The Second Amendment Foundation reported the City of Boston has settled a federal lawsuit filed by SAF and other plaintiffs over delays in accepting and processing licenses to carry a firearm, and has agreed to pay $10,000 to cover attorneys’ fees and costs.
SAF was joined by Commonwealth Second Amendment, Inc., and several individuals. The lawsuit was known as Alves v. McNamara. Plaintiffs are represented by New York attorney David Jensen.
“The city had already been very slow processing applications for carry licenses, and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, things completely ground to a halt,” SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb recalled. “With things returning to normal, the city has agreed that all individuals who were on the list of applicants as of July 26 will be contacted so they may submit permit applications. The city also agreed to resume its pre-pandemic practice of accepting applications by Oct. 31, which has happened, and they are paying our legal expenses.
“This is one of the many COVID-related lawsuits to protect gun rights that we won,” he added, “and we had also warned several other jurisdictions around the country of probable legal action for similar shutdowns because of the pandemic.”
Nearly all jurisdictions are now returning to normal operation, Gottlieb said. Updates on all SAF legal actions can be found at saf.org
“Hopefully, this sort of thing will never happen again, anywhere,” he commented. “We’re happy with the settlement of this case. It’s just one more example of how SAF is winning firearms freedom, one lawsuit at a time.”
