LA County sheriff, sued by National Rifle Association, reverses course, says gun stores are essential

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva reversed course Monday night, declaring gun stores are essential businesses that can stay open under the social distancing measures aimed at fighting the coronavirus. The move would appear to moot a legal challenge from the National Rifle Association, which claimed the sheriff violated the Second Amendment.

Villanueva declared the stores non-essential in response to a disaster declaration and subsequent executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is also a named defendant in the case. California Public Health Officer Sonia Angell also issued guidelines that appeared to exclude the stores from the state's working definition of essential in Newsom's order.

On Monday, plaintiffs' attorney George M. Lee of Seiler Epstein Ziegler & Applegate LLP in San Francisco, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to block the closures in Brandy v. Villanueva, 2:20-cv-02874-AB-SK (C.D. Cal., filed March 27, 2020).

On Saturday, following statements by President Donald Trump, the federal Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory memorandum declaring gun stores are essential.

"Although explicitly advisory in nature, nonetheless the federal memorandum is persuasive given it's national scope," Villanueva's office wrote in a news release Monday night. Earlier on Monday, New Jersey Gov. Philip Murphy rescinded his policy of closing gun stores, which had also been challenged in court.

Villanueva's decision is not reflected in court documents in the lawsuit brought on behalf of two individuals, two stores and several gun rights groups.

-- Malcolm Maclachlan