When California lawmakers brazenly decided that firearm advertising might somehow appeal to young Americans and must be banned, they fired a legal volley at the First, Second, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
Four years after Assembly Bill 2571 passed, the state gave up last week and admitted it had seriously erred. For that mistake, California will also pay the considerable attorney fees incurred in the judicial battle.
Kudos to the Sportsmen’s Alliance, the National Rifle Association, and their partners for standing up for individual rights.
Lawmakers banned advertising that might appeal to minors
It was Summer 2022 when legislators prohibited what they deemed as advertising for firearms or accessories that could appeal to minors. This misguided statute was so poorly written that, in its original form, it banned youth hunter safety programs vital to the sporting public.
The gun rights coalition immediately sued, and Junior Sports Magazines Inc. v. Rob Bonta’s meandering path began.
Despite the obvious constitutional issues with the law, it took two years for the plaintiffs to secure a preliminary order halting its enforcement.
California officials should have known defeat would be the outcome
Freedom of speech does not cover every form of expression equally, as Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel for the Sportsman Alliance Foundation, explained.
“The First Amendment provides different levels of protection to all forms of speech,” the attorney noted. “When it comes to commercial advertising, it protects truthful, non-misleading advertising, unless these advertisements further some other illegal activity.”
The Ninth Circuit correctly concluded that the California law effectively suppressed truthful advertising that appealed to the sporting community. State officials suffered a humiliating defeat on appeal when 11 judges unanimously scolded the defendants for their overreach.
The state tried weakly to alter the ruling, but to no avail. California now admits it cannot constitutionally ban commercial speech for political purposes.
It took four long years, but gun rights supporters won an important victory that deserves to be celebrated.
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