No way, NRA: Los Angeles will require contractors to disclose ties to National Rifle Association

Los Angeles has passed a law requiring contractors to disclose any ties to the National Rifle Association. The law is one of several liberal ordinances passed by the city, and the NRA has already threatened a lawsuit.

Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to pass the ordinance on Tuesday afternoon, the LA Times reported. Companies with city contracts must now disclose in a sworn affidavit whether they have any sponsorships or contracts with the NRA.

Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said that the NRA has “been a road block to gun safety reform at every level of government now for several decades.”

The NRA, however, said that the ordinance violates the First Amendment, and is “an unconstitutional effort to restrict and chill an individual’s right to associate and express their political beliefs.” A spokesman for the association said that no other city has passed similar ordinance, and he is convinced that “no judge will let it stand.”

Some neighborhood councils within Los Angeles also oppose the measure. While gun violence is a problem, one council said, punishing the NRA “smacks of politics, makes little sense and could result in unwanted legal costs.”

Firearms killed 185 people in Los Angeles last year, according to an LA Times investigation. Nationwide, illegal guns are used in the majority of homicides. These illegal gun owners are not represented by the NRA.

California already imposes some of the nation’s strictest gun-control measures on its citizens. Magazine capacity is restricted, all purchases are recorded by the state, and accessories like pistol grips and telescopic stocks are considered characteristics of ‘assault weapons’ and therefore banned.

Governor Jerry Brown signed in a host of new laws last September, which included raising the minimum age for buying rifles and shotguns to 21, and lifetime bans for domestic abusers and people who have been committed to mental institutions.

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Local laws in Los Angeles go even further. Residents are required to lock up or disable their handguns at home, and the city imposes restrictions on ammunition purchases.

LA City Council has used local ordinances to make statements on other political issues too. City contractors must also disclose any bids, contracts, or proposals relating to President Trump’s planned border wall with Mexico.

Contractors involved with the wall are not strictly banned from doing business with the city, but Councilman Gil Cedillo said that the measure would help the city “fully understand the potential detrimental impacts of also utilizing companies, corporations, contractors, procurers, and suppliers that are soliciting work on the ill-conceived border wall project.” Cedillo added that he would vote against working with such companies.

A 2003 ordinance also requires companies to disclose whether they had any participation, investments, or profits from slavery.

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