We’ve previously covered the sustained efforts to ban gun shows in California, including a judge’s decision several weeks ago that means gun shows will return to southern California’s Del Mar Fairgrounds, despite the fair board’s objections.  Now comes word that the gun control group NeverAgainCA is urging the fair board to stay the course, and warning supporters of the show that they’re on the wrong side of history.

Rose Ann Sharp, the group’s founder, pointed to a bill by Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) that would ban the sale of guns and ammunitions at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. The bill could be passed by 2021.

“The arc of history is bending in your direction,” Sharp said. “It should now be clear to everyone how the story will end in Sacramento.”

So the arc of history is bending towards the direction of those seeking to eradicate lawful gun culture in California?  Well, that’s awfully authoritarian of them.

Keep in mind that, thanks to California’s 10-day waiting period, nobody’s walking into a gun show, plunking down their money, and walking out with a new pistol, rifle, or shotgun. Of course, that doesn’t matter to opponents of the shows, who are absolutely convinced that something bad must be happening.

Solana Beach City Councilwoman Kelly Harless, who has frequently spoken against the gun shows, said she is “concerned about where you’ll go from here.”

“You have the truth on your side, gun shows do harm our communities,” Harless said. “ … make no mistake about it, the cost of defending this lawsuit is nothing compared to the cost if something goes wrong in terms of liability and lives lost.”

How exactly do gun shows “harm our communities”? By allowing the lawful sale and purchase of firearms? If that’s the councilwoman’s beef, it’s not with gun shows, it’s with gun sales. All gun sales. And if that’s really her objection, she should say so.

California counties like Alameda have already put zoning laws on the books that in essence block any new gun stores from opening for business. The state’s handgun roster is a “slow motion gun ban” that blocks any new handgun models from being sold in the state thanks to California’s impossible to comply with “microstamping” requirement, and even existing models are removed from the roster if there are any design changes, no matter how small or cosmetic they may be.

Rose Ann Sharp may be right that the arc of history is bending towards eradicating the 2nd Amendment in California, but that’s nothing to be proud of. That arc is bending the wrong way, and hopefully gun owners in California can use a little legislative and judicial muscle to bend it back towards the full recognition of the right to keep and bear arms.

In the meantime, if you’re in southern California, put September 28th and 29th on your calendar. That’s when the Crossroads of the West gun show is slated to return to the Del Mar Fairgrounds, and with it thousands of Californians who won’t be cowed by those hoping to turn them into helpless lambs