NRA: We Need More Guns In The Projects

Less than 24 hours after Thursday’s handgun ruling by the Supreme Court, the NRA sued the city of San Francisco to overturn its ban on guns in public housing projects. Interestingly, another pro-gun group joined the suit on behalf of a gay man living in the projects who says he needs a gun to protect himself from bashing.

The National Rifle Association sued the city of San Francisco on Friday to overturn its ban on handguns in public housing, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a handgun ban in the nation’s capital. The legal action follows a similar lawsuit against the city of Chicago over its handgun ban, filed within hours of Thursday’s high court ruling.

In San Francisco, the NRA was joined by the Washington state-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and a gun owner who lives in the city’s Valencia Gardens housing project. The gun owner, who is gay, says he keeps the weapon to defend himself from “sexual orientation hate crimes.” He was not identified in the complaint because he said he fears retaliation.

Mayor Gavin Newsom said the city will “vigorously fight the NRA” and defended the ban as good for public safety. “Is there anyone out there who really believes that we need more guns in public housing?” Newsom said. “I can’t for the life of me sit back and roll over on this. We will absolutely defend the rights of the housing authority.”

I have a feeling that the NRA likes the idea of more guns in the projects for reasons outside of their stated mission.