B & L Productions has operated popular, safe, heavily regulated, legal and family-friendly gun shows as a business in California for over 30 years, including at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The gun shows are a place where like-minded individuals gather to engage in commerce related to, and necessary for, the lawful and regulated exercise of Second Amendment rights for themselves, their exhibitors, their patrons, their customers, and the general public.
Plaintiffs attend and participate in the gun show to engage in First Amendment activities that are both necessary and essential to the open, robust, and lawful exercise of their Second Amendment rights. They associate with like-minded people, participate in public discussions, attend informational forums, distribute and collect information, make offers for sale, make offers to buy, and engage in legal and political discussions related to the Second Amendment, which are all forms of speech protected by the First Amendment. These discussions include topics such as firearms and ammunition, firearms technology, firearms safety, and firearms law and politics. Participants also exchange information about where to hunt, where to practice shooting, where and from whom to receive training, gunsmithing, gun repair, gun art, and many other topics that arise from the right to acquire, own, possess, enjoy, and celebrate arms as a quintessentially American artifact with constitutional significance.
However, through the adoption and enforcement of Assembly Bill 893, with the intention and effect of shuttering gun show events altogether, the sale of firearms and ammunition at the Fairgrounds has become prohibited.
On October 4, 2021, the Second Amendment Foundation, joined by six individuals, B&L Productions, two retailers, one gun club, and another civil rights organization filed suit, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief against Defendants for violating their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. The suit also seeks damages for lost profits, lost opportunities, diminished marketing value, and reimbursement for reasonable attorney’s fees, costs, and other expenses in bringing this action.
Case Team: Donald Kilmer
Case Documents
To access all of the case documents at the District Court, please visit the docket.
To view documents filed on appeal, please visit the Court of Appeals docket.
Case Media