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BELLEVUE, Wash. —— A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously upheld an earlier preliminary injunction against a section of the California Business & Professional Code which had been used by the state to stifle gun-related advertising in Junior Sports magazine, in a case brought by the Second Amendment Foundation and others. The case is known as Junior Sports Magazines v. Bonta.
“We are thrilled that the Ninth Circuit clarified today that its decision striking down California's Gun Advertising Ban applied to the law in its entirety,” said Bill Sack, SAF Director of Legal Operations. “The First Amendment provides the protection to advertise constitutionally protected arms just as the Second Amendment codifies the protection to keep and bear them.”
At issue is California Business and Professions Code § 22949.80, which prohibits advertising of any “firearm-related product in a manner that is designed, intended, or reasonably appears to be attractive to minors.” The Appeals Court had earlier held that this section violates the First Amendment, but upon remand, the district court “declined to preliminarily enjoin subsection (b) of Section 22949.80, which prevents the firearm industry from compiling or using personal information of minors for marketing purposes.”
“We reverse the district court and clarify that our constitutional analysis applied to the entirety of Section 22949.80,” the new opinion explicitly states.
SAF is joined by Junior Sports Magazines, the California Youth Shooting Sports Association, Gun Owners of California, Redlands California Youth Clay Shooting Sports, California Rifle & Pistol Association, the CRPA Foundation and a private citizen, Raymond Brown.
“This is great news from the Ninth Circuit,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “While this is a First Amendment case, it has strong Second Amendment overtones. Simply because California officials don’t agree with our pro-gun viewpoint, they have no right to essentially gag free speech or freedom of the press, in this case the content of Junior Sports Magazines.”
For more information, visit SAF.org.
The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.
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Matt Coffey
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