Another Illegal California Gun Control Law Struck Down
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Another of California’s illegal gun laws was just struck down, and the state must pay the National Rifle Association nearly $500,000 in attorney fees.
In Safari Club International v. Bonta, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted a stipulation for final judgment and permanent injunction under which the state conceded that its firearm advertising restriction is unconstitutional and agreed to pay $481,749.72 in attorney fees incurred by the NRA in our fight to vindicate the plaintiffs’ basic free speech rights, according to the NRA.
This case derived from a law passed unilaterally by Democrats in 2022, AB 2571, which outlawed firearm industry members from advertising or marketing firearm-related products to minors, the Globe reported. The bill was authored by Assemblywoman and lawyer Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) and notably sponsored by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Additionally, the bill authorized two types of civil actions to enforce compliance with its provisions, the analysis explained: “First, the Attorney General or any district attorney, county counsel, or city attorney would be authorized to bring a civil action in any court, to seek a civil penalty.”
It imposed a $25,000 fine for each violation.
Gov. Newsom ceremoniously signed AB 2571 into law, only to have several pro-gun groups file a lawsuit one week later to stop his attempt to put an end to youth shooting and shooting sports.
The bill even went so far as to declare it was an “urgency statute necessary in order to protect public safety by prohibiting firearm advertising to minors as soon as possible, and shall go into immediate effect.”
Advertising firearm-related products is seen by Assemblywoman Bauer-Kahn and Democrats as a public safety issue. It’s what District Judge Roger Benitez referred to as “nibbling around the edges of the Second Amendment.”
The plaintiffs, including Safari Club International, Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, and others, with NRA involvement, challenged the new law on First Amendment grounds.
In September 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction, citing a related case (Junior Sports Magazines v. Bonta) and finding the law likely unconstitutional under the First Amendment. After unsuccessfully arguing over the scope of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, California conceded that the law is unconstitutional in its entirety and stipulated to final judgment and a permanent injunction, along with payment of the NRA’s attorney’s fees, the NRA said.
Safari Club International v. Bonta marks the end of a multi-year challenge, with the California law now permanently invalidated as unconstitutional and seen as a win for free speech rights in the context of lawful firearm-related advertising and education.
Democrats want to tell Americans that you can’t defend yourself with a firearm, then they attempted to codify their speech through legislation that nibbles around the edges of the 2nd Amendment and restricts gun ownership rights. Fortunately, they were rebuked by the highest court in the land in 2022, striking down the New York gun law that put unconstitutional restrictions on concealed carry of a gun out in public, and rebuked again with this case.
