Trust in the media is hard to come by these days. Criticisms of news figures and outlets that openly flow—whether from the White House or from your house—are sometimes overblown, but are often warranted.

Case in point: Boise State Public Radio, a member station of the National Public Radio network, would have listeners believe it’s a fair purveyor of news in our post-truth society. “Our journalism is as accurate, fair, and complete as possible,” NPR professes in its guiding principles.

That’s a noble aim, yet doubt and skepticism remain. Why? A new collaboration between Boise State Public Radio and a left-wing pro-gun-control group could threaten the station’s dedication to fair and honest journalism. Through a recently announced partnership, Boise State Public Radio will receive a quarter-million grant from a left-wing fund to investigate “the role of guns in American life.” Though this sounds impartial, read on.

Boise State Public Radio is one of 10 stations across the nation selected to participate in the Guns & America reporting collaborative. The Kendeda Fund, an Atlanta-based foundation, has dedicated $5.3 million to this project. As a large advocate for progressive causes, the Guns & America project falls under the auspices of the fund’s Gun Violence Prevention efforts.

The Guns & America project is one of three gun-oriented recipients of grants from the Kendeda Fund. The other two grant recipients, The Center for American Progress and the Fund for a Safer Future, are staunch advocates of gun control.

The Center for American Progress is one of the largest progressive think tanks in the nation. The center works on a wide variety of issues, like the environment and immigration. When it comes to gun control, the Center for American Progress has advocated for bans on semi-automatic rifles and any magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. They have also advocated for gun confiscation laws, like this proposal to expand gun prohibitions to misdemeanor offenses, which failed to pass the Idaho Legislature in 2018.

Likewise, the Fund for a Safer Future has supported organizations that advance gun-control measures all across the country. The Fund’s advocate for policies ranging from stricter background checks and mandatory waiting periods to weapon bans and confiscation.

With its connections to these two organizations, the Guns & America project clearly warrants extra scrutiny. What interest does an organization like the Kendeda Fund have in giving public radio the same grant funds that go to gun-control organizations?

The answer: The Kendeda Fund is paying public radio stations to investigate gun owners and the importance of guns in key communities nationwide in order to better understand how to pass gun-control measures. It is opposition research into gun owners, if you will.

The Kendeda Fund aims to learn from the Center for American Progress, “why certain gun violence prevention interventions” — read: gun-control measures — “succeed where others fail” and to “identify regional and local strategies that can be scaled and replicated for broader long-term success.” By partnering with the Fund for a Safer America, the Kendeda Fund seeks to “share strategies, learn from one another, and pool resources for collective impact.”

The intention of the Guns & America project is to develop “reporters who will possess deep content expertise, perspective on a new generation of activists, and a broad range of digital and multimedia skills.”

Idaho gun owners take note: Boise State Public Radio is taking part in the first stages of this campaign against gun owners in America. Behind the scenes, gun control advocates are strengthening their arsenal.They are undertaking distorted opposition research and developing new strategies against those who believe in the Second Amendment.