SAN FRANCISCO — The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will reconsider the legal merits of an Alameda County ordinance that restricts where and how many gun stores can reside in unincorporated areas.
The court announced Tuesday that a case challenging Alameda County’s 1998 gun store location ordinance will be up for rehearing by a full panel the week of March 20 in San Francisco, and that a three-justice panel opinion issued in May should not be considered precedent.
Alameda County’s ordinance prohibits gun stores from being within 500 feet of residential zones, schools, liquor stores or other gun stores. The county argues it’s reasonable and in tune with keeping with U.S. Supreme Court rulings on gun rights and commercial gun sales.
Three businessmen were joined by Second Amendment activists in 2012 in filing a federal lawsuit against Alameda County and its Board of Supervisors to challenge the ordinance.
John Teixeira and his two business partners were denied the opportunity to open a gun sales, repair and training business in San Lorenzo after obtaining all the necessary permits and licenses because it fell 54 feet short of 500-foot rule.
