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
