A Ninth Circuit court in California on Thursday struck down a Los Angeles County and Ventura County order that shut down gun stores and shooting ranges in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a report from the Washington Examiner, a three-judge panel ruled that the right to bear arms, as defined in the Second Amendment, made accessing stores that sell guns and ammunition indispensable for American citizens.
This ruling is a massive victory for proponents of constitutional rights, who strongly fought back against closing gun stores in the first place. Judge Lawrence VanDyke wrote in his statement about the ruling that the Second Amendment “means nothing if the government can prohibit all persons from acquiring any firearms or ammunition. But that’s what happened in this case.”
Additionally, this ruling is a victory for the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA), who challenged the order in March of 2020 and later filed an official appeal in 2021.
The court’s decision, particularly in a left-leaning state like California, sends a strong message that the constitutional rights of American citizens cannot and should not be trampled on, no matter what dangers the coronavirus may or may not pose.
According to a report from the Associated Press, the NRA-ILA has also sued Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Contra Costa counties in California over similar restrictions.
Further, the court acknowledged that the 48-day closure of Ventura County’s gun stores and shooting ranges was doubly unfair in light of the fact that bike shops were allowed to stay open as “essential businesses” during the initial lockdowns.
For the millions of conservative Californians who bear the brunt of progressive legislation from radical cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, this ruling to uphold the Second Amendment is a welcome reprieve amidst the seemingly endless string of totalitarian edicts from government officials capitalizing on the coronavirus crisis.
