Most reasonable people aren’t exactly fans of the Westboro Baptist Church. For years, this group of bigots has been traveling the country, picketing the funerals of soldiers, celebrities and just about anybody else they feel is well-known enough to get them in the headlines. The message they spread is simple, yet so full of hate it’s even been denounced by the KKK: they believe God is striking people down because of America’s growing tolerance toward gay people — and according to them, this is a good thing.

Americans have tolerated the church’s presence at funerals for a number of years, though a growing number of folks have come up with creative ways to make the pickets a little less visible. Everything from counter-pickets, to human walls, to live music have been used to drown out the WBC’s cries of hate. Until now, we thought drowning them out was all we could do — after all, their right to picket funerals is protected under the First Amendment.

However, that may be about to change.

While the American public has been able to reluctantly stomach the WBC’s presence at the funerals of soldiers and celebrities, the inflammatory church crossed a line when, on December 14, they announced their plans to picket the funerals of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting. In response, a White House petition was created with the aim of having the WBC officially named a “hate group” — a label that could make it more difficult for the WBC to hold their protests.

The petition, which currently has nearly 267,000 signatures, reads as follows:

“This group has been recognized as a hate group by organizations, such as The Southern Poverty Law Center, and has repeatedly displayed the actions typical of hate groups.

“Their actions have been directed at many groups, including homosexuals, military, Jewish people and even other Christians. They pose a threat to the welfare and treatment of others and will not improve without some form of imposed regulation.”

Whether the petition will have the intended legal ramifications for the WBC or not is up for debate. PolicyMic.com reports that stopping the protests altogether may not be possible at all, let alone as the result of an online petition. However, according to Huffington Post, the petition — which is now the most popular White House petition ever — only needed 25,000 signatures to prompt an official response from the government.

So, while we may not be able to be rid of the WBC entirely, perhaps the petition will spur the President to enact legislation that will hinder their protest efforts further than they already have been. Here’s hoping.