CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: ‘Unconstitutional on its Face’: Judge Slaps Down Nearly 100-Year-Old Gun Law in California.

A federal judge in California just struck down a 95-year-old state law that previously banned firearms dealers from using images of handguns on their storefronts or in other outside advertisements.

The law in question did not prohibit firearms dealers from using images of shotguns or rifles in their advertising. Located at California Penal Code §26820, the statute reads, in full:

No handgun or imitation handgun, or placard advertising the sale or other transfer thereof, shall be displayed in any part of the premises where it can readily be seen from the outside.

State lawyers who argued to preserve the ancient law said this distinction was put in place–and should remain in place–in order to deter the impulsive purchase of a handgun for use in a crime or suicide.

U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley was not convinced. In an order granting summary judgment, Nunley described the law as “unconstitutional on its face.” Specifically, Nunley determined that the handgun image ban was a violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

So it isn’t a Second Amendment ruling, but the First has suffered enough injustices over the years, too.