By: Teresa Mull

The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has agreed to hear a case involving the Second Amendment, and gun rights groups are gearing up for a fight.

Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP) v. Becerra challenges a California rule requiring charities to turn over the names and addresses of all their major donors to the IRS as part of something called a “Schedule B” form.

“Although the attorney general’s office claimed that it would keep Schedule Bs private, systematic incompetence and a lack of procedural and technical safeguards have led to repeated and widespread leaks of the documents to the public,” reports Cato.org.

The Thomas More Law Center joined AFP in its lawsuit against the California Attorney General’s office to protect their donors, and there have been at least 22 amicus (“friend of the court”) briefs filed in support of the plaintiffs, according to The Philanthropy Roundtable. In January 2021, the Supreme Court agreed to hear this case.

The National Foundation for Gun Rights (NFGR) recently announced it had joined a coalition to file an amicus brief “urging the Court to protect the free speech rights of gun supporters.”

NFGR said in a message to reporters:

This case started when Vice President Kamala Harris — then Attorney General of California — began targeting conservative nonprofits and demanding they turn lists of their top donors over to the California government.

Simply put, they want to know who you are.

They want your name and your full address on their government lists just because you support the Second Amendment.

The government, not surprisingly, has a history of “leaking” confidential information about conservatives to people who hate them.

“…People associated with AFP and Thomas More have experienced threats, harassment, boycotts, and even violence because of the views they hold and their affiliations with the charities,” reports Cato.

NFGR reminds supporters that: “In 2013, a newspaper in New York proved the danger of laws like that by publishing the names and home addresses of scores of local Concealed Carry permit holders.”

Remember, we can’t have a Second Amendment without a First Amendment.

Teresa Mull ([email protected]) is editor of Gunpowder Magazine.