An animal shelter in California says people who oppose banning military-style semi-automatic rifles and public carry cannot adopt from them.
The Shelter of Hope Pet Shop posted on its website May 31 that it would not grant adoptions to people who feel the "2nd amendment gives them the right to buy assault weapons."
"Assault weapons" are the common name used for the AR-15 rifles and other semi-automatic rifles that are most commonly used in mass shootings. Opponents want them banned, but gun rights advocates note they are functionally no different than hunting rifles and many prefer their style and lighter weight for self-defense and for target shooting at ranges.
Shelter of Hope is clearly on the side of banning the rifles.
"If your beliefs are not in line with ours, we will not adopt a pet to you," it said.
"Our community of Thousand Oaks became part of all the other cities in America, now scarred with the reputation of a mass killing," the shelter noted. "The shooter that killed 12 innocent humans at The Borderline Bar, came to our shop for community service hours."
The statement said the shop believes the shooter was actually scouting for locations to shoot when he visited, "and we were one of them. We changed our policy about volunteering after that incident, but now we feel confident to go even further than that."
The Borderline Bar shooting occurred in 2018.
Applicants will have to submit to a one-hour interview, be at least 25 years old, provide a current driver license, and submit to a home inspection.
"If you lie about being a NRA supporter, make no mistake, we will sue you for fraud," the statement reads. "If you believe that it is our responsibility to protect ourselves in public places and arm ourselves with a gun — do not come to us to adopt a dog. We have a choice of who we work with."
Shelter Hope chooses to work with only like-minded humans.
"We live in the only country in the world that continues to support weapons and not communities," the statement continues. "We will continue to support our community, but if you are pro guns and believe that no background check is necessary, then do not come to us to adopt. We will grill you before you even get an appointment and visit our rescue. If we ask you 'do you care about children being gunned down in our schools?' If you hesitate, because your core belief is that you believe teachers need to carry firearms, then you will not get approved to adopt from us."
Anyone who already fosters dogs and cats for the group who disagrees with the policy are asked to bring them back or arrange to have them picked up.
"Having this asinine political litmus test comes at the expense of needy and homeless dogs and cats," NRA spokeswoman Amy Hunter told NBC News.
The policy might be technically discriminatory, but it is not illegal, constitutional law expert Nadav Shoked of Northwestern University told NBC.
"The federal law is not an issue here," Shoked said. "It doesn't apply to stores, and, more important, it only bans discrimination based on race or religion — which is not what the pet store is doing."
State laws often "add to race and religion things like gender, gender identity, familial status, marital status, being a veteran and more," Stokes said, but not political preferences.
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