Firearms group loses bid to block California ban on marketing guns to children

Reuters – Several pro-hunting and shooting sports groups have lost initial bids to block a recently enacted California law banning the marketing of guns that attract minors.

U.S. District Court Judge Dale Drozd in Sacramento late Thursday said the group was unlikely to succeed in their challenge and, as such, received a preliminary order to stop the state from enforcing the law while their case was pending. I decided that I had no right.

Plaintiffs, including youth shooting sports program So Cal Top Guns Inc and hunting group Safari Club International, argued that the law sought to restrict speech protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. But Drozd said the law seeks to regulate commercial speech.

“The court concluded that there was ample evidence of a serious and growing problem of gun violence involving minors, and that the state had a great interest in addressing the problem.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys and the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Bill AB 2571 into law last July, citing the need for new legislation “for the Supreme Court to withdraw critical gun safety protections.” Newsom’s office cited gun maker Wee 1 Tactical’s advertising of the AR-15 for children as an example of why the law is needed.

Days after the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 23 that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual’s right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense, This bill passed the state legislature.

Gun groups filed a lawsuit over the law a month later. Minors can, in some circumstances, possess guns with parental permission, limiting true, non-misleading speech, they said.

Publishers of youth shooting magazines and several gun rights groups had filed a similar lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court in July. dismissed and they are appealing.

The case is Safari Club International et al v. Bonta, United States District Court, Eastern District of California, No. 2:22-cv-01395.

Plaintiff: Michael Reynolds of Snell & Wilmer

California: Deputy Attorney General Gabriel Butane

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