The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-0 Tuesday to approve an ordinance requiring city contractors disclose any ties to the National Rifle Association.
It’s the first such legislation for any municipality, according to Councilman Mitch O’Farrell’s office.
He first introduced the ordinance in September 2018. It will force companies aiming to do business with the city to publicly reveal any financial links to NRA and its subsidiaries.
The law has several exemptions, including pension fund contracts.
In a news conference ahead of Tuesday’s vote, O’Farrell said the NRA previously sent a letter to the City Council claiming that the law would violate the First Amendment.
“Here’s what I would say to that: We have our rights of free speech as well,” the councilman said. “The public has a right to know. Of course NRA is suing because that’s what they do.”
Flanked by anti-gun violence advocates, O’Farrell also noted that the upcoming Valentine’s Day marks the one-year anniversary of the Florida high school mass shooting that left 17 dead.
“Despite massacres at movie theaters, churches, elementary schools, synagogues, gay night clubs, outdoor concerts, we couldn’t quite cross that threshold,” the councilman said. “Well, now we have. There’s no turning back this unstoppable force.”
