In recent years, numerous counties in California have passed ordinances that restrict possession and/or sale of firearms on county-owned property.  Alameda County passed such an ordinance in August, 1999. As is the case in other counties, the effect of the ordinance has been to end gun shows on county-owned property.
 
    In September, 1999, Russell Allen Nordyke and Sallie Ann Nordyke, gun show promoters, filed suit against Alameda County, declaring that the ordinance violated their constitutional right to operate gun shows on county-owned property.  Among other things, they declared that their rights were protected by the Second Amendment "right to bear arms."
 
    The Nordykes now argue that the Supreme Court's decision in July, 2008 in the District of Columbia v. Heller case, gives them the right to sell arms on county property.  In the Heller case, the Court declared that the Second Amendment allowed individuals to keep handguns in the home for purposes of self-defense (overturning a District of Columbia ban on handguns in the home).  The court said, however, that other types of laws restricting guns are "presumptively lawful."
 
    The County of Alameda, and the various organizations submitting an amicus curiae brief in the case in support of the County, argue that the (federal) Second Amendment does not apply to states because it has not been incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment.  And, even if it did apply, they argue the Heller case protects individuals' gun rights to protect "hearth and home," not to sell guns commercially, as in the case of gun shows.  The County further claims that it has the right to
protect citizens on county-owned property and has not banned commercial gun shows held on private property.
 
    The Nordyke case is an important one.  Both sides want a clear reading on whether or not the Second Amendment applies to states and localities, and, if so, how the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment rights relate to gun activities outside the home.
 
    The Nordyke case has recently been heard by a three-member panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Whatever the panel's decision, the parties are likely to seek a hearing by the full Ninth Circuit and then, after that, by the Supreme Court.
 
    Advocates for sensible gun laws have a great deal at stake in the ongoing judicial interpretation of the Second Amendment and the Heller decision.  The California Brady Blog will keep you posted on future developments.