California’s law banning the marketing of firearms to minors is probably unconstitutional under the 1st Amendment, a federal appellate court ruled Wednesday.
Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Circuit Judge Kenneth K. Lee wrote that while the ban may be intended to diminish gun violence, the “First Amendment demands more than good intentions and wishful thinking to warrant the government’s muzzling of speech.”
California allows minors to use guns under adult supervision for hunting and other activities, Lee wrote, and the state “cannot straitjacket the First Amendment by, on the one hand, allowing minors to possess and use firearms and then, on the other hand, banning truthful advertisements about that lawful use of firearms.”
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