On Tuesday, California agreed to a settlement with the Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition, and other plaintiffs, and will pay over $1.3 million to cover the plaintiffs’ attorney fees.
The settlement arose from a lawsuit that was filed against California’s Marketing Firearms to Minors Law, which crossed into First Amendment territory by banning firearm advertisements.
Breitbart News quoted Ninth Circuit Judge Kenneth Lee’s September 2023 majority opinion against the law, where he wrote “…that [the Marketing Firearms to Minors Law] does not directly and materially advance California’s substantial interests in reducing gun violence and the unlawful use of firearms by minors. There was no evidence in the record that a minor in California has ever unlawfully bought a gun, let alone because of an ad.”
I am pretty sure Judge Lee meant ever unlawfully bought a gun throuigh licensed dealers. I have no doubt that many have done so from other gang members. This is a big win for my friend Don Kilmer who pursued this absurd case for a number of years.
In a larger sense than just guns: the idea that advertising sells people stuff they do not already want is absurd. If advertising can create demand, explain the failures of the 1950s Edsel, the IBM PCJr,, and New Coke. At most advertising influences choice: do you want our over-sugared breakfast cereal?
I am sorry for California taxpayers, but there are consequences to electing idiots.
No comments:
Post a Comment