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Calif. judge rules guns at gunshows may be expression & First Amend. protected
(Just got off plane, which accounts for nonposting for a few days). The San Francisco Chronicle reports that an federal district judge has ruled possessing firearms at gunshows may be expressive conduct protected by the first amendment. (Note this doesn't necessarily mean plaintiff win: the judge is merely ruling that such a right is arguable and cannot be dismissed out of hand). Details of story below...
ALAMEDA COUNTY
Gun ban may be unconstitutional
- Henry K. Lee
Saturday, October 1, 2005
Alameda County's ban on possessing guns at the county fairgrounds may be unconstitutional, a federal judge has ruled in a lawsuit challenging what effectively is a ban on gun shows.
Having guns at gun shows can be constitutionally protected "expressive conduct," a form of free speech under the First Amendment, U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins said in an order Tuesday, rejecting the county's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by gun-show promoters Russell and Sallie Nordyke.
According to county officials, the 1999 ordinance was a public-safety measure enacted one year after 16 people were hurt at a Fourth of July shooting and melee at the fairgrounds in Pleasanton.