Counties join 17 state amici in 2A Supreme Court case
There is some irony in the following report of little governments challenging the big guys.
The Schuyler County, NY, legislature has voted to join a constitutional challenge to a New York City law that could have broad implications for the state’s gun control measures.
The proposed resolution, which has passed both the county’s management and finance committee and its legislative resolution review committee, authorizes County Attorney Steven Getman to “render aid, where possible and practicable, to the various states listed as Amicus Curiae in the pending United States Supreme Court case of the New York Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. et. al. v. City of New York, State of New York et. al.”
Those states have joined the New York Rifle and Pistol Association (NYSRPA), with support from the National Rifle Association arguing that New York City’s general prohibition on transporting even licensed, locked and unloaded handguns outside the city is unconstitutional, in that it violates the right to travel, interstate commerce, and the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
Schuyler County is not the first county in New York to join the amicus filing. As of early April as many as nine other counties had passed or were considering resolutions supporting the law’s challenge on Second Amendment grounds:
The states currently filing in support of the Amicus Curiae, and against the law, are: Louisiana, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. A brief in opposition to the New York law has also been filed by: The Western States Sheriffs’ Association, International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, Law Enforcement Action Network, Law Enforcement Alliance of America, and International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers\ They also argue that the Second Circuit Federal Court of Appeals, which covers New York, applied an incorrect standard in upholding the law. The appeals court, the plaintiffs argue, erred by failing to subject to the law to a “strict scrutiny” test.
“Strict scrutiny is the highest standard of review a court may use to evaluate the constitutionality of governmental action,” Getman explained.
“It is often applied when a law infringes upon a fundamental right or involves a suspect classification.”
“Under that test, a law must further a compelling governmental interest, and must be narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.”
This is the first significant Second Amendment case the Supreme Court will hear since ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) that the Constitution protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, and further that this right applies against the states as well as the federal government, in McDonald v. Chicago (2010).
NYSPA challenged the city’s ban on taking a licensed handgun out of the licensee’s home except to a gun range within the city. The Second Circuit upheld the ban based on “intermediate scrutiny,” even though that standard requires that a restriction actually works to achieve a legitimate goal. Under the law, a city resident licensed to possess a handgun cannot transport their handgun to a weekend second home (even for self-defense), to another county to participate in a shooting competition, or even to a neighboring city for target practice. This, opponents argue, amounts to requiring a handgun owner to leave a firearm in a vacant house in the city while traveling, where it is more susceptible to burglary. They further argue that the city was unable to explain how a legal gun owner inflicts any risk on society when transporting a firearm outside the city, but not when transporting the identical firearm under identical conditions by identical means within the city itself.
This is not the first time that the Schuyler County legislature has weighed in against Cuomo’s strict gun control laws. In 2013, the legislature passed several resolutions opposing the controversial SAFE Act, arguing that the law violated the Second Amendment and created an unfunded mandate on the counties.
Bumper sticker controversy makes headlines nationwide
An Associated Press story about someone resigning a government post because of a flap over pro-gun bumper sticker caught the fancy of far-away Miami Herald editors.
The chairman of the Alaska human rights commission submitted his resignation after the state agency found itself in the middle of a controversy involving its executive director, AP reported in April.
The commission suspended Marti Buscaglia for 15 days after she complained on the commission’s Facebook page about a “Black Rifles Matter” sticker she saw on a pickup truck in the building’s parking lot and believed to be racist.
She submitted her resignation.
Commission chairman Brandon Nakasato announced he was quitting after Buscaglia gave notice. He said his resignation, effective May 1, was connected to the sticker uproar and Buscaglia’s actions.
“I resigned because I think new leadership is necessary for the commission to move forward from this controversy,” Nakasato said in a Facebook message to The Associated Press.
He said the commission has an important and vital mission, “and if me stepping down can help to restore public trust in our ability to achieve that mission, then that is a small price to pay in service to a greater cause.”
Asked how new leadership would allow that change, Nakasato said he wasn’t yet sure. He said his decision was voluntary and he was not pressured to resign.
Nakasato was one of five commissioners who voted to suspend Buscaglia. Dissenters were David Barton and Marcus Sanders, who said he voted against the suspension because he didn’t consider it severe enough.
Vice chairman Freddie Olin IV also has resigned from the commission but says his upcoming departure isn’t related to the sticker controversy.
In March, Buscaglia saw the rifle sticker on Brent Linegar’s vehicle and posted a photo of it on the commission’s Facebook page asking, “In what world is this OK?”
Linegar, who has a plumbing and heating business, has said the truck was his and that his company was doing repairs at the building that day. He has said that he understood the stickers to American gun-control advocates and Democratic politicians took to social media to celebrate New Zealand’s plan to ban and confiscate many semiautomatic rifles and magazines in the wake of the deadly Christchurch mosque attack.
S&W game dinner raises $32,000 for local USO
Smith & Wesson Corp. on March 28 announced that it has contributed over $32,000 to the Pioneer Valley USO through the most recent annual Game Dinner sponsored by the firearms company.
Proceeds raised from the 2019 Game Dinner have benefitted the Pioneer Valley USO and its programs supporting American military personnel and their families for over a decade. Armed forces members and families access the USO for social, recreational, educational, and entertainment programs and services.
David Mendoza, Pioneer Valley USO Board President, said, “We always appreciate the tremendous support this event receives. We are honored to be the recipient of the funds raised from the annual Smith & Wesson Game Dinner. This event is a wonderful opportunity for the USO to raise awareness of our presence in the Pioneer Valley and provide needed support to our military personnel and their families in Western Massachusetts.”
At the annual event, Smith & Wesson Game Dinner attendees enjoy a variety of wild game dishes prepared by a team of dedicated volunteers. One of the most popular events of its kind, the Game Dinner hosts nearly 500 guests and this year featured menu items including pheasant, elk, bear, boar, moose and venison. Led by Chef Norm Boucher from the Chicopee Comprehensive High School’s culinary department, volunteers created dishes like Antelope Meatballs Marinara, Southern-Style Pulled Boar, Pot Roast of Maine Black Bear, and Wild Bird Pot Pie.
In addition to the food preparation team, Smith & Wesson volunteers donated over 500 personal hours to make the event a success. The game meat was donated by hunters affiliated with Smith & Wesson, Foggy Mountain Guide Service, and Linx Wildlife Management, among others.
This year’s event included a limited number of sponsorships giving local businesses the opportunity to show their support. Big game sponsor Thorn Industries of Three Rivers, MA, as well as other area businesses provided additional support for the USO.
2A ‘sanctuary’ code spreading in states
Counties in at last seven states are putting their own spin on ‘Sanctuary Cities’ by passing laws creating what is being called ‘Second Amendment Sanctuary Cities.’
Originally, sanctuary cities were places where laws were passed in which local law enforcement agencies and governments would not enforce federal immigration laws.
Now, according to Fox 17 in Nashville, TN, these 2nd Amendment Sanctuary Cities -or counties to be more specific, are passing their own resolutions to combat state or city government laws deemed restrictive by locals to 2nd Amendment rights.
According to the Washington Times, states where such counties are passing laws include New Mexico, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, and Nevada.
The genesis of the movement has not been traced back to a specific county sheriff or group, though Patriot Prayer, a group which states their mission is to fight corruption in government, has been active in their support of the movement on their social media pages.
Families of Parkland, FL, school shooting victims are filing at least 22 lawsuits against Broward County’s school board, sheriff’s office and more, alleging they failed to prevent the attack that left 17 people dead and another 17 injured, according to various news sources.
Parkland shooting victims’ kin sue school board, sheriff’s office
Attorneys representing families of those who were killed or wounded at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, argue several organizations and individuals were responsible for the massacre. In addition to the school district and sheriff’s office, other targets in the lawsuits, announced on Apr10, are Henderson Behavioral Health, which provided mental health services to confessed shooter Nikolas Cruz; former Stoneman Douglas security guard Andrew Medina, who was the first to see Cruz on campus but did not call a “code red” lockdown; and former Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy Scot Peterson, the school resource officer who hid during the shooting rather than entering the school building to confront the shooter.
The attorneys said the families have been working over the 14 months since the shooting to reach a settlement — a fund that would provide millions in compensation for each family. But the lawyers say the school board has been lobbying against legislation at the state Capitol, where lawmakers are currently holding their annual session.
A spokeswoman for the school board refuted the assertion that the district has lobbied against the legislation creating a compensation fund for families.
Chief Public Information Officer Kathy Koch said in a statement the district hired a firm that helped to write the legislation and has been lobbying in favor of it. She said the district consulted families when conceptualizing the fund. The school board voted to include the legislation on its official list of priorities for the 2019 legislative session.
As for the lawsuits, both the school board and the sheriff’s office responded that they do not comment on litigation.
Joseph DiRuzzo, an attorney who represents Peterson, said he is confident that the lawsuits “lack merit and he plans to fight them “vigorously.” The attorney representing Medina declined to comment.
One of the plaintiffs is Mitchell Dworet, who reportedly said he is in a “very unique position” because one of his sons was killed and the other was injured.
“My son is Nicholas Dworet. He was killed in the third room,” Dworet said. “My other son is Alexander Dworet. He was in the first room. He was injured, he saw children killed and he lost his brother. This is a life sentence for me. It’s every day.
“I want accountability. I’m not going away. I’m in for the long haul,” Dworet said. “This is not normal. This is not right. There were failures. I want to be in court. I want to see who, what, where, how, why.”
Lisa Olson — whose son, William, was shot and survived — also spoke about how difficult it has been for her family to cope with the lingering effects of the trauma.
“My son didn’t go to school today. He couldn’t, and we have many days like that now,” Olson said.
“It’s a daily struggle,” she said. Referring to the survivors, she said: “They are not the people they were before Feb. 14.”
Another plaintiff is Lori Alhadeff, whose daughter, Alyssa, was killed. Alhadeff was elected to the Broward School Board last November.
When asked about Alhadeff’s potential conflict of interest — she is apparently participating in lawsuits against the school board on which she sits — her attorney, Bob Kelley, said: “She obviously cannot be involved in any kind of discussion about a settlement or resolution of this case.”
Under Florida law, the legislature must approve any local government settlements that exceed $300,000. The process of passing these bills often takes years, and many are never approved. State Sen. Lauren Book, a Broward County Democrat, filed three bills this session that would create compensation funds for families of Parkland shooting victims.
The attorneys representing the families said these bills could be used to ensure approval of the settlement during this legislative session, which ends May 3, if the parties reach an agreement in time.
Kelley said it’s not too late to reach a settlement and pass a bill this session, if the school board and other parties are willing to negotiate.
Without a settlement, the lawyers predict the lawsuits could take years to resolve, cost millions of dollars and require survivors of the shooting to provide depositions.
The attorneys for the victims’ families didn’t specify how much money the families are seeking in compensation.
In separate legal actions, some of the victims’ families are suing American Outdoor Brands, parent of Smith & Wesson which manufactured he gun used in the shooting, and Sunrise Tactical Supply, the retailer that sold it.
West Pointers win SIG pistol event
The US Military Academy at West Point Combat Weapons Team earned the top honor of being named the 2019 SIG Relentless Warrior Champions, according to a press release from Sig Sauer Inc.
On Saturday, March 30, ninety cadets from the United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Coast Guard Academy, United States Military Academy at West Point, Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Texas A&M, and the Merchant Marine Academy competed in the SIG Relentless Warrior Championship at the Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH.
The course of fire consisted of seven mission stages that tested the marksmanship and leadership skills of the nation’s future military leaders.
