By TGM staff
A federal court on April 11 cleared the way for an Illinois rape victim to have a gun in her public housing apartment to protect herself from further domestic violence. According to The Washington Examiner it was “the latest judicial victory for Second Amendment advocates.”
Senior Judge J. Phil Gilbert for the US District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in Benton, IL, issued a permanent injunction on the East St. Louis Housing Authority’s (ESLHA) gun ban, claiming it violated the Second and 14th Amendments because it prevented citizens from protecting themselves.
He ordered the ESLHA to erase the ban on guns for residents from its lease.
The lawsuit was filed last year by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA). They filed on behalf of a woman, “N. Doe,” who had been raped and was scared of further abuse so she bought a gun. When the housing authority found out about the weapon, they threatened to kick her out of the facility.
The judge cited the District of Columbia v. Heller case that backs individual citizens’ rights to guns in their homes. It also cited the 14th Amendment ban on oppressive state rules. “Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,” said the order.
The gun rights groups were pleased.
“We are delighted with the judge’s decision, which we hope sends a message to other municipal governments that they can’t try to sneak around the two United States Supreme Court victories (Heller-2008 and McDonald 2010) that SAF and its attorneys were involved in to further their efforts to ban legal firearms ownership,” said Second Amendment Foundation founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve had to challenge such a regulation. It is simply unacceptable for citizens living in public housing to be denied their basic right to have a firearm for personal protection, and in this case, it was unconscionable,” he added.
In the case, the unidentified woman said that she was able to stop her abuse by threatening her attacker with the gun.
“We’ve explained how she was beaten and raped in January 2017, and her children stopped the attack only by threatening to use a gun. On two other occasions, Ms. Doe had to call police due to shootings in nearby residences. When the housing authority threatened to terminate her lease due to the gun in her residence, they insisted that the building is safe, so she doesn’t need a gun. This kind of gun prohibition extremism has no place on American soil,” Gottlieb said.
The pro-Second Amendment groups were represented by Glen Ellyn, Illinois attorney David Sigale.
Gottlieb noted, “Our attorney, in this case, David Sigale, holds the record for the most gun rights court victories in the legal profession.”
The court order of final judgment ruled that the plaintiff’s rights were violated under the Second and Fourteenth Amendments due to a requirement that no firearms be possessed on the property as a condition of the lease.
“This situation was made even more outrageous considering what has happened to Ms. Doe while living at her home,” Gottlieb noted, referring to the lawsuit.
“This is just one more example of how the Second Amendment Foundation is winning firearms freedom, one lawsuit at a time.”
The court’s ruling did not tackle other gun bans issued by the housing authority. Said the order, “This Order shall have no bearing on any ESLHA rule, regulation or lease provision with respect to residents, guests or non-residents brandishing firearms outside resident units, including in common areas within any development, except that doing so by a resident shall not constitute a lease violation if such is necessary for self-defense or defense of others in accordance with applicable law.”
