Weapons, United States (AP Photo / Keith Srakocic)

Share

March 28, 2020 The powerful U.S. arms lobby has turned to a California court to ask for gun stores to remain open even in the current confinement situation for coronavirus.

Arms owners, vendors and associations have gone to justice to prevent local authorities from keeping the armories closed.

"The trade in authorized weapons is essential to guarantee a constitutionally protected right," reads the appeal filed with a federal court.

The lawsuit is directed against the democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, who ordered the population to stay home with the exception of the use of "essential infrastructure" and therefore left the sheriffs of the various counties the choice of whether or not to include the armories in this category.

The Los Angeles sheriff has decided that gun stores will have to remain closed to the public.

Appealing to the second amendment of the Constitution which guarantees the right to carry arms in the US, the plaintiffs, including the powerful lobby of the National Rifle Association, argue that "arms and ammunition vendors provide perhaps the most important commercial function" because they allow Californians "to defend themselves, their loved ones and their properties in these difficult times".