A gun rights group has filed a federal lawsuit claiming their First Amendment rights had been breached by the state legislature’s lawyer who eliminated a blog post with the home addresses and phone numbers of 40 lawmakers. The Firearms Policy Coalition is campaigning against the six gun-control bills approved by Governor Jerry Brown on July 1 and posted the blog saying the 40 legislators could be removed from the list by repealing the laws or by dying. (San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 2016, by Rachel Swan)
The coalition said the addresses and phone numbers were already public and that the post was “political advocacy” and the censorship violated the First Amendment. California law prohibits listing the home address of an elected official with a threat of violence. (Courthouse News Service, August 9, 2016, by Nick Cahill)