Push to ban gun shows has long, tangled history in California

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/ ^ | 5/27/18 | Kristina Davis

[BBell]

When a Bay Area county decided to pass a law that effectively banned gun shows from its fairgrounds, it sparked one of the nation’s longest running legal battles over the right to bear arms.

In the end, the county conceded and the gun shows were allowed to resume under stricter rules, leaving some of the central constitutional questions around the issue unsettled.

Once again, gun shows at publicly-owned convention centers and fairgrounds are being targeted for expulsion around the state. And the legal roadmap is no less clear.

History around such efforts shows a mix of outcomes, marked at times by a lack of political support for such bans and protracted litigation ending in shrugs. And renewed pushes for gun show bans — from Del Mar to the Bay Area — would seem to face similar uncertainty.

“They are stepping into a lion’s den here of potential litigation over this,” said Chuck Michel, a prominent gun rights attorney in Long Beach and president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association.

The potential for a court battle is weighing heavily on the Del Mar Fairground’s board of directors, who will be officially considering the issue in September.

They are aware of the drawn-out Alameda County case that bounced around the courts for 12 years before ending at the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeal cost millions of dollars in legal fees.

“We can’t afford to have that kind of fight on our hands,” said Stephen Shewmaker, president of the fairground’s board of directors.

Culture clash

Just about every weekend of the year, a gun show can be found in a fairground or convention center somewhere in California.

Last weekend it was here, one of five annual events run by Crossroads of the West Gun Show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. It’s come

[BBell]

Still pushing the fake gun show loop hole. When I was stationed in California it was a shooter's paradise. Too bad what happened.

[Steely Tom]

In the end, the county conceded and the gun shows were allowed to resume under stricter rules, leaving some of the central constitutional questions around the issue unsettled.

For liberals, the Constitution is "unsettled."

[umgud]

What would you think of a state that banned all import and purchase of semi-automatic handguns?

California did just that in May 2013 by requiring guns for their safe roster be able to micro-stamp spent shell casings.

[YogicCowboy]

Joe McNamara: Exhibit One that:

Public unions are inherently communistic.

The leftist scum assiduously rises to the top.

The police are not the friends of liberty.