BELLEVUE, WA – Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and its partners in a federal lawsuit challenging a California statute designed to end gun shows on city, county and state-owned property in the Golden State have filed a 103-page appellants’ brief with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
SAF is joined in this case by B&L Productions, Captain Jon’s Green Can Lockers, L.A.X. Firing Range, DBA LAX Ammo, the California Rifle & Pistol Association and South Bay Rod and Gun Club. They are represented by attorneys C.D. Michel, Anna M. Barvir and Tiffany D. Cheuvront, Michel & Associates, Long Beach, Calif., and Don Kilmer, Caldwell, Idaho.
At issue is AB 893, which the brief asserts was clearly intended to end gun shows on city, county and state property in California by banning the buying and selling of firearms, ammunition and firearms components. The law is being challenged on First and Second Amendment grounds.
“Banning gun shows has been the goal of anti-gun politicians and the gun prohibition lobby in California for a long time,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “They contend it’s wrong for the state to ‘benefit’ from the sale of firearms, but it goes deeper than that. They simply do not like firearms or the people who own, collect and use them, and ultimately it is their desire to eliminate firearms ownership.”
“Gun shows are more than places where people buy and sell firearms and related products,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “They offer venues where like-minded gun owners meet, exchange ideas and ideals, sometimes participate in classes on genuine firearm safety, gun laws and other subjects all protected speech under the First Amendment.”
Both SAF officials stressed that all firearms and ammunition sales at gun shows must be done in compliance with all federal and state laws.
