Firearms dealers sue California officials over ban on handgun window displays
The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is familiar territory to those who seek to enforce gun rights.
But it is the First Amendment that provides a basis for a lawsuit filed Monday by gun dealers against California officials in federal district court in Sacramento.
At issue is whether the state can constitutionally restrict gun dealers from showing their wares in window displays, Fox News reports.
“The First Amendment prevents the government from telling businesses it disfavors that they can’t engage in truthful advertising,” said lead attorney Bradley Benbrook. Law professor Eugene Volokh of the University of California-Los Angeles is part of the legal team as well.
Also problematic is the fact that the law is viewpoint-based: It bans firearms dealers from showing handgun images, but the prohibition doesn’t apply to anti-gun protesters, guns.com reports.
Michael Baryla, who owns Tracy Rifle and Pistol, is one of four dealers challenging the law, which he calls “silly,” in part because it restricts only handgun displays, not rifle and shotgun advertising.
“The AR-15 is 100 percent fine—the handgun, on the other hand, isn’t fine,” he tells KCRA.
Defendants Stephen Lindley, who heads the the state Department of Justice’s Bureau of Firearms, and state attorney general Kamala Harris did not respond to KCRA’s request for comment.
