The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which almost always sides with California state officials on matters of gun control, took the rare option this week to rebuff Sacramento's request to void a victory earned by pro-gun advocates.
The notoriously left-leaning circuit on Tuesday denied a request by the California Attorney General's office to vacate the decision in Junior Sports vs. Bonta and rehear the case en banc in front of the full circuit. A three-judge panel of court last September held that the new California law that banned the "marketing of firearms and related products" by the firearm industry to minors in the state, treating constitutionally protected items the same as age-restricted tobacco and alcohol products, was likely unconstitutional.
The law, passed as AB 2571 by the Democrat-controlled California Assembly and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in June 2022, provides for a civil penalty of $25,000 for any and each instance of firearm-related marketing to persons under the age of 18. That includes the “...use, or ownership of firearm-related products...” as well as “... events where firearm-related products are sold or used.”
Soon after it went into effect, most online firearm-related websites – Guns.com included – began verifying age to comply with the AB 2571 mandate. Other effects rippled through youth shooting sports in California with at least one large organization, the California State High School Clay Target League, disbanding under the prospect that something as innocuous as emailing match details to student-athletes could result in a barrage of fines from the state attorney general's office.
Now, with the state's request for a rehearing resoundingly denied – none of the 29 judges on the circuit even requested that the court take a vote on California’s petition to rehear the case – the 2023 rebuke of the law will stand unless the state further appeals the decision to the Supreme Court. Further, the court will be required to enter a preliminary injunction, preventing enforcement of the controversial law until final judgment.
The lawsuit was brought by the California Rifle and Pistol Association, the Second Amendment Foundation, Junior Sports Magazine, California Youth Shooting Sports Association, Redlands California Youth Clay Shooting Sports, Gun Owners of California, and The CRPA Foundation.
"It seems like forever since the 9th Circuit has refused to hear a gun case en banc," Alan M. Gottlieb, SAF founder and Executive Vice President, told Guns.com. "Hopefully, this is a new trend."
SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut explained that the court’s decision is a victory for the First Amendment as well as the Second.
"The state was determined to regulate the First Amendment as well as the Second,” said Kraut, "and we prevented California from continuing to enact unconstitutional laws. We’re pleased the 9th Circuit has decided to leave the panel’s decision undisturbed."
Banner image: The clays line at a youth shooting sports event. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
