Suit Planned Over Ban on Gun Sales : County: Operators of Pomona show say action will be brought on several grounds. Law will put them out of business, they say.

The nation’s largest gun show vowed Tuesday to sue Los Angeles County today to halt enforcement of a newly passed law barring the sale of firearms on county property.

“We hope to set a precedent,” said Chad Seger, general manager of Great Western Shows, which holds its events four times a year at the county fairgrounds and is the target of the county’s law. “This ordinance would put Great Western Shows out of business.”

The law, which won final approval Tuesday from the Board of Supervisors, was proposed in the wake of last month’s slaying of a postman in Chatsworth and shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center, both allegedly committed by an avowed white supremacist.

Seger said Great Western will also seek a temporary restraining order to prevent the law from taking effect before the next scheduled gun show in late October.

The grounds of the suit, Seger said, will be wide-ranging, including charges that the county has violated the federal civil rights of the gun show’s promoters, that it does not have jurisdiction over an event occurring within Pomona’s city limits and that the ban amounts to a violation of free speech.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the author of the law, said he believes that the ordinance is legal.

“We have a right to determine what kind of commerce takes place on our county-owned property,” said Yaroslavsky, adding that he also hopes to set a precedent. “There are fairgrounds all over the country that are used for this purpose.”

The new talk of legal action occurred minutes after supervisors again approved the ban at their regular meeting. Their initial approval last month drew nationwide attention and scores of protesters. Under county law, supervisors must approve a new law twice before it takes effect, and Tuesday’s debate was a recap of long-standing arguments over the issue.

The ban gained new momentum after the August shootings and the arrest of an Orange County man on suspicion of selling parts needed to assemble an automatic weapon to federal undercover agents that he met at the show in Pomona.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, a longtime opponent of gun control, complained that “because of one-tenth of 1% we are going to penalize 99.9% of these people who do not break the law.”

Seger and Karl Amelang, president of Great Western Shows, argued that they were being made scapegoats by politically ambitious supervisors, saying that the gun show has undercover security agents to ensure safety and that no hate literature is sold.

The last assertion drew disbelief from supervisors who have regularly sent staff to monitor the shows.

“I have been to your show,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, who opposed the ban, “and you can’t sit there and say hate material isn’t being sold at your shows.”

A number of speakers complained that supervisors are shutting down a family-owned business. “You’ll put them out of business for no purpose but political gain,” said Los Angeles resident Fred Kong, who said he has attended the show for more than 30 years.