manufacturers to lawmakers. If the public found out that another organization with the body count of the NRA was lobbying politicians and writing laws, there would be a national scandal.
The National Rifle Association should not be exempt. It is more powerful and scarier than al-Qaida and the “alt-right” combined. The trite aphorism used most often by the organization that has become a willful accessory to thousands of American murders explains it best:
Guns don’t kill people ...
The NRA does.
And he’s right.
The U.S. Department of Justice defines a terrorist organization as “a group of two or more individuals, whether organized or not, which engages in, or has a subgroup which engages in, the activities described.”
And what are those activities? Also from the U.S. Department of Justice, courtesy of Michael:
The use of any— (a) biological agent, chemical agent, or nuclear weapon or device, or (b) explosive, firearm, or other weapon or dangerous device (other than for mere personal monetary gain), with intent to endanger, directly or indirectly, the safety of one or more individuals or to cause substantial damage to property.
So, yes. The San Francisco board of supervisors is clearly doing the Lord’s work in calling a thing a thing and holding the NRA responsible for the havoc it’s ushered in since its inception. Now it falls on elected officials throughout the country to take heed, ignore the allure of gun money and follow suit.