Yesterday, the NRA and several other parties filed their opening brief in an appeal challenging Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 restriction on gun stores and shooting ranges.
This case challenges the Los Angeles County “Safer at Home Order for Control of COVID-19” that prevented gun stores and shooting ranges from operating for a period of 11 days (which is a 21-day ban when California’s 10-day waiting period is added) in March, while allowing businesses like nurseries, dry cleaners, car dealerships, and liquor stores to remain open. This order threatened anyone in violation of it with “imprisonment, fine or both,” and businesses ran the risk of losing their business licenses. The NRA and its allies filed suit on March 27, 2020, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff reversed his position on March 30, 2020.
The Supreme Court has recently weighed-in on COVID-19 restrictions under the First Amendment: “Even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten,” and courts “may not shelter in place when the Constitution is under attack. Things never go well when [courts] do.”
By continuing this lawsuit, the NRA and its allies seek to prevent Los Angeles County, and any other state or locality, from using COVID-19 as an excuse to trample our Second Amendment rights in this time of great uncertainty.
The case is called Martinez v. Villanueva. The NRA joins local gun stores and ranges, as well as the Second Amendment Foundation, California Gun Rights Foundation, and Firearms Policy Coalition with this effort.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on this, and all of ILA’s efforts to defend your constitutional rights.
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