Phoenix New Times
Phoenix officials and one of our favorite local curmudgeons, gun-law expert Alan Korwin, are scheduled for a courtroom showdown next month over banned firearms-training ads.The case was launched following the city's move to censor 50 bus-shelter ads that Korwin had purchased in October 2010 for his firearms-training website, trainmeaz.com. "Guns Save Lives," the ad stated in large type. "Arizona says: Educate Your Kids." The bus-shelter ads, part of a larger ad campaign Korwin was doing at the time for his company, also contained a large amount of small print about gun rights and Arizona's concealed-carry law. That makes sense knowing Korwin -- he always has a lot to say about firearms and related rights. His books include the hilariously titled, "After You Shoot: Your Gun's Hot, The Perp's Not, What Next?" His TrainMe website hosts advertising for affiliated gun stores and training centers. Korwin agreed to pay $11,000 to CBS Outdoors, which manages the bus-shelter ads for Phoenix. The ads went up on October 12. One week later, city of Phoenix officials decided they didn't meet a city requirement that such ads provide "adequate notice" of a commercial transaction. Overnight, the ads disappeared.
Alan Korwin
Korwin sued in Maricopa County Superior Court, represented by Clint Bolick and the Goldwater Institute. They lost, and the case has been wending its way through the Arizona Court of Appeals since late last year. The two sides will square off in court at 9:30 a.m. on December 3, court records show, with 20 minutes each of oral arguments.The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona filed anamicus curiae brief in the case on behalf of Korwin, noting that the Arizona Constitution provides an even greater free-speech protection than the First Amendment. On its face, the city standard requiring notice of a commercial transaction for bus-shelter ads sounds clear enough. Courts in other states have held that cities can make such restrictions. The problem is that the requirement is used not to provide a standard, but as a tool that allows the city to reject any ad, for any reason it wants. The city must merely claim the ad doesn't meet the standard -- it's not required to prove it doesn't meet it.