The secretive operation to dismantle America's gun laws

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Support our nonprofit journalism]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     July 31, 2024 There's a secretive network aiming to abolish gun laws nationwide—and keeping its funding source under wraps. It's the subject of [our latest big feature](, published in partnership with the nonprofit news organization The Trace. At the center of the effort is Dale Sutherland, a former undercover cop turned evangelical pastor. Since 2020, Sutherland’s Constitutional Defense Fund has collected $12 million and funneled nearly $10 million to the Second Amendment Foundation, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and the DC law firm Cooper & Kirk, which together have filed at least 21 lawsuits challenging gun restrictions. The CDF’s money came via Donors Trust, a pass-through fund that conceals the identities of individuals and advocacy groups backing right-wing causes. But one question remains: Who are the anonymous funders bankrolling this dark money operation? Read the collaboration between Mother Jones and The Trace to learn more about these shadowy figures trying, and often succeeding, to tear down gun laws—one lawsuit at a time. —Julianne McShane Advertisement [Sign the Petition: Tax Billionaires]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [White Man Tells Black Journalists His Black Opponent Is Not Black]( The shocking Q&A session was a preview of what a face-to-face encounter with Kamala Harris would look like. BY INAE OH AND JULIANNE MCSHANE SPONSORED CONTENT FROM INEQUALITY.ORG   Sign the petition: VP Harris Should Endorse Biden’s “Billionaires Tax” The world’s richest people aren’t paying their fair share in taxes -- just 0.3% of their wealth annually. Biden’s 2025 budget would apply a 25% minimum income tax for the richest Americans. [Add your name to the Inequality.org petition: ask VP Harris to endorse the billionaires tax.]( [Trending] [What would it mean to have a prosecutor as president right now?]( BY SAMANTHA MICHAELS   [Election deniers just scored a major win in Arizona’s biggest county]( BY TIM MURPHY   [Disinformation peddlers use Venezuela chaos to stoke fears of anti-Trump vote-rigging]( BY ANNA MERLAN   [Kamala Harris still needs to earn young voters]( BY ABBY VESOULIS Advertisement [Sign the Petition: Tax Billionaires]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [The secret plan to strike down US gun laws]( And the cop-turned-pastor at the center of it all. BY WILL VAN SANT MOTHER JONES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE   DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY You’re a Mother Jones Daily reader, so you know the stakes and you know reporting like ours matters so freaking much in these next few months (and beyond). About that: We need [the support of our newsletter readers like never before]( to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our targets and urgently need all hands on deck. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field. Please help with a donation if you can—even just a few bucks helps. A [monthly gift]( would be incredible. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Share it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755