California Concedes That Marketing Ban on Guns Violated 1st Amendment, Will Pay $1.4M in Court Fees
19th March 2026
A few years ago, we mocked Gavin Newsom for his total lack of understanding about pew-pews when he called a .22 caliber rifle a “weapon of mass destruction,” and then flagged his camera crew with it.
As Newsom said in that 2022 video, he signed a bill to ban “sick marketing ploys,” AKA allowing companies to advertise guns that parents can buy to teach their kids to shoot.
After signing AB 2571 into law, Newsom was immediately challenged in court by the Firearms Policy Coalition, Safari Club International, the United States Sportsman’s Alliance Foundation, the Congressional Sportsman’s Foundation, and others.
The law was then struck down TWICE by the Ninth Circuit.
On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, California finally took the L and said it would pay the court fees of those who had challenged its unconstitutional law, totaling $1.38 million.