Sacramento City Council repeals ordinance banning comic sales to children
The ordinance was originally aimed at comics prominently featuring crime.
HELP THEM FIND OUT WHO DID THIS. HAPPENING THIS MORNING, SACRAMENTO CITY LEADERS WILL TAKE AIM AT A DECADES OLD LAW BANNING COMIC BOOKS FROM BEING DISTRIBUTED TO CHILDREN. ONE CITY LEADER SAYS REPEALING THIS LAW IS IMPORTANT TO AFFIRM FREE SPEECH AND SUPPORT THE GROWTH OF SACRAMENTO’S COMIC CON EVENTS. KCRA 3’S MIKE TESELLE IS OUTSIDE CITY HALL. MIKE, I HAD NO IDEA THIS EVEN EXISTED. YEAH, I’M RIGHT IN THE SAME BOAT WITH YOU, DEIRDRE AND TEO. AND WHETHER IT’S BATMAN OR THE MARVEL UNIVERSE, WHETHER YOU’RE 15 OR 50 YEARS OLD, COMIC BOOKS, EITHER IN PRINT LIKE THESE OR ON THE BIG SCREEN IN HOLLYWOOD, A BIG PART OF A LOT OF PEOPLE’S LIVES. WHICH BRINGS US TO A 76 YEAR OLD LAW HERE IN SACRAMENTO THAT DEIRDRE, LIKE YOU SAID, I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW EXISTED. DID YOU KNOW THAT BACK IN 1949, SACRAMENTO CITY LEADERS PASSED A LAW THAT ESSENTIALLY BANNED THE DISTRIBUTION OF ANY COMIC BOOKS DEPICTING ANY TYPE OF CRIME TO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18, MEANING THAT THIS ORDINANCE LEGALLY JEOPARDIZES LIBRARIES, BOOKSTORES, AND EVEN CONVENTIONS LIKE COMIC CON HERE IN SACRAMENTO THAT OFFER COMIC BOOKS TO KIDS. AND EVEN THOUGH THE LAW HASN’T BEEN ENFORCED IN DECADES, TODAY, TWO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS SAY ENOUGH’S ENOUGH. THEY’RE PROPOSING A REPEAL OF THIS ANTIQUATED LAW AND THE CREATION OF A NEW SACRAMENTO COMIC BOOK WEEK TO HIGHLIGHT THE CREATIVE SPACE OF COMIC BOOKS. YOU KNOW, THIS IS A SLAM DUNK FROM MY POINT OF VIEW. I’VE BEEN READING COMICS MY WHOLE LIFE. I’M A BIG FAN. YOU KNOW, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, AN AREA WE SHOULD BE CELEBRATING AND INVESTING IN, NOT TRYING TO, SUPPRESS. SO WHAT IS HAPPENING THIS MORNING IS IN SACRAMENTO’S LAW AND LEGISLATION COMMITTEE. COUNCIL MEMBERS PHIL AND KATIE MAPLE. THEY’RE GOING TO PROPOSE THE START OF THE PROCESS TO REPEAL THIS COMIC BOOK BAN AND TO OFFICIALLY MAKE IT LEGAL AGAIN, AT LEAST TECHNICALLY, TO DISTRIBUTE COMIC BOOKS DEPICTING CRIME TO CHILDREN HERE WITHIN CITY LIMITS. LIVE IN SACRAMENTO, MIKE TESELLE KCRA THREE NEWS. THAT IS LITERALLY I HAD NO IDEA. I WONDER IF THEY HAVE EVER SAID NOPE. SORRY KID, I CAN’T SELL IT TO YOU. WHO KNOWS, MAYBE NOT. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU MIKE. APPRECIATE IT. HEY, IF SUCCESSFUL, THIS PROPOSAL WOULD ALSO DESIGNATE THE THIRD WEEK OF SEPTEMBER TO BE SACRAMENTO COMIC BOOK WEEK. SO THEY’RE GOING ALL IN. WE NEEDED, LIKE, THE WORD BAM.
Sacramento City Council repeals ordinance banning comic sales to children
The ordinance was originally aimed at comics prominently featuring crime.
Updated: 9:31 AM PST Jan 28, 2026
The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday repealed a 1949 ordinance that made it illegal to sell comics to children.The ordinance was originally aimed at comics prominently featuring crime.(See earlier coverage of the issue in the video above.)With the ordinance in place, libraries, bookstores, and even comic conventions were technically distributing comics to kids illegally.The item was approved unanimously after being added to the city council’s consent calendar for non-controversial items. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday repealed a 1949 ordinance that made it illegal to sell comics to children.
The ordinance was originally aimed at comics prominently featuring crime.
(See earlier coverage of the issue in the video above.)
With the ordinance in place, libraries, bookstores, and even comic conventions were technically distributing comics to kids illegally.
The item was approved unanimously after being added to the city council’s consent calendar for non-controversial items.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel