SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- A controversial gun show is set to return to Del Mar in March, after the board that overseas the Del Mar Fairgrounds approved the return of the Crossroads of the West Gun Show.
The Crossroads of the West website has a new post on their front page that reads, "Breaking News! DEL MAR GUN SHOW RETURNS MARCH 14TH – 15TH"
"A Federal Court Judge ruled that the Crossroads of the West Gun Show must be permitted to continue until the court issues a final ruling on the Constitutional issues being raised by Crossroads, California Rifle and Pistol Association, NRA, Second Amendment Foundation and several other plaintiffs. Crossroads of the West President Tracy Olcott announced that the Del Mar Gun Show will resume on March 14-15 with another show to follow May 16-17."
While the vote was a big win for gun show advocates, some community members are expressing their disapproval.
Rose Anne Sharp, founder of NeverAgainCA spoke to 10News Sunday. Sharp says the gun show is a crisis.
“This is the most serious crisis we have faced with the gun show,” Sharp said. “At the last gun show that we attended with our mystery shopper, we observed more than 80% of the sale items were ghost guns.”
Ghost guns are firearms assembled from kits, the Giffords Law Center says.
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“These guns pose a grave threat to public safety, and people who are legally prohibited from owning firearms are able to create them without consequences in most states,” the center says.
AB 897 aims to fix that by defining the weapons as guns. “But it does not go in effect until 2024 so we need immediate emergency legislation to move that timetable up,” Sharp said.
Sharp says part of her concern is ease of purchasing one of the firearms.
“There is no background check. There is no waiting. There is no age limit. There is no registration, unless they self-report, and what we believe is there are no taxes being paid because we certainly were not charged for taxes.”
According to a news release from the California Rifle and Pistol association, the Del Mar Fair Board enacted a ban on gun shows that took effect in January 1, 2019.
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A judge later issued a preliminary injunction in June of 2019 prohibiting the board from enforcing the ban.
Governor Gavin Newsom has also signed a bill banning the sale of guns and ammo at the venue. That law doesn’t go into effect until 2021.
"It's been a mainstay for 30 years in San Diego and a small group of extremists tried to get it canceled and were successful for just a few months last year, but fortunately the courts stepped in and said, 'no you can't discriminate against a group based on what they described as their culture," Michael Schwartz, executive director of San Diego County Gun Owners previously told 10News. "The fight's not over."
The gun show will be returning to the Del Mar fairgrounds March 14 through the 15.
