Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle

For more than 30 safe, legal and fun years, Crossroads of the West Gun Shows have been held several times a year at public venues throughout the state — without incident. There are some guns on display, but only about 15% of exhibitors sell guns or ammo. It’s a modern-day bazaar.

There are collectibles, books, a ton of merchandise (most of which has nothing to do with firearms), gun safety classes, legal seminars, vendors educating patrons on the benefits of various firearms, and lots of food.

Pro-Second Amendment groups sign up members there — people with like-minded beliefs and an understanding of what it means to be a responsible gun owner. People register to vote. People have intelligent discussions and discuss facts about the failure of gun-control laws, and about the value of firearms ownership where good guys save far more lives with guns than bad guys take with them. They share opinions about ways to prevent gun violence, and how to best protect their families. In short, attendees are organized and engaged in the political debate — while they shop.

To a gun ban lobby reinvigorated through millions in funding from billionaires, gun shows are part of the evil “gun culture” that must be eradicated. Banning gun shows is a way to attack the “gun culture” by taking away a place where gun owners gather and exchange ideas, plan politics, learn the law, and discover the joys of shooting sports and the social utility of guns for self-defense. Some people just don’t like guns, and apparently have never been to a gun show like Crossroads of the West. Instead, they would rather imagine it — and spin it to others — as a gun-slinging redneck convention where gang members and drug dealers shop.

Thanks to a sophisticated multimillion-dollar PR campaign of shame meant to demonize the “gun culture” and ostracize those who choose to own a gun for sport or to defend their families, thoughtful policy decision making has been replaced by political showmanship fueled by false sound bites. The gun ban lobby pushes useless laws that don’t work. We hate guns, so just do something. Anything.

Pandering politicians see opportunities to self-promote. So, for example, San Diego Assemblyman Todd Gloria bragged that he did “something” by pushing a law banning gun shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. But the only evidence Gloria presented was from gun shows with minor problems that took place in other states and in Mexico, where California’s strict laws don’t apply.

In San Francisco last year, politicians strong-armed the directors at the Cow Palace venue to ban gun shows by threatening to remove the Cow Palace Board’s authority unless they bowed to the political pressure.

Banning safe and legal gun shows does nothing about the real problems.

Criminals don’t get guns at gun shows. The background check requirement applies on every gun sale no matter where the sale takes place. No one is walking out of a gun show with a new gun. And a recent UC Davis study showed that background checks like those in California have had no impact on violent crime. Nor can anyone buy what some mischaracterize as a “high-capacity magazine,” nor a so-called “assault weapon,” because sales of these are already banned in California. Every dealer at any gun show must pass a background check and a rigorous licensing process by the Department of Justice. There is a heavy police presence at every show. But such facts are not mentioned during the fear-mongering speeches by gun ban advocates, who sacrifice the truth on the altar of their agenda.

Ironically, the most recent publicized incident involving a firearm at a state-operated fairground didn’t involve the gun show at all. Instead, someone brought an illegal gun to a concert on the fairground’s property.

So, where are the public outcries to ban concerts at public venues? Should the state continue to profit from dangerous music with lyrics that incite violence?

Well, wait, there’s the First Amendment, right?

Yes, there is. So when fairgrounds banned gun shows, groups like the California Rifle & Pistol Association sued to block these gun show bans. A federal court agreed and issued an injunction that allows the gun shows to continue. The court confirmed what all Americans should appreciate:

Gun shows are free-speech zones. Politicians are free to disagree with the message of safety, self-reliance and freedom that gun show attendees subscribe to, but they aren’t free to censor it.

We all, including gun owners, want to prevent gun violence. But most gun laws do nothing to make us safer. The best intended government systems repeatedly fail.

Chuck Michel is president and general counsel for the California Rifle & Pistol Association and has been fighting for the civil rights of Californians for decades.