The Second Amendment Foundation announced today the Washington State Attorney General’s Office has signed an agreement ending a three-year investigation which revealed no wrongdoing by SAF or its personnel, in exchange for the foundation’s withdrawal of its federal civil rights lawsuit against the AG’s office, former Attorney General Bob Ferguson and other defendants.
The agreement includes withdrawal of a pending Public Records Act request by SAF for records from the Attorney General’s office, while the AG’s Consumer Protection Division will close its investigation of SAF and other plaintiffs. While the agreement does not award fees or other costs to either side, SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb says this agreement amounts to a “vindication of our position that SAF, its partners and personnel did nothing wrong.”
“This investigation, launched by Bob Ferguson in an effort to discredit our work on behalf of gun owners and the Second Amendment, was a politically motivated legal fishing expedition,” Gottlieb declared triumphantly.
“Ferguson’s witch hunt wasted three years of our time and cost us thousands of man hours and more than $200,000. We’re convinced this happened because he is a devoted anti-gun rights politician and we are a national organization whose mission is to protect and defend the Second Amendment.”
SAF was targeted along with its sister organization, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Merril Mail Marketing, the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, the Service Bureau Association, and Liberty Park Press, for which Gottlieb is publisher.
“We’re glad this is over,” Gottlieb observed, “but we’re not happy that Ferguson is not held responsible for the damage he did. It is our sincere hope that no future attorney general in Washington state will conduct a politically motivated attack under color of law against any non-profit organization with which he or she has a fundamental philosophical disagreement.”
Under the agreement, the Washington Attorney General will not pursue any legal action based on the investigation.
Gottlieb said this is hardly surprising, “since they couldn’t find any wrongdoing.”
Second Amendment Foundation
The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.
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2nd Amendment Foundation Sues Washington AG Ferguson, Alleging Civil Rights Violations
