On Monday, four California gun dealers filed a federal lawsuit challenging a nearly century-old law that bans the display of handguns in store advertisements.

Under state law, it’s perfectly legal for a gun-control supporter to use images of handguns in a protest outside of a gun store. But if a gun store were to put the same sign in its store window, it would be a violation of state law.

States California Civil Code § 26820, which was first enacted in 1923:

“No handgun or imitation handgun, or placard advertising the sale or other transfer thereof, shall be displayed in any part of the premises where it can readily be seen from the outside.”

This isn’t a case of hypothetical free speech scenarios. Earlier this year, a Central Valley gun dealer was cited by the California Department of Justice for breaking the law by displaying a handgun in its window. Tracy Rifle and Pistol, the San Joaquin County firearm retailer that was cited by the Department of Justice in September, points out the obvious content-based speech restriction.

“I run one of the most heavily regulated and inspected businesses in existence, but it’s still illegal for me to show customers that I sell handguns until after they walk in the door,” said Michael Baryla, the owner of Tracy Rifle and Pistol. “That’s about as silly a law as you could imagine, even here in California.”

Gun stores speak out

One Fresno gun dealer and plaintiff in the case, PRK Arms, told KMPH Fox 26 News’ Erika Cervantes that the lack of proper signage can be confusing for customers.

“We actually get quite a few calls throughout the week from people asking if we sell handguns,” Elijah Smedley, the store’s general manager, told KMPH. “If you look around, there’s plenty of them here. The product itself is not illegal in any way, so why should advertising be illegal?”

Smedley pointed out the obvious double standard.

“You can advertise for just about anything else that you sell,” he said. “There’s grow shops, there’s dirty magazine stores, there’s all kinds of things out there that you can advertise for the exact item you’re selling. Yet, for some reason, handguns are taboo.”

First Amendment scholars join case

Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who is considered one of the country’s foremost experts on the First Amendment, has joined the case on behalf of the plaintiffs.

“The government generally may not ban advertising of lawful products — indeed, of constitutionally protected products — on the grounds that such advertising is offensive, or stimulates consumer interest in such products,” Volokh explained on his legal blog at the Washington Post.

In addition to a double standard for gun owners and gun control advocates, there’s a double standard for weapons. In California, it’s legal for gun dealers to display images of shotguns and rifles on their premises, but illegal to display an image of a handgun. The multiple content-based restriction has helped the gun dealers enlist other constitutional experts in the case, including top-notch attorneys Bradley Benbrook and Stephen Duvernay.

“The First Amendment prevents the government from telling businesses it disfavors that they can’t engage in truthful advertising,” said Bradley Benbrook, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “This case follows a long line of Supreme Court cases protecting such disfavored businesses from that type of censorship.”

A spokesman for Attorney General Kamala Harris, the lead defendant in the case, declined to comment about it to CalWatchdog.com.

State’s clever gun rights advocates target vulnerable laws

The lawsuit is only the latest effort in a series of savvy moves by the state’s leading Second Amendment advocates. Unable to slow the endless series of new gun-control bills proposed each legislative session, the California Association of Federal Firearm Licensees, Calguns Foundation and the Second Amendment Foundation have turned to lawsuits and public-records request to overturn laws. And when the mainstream media ignore their achievements, CA-FFL shares its victories directly with its nearly 40,000 Facebook fans.

In August, a federal judge ruled that California’s 10-day waiting period on gun sales violated the Second Amendment rights of certain groups of gun owners. The plaintiffs in the case were represented by Calguns Foundation and Second Amendment Foundation.

The group has also exploited the state’s public records law to obtain information about the uneven administration of conceal-carry permits. In 2011, Calguns Foundation believed then-San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey was failing to comply with California’s conceal-carry laws. Under state law, all agencies that have the authority to issue firearm permits must create and publish a written policy on the process. Thanks to a public records request, the group proved that the sheriff had selectively enforced the law and awarded permits to politically-connected applicants.

San Francisco wasn’t an isolated case, but a part of Calguns’ program to enforce compliance with the law. A similar 2010 request filed by Calguns with the Ventura County sheriff’s office was denied. Calguns was forced to file a lawsuit, which it won.

Whenever it can, California’s gun-rights advocates are looking to form broad-based political coalitions.

“Since we started our Carry License Initiative, Calguns Foundation has had the great pleasure of supporting and, where possible, collaborating with fantastic open government groups like the First Amendment Coalition and CalAware on matters relating to public records and meetings,” said Brandon Combs, one of the masterminds behind the effective political strategy.

A copy of the complaint can be viewed here.

By Katy Grimes

By now everyone in America knows the name of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year old tragically killed on February 26 by a Florida neighborhood watch captain. While the details of the case are still suspicious at this point, and have even been altered in some reports, one fact remains: a young man is dead.

Instead of reporting on the facts as they came out, the media have become the story, and tragedy has been overshadowed by melodramatic story telling.

The media have doctored facts, ignored facts, covered up facts, altered photos and drawn incorrect conclusions to fit an agenda. It used to be that journalists were fired for knowingly distorting a story or altering facts and documents.

The death of Trayvon Martin is tragic enough without the elite mass media dog-piling all over one another, desperate for a piece of the action. In doing so, the media knowingly prevented the facts from getting in the way of sexy, morbid, delicious and damning headlines.

Politicians Join The Story

Never passing up a media opportunity to grab headlines by exploiting someone, politicians have now jumped on the bandwagon by donning hoodie sweatshirts on the floor of the U.S. Congress and in California’s state Capitol. In what was probably the biggest public relations blunder of the decade, they all looked like idiotic thugs — as does everyone else who wears a hoodie.

Let’s not forget that the purpose of wearing a hoodie is to cover the face and look like a tough guy. Is there any coincidence that nearly every bank robber, home invasion burgler and 7-11 robbery suspect wears a hoodie?

Race-Baiting Mob Mentality

Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and other black leaders have inserted themselves into the fray, fueling a mob mentality and a dangerous rush to judgment.

In one more of his typical race-baiting statements, Jackson told media Trayvon Martin’s death shows how “blacks are under attack” and “targeting, arresting, convicting blacks and ultimately killing us is big business.”

Jackson could not have made a more despicable and irresponsible statement.

“We want George Zimmerman in court with handcuffs behind his back,” Sharpton told media.

In one of the most stupid moves yet, Actor/Director Spike Lee grossly exacerbated the media frenzy by tweeting Zimmerman’s home address — only Lee tweeted the wrong address, putting a retired couple at risk for their lives in his zeal by encouraging people to protest at the home. The couple had to vacate their own home after receiving threats from the crowds congregated outside their residence. Lee has since apologized to the elderly couple, and paid a settlement for their suffering as well as expenses incurred.

MSNBC political analyst and Democratic fundraiser Karen Finney blamed Republicans for Martin’s death and said, “[Republican politicians] reinforce and validate old stereotypes that associate the poor and welfare as criminal behavior with African-Americans and people of color, calling us lazy, undeserving recipients of public assistance. In the case of Trayvon, those festering stereotypes had lethal consequences.”

Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sabrina Fulton, has said that Zimmerman killed her son “because of the color of his skin.” Fulton has, however, applied for two patents for the phrases, “Justice for Trayvon” and “I am Trayvon.” The phrases are now being sold on hoodie sweatshirts.

The New Black Panther Party has issued a bounty poster and offered a $10,000 bounty for the “capture” of George Zimmerman. But Zimmerman is not on the run, nor has he been charged with anything yet. “Child killer of Trayvon Martin — Wanted Dead or Alive,” the poster reads.

This case is sounding more and more like the Duke Lacrosse team case, also tried and convicted in the media, and by vicious, lying public officials.

In the middle of an election cycle, apparently anything goes.

The Facts We Know

On February 26, 17-year old Trayvon Martin, a black male, was walking in a gated neighborhood in which he did not reside.

Martin was on suspension for 10 days from school. In the past several months, Martin was suspended from school three times, once for the possession of drug paraphernalia.

George Zimmerman, an Hispanic adult male, Neightborhood Watch captain for the neighborhood, saw Martin in the neighborhood, felt he was suspicious and called 9-1-1.

Zimmerman was carrying a licensed, loaded gun.

The Miami Herald reported that, in the gated community Zimmerman lived and voluntarily patrolled, there were eight burglaries, nine thefts and one shooting in the past year. Neighbors said Zimmerman was a dedicated Neighborhood Watch Captain, and had even prevented and solved some neighborhood crimes.

Zimmerman identified himself as an Hispanic, and was a registered Democrat.

Martin and Zimmerman had a verbal and physical altercation.

Police arrived and found Zimmerman bleeding on his face and from the back of his head, and  had grass stains on his back.

Martin was shot by Zimmerman and died at the scene.

President Barack Obama inserted himself into the story and said at a news conference that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin.

The ‘Facts,’ As Reported By Mass Media

Here are the “facts,” as reported by the media:

A “racial conflict” in a Florida neighborhood resulted in the brutal killing of an innocent black teenager, by a white man.

Martin was a “good boy” and was on suspension only for five days for something “non-violent and minor.”

Zimmerman was identified first as a “white” male, then a “white Hispanic,” and an overzealous Neighborhood Watch captain.

Zimmerman was said to have aggressively pursued Martin, and initiated the altercation leading to the shooting.

Since the story broke, the media have been using a photo of Martin from five years ago, in which he looks like a sweet little kid.

Media outlets finally are using a current photo of 17-year old Martin, but lightened his skin and softened his features.

Don’t Let The Facts Get In The Way of A Good Story

A recently identified witness has reported seeing George Zimmerman on the ground with
Trayvon on top of him, punching him. The witness told police and the media that Zimmerman screamed and yelled for help. But the victim’s family says they also have a witness who said that Zimmerman was on top of Martin before he shot him.

The facts are still coming out, but not as fast as media reports calling for the prosecution of Zimmerman.

Former NAACP leader C.L. Bryant has accused Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton of “exploiting” the Trayvon Martin tragedy to “racially divide this country.”

Bryant said people like Jackson and Sharpton are being misleading in suggesting there is an epidemic of “white men killing black young men.”

“The epidemic is truly black on black crime,” Bryant told the Daily Caller. “The greatest danger to the lives of young black men are young black men.” Bryant said he wished civil rights leaders would focus their protests on those problems.

“Why not be angry about the wholesale murder that goes on in the streets of Newark and Chicago?” he asked. “Why isn’t somebody angry about that six-year-old girl who was killed on her steps last weekend in a cross fire when two gang members in Chicago start shooting at each other? Why is there no outrage about that?”

Bryant said he worries that “people like Sharpton and those on the left” will make Martin’s death a campaign issue in the presidential race; but it already has become a campaign issue, thanks to the media, which are now in the business of making the news.