Great Western Shows, Inc. v. Los Angeles County

MEMORANDUM *

Los Angeles County appeals from the district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of a County ordinance that prohibits the sale of firearms and ammunition on County property. The district court granted the preliminary injunction based on its conclusion that Great Western raised substantial questions as to whether state law preempted the Ordinance and as to whether the County possessed the power to regulate gun sales on County property within the incorporated City of Pomona. We certified these state law issues to the California Supreme Court. Great W. Shows, Inc. v. Los Angeles County, 229 F.3d 1258 (9th Cir.2000).

The California Supreme Court’s answer to our certified question has persuaded us that the district court abused its discretion in granting the injunction on these bases. 1 The district court “necessarily abuse[d] its discretion if it based its ruling on an erroneous view of the law.” Brookfield Communications, Inc. v. W. Coast Entm’t Corp., 174 F.3d 1036, 1046 (9th Cir.1999) (quoting Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 405 , 110 S.Ct. 2447 , 110 L.Ed.2d 359 (1990)) (internal quotation marks omitted). California state law…