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New L.A. City ordinance requiring contractors to disclose NRA business ties raises First Amendment questions
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Feb 13, 2019
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New L.A. City ordinance requiring contractors to disclose NRA business ties raises First Amendment questions
The Los Angeles City Council passed a law Tuesday requiring companies that want city contracts to disclose whether they have ties to the National Rifle Association.
Los Angeles City Hall, completed 1928, is the center of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor's office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council. It is located in the Civic Center district of downtown Los Angeles in the city block bounded by Main, Temple, First, and Spring streets.

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Los Angeles City Hall.
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The Los Angeles City Council passed a law Tuesday requiring companies that want city contracts to disclose whether they have ties to the National Rifle Association.

The Los Angeles City Council passed a law Tuesday requiring companies that want city contracts to disclose whether they have ties to the National Rifle Association.

Councilman Mitch O’Farrell sought the ordinance in the wake of recent U.S. mass shootings. He says the NRA has been a “roadblock to gun safety reform” for decades.

NRA attorneys had warned they’d sue if the ordinance passed.

Attorney Chuck Michel calls the move “modern-day McCarthyism” that would force NRA supporters to drop their memberships for fear of losing their livelihoods.

Is such a requirement constitutional, or does it violate the First Amendment’s right to free speech? What could that mean for the future of the ordinance? We discuss the legality of the measure.

With files from the Associated Press.

Guest:

Eugene Volokh, law professor at UCLA teaching free speech law; he tweets

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