Last year, SCI, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, and Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation challenged a California law that prohibits marketing firearms in a manner “attractive to minors.” We alleged that this law violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Several other organizations led by Junior Sports Magazine filed a similar lawsuit. Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held this law unconstitutional in the Junior Sports Magazine case. We are still waiting for an opinion in our case, but expect a similar outcome. Either way, the Ninth Circuit held the law violates the First Amendment because it does not advance the state’s interest in reducing youth gun violence and is broader than necessary to advance this goal. This is a big victory, as SCI’s California Chapters were restricted in advertising annual youth hunting events, and SCI was limited in how it the youth hunting information that we could print in our publications. Following the 2022 shooting in Uvalde, Texas, California’s liberal legislature passed a slew of draconian firearm restrictions. Some of these restrictions have now been cut down by the courts—small victories, but important ones to preserve our Second Amendment rights.
A Legal Victory in California
