Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Persons handing out informational flyers have a First Amendment free-speech right to do so in any place that is open to the public. This can include private property which is generally regarded as open to the public, such as shopping centers. Whether property behind a closed gate is still "open to the public" may depend upon factors other than the closed gate itself, such as the intent of the property owner and customary uses of the property. If the gated property were, for example, a winery, the question might become whether the gate led to the tasting room (which might be deemed "generally regarded as open to the public, at least during its normal business hours), or to the crush facilities, where entering to distribute flyers would not be within the First Amendment free-speech privilege (but union-organizing activity on behalf of the employees would probably still be permissible). So, I'd say that a closed gate would 80 or 90 percent of the time say "no trespassing" to distributors of leaflets.

I disagree with Mr. Whipple.

In the world of tort law, you don't need a gate or even a fence to be trespassing. If you are on someone else's property, and intentionally put yourself on that property, regardless of your intention, you are trespassing.