SAN FRANCISCO—Earlier this month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors declared the National Rifle Association (NRA) a terrorist group. One member of the organization has now expressed her views on it.
Ellen Lee Zhou, a candidate for San Francisco mayor this year, is also a member of the NRA. She says it’s unacceptable that the Board of Supervisors unanimously declared it a domestic terrorist organization on Sept. 3.
She is a legal gun owner, and says the NRA is a non-profit organization with a set of safety regulations, like other non-profits have.
“The group itself is promoting how to use guns, and how to own guns safely and protect yourself and protect your family and protect the nation when it’s needed,” said Zhou.
Declaring it a terrorist organization would mean asking the city and government to identify and blacklist vendors and contractors in contact with the NRA.
“For a city to tell other people not to do business with San Francisco, or San Francisco people not do business with people because they are related to [the] National Rifle Association, that is a violation of the United States Constitution,” said Zhou.
The NRA filed a lawsuit (pdf) on Sept. 9 against the City and County of San Francisco and members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, stating that the claim violates their First and Second Amendment rights to freedom of expression and to bear arms. The organization says it is defending the Constitution.
