Gun Show Sues County to Overturn Fairgrounds Ban

Attorneys for what is billed as the nation’s largest gun show filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday to stop a ban on the sale of firearms on county property, arguing that it infringes on their free speech.

The Board of Supervisors passed the ban last month after a gunman killed a postal worker and fired into a day-care center in the San Fernando Valley. The ordinance targets the Great Western Show at the Pomona Fairplex, where hundreds of vendors sell antique guns, Civil War memorabilia and modern firearms and ammunition.

Undercover state and federal agents at the past two gun shows made arrests for alleged sales of illegal weapons.

In its lawsuit, the Great Western Show alleges that the ordinance “irrationally criminalizes” gun sales in violation of the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection, due process and free speech.

The argument is similar to one used successfully in Santa Clara County. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1997 found that the effort to restrict gun shows on that county’s fairgrounds was improper. However, the three-judge panel suggested that a broad restriction on the sale of guns and ammunition on all county property could withstand a constitutional test.

In their decision, the judges noted that “government at all levels has a substantial interest in protecting the people from those who acquire guns illegally and use them to commit crimes resulting in injury or death of their victims.” The judges wrote that “substantial, effective and carefully drafted legislative acts to improve public safety generally” may be able to pass muster.

In its lawsuit, the Great Western Show alleged that the county law, which bans the sale of guns and ammunition on county property, still violates constitutional rights.

“The show is the occasion for a substantial amount of noncommercial speech and association,” the lawsuit alleges. “Law enforcement organizations such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and branches of the military set up recruiting booths at the show.”

Great Western seeks an injunction against the law before the next scheduled show at the fairgrounds on Oct. 29-31, as well as $1 million in damages for loss of rents and profits. The lawsuit states that the ban hampers the show’s agreements with 2,000 private vendors. It contends that gun shows already are amply regulated in California and that the show abides by those requirements.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who wrote the law, said it will withstand a court challenge. “Our ordinance is legally sound,” Yaroslavsky said. “The Board of Supervisors and the county’s attorneys took great care to draft an ordinance that’s consistent with existing law.”

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Times staff writer David Rosenzweig contributed to this story.