Michael Baryl, of Tracy Rifle & Pistol, has until February to take down this window display to comply with a Bureau of Firearms order. (Photo: Tracy Rifle and Pistol)

How much is that handgun in the window?

Thats a question Californians cant ask, thanks to a law that states handguns, or even pictures of them, may not be visible from outside of gun stores. Four Golden State gun dealers are challenging the law, saying its their First Amendment right to advertise their wares.

I run one of the most heavily regulated and inspected businesses in existence, but its still illegal for me to show customers that I sell handguns until after they walk in the door, said Michael Baryla, the owner of Tracy Rifle & Pistol. Thats about as silly a law as you could imagine, even here in California.

While most federal lawsuits involving gun rights invoke the Second Amendment, the gun dealers are claiming it is their First Amendment right to freedom of speech that is violated by California Penal Code section 26820. That law, first enacted in 1923, bans gun stores from putting up signs advertising the sale of handguns but not shotguns or rifles.

The First Amendment prevents the government from telling businesses it disfavors that they cant engage in truthful advertising, said Bradley Benbrook, the lead attorney on a legal team that also includes UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh.

- Michael Baryla, the owner of Tracy Rifle & Pistol

Controversial goods and services, such as abortion and contraceptives, are clearly protected under the First Amendment, Benbrook added.

The suit was filed Monday in the Eastern District of California, in Sacramento. It names California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Stephen Lindley, who heads the state Department of Justices Bureau of Firearms, as co-defendants.

Tracy Rifle and Pistol, a gun store and firing range in San Joaquin County, was recently cited by state authorities for having pictures of three handguns in window signs that could be seen from outside the store. A photo of an AR-15 rifle in an adjacent window, part of a display ad for which Baryla paid a total of $3,000, did not draw a citation. He has until February to take down the photos.

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Gun dealers sue over law barring window displays